And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, that the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were before the people;
Israel's years in the wilderness end in one move: the people fold their tents and head for a flooded river. The ark goes in front, and commentators read it as a picture of Christ leading the way.
The move described here is not another stage of the journey. It closes the wilderness chapter of their history for good.
To enter into Canaan Israel must cross the Jordan, and they were simply to follow the ark... Of course I need not say, the ark is Christ. It is Christ who has gone into death. He passed through the judgment of God, ended man's history, and overcame the power of death. In verse 14 they struck their tents in the wilderness for the last time. They had the pilgrim character about them to that moment.
They set out when the river was at its most impassable. The obstacle was not shrinking to meet their faith; it was at full height.
The difficulties were greatest at this very time. The Jordan was unusually full. So crossing then was harder, if anything. How then did God meet the difficulty?... When the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the water, it shrank back. They stood in the middle of the Jordan until the people had crossed. Faith was in lively exercise.
Writers read the Jordan as more than geography. It marks where human strength runs out.
The condition of Israel was an absolute obstacle to their entering Canaan. When they come to the end of their experiences in the flesh, they find the Jordan — an overflowing flood that bars their way forward. The Red Sea hindered their escape from Egypt. The Jordan prevents their entrance into Canaan, and to try to cross it would be their destruction. Here we have a fresh type of death. It is the end of man in the flesh, and, at the same time, the end of Satan's power.
The order of the procession is the whole point. Nothing could follow until the ark had gone in first.
There could be no passing the Jordan unless the Ark went into it first. Death is the judgment for sin. It is that in Christ, and then it is salvation to us. But the Ark goes first and does the whole thing: Christ dries up the whole way across. That makes the Jordan an entrance into Canaan, instead of shutting the people out of it. It is a blessed thing to see that we have passed the Jordan. Our place in Christ is beyond all — beyond sin, beyond death, beyond the devil's power, beyond judgment.
A set distance separated the ark from the people. Commentators take that gap as part of the picture.
The distance between the ark and the people was to be two thousand cubits. It shows that our Lord had to do this work alone. Peter declared that he would go with Him into death. But the Lord told him, "You cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward." No one was with Him when He made the way. Yet He takes all His people through death into resurrection life and glory.
Two things were in view as Israel came down toward the water: a wide, swollen river and the ark. Only one of them held their eyes.
Faith always enters into, and acts upon, the divine word. Told to set out, Israel left their tents. Men of war, women and children — one and all fixed their eyes upon the ark... There was no other way into Canaan for the weak or the strong, except such as the ark should make... As the army came down from the higher ground toward the river, the waters stretched away to their right and their left. But every eye was fixed on the ark, not on the broad waters running across its path. We look at Christ whom the ark pictures, not on death, difficulties, or impossibilities.
Commentators press the picture further. What the crossing did for Israel, the cross of Christ does for the believer.
All that we were in the flesh has found its end in the cross of Christ... My eyes are fixed on the ark — on Christ. In Him I see the end of myself as a child of Adam. But in Him there is also a victorious power, now made mine. It brings me, in resurrection life in Him and beyond death, into the full enjoyment of all that this life has: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
- Tents down. Verse 14 ends the pilgrim stage. Israel folds the wilderness away and follows the ark toward the land.
- Ark first. No one crossed until the ark had entered the water. Christ went into death ahead of His people and turned the barrier into a doorway.
- Alone. The two thousand cubits of empty space say that no one but Him could do the work — yet He brings all His people through.
- Eyes fixed. Faith acts on the word and watches the ark, not the flood. The river was at its fullest at the very moment God acted.
- Beyond. The end is a settled place in Christ — beyond sin, beyond death, beyond judgment — with resurrection life enjoyed now.
and when they that bore the ark were come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (and the Jordan is full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest),
Israel reached the Jordan at the worst moment of the year. The river was at its fullest, with no bridge, no boat, and no way across. The verse does not say how they solved that. It marks where the water first gave way: at the priests' feet.
The picture is not of a flood spilling over the countryside. One writer says the old English wording overstates the Hebrew. Travellers who have seen the river report the same.
The passage in Joshua 3:15, which says that "Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest," is a mistranslation. The Hebrew word mala, translated "overflows" in our authorised version, has no such meaning. It means fills, and that is how the verse should read — "Jordan fills all its banks." That is, the river runs brim-full during that season of the year, which matches what travellers see there today.
Translations still differ here. The ESV keeps "overflows"; others read that the Jordan is full over all its banks. Either way, the note sits right where the priests step into the water, and one writer draws the point from its timing.
The difficulties were greatest at this very time. The Jordan was unusually full. So it was harder, if anything, to cross then.
God could have brought them over in the dry months. He chose the river at its height. One writer sees why: the enemy is beaten at his strongest, not at his weakest.
Jesus met death for us in its most terrible form. The river Jordan parted when it looked most frightening — "the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest." In the same way our Jesus faced our last great enemy. He defeated him in his most terrifying form. In the very centre of death's dark and dreary land He left the lasting record of His glorious victory.
One writer notes the victory was real but not yet final. The ark held the water back, and the river still stood there.
The power of death was annulled there, though not yet fully destroyed. The great wall of water remained. It was ready to rush forward in its fury and power as soon as the ark stopped holding it back.
The river did not part while Israel watched from the bank. It parted when men walked into it. That order is the lesson of the verse. One writer applies it to the obstacles that keep people from following Christ.
