Project 119: Joshua 3
| Project 119
“Tomorrow the LORD Will Do Amazing Things for You”
Anticipation is an emotion that adds immense meaning to our everyday experience. When we have something to look forward to, we can put up with a lot of heartache in the meantime because we know that the present challenge will soon give way to joyful favor. Such is the spirit that permeates this part of the Joshua narrative.
Imagine the anticipation that must have come over the community when they came to the Jordan and set up camp before crossing over the Jordan River into Canaan. They were on the verge of realizing the promise that God had made to their forefathers. It was so close they could literally touch it.
But notice as well that realizing the promise wasn’t anything to be rushed into. For three days (a significant number throughout the Bible) leaders made their way through the camp giving orders to how the people were to make their entry into Canaan. Their major instruction was for the people to be certain that they followed the Ark of the Covenant and not get ahead of it (Joshua 3:3). It would be a temptation for the people to get to the other side as quickly as possible without any consideration whatsoever to what the priests were doing with the Ark. But as we all have seen at one time or another, getting ahead of God, whose presence the Ark represented, never works out, even when we think we know the path as well as God does.
A second instruction was for the people to “consecrate themselves” (Joshua 3:5). Consecration has to do with making preparations of the heart. Too many times people think outwardly when the inside is not ready for what God is about to do. Joshua understood that while the visible often occupies the bulk of our attention, it’s what’s on the inside that enables us to experience the fullness of God’s favor.
Lastly, Joshua impressed upon the people the reality of God’s abiding presence. Even though the children of Israel had spent 40 years getting from Egypt to this site on the verge of the Jordan and had seen God work on countless occasions to guide and protect them, the people needed the confidence that “on the other side” God would be present to provide the same help. In ancient days, the prevailing view was that each nation had a god and those gods were limited by geographical boundaries. Joshua wanted his people to be assured that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew no such boundaries and was not constrained in any way. Rather than lean upon their own power once they crossed over the Jordan, they would be wise to trust God in the same ways they had previously trusted Him so that they would continue to benefit from His support.
Two matters are emphasized in this part of the story. First, God is to be seen as the True and Mighty God. When the Israelites cross over into Canaan, they will be introduced to Baal, the Canaanite god, and will be tempted to turn to him. But by opening the way through the flooded Jordan (much in the same way that God opened the Nile in Egypt), God would show both Israel and Canaan that there was no god greater than He. Secondly, God’s action in helping Israel to broach the Jordan River is proof that that the Promised Land will be Israel’s possession. A flooded stream was a powerful barrier that was thought only to be overcome by a mighty deity. God’s enabling Israel to cross over was all the evidence anyone should need that He was doing something that no one could stop.
As we begin a New Year, think of how these same concerns assure us that the days ahead hold great promise. If we prepare our hearts and make sure that follow God’s lead, there is every reason for us to live with anticipation that as good as things may have been, with God’s help the best is yet to come!
Joshua 3 (ESV):
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the camp 3 and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.4 Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” 5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.