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.