The last barrier between the Israelites and Canaan is the Jordan River, which they must cross in order to enter into the promised land. Spiritually on the edge of great promise and physically on the edge of a rapid river at flood stage, God's people can right now choose to trust when it doesn't make sense or to fear and depend only on what they can see. Thankfully, they choose to step out and obey what God has told them to do and as a result, the stage is set for God to show up in ways that only He can. He is about to remind the world of His power and glory.
When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go... (3:3-4)
Before they even set out, God makes it clear that His presence will lead. The Israelites are only to follow. A reminder that this is ultimately not their conquest, but God's.
Now the Lord said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. (3:7)
God is not exalting Joshua so that everyone would thinking highly of Joshua, but so that they would think highly of God. Not so they would trust and follow Joshua because he is great, but because God is great and God is with him.
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, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away... so the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. (3:15-17)
Sound familiar? The Israelites crossed the Jordan in the same way that they crossed the Red Sea 40 years before. I believe this is God's not-so-subtle reminder to His people of what He did to deliver them from Egypt and His assurance to them that He will deliver them again. Sometimes, I think that God stacks the deck against Himself just so He can show up in huge ways. I love that He had them cross the Jordan while it was at flood stage....it makes the stopping of the river that much more glorious! I also love that the whole nation of Israel crossed at once. Can you imagine how long that took for thousands upon thousands of people to cross over the dry land? This was not a simple feat or just another day in the desert. This was an astounding display of God's power and glory. Surely His people were reminded of the greatness of their God with each step they took on that dry ground.
It would be crazy to experience something of such magnitude as this without stopping to reflect and remember what just happened. So they did stop and they did remember. In chapter 4, Joshua commands twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, to gather a stone from the Jordan to build a memorial in remembrance of what happened that day.
Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask your fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. (4:20-24)
Is there really much more to say? God desires for all people, in all generations, to know His power and might and glory as the one, true God. Crossing the Jordan undoubtedly reminded the Israelites of God's faithfulness as they headed into their new land, arming them with confidence in their God and humbling them to remember their complete dependence on him. May it be the same for us. May we remember that we serve the one, true God who works with great power on our behalf and for His ultimate glory. May we choose to trust and not fear. May we tell the generations to come of His glory and may we daily remember that we are utterly dependent on Him to lead us and deliver us.
How will you remember? Check out this link for a very practical way one family remembers the Lord's faithfulness in their lives.
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Recently I learned that the reason Jesus had John baptize Him in the Jordan is to yet again remind Israel that God is providing and delivering good on His promises. The Jordan had huge significance to Israel and this passage is why.
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