It was harvest-time, the season of the year's richest good. Israel saw their place of blessing, but the rushing Jordan shut them out. The river was swift, wide, and deep. What then were they to do? Obey the word of the living God. Go forward, and leave God to deal with the difficulty. Each of us has our own difficulties on the path to full blessing of the soul. Someone said to us not many years ago, "I cannot be truly devoted to Christ until my aged relative dies, because if I were, it would break her heart." A man said to us in tears, "If I were decided for Christ, my friends would give me no rest." Arise, go forward, believe God, and leave the difficulty with Him.
The priests were not rescued from the water first. They stood in the riverbed while everyone else walked past them.
The waters were there as in the day of Noah, ready to overflow their banks, as at the time of barley harvest. But the priests were in the midst of them, and the ark — the presence of God. And there they stood, the ministers of God and the presence of God, until all the people had crossed the river. Jesus was in the boat, and He must sink if the disciples did. The safety of the ark was the safety of the camp. As it was, so were they.
The detail that dates the crossing also explains what they ate on the other side.
For the Passover kept at Gilgal, we read of unleavened cakes made from the grain of the land. This was something brand new in Israel's history. Until they were in Canaan they could not eat its harvest. They had entered the land at "the time of harvest" (Joshua 3:15), and the Lord gave them Canaan's food as their portion.
- Full — the note about the river is deliberate. The water stood at its highest, so the crossing was hardest at the moment God appointed.
- Faced — writers read the flood as death at full strength. Christ met it and turned it back; He did not avoid it.
- Feet — nothing changed until the priests' feet touched the brim; the way opened as they moved, not before.
- Firm — the ark stayed in the riverbed until the last person was over; the safety of the ark was the safety of the whole camp.
- Fed — they crossed at harvest and ate the grain of the land. The season that had barred them now fed them.
the waters which flowed down from above stood [and] rose up in a heap, very far, by Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan; and those that flowed down towards the sea of the plain, the salt sea, were completely cut off. And the people went over opposite to Jericho.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. And all Israel went over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely gone over the Jordan.
The verse ends the crossing story with two pictures: the priests standing still in the riverbed with the ark, and the whole nation walking past them into the land. Why was that ground dry, and why did the ark stay until the last person was over?
The crossing did not happen at an easy time of year. The Jordan overflows its banks all through harvest. The obstacle was at its worst on the day God removed it.
The priests' feet were dipped in the edge of the water, and the Jordan overflows all its banks all through harvest. That is, the difficulties were greatest at this very time. The Jordan was fuller than usual. So if anything, it was harder to cross then.
The text says twice that the ground was dry: under the priests, and under the people.
The mighty waters stood in a heap above. In the middle of the river, the priests holding the ark stood firm on dry ground until all the people had crossed. It was a dry way; not a drop of the dark, muddy waters was left. It shows the truth: the power of death (pictured by the waters of the Jordan) is completely gone. Nothing is left of it. The work is done for all His people. Not one is left behind; the weakest and the smallest pass over.
Nothing held the waters back but the ark standing in the riverbed. Writers are careful about what that pictures, and what it does not.
The ark going through the Jordan is not suffering for sin. It is not intercession for a rebellious people. It is Christ in power. That power is the special result of His own going under death's power, when He made His soul an offering for sin. He won the victory where it could be won in no other way than by the death of the Victor... The ark in the Jordan is no part of atonement. It is the presence of the power of Christ. That power alone can withstand the power of death, and it is our only defence against it. Past mercies did not keep the flood from destroying Israel, and the promises alone did not either. The ark resting in the middle kept it back, while the people passed before it.
Israel walked across on the same dry bed where the ark stood. No one crossed on better ground than anyone else.
The Jordan's bed was dry for all Israel. The power that stopped the waters was effective for the least as well as for the chief of the army... Great and small, all the people went over in the strength of the ark. What a blessed thought for us! It is not by our strength, nor by our degree of faith, but of God, through whom in Christ we enter the heavenly places.
The ark stayed in place until the last person was over. One writer turns that into a question of what we look at.
The priests stood firm in the middle of the Jordan until all the people had crossed. So the power of Christ is there until every one has gone over. If our minds are taken up with going through the Jordan, we shall never be able to venture into it. But if we see Christ there, and follow Him without thinking about the Jordan, only about Him, we shall pass right through and find no Jordan at all.
Many people take the Jordan as a picture of a believer's own dying. Writers here reject that reading and set the two crossings side by side.
The crossing of the Red Sea pictured Christ dying for the believer. By this the believer escapes death and judgement. The crossing of the Jordan pictured the believer dying with Christ, and being raised with Him... People have often taken the Jordan itself as a picture of death, which we must pass through to enter heaven. It is a figure of something else. While still on earth, the Christian enters through death with Christ into his heavenly position. There he has to stand for the Lord in conflict with spiritual powers of wickedness.
One writer explains where the mistake comes from.
The mistake has most likely come from missing two things. The gospel brings us a present salvation. And the Scriptures speak of every believer as one who has everlasting life and has passed from death to life. Not seeing this, some think of death as ahead of them instead of behind them. Israel's crossing cannot picture dying, because when they crossed the river they began to fight. When we fall asleep in Jesus, all our fighting is over.
- Flood. God timed the crossing for harvest, when the river was at its fullest. The obstacle was greatest on the day He removed it.
- Firm. The ark alone held the waters back. It pictures Christ's power over death, won by His own death — not the atonement itself.
- Dry. Not a drop remained. The dry bed shows how fully the power of death is gone.
- All. The same ground carried the least and the greatest. The ark stayed until the last person was across, so the weakest is as safe as the strongest.
- Over. The crossing does not picture a believer's future dying. It pictures present death and resurrection with Christ — a place we enter on this side of the grave, and then hold in conflict.