Water

Joshua 3:7-17
7The 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. 8And 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.’ ” 9And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10And 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. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13And 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.”
14So 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, 15and 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), 16the 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. 17Now 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.

The God of miracles strikes again and uses water – again – to prove His power over His creation. Before the story of Joshua and the River Jordan, we have seen Him create water in the first place, flood the entire earth at the time of Noah, turn the Nile into blood, part the Red Sea, and cause water to pour from rocks during the wilderness wandering. Now He parts the Jordan River at flood stage, allowing His people to walk into Canaan on dry ground. Clearly, God knows how to use water to prove His point!

Chapter 3 and 4 of Joshua follow a discernible pattern. The Lord commands Joshua; Joshua communicates this command to the people; and finally, the people execute the command. Three times the author follows this threefold pattern. Joshua has carefully explained what the people are to do, but he does not tell them what is going to happen. Their only job is to obey and, in that obedience, will be their salvation. Imagine their anticipation of what God will do. All they know is that they are to consecrate themselves and then follow the priests into the riverbed at the appointed time. I am certain they had to stand in awe for at least a few moments as the river dries up before their eyes. And it wasn’t just a tiny path of dry ground. If you pay attention to the geography and the locations given in the text, it was probably a section of the river at least 5 miles wide and could have been as great as 17 miles. With that much space the entire community of possibly 2,000,000 people could cross easily and quickly.

Perhaps God’s greatest miracle with water comes in our own baptism. In baptism, we are washed in the blood of Jesus and made clean before a holy God. The Holy Spirit enters our lives and brings with Him faith, and the promise of eternity in heaven with the Lord. Clearly, when God created water, He had some amazing plans in mind!

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