Crossing Jordan - Joshua 3 & 4

Chapters 3 and 4 of Joshua are part of the same story of Israel crossing the Jordan river to get into the promised land. I was wondering how they were going to cross over the river, so it was enlightening for me to hear how it was done. Israel went to the river bank and was told by the leadership, “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of Levites bearing it, when ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” The tribes were organized into a certain order and they were to follow the tribe in front of them, with the first tribe following the ark of the covenant. It’s also important to note that the people were commanded to follow behind the ark “about two thousand sand cubits.” Google says that 2000 sand cubits is able half a mile or 1,000 yards. So the people were to follow behind the ark for a pretty significant distance. Joshua tells the people to sanctify themselves “for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” The IM notes that Israel crossed over the Jordan river on the day of Passover, so maybe the “sanctify yourselves” was similar to purifying their houses or camps of leaven, or of preforming ritual cleanliness like they would do for the Passover.

God tells Joshua that just like God magnified Moses to the people, now God was going to magnify Joshua to the people. God spells out that the priests who are carrying the ark are supposed to get right to the ”brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.” The priests walked right up to the water’s edge, “for the Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest.” This fact that the Jordan was overflowing is significant, and I’ll quote TB here because he gives an excellent observation, “The Jordan River was either a trickle or a torrent depending on the time of the year… It’s not very big, and it’s not very deep, and it doesn’t flow very fast during most months of the year. In fact a child could wade across it in many spots most of the time. But, in early spring when the snows of My Hermon are melting, the river widens, overflows it’s banks and becomes dangerous and difficult to cross… At this time of year, even in modern times, the water can be 12-15 feet deep and it moves very rapidly. It is usual for it to overflow its banks so that it is wider than usual in many spots… Isn’t that the way God works? He leads Israel to cross the river at the worst possible time. Come a month earlier, not so bad. Come a month later, not nearly the problem. But to come right at the peak of its flow? It would take a supernatural act of the Lord to get them across and of course that’s what He did.” It was poignant that God took Israel to cross the river at a time that the only way would have required a miracle. I mean, Israel had been wandering in the desert for 40 years, what’s one more month to wait? But that’s not what He did, He took them when it looked impossible and told them to cross then, and the only way was a miracle and He provided.

The priests got to the edge of the river, put their feet into it and then waters “stood and rose up upon an heap very far.” The priests stood there holding the ark while Israel walked through the river on dry ground, until everyone had passed. I wonder if the ark got heavy or if they changed out priests, or if it was just so cool as something to be a part of, they didn’t mind or notice.

Interestingly, AFTER all the people had crossed over the Jordan, God tells Joshua to send back 12 men, one from each tribe back to where the priests were standing and for each one to pick out a stone and bring them back so that they can be used for an altar built “for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.” These men went back and got a stone from the ground by the ark and carried it back to the other side. We have to wonder how nervous these men would have been because just a little bit earlier, they were told not to come within half a mile of the ark, and now they have to go right up next to it to get a rock off the ground.

After all the people had passed over the river on dry ground, and the stones were collected, then Joshua signaled that the ark could come over with all the priests. The 2 ½ tribes that didn’t cross over, Rueben, God, and parts of Manasseh didn’t come over, but they did send 40,000 of the troops ready for battle and those troops crossed over with the people. When God told Joshua that it was time for the ark to cross over too, as soon as “the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up upon the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. The 12 stones were put into place as an altar and the question was asked “what mean these stones?” and the answer was “then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel come over this Jordan on dry land.. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over… that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord our God forever.”

It worked, the people got to the promised land miraculously and Joshua was magnified in their eyes. I don’t know why I didn’t consider that God would just open the river up for them like he did with the red sea, but then he did and it made total sense.