June 3, 2019: Day 37 – Joshua 3

This is one of the most powerful stories in the Bible for me.  The message of the priests standing in the Jordan while it was overflowing its banks is not lost on me…now.  Every year we would go to the place where the Israelites crossed and maybe it was 8 feet across and so shallow you could walk from one side of the Jordan to the other.  Now, today that would be impossible because one side is Israel and the other side is Jordan.  But this year was a year that we saw the fulfillment of vs.15.  The Jordan was totally overflowing its banks in the time of harvest.  This year the Scripture was made alive because it truly reflected what was happening in Joshua’s time.

Look at the picture below, yes the same picture that I included for yesterday’s lesson.

Does that look 8 feet across?  No, it looks more like maybe 100 feet, or 100 yards.  What difference it makes when the Jordan overflows its banks.  This picture below is from 5 years ago when it was back to its normal levels in the same location.

Okay, maybe it is more than 8 feet across, but nowhere near what we found this year.  The meaning of the priests putting their feet in first before God would act is immensely powerful for me.  It reinforces my constant teachings that we cannot expect God to act unless we are willing to take risk, even the type of risk that seems foolhardy, like wading in the Jordan with a very, very heavy ark of the covenant on your shoulders when it is overflowing its banks.  But sometimes God tells us to get out of the boat in order to walk on water.  

All of this God did for the purpose of showing the people that Joshua was firmly in command and that God was with him just  like he was with Moses.  Once that happened and the Jordan parted, just like the Red Sea by the way, then Joshua was ready to take his people  into battle against Jericho.  Remember, we still have to go into Jericho and reunite with Rahab.