Throughout Moses leadership, God had used the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to direct the Israelites. If the pillar lifted up it signaled they were to begin to move, but if it settled to the ground they were to stay where they were. Now they have come to the land where they are to stay, and they will no longer be led with the pillar of fire or cloud. They are starting a whole new era under Joshua’s leadership. Joshua had ordered the people to be ready to leave withing three days, but it took longer than that for the spies to get back. Once they returned, he moved the camp to the bank of the Jordan, where they stayed three days, getting organized, as Joshua 3:1-5 describes. “And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
The next morning, by faith, Joshua started the priest toward
the river, intending to ford it like the spies had a few days before, as
described in Joshua 3:6. “And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying,
Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took
up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.”
When Joshua stepped up by faith, then God began to direct
him, as we see in Joshua 3:7-8. “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day
will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know
that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear
the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of
Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.”
Instead of fording the river, the priests were to just step into the
water and stop.
Joshua then told the people that God would demonstrate his
commitment to bless them by cutting off the flow of the river until they were
across. They were to take twelve stones
from the east bank and carry them into the middle of the river as a memorial for what God was doing,
as described in Joshua 3:9-13. “And Joshua said unto the children of
Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. 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. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of
all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the
tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 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.”
Just as the Red Sea had divided when Moses held out his rod,
the waters of Jordan stopped flowing when the priests stepped into them. Since it was in the flood season, the waters
piled up on the upstream side while drying up on the downstream side. The people were able to walk across on dry
ground, as Joshua 3:14-17 tells us. “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; 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,) 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. 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.”
God had Twelve men to take stones from the middle of the river
and carry them to the west bank to build a monument while the stones from the east
bank were piled in the middle of the river, as proof that they had actually
crossed the river, as Joshua 4:1-11 tells us.
“And it came to pass, when all the
people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Take
you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, And command ye
them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where
the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with
you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
Then Joshua called the
twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe
a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God
into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his
shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That
this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time
to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of
Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed
over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a
memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”
And the children of
Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst
of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes
of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where
they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst
of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the
covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. For the priests which bare the ark stood in
the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded
Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua:
and the people hasted and passed over. And it came to pass, when all the people were
clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in
the presence of the people.”
The similarities to crossing the Red Sea made it very clear, that Joshua had been chosen by God just as Moses had.
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