SS~ #19~ Joshua 3:~ camped at the Jordan – tomorrow they cross~ 10-19-14
1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
~ Israel “lodged” camped at the swollen Jordan River because of the spring rains, they had no idea how they would pass to the other side.
2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
~Joshua directs the tribal leaders, and the Lord is directing Joshua.
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3 And they (the officers) commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: (about half a mile) come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
~ I think I told you before, if the people came near the Ark then only those would be able to see what was going on, but from about the ½ mile they would all have a better chance to observe what was happening.
The usual position of the ark, when at rest, was in the center of the camp; and during a march, in the middle of the procession. --- On this occasion it was to occupy the front , and be carried, not by the Kohathite Levites, but the priests.
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5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
~ In all probability God directed Joshua to do this, Joshua followed Gods orders.
“Sanctify yourselves” means they were to separate themselves from common things to focus in on the LORD, God was about to work a miracle for His people.
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6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the Ark of the Covenant, and went before the people.
~We see Joshua’s success was depending on and growing out of the promise of 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
~ Joshua obviously had the word of God on his lips, on his mind, and in his actions.
7And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
~This miraculous work that God was about to do will cause Israel to know that Joshua is truly their leader. -- His authority would be established, and obedience to him as their leader. --- God will make Joshua a leader like Moses in the eyes of the people, and He will do it by using Joshua to miraculously lead the people across a seemingly impossible body of water.
~ Even with God’s specific guidance, and with specific guidance from His word, this is still an impressive step of faith for Joshua.
Remember we’re talking about the faith of Joshua in our text in Heb.11:
~~ God could have divided the river without the priests, but they could not do such a thing without God. -- The priests here would set a good example to the people, and teach them to do their utmost in the service of God, and trust Him for help in time of need. – Also a good lesson for us to remember.
God still talking to Joshua;
8And thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink (edge) of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.
God had directed Joshua to command the priests, When ye are come to the brink (edge) of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. --
~ Another thing that probably confirmed Joshua’s authority to the people was his foretelling how the waters should be cut off as soon as the feet of the priests had touched the water, we’ll see that in verse 13.
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9And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.
10And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
~ The fact that He will move on behalf of Israel here is taken as a promise of His future blessing and movement for them. -- As we all know, Israel has many enemies still to this day, but God is in control, nothing can happen to His people if He don’t allow it. – He sees and knows all about it.
11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.
12Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
He directs them to get twelve men ready, one of each tribe, who must be within call to receive such orders as Joshua would afterwards give them.
~ In chapter 4: we'll read what this selected 12 men did.
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~ Joshua is telling the people what is going to happen;
13And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
~ In other words, the waters which now are flowing shall be divided, and the part below the priest shall continue to flow down the channel toward the Dead Sea, it would run it's self dry --- but up the River above the priest, beginning at the city of Adam the water shall stand still. They shall stand upon a heap.
~ The impossible problems in their way are not seen as an oppressive trial, but as a glorious opportunity to see God work.
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~ 14And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people;
15And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim (edge)of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
16That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: -- and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, (empted) and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.
-- The meaning is that the waters were stopped in their course at the city of Adam and so kept at a distance from the Israelites while they passed over. -- Adam was a city in Palestine.
This event occurred at the city of Adam that is beside Zaretan. -- The location of Adam is marked by the present site of Damieh, about sixteen miles north of Jericho.
~ Since Jericho is a few miles north of the Dead Sea, the area in which the water was completely removed from the bed of the Jordan would cover approximately 15 to 20 miles. --- Israel didn’t have just a small space to cross over, they had several miles, and they didn’t go over in a single file, multitudes were crossing in the dried river bed at the same time, they had plenty of room.
Even with the flow of the river stopped, it was miraculous that the people could cross over on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan.
God miraculously dried the riverbed so that they didn’t slip and slide in the mud.
This miracle obviously connects with the miracle the nation knew some 40 years earlier: the passing through the Red Sea. God brought them out of Egypt’s bondage with a miracle, and He brought them in to the Promised Land with a miracle.
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17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
~Completely over~
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Stood firm — that is, in the same place and posture; their feet were neither moved by any waters flowing in upon them, nor sunk into any mire, as it became dry.
~ This tells us how firmly the priests believed the word of the LORD, and confided in his power.
~ The ark is referred to 14 times in these 17 verses. This was all about the trust of Joshua, the priests, and Israel had in the God they knew was present with them.
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~ In some respects the passage of the Jordan was more miraculous than that even of the Red Sea.
~ When God parted the Red Sea, He used a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, Exo. 14:21.
~ Nothing of this kind appeared in the passage of the Jordan, what we’re told of here was the invisible hand of the invisible God.
