October 29, 2024

Joshua 3:7-17 (HCSB)
7 The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. 8 Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.” 9 Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 He said: “You will know that the living God is among you and that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites 11 when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan. 12 Now choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.” 14 When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people. 15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge 16 and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Sharon Coppock
I have to wonder what went through the minds of the priests and all the people of Israel when Joshua told them what would happen. Were they afraid? Were they excited? They had heard all their lives of the first time this happened when Moses parted the Red Sea at the Lord’s command. No matter what feelings they had, they obeyed. Still, I think of their motivations. The generation of Moses was likely motivated at least somewhat by fear. What choice did they have? Trust God and go for it, or die by the sword? This group though, I think they were excited. I think they were more than ready to leave the wilderness behind to see what God had in store for them. I’ll never forget when I came to the point in my life when I was so ready to leave my wilderness behind that I was willing to follow God anywhere. I’ve been in church all my life and was baptized as a young child. Yet, I still wandered around in a wilderness of my own choosing for a long time. I didn’t consciously choose that wilderness, but I did indirectly by following my own ways instead of God’s.