Joshua 3:10-17

Jos 3:10

And 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.

 

Then Joshua speaks to the people assuring them that they are not going over Jordan alone because the living God, who has brought them this far, is among them and that he has decreed that the heathen nations are to be driven out before the Israelites.  It will be God who will drive out these heathen nations and then Joshua names the seven groups which will be moved out so Israel can occupy the land in fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham.

 

Jos 3:11

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

 

The Ark of the LORD was to go before them.  They would follow because the Ark represented the presence of God among them and therefore God was going before them as he promised in Deuteronomy.  And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)  The Ark not only represented the fact that God was with Israel it also affirmed the fact that God ruled over the entire earth.  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. (Deuteronomy 10:14)  So God had the right and authority to move those nations out.

 

Jos 3:12

Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

 

Then Joshua had told them to appoint twelve men, one out of every tribe who will have a job to do once they reach the other side of Jordan.  They were not given the task at this point but would receive instruction once they crossed over.

 

Jos 3:13

And 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.

 

Then the priests that bore the Ark were to step into the Jordan river and allow their feet to rest while in the water.  Then when that happened, the water on both sides of them will become a heap, which means the water will be walled on both sides just like it walled when they were crossing the Red Sea.  The water in the Jordan was flowing high at that time since water was flowing to the point that it heaped or became like a mound.

 

Jos 3:14

And 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;

 

Then the people saw the Ark moving to the brink of Jordan and the priests ready to cross, so the people left their tents and rolled them up so they could be in line to follow the Ark into the Promised Land.  They were to wait until the priests had gone 2000 cubits into the river before they were allowed to begin the crossing.

 

Jos 3:15

And 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 of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

 

Then the priests who carried the Ark had their feet dipped in the brink of Jordan.  The Jordan river was flowing very high to the point that it was overflowing the banks.  This happened during the time of harvest which would have been the month Nisan and Abib which would correspond to March/April.  These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west. (1 Chronicles 12:15)

 

Jos 3:16

That 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, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

 

Adam was about 18 miles (29 KM) northeast of Jericho and Zaretan was about 5 miles (8 KM) northeast of Adam.  The waters which came down from this section had heaped which means the river stopped flowing south of it.  The water had stopped flowing into the salt sea which is the Dead Sea so that those rivers which flowed into it was also made into a dry land.  This means that the Israelites had approximately twenty miles (32 KM) of dry land to cross over the Jordan.  The amount of space they had to cross would have made the crossing a shorter one than the crossing of the Red Sea.  So the people had finally crossed over and were right beside the city of Jericho of which Joshua was going to attack first.  Jericho’s nightmare had just arrived outside their gates.

 

Jos 3:17

And 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.

 

Then the priests which bore the Ark had stood firm upon the ground in the middle of the Jordan.  The water stopped flowing and they stood firm without any wavering.  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6)  Just as the Christian holds to the truth firm to the end when they cross over to the heavenly land of Canaan, the Israelites held firm and crossed the Jordan to the Promised Land and every one of them crossed over just like every one of God’s elect will come into the heavenly Promised Land.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

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