I love the story in the book of Joshua, where the Israelites are about to cross into their promised land. They’ve been wandering around in the desert for 40 years, and their leader, who they’ve followed all those years, has just died. Joshua has just started to lead them, and he has some pretty big shoes to fill, for indeed, Moses was a faith filled gutsy man. He did what God told him to do, no matter how crazy. Joshua had served under him, and now he’s to take the lead. No wonder God repeatedly told Joshua not to fear, but to be strong and courageous. He didn’t want to screw up and wander around for another 40 years in the desert.
I’m sure there was a few who stepped up to Joshua and asked, “What are you going to do now? What’s the plan?” So following in Moses footsteps, he sends out spies into the land. Joshua knew well the job of a spy, as he was one of the 12 spies that went and spied out the land forty years before. He knew how good the land was, he had seen it with his own eyes, and now forty years later only him and Caleb were left who had seen the promised land, and it was time to go in and take it.
These two spies, like Joshua forty years before, came back with a good report. It’s a “Let’s go, the land is good, and the people there are terrified of us, so let’s roll.” So they all head toward the Jordon river.
The Jordon River is not a big river, it’s only on average, 33 feet wide and at it’s widest point about 60 feet wide, but in the book of Joshua it states that it was harvest time, and the river was at flood stage, overflowing its banks. The Jordon averages about 6.5 feet deep, but there are places where it’s 17 feet deep, some sources say even deeper.
So they camped on the banks for a few days, seeking God, and then went forth with the strangest plan. The priests are going to carry the Ark of the Covenant into the river. Joshua told them that when the priest feet touch the water the flow will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.
Wait a minute! Are we reliving the Red Sea crossing? Similar, but not quite, but the same God doing it. This time, they have to step into it, and get their feet wet. As they step in, the water some twenty miles away near the town of Adam begins to dam up with no natural dam. The water stands up! Water usually flows down, but this time, it stood at attention and stood up, and backed up. The water below where they had stepped into the river then flowed into the Dead Sea, and the riverbed dried up. The amazing thing was they couldn’t see the water pile up, because it was 20 miles away. But God had gone ahead, and at the precise time that they step in, they start to see the water receeding, even though it was standing up some 20 miles away.
God sees ahead, and is working even when you can’t see it. When all you can see is the river at flood stage in front of you, and you think you’re gonna have to sink or swim, God is already at work, twenty miles away, making the water stand up! When you obey and step in, watch how God makes what can drown you stand up so you can cross on dry land. God will do His part, but first you must do your part. Step in and get your feet wet! Do what God has told YOU to do. Even when it seems a little crazy. You’ll never see the miracle, if you stand on the shore and only look at the river. Step in! Yes, your feet are gonna get wet, but 20 miles away where you can’t see, God is up to something. He’s making water stand up in response to your obedience.
“The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”
Joshua 3:13 NLT