Israel Crosses the Jordan

 October 5, 2020

 

Joshua 3:1-7

 

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.   At the end of three days, the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it.   Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”  Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”   And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.”  So, they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

 

There is so much I would like to understand, like how far it was from Shittim to the Jordan River.  From the Old Testament maps, I got this information.  

Abel Shittim Tel el-Hammam. Abel Shittim was an ancient city east of the Jordan River in Moab and nearly 10 miles northeast of the Dead Sea. Mentioned in the Bible in Numbers 33:29; Joshua 2:1; 3:1; and Micah 6:5. Abel Shittim or Abel-shit’tim means meadow of acacias. Josephus wrote that it was the spot where Moses delivered the exhortations of Deuteronomy

 

And why did Joshua wait three days before crossing the Jordan River?  I’m not sure the reason why, maybe God was allowing His people to see He was the God of the impossible, in that the Jordan was at flood stage.  Or maybe He was getting Joshua ready to trust Him as the leader and to do as the Apostle Paul instructed the Church, to follow him as he followed Jesus.  God is always doing things in our lives we cannot understand, and it is always a choice to follow Him or not.   

 

 

The other question I had was what is 2,000 cubits in length?  It is estimated at about 914 meters, 1,000 yards, or 2,000 cubits.  Most of us in the USA have an understanding that a football field is 300 yards, so they were required to stay over 3 football fields from the ark.

 

What great advice is given to the people by Joshua in this statement;  “Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”  Did you grasp the power in that statement, you and I have never been at this time or place in our lives, and we that go by the title of “Followers of Christ” do we really do that.  Now I have come to understand I’m very ignorant about many things, but I’m not stupid, for stupid believe they have an understanding of all things.  Jan and I have made the choice to look to Jesus, for He knows the way we should go.  Joshua was great in the people’s eyes in that He listened and obeyed what God was telling him to do.

Have you crossed over your Jordan?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice