This chapter is about Joshua ACTUALLY getting the Israelites to cross the River Jordan. The Israelites go across into the Promised Land, in this chapter & the next one. Yep, it’s a 2 part-er. It bleeds into chapter 4. Let’s get into it. Enjoy!
Early in the morning, Joshua & all the Israelites set out from Shittim. They went to the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. After 3 days, the officers went throughout the camp. They gave orders to the people.
When they saw the Ark of the Covenant & the priests who were carrying it, the Israelites had to follow. That’s how the Israelites knew which way to go since they had never been in this land before. They had to keep a distance of 1,000 yards (or about 2,000 cubits or about 900 meters) away from the Ark. They couldn’t go near it.
Joshua then tells everyone to consecrate themselves because the next day, God is gonna do “amazing things among you.” Joshua tells the Levites to take the Ark of the Covenant & go ahead of everyone. So the Levites went on ahead.
God has something to say to Joshua. “Today I’ll begin to exalt you in the eyes of the Israelites. All of them. So they know that I’m with you. Just like I had my boy, Moses’ back. Tell the Levites, who are carrying the Ark, ‘When you reach the edge of the River Jordan, go & stand in the river.'”
Joshua tells the Israelites, “Come & hear what God said. This is how you’ll know that the living God is among us. He’ll certainly drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, & Jebusites. Look, see the Ark! It’s gonna go ahead of you.”
They had to choose 1 man from each of the 12 tribes. As soon as the Levites set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off & stand up in heap. So when they broke camp to cross the Jordan, the Levites carrying the Ark went ahead of everyone else.
The Jordan River was in its flood season. Yet when the Levites got to the river & their feet touched the water’s edge, the water did exactly what it was said to do. The heap, everything. The water went to a town called Adam, in the vicinity of Zarethan. While the water flows down to the Sea of Arabah (the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea), it is completely cut off.
So the people crossed over Jericho. The Levites carrying the Ark stood firm on solid ground in the middle of the Jordan River. All the Israelites passed by until the whole nation of Israel had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Spirituality & Religious Studies 