Do you remember my post entitled Dry Ground? If you haven’t watched it or read it, you can do so here. It is one of my favorite posts because God used those different passages with the common theme of dry ground, to encourage me and give me hope when I was feeling really overwhelmed.
Well, I (maybe even we) must have needed to return to “dry ground,” because I came across another passage where that phrase is used that I had completely forgotten about! Even though I have read it before on different occasions, it didn’t come to mind when I was preparing my original post.
Imagine my surprise (and excitement) when the words jumped out at me as I was reading my Bible, getting ready for my post on Joshua and his leadership!
I immediately wondered how this passage compares to the others I shared previously about Noah and his family getting out of the ark, the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and Jonah being spat out of a big fish–all onto dry ground.
Would there be similarities or would this be more of a unique use of “dry ground?” What was the purpose of the “dry ground” for those who walked across it? Why does God seem to be so fond of “dry ground?” What does this mean for me (and for us) today?
To begin to answer these questions, let’s look at the text in Joshua 3:9-17.
Verse 9 starts, “Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.'”
Before we move on, I want to highlight verse 10. This verse helps us see not one, but two reasons the Lord is going to have the Israelites cross over the Jordan on dry ground.
- It will show that the living God is among them.
- It will show that He will certainly drive out the people mentioned so that they can take possession of the promised land.
I’m sure there were times in that season of the Israelites journey when they wondered, just like we sometimes do, if God was really with them and would accomplish what He said He would. He’s about to do something miraculous to make sure they know He is and He will.
In verse 13, we see how the waters flowing downstream will “pile up in a heap.” This reminds me of how the waters of the Red Sea were blown by a strong wind to stand up like two walls, creating a passage way.
Let’s continue reading.
14 “So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 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, 16 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 (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”
As if crossing the Jordan under normal water flow weren’t enough, God chooses to do it during harvest when the Jordan is at flood stage. He makes a miracle more miraculous!
Unlike a couple of the other passages on “dry ground,” this one isn’t preceded by traumatic events like when Pharaoh and the Egyptians were pursing the Israelites and had them hemmed in or when Jonah was thrown overboard and then spent three days in the belly of a big fish before being spat out onto dry ground.
However, one thing a bit more unique about the passage here in Joshua, is that it required faith on the part of the priests who were carrying the ark. Their feet had to touch the water’s edge for the waters to stop flowing and pile up. Talk about walking in faith!
I wonder what it would look like if I more regularly walked like the priests carrying the ark–if I kept moving forward in faith, trusting that God would make a way for His will to be done.
We see in verse 17 that the priests were standing on dry ground (in the middle of the Jordan) and continued to do so until “all Israel had passed by and the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.” I love the repetition of “dry ground” in this verse. I feel like it reinforces and reminds us of the veracity of God’s word.
Would it have been any less miraculous if only a few people had crossed over the Jordan as opposed to the whole nation? No, I don’t think so. But imagine the impact on every living soul who walked across a river (in flood stage) on dry ground. Imagine the feeling under their feet with every step. Imagine the awe they must have felt in their hearts and shown on their faces.
In Joshua chapter 4:19-24, we continue to gain some insight as to why God wanted to have the Israelite nation cross over on dry ground.
19 “On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.’”
In verse 24, we have two additional reasons why God stopped the waters and had the Israelites cross over on dry ground:
- so that all peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful
- so that you might always fear the Lord your God
The miraculous acts of parting the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan weren’t just about the impact on the Israelites, but rather on “all the peoples of the earth.” God wants people to know He is powerful! Only He could have stopped the waters like He did. There is none like Him!
In light of that, may we always respect, revere and fear Him. When we think about how this passage on “dry ground,” and the others I shared previously, impact us today, this is it. It’s that admonishment to remember the Lord is powerful–that He can do anything— and that we are to fear Him.
Along those same lines, I’m also re-inspired to trust Him. He does what He says He’s going to do.
That’s my challenge for us this week and on-going as we seek to be radiant: remember that God is with us, He is powerful, fear Him.
Go Be Radiant 