Jos 3:13 | KingComments | STEP | Again, attention is drawn to “the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth” ( ). Here, the names previously used separately in connection with the ark are used together ( ). “The LORD” is Yahweh , the God of the covenant with His people Israel. “The Lord” is Adonai , the Lord Who has authority and before Whom it proper for everyone to bow. The faithful God of the covenant, clothed with majesty, enters the Jordan. The people must have watched breathlessly, in tense expectation of what the water will do with the ark. The miracle takes place before their eyes: the water is completely cut off. The path becomes dry. Access to the land is open. This is the work of the ark; this is what the eyes are focused on. This happens at the city of ‘Adam’. The name ‘Adam’ reminisces how sin and death came into the world. Here death is cut off because the ark blocks the water of death. At the moment the ark enters the Jordan, the Jordan is fuller than ever. The people enter the land when the harvest is ripe. The proceeds of the land can be eaten by the people. Whoever has seen death in his glory once, also sees the full harvest of the land. The people can cross the Jordan. When the people have crossed, the water does not flow back immediately. Everything happens peacefully. The priests stand immovably with the ark on dry land in the middle of the Jordan. This immovability shows how the situation completely is controlled by the ark. The water is just as immovable. It stands like a dam. Because the ark is rock solid there, there is no movement in what would otherwise irrevocably result in death. No power is able to begin anything against Him Who is the ‘solid rock of our salvation’.

‏ Joshua 3:13

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Again, attention is drawn to “the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth” (Jos 3:13). Here, the names previously used separately in connection with the ark are used together (Jos 3:3 ; 11). “The LORD” is Yahweh, the God of the covenant with His people Israel. “The Lord” is Adonai, the Lord Who has authority and before Whom it proper for everyone to bow. The faithful God of the covenant, clothed with majesty, enters the Jordan.

The people must have watched breathlessly, in tense expectation of what the water will do with the ark. The miracle takes place before their eyes: the water is completely cut off. The path becomes dry. Access to the land is open. This is the work of the ark; this is what the eyes are focused on. This happens at the city of ‘Adam’. The name ‘Adam’ reminisces how sin and death came into the world. Here death is cut off because the ark blocks the water of death.

At the moment the ark enters the Jordan, the Jordan is fuller than ever. The people enter the land when the harvest is ripe. The proceeds of the land can be eaten by the people. Whoever has seen death in his glory once, also sees the full harvest of the land.

The people can cross the Jordan. When the people have crossed, the water does not flow back immediately. Everything happens peacefully. The priests stand immovably with the ark on dry land in the middle of the Jordan. This immovability shows how the situation completely is controlled by the ark. The water is just as immovable. It stands like a dam. Because the ark is rock solid there, there is no movement in what would otherwise irrevocably result in death. No power is able to begin anything against Him Who is the ‘solid rock of our salvation’.