Jos 4:16 | KingComments | STEP | The staying away of the water depends on where the ark is. If the ark enters it, the water gives way. If the ark leaves the river, the water flows back. The safety of the people depends on the position of the ark. When the water flows back, it seems as if death has not been conquered at all. In the application to us we can see this from the fact that people are still dying, even believers. Has not the Jordan been conquered then; does death keep its power? The question is answered, in picture, when the people see themselves on the bank of the Jordan in the presence of the ark. Thus death no longer has any power over those who are connected with Him, but only over them alone. For all unbelievers, death is and remains the enemy of whom they will sooner or later be the victims, if they do not repent before that moment. The believer died and is raised with Christ. Death has been conquered. The stones make this clear. The crossing takes place “on the tenth of the first month”. This reminds us of the day the lamb was taken in the houses of the Israelites at the Passover ( ). Through the Passover, the remembering of Christ’s death under the judgment of God as our Substitute is kept alive in the hearts. God brings them in Canaan five days before the forty years are completed (cf. ; ). God has appointed it this way that they enter Canaan four days before the annual feast of the Passover, on the day that they must begin to prepare themselves for it. He wants to remind them immediately when they enter the land of their liberation from Egypt. That is where the origin lies. When they think about this, they will certainly glorify God as “the Alpha and the Omega” ( ) of their well-being and happiness. The Passover, the Red Sea and the Jordan – all three represent Christ in His work on the cross. In the Passover God freed His people from the judgment that came upon the lamb instead of upon the people ( ). The Passover is the beginning of God’s liberating action. His liberating action is followed by the passage through the Red Sea, where God judges the enemy of His people. The Lord Jesus in His death on the cross “disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them” through the cross ( ) and thereby freed God’s people from their captivity. His liberating act has been completed in the passage through the Jordan. There God acted with the ark as a picture of His Son, both in the judgment of death and in the resurrection ( ). They camp at Gilgal. This place will get its name after the circumcision has taken place there ( ). But it has already been mentioned here because they are on the right ground for carrying out the circumcision: on the territory of the resurrection. The sign of circumcision comes in Joshua 5.

‏ Joshua 4:16

The Ark Comes Up From the Jordan

The staying away of the water depends on where the ark is. If the ark enters it, the water gives way. If the ark leaves the river, the water flows back. The safety of the people depends on the position of the ark. When the water flows back, it seems as if death has not been conquered at all. In the application to us we can see this from the fact that people are still dying, even believers.

Has not the Jordan been conquered then; does death keep its power? The question is answered, in picture, when the people see themselves on the bank of the Jordan in the presence of the ark. Thus death no longer has any power over those who are connected with Him, but only over them alone. For all unbelievers, death is and remains the enemy of whom they will sooner or later be the victims, if they do not repent before that moment. The believer died and is raised with Christ. Death has been conquered. The stones make this clear.

The crossing takes place “on the tenth of the first month”. This reminds us of the day the lamb was taken in the houses of the Israelites at the Passover (Exo 12:2-3). Through the Passover, the remembering of Christ’s death under the judgment of God as our Substitute is kept alive in the hearts.

God brings them in Canaan five days before the forty years are completed (cf. Num 33:3 ; 38; Deu 8:2 ; Deu 29:5). God has appointed it this way that they enter Canaan four days before the annual feast of the Passover, on the day that they must begin to prepare themselves for it. He wants to remind them immediately when they enter the land of their liberation from Egypt. That is where the origin lies. When they think about this, they will certainly glorify God as “the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev 22:13) of their well-being and happiness.

The Passover, the Red Sea and the Jordan – all three represent Christ in His work on the cross. In the Passover God freed His people from the judgment that came upon the lamb instead of upon the people (1Pet 1:18-19). The Passover is the beginning of God’s liberating action. His liberating action is followed by the passage through the Red Sea, where God judges the enemy of His people.

The Lord Jesus in His death on the cross “disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them” through the cross (Col 2:15) and thereby freed God’s people from their captivity. His liberating act has been completed in the passage through the Jordan. There God acted with the ark as a picture of His Son, both in the judgment of death and in the resurrection (Psa 114:3).

They camp at Gilgal. This place will get its name after the circumcision has taken place there (Jos 5:9). But it has already been mentioned here because they are on the right ground for carrying out the circumcision: on the territory of the resurrection. The sign of circumcision comes in Joshua 5.