The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Joshua 3:14-17,
"So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 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, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. 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 all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."
As Israel followed the Lord's command to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land, an amazing miracle happens. The Jordan, at flood stage, stops flowing upstream so the nation can pass through it on dry ground! The river actually piles up in a heap as the Israelites pass through on the dry river bed!
Do I believe such an account? Am I certain such an event actually took place? Absolutely! There is no question of it. The Creator of the cosmos is certainly in full control of his creation and it is entirely subject to his command. It is also God's prerogative to violate the physical laws he designed and implemented which govern his creation as he wants, whenever and wherever. If God wants to violate his own law of gravity, as when Jesus Christ walked on water, he can and will certainly do so. God used this miracle, not just to facilitate a logistical barrier the Israelites faced, but to provide them with the confidence that their God was with them as they entered into the campaign.
Although I am certain there is much more going on behind the scenes, I see this as one of the interventions of God in the conquest of the promised land. Another being the interaction of the Israeli spies with Rahab the prostitute as they went to spy out Jericho and the surrounding country side.
Several things I note here. The first is, although Israel's patriarchs were promised the land of Palestine, they were going to have to do their part to get it. God often works this way. He involves us in the things he does that provides us meaningful purpose as he carries out his agenda. God often extends an offer that leaves us with a choice to follow him or not. Follow him and receive the blessing or turn from him and suffer his judgment. Israel was promised the land, but they would have to go get it.
The second is, God is always faithful on his promises. Israel could have taken the promised land forty years earlier, but in their failure to trust God, they found themselves wandering in the desert for forty years until that generation had passed. Now, with nothing more than they had before, they will follow the Lord and take possession of the land. They always had the Lord on their side, their failure to follow the Lord the forty years earlier was unfounded and their lack of trust in the Lord cost them dearly. God always has the power to do what he promises and nowhere is it more clearly on display than in this book of Joshua.
The third is Israel did not see this miracle from God until they acted first. The river didn't pile up upstream until the feet of the priests hit the water first. Not until Israel acted on their trust in God did God perform this miracle for them. Something for us all to learn here.
On another note, it seems to me that all of the really exciting things that have ever happened in this life came about because of God's presence in them...
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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