CONTEXT
Part
1: Ch.1-5: Preparation & Entry
Ch.1
– Joshua installed as Leader
Ch.2
– Rahab and the Spies
Ch.3
– Crossing the Jordan
Ch.4
– Establishing a Memorial
Ch.5
– Circumcision & Passover
FRAMEWORKS:
Joshua
3: Crossing the Jordan
v.1-4
The nation move to the Jordan and are instructed to follow the
ark
v.5,6
Joshua instructs them to prepare
v.7,8
God reassures and instructs Joshua
v.9-13
Joshua tells the people, get ready for a miracle
v.14-17
A Miracle: Israel cross the Jordan on dry ground
v.1-4
The nation move to the Jordan and are instructed to follow the
ark
v.1
Early
in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim
and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.
v.2
After
three days the officers went throughout the camp,
v.3
giving
orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of
the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you
are to move out from your positions and follow it.
v.4
Then
you will know which way to go, since you have never been this
way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits (about
3000ft) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
[Notes:
The next stage is to leave the Plains of Moab and cross
the Jordan river. They are instructed to do this in order, allowing
the ark to be carried by the priests out front before them.]
v.5,6
Joshua instructs them to prepare
v.5
Joshua
told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord
will do amazing things among you.”
v.6
Joshua
said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass
on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of
them.
[Notes:
Recognising this needs to be a work of God, Joshua tells
the people to consecrate or ensure they are clean before God as
they go. The ark goes ahead.]
v.7,8
God reassures and instructs Joshua
v.7
And
the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the
eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was
with Moses.
v.8
Tell
the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach
the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'”
[Notes:
The Lord, seeing Joshua's obedience and heart attitude,
encourages Joshua and tells him to tell the priests carrying the
ark to actually go and stand with it in the river.]
v.9-13
Joshua tells the people, get ready for a miracle
v.9
Joshua
said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of
the Lord your God.
v.10
This
is how you will know that the living God is among you and that
he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,
Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.
v.11
See,
the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into
the Jordan ahead of you.
v.12
Now
then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each
tribe.
v.13
And
as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord
of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream
will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
[Notes:
Joshua clearly has faith in the Lord, declaring publicly
that the Lord will stop the river flowing for them, enabling them
to cross.]
v.14-17
A Miracle: Israel cross the Jordan on dry ground
v.14
So
when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying
the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
v.15
Now
the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as
the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet
touched the water's edge,
v.16 the
water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great
distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,
while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is,
the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over
opposite Jericho.
v.17
The
priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped
in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all
Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing
on dry ground.
[Notes:
As they obey Joshua, the Lord stops the river flowing
and the whole nation are able to walk (not swim!) across.]