Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.
As Israel prepared to enter the promised land under Joshua's leadership, the command was to select twelve men, one from each tribe, in readiness for the crossing. The Jordan barred the way at full flood with overflowing waters, yet God heaped them into a firm wall where the priests bearing the ark stood firm, so the whole host passed over on dry ground opposite Jericho. The ark carrying the law of God went ahead and the people followed by a new way they had not passed before, the river driven back at its presence. Those twelve men were then to lift twelve stones from the dry riverbed where the priests had stood and carry them over as a memorial of Jehovah's power, favor, and love. Moving forward at His word with exact obedience and childlike trust showed they had learned faith through forty years in the wilderness, and it holds a practical lesson for remnant Israel today to sanctify themselves and trust Him through trouble.
Jordan Crossing Setting
The command belongs to the preparation for passing over the Jordan into the promised land under Joshua's leadership, at the beginning of his leading of Israel about 1451 B.C., the year Moses died. It is part of the account of Israel entering the promised land and crossing the Jordan under that leadership. The instruction itself was to take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe, chosen as the people prepared to cross.
The crossing took place when the Jordan was at full flood, with overflowing, surging, flood-swollen waters. God divided the waters and reared and banked them into a firm wall, piling them up so Israel could pass through and possess the land. The priests bearing the ark of the covenant stood firm in the stream on the dry bed, while the waters were held back until the million host of men, women, and children passed over on dry ground opposite Jericho to liberty, home, conquest, and possession.
The ark carrying the law of God, representing the throne and government of God, went ahead with the symbol of His throne and government going on before, and the people followed behind it. The river barring the way was driven back and banked up at the presence of the ark and the law, so the people went through unimpeded. They went by a new way they had not passed before, making a straight course without regard to intervening obstacles.
The twelve men, one from each tribe, were to take twelve stones from the dry riverbed where the priests stood and carry them over to erect a memorial of Jehovah's power, favor, and love. In this leading Joshua was a type of the Lord, his name signifying Saviour, the same as Jesus in Greek. The chapter gives a brief, precise, vivid, luminous account whose details preserve the scene of entering the promised land.
Faith and Obedience Lessons
The crossing displays love and might and faithfulness, protection and help through trouble, revealing the power of the living God who remains God for His people, and the trust learned there can display His reality and power even to those who do not know Him. The narrative stands written for learning from His acts, not merely to inspire wonder or curiosity. After forty years of preparation in the wilderness the people were tested at the Jordan as their fathers had been tested at the Red Sea.
Beside the apparently impassable Jordan close to hostile nations the host stood fearless and confident and obedient, far different from their fathers at Kadesh-Barnea who believed the fatal report of the ten faithless men sent to inspect the land and took a fateful stand of disappointed murmuring. Through forty years of continuous reminding, while one after another of the murmuring generation returned to dust and fell without sight of the hills and plains, fruits and flowers, liberty and rest now in full view across the river, the host facing Jordan learned the priceless lesson of obedience to God the Deliverer. It had also learned trust because Jehovah had guided and defended and kept His word, enabling astonishing victories over mighty kings and giving extended territory, fenced cities and unwalled towns, and vast wealth in cattle and money and jewels and all manner of spoil, so that it trusted the forceful arm many times outstretched in its behalf.
Moving forward at God's command as the priests bearing the ark stepped into the water showed they had learned to trust and obey, for faith is active and expressed in obedience, and the command itself identified twelve men, one from each tribe, to be chosen. Their service moved forward in exact obedience and in childlike trustfulness and submission, with no impatience or complaint or doubt or dread or terror during three days waiting beside the surging waters and in the crossing itself, and it illustrates that God's people must sanctify themselves as they look for His wonders. The chosen twelve were to take twelve stones from the dry bed of the overflowing Jordan where the priests bearing the ark of the covenant stood firm in the stream, and to carry them over opposite Jericho to erect a memorial of Jehovah's power and favor and love in rearing the waters into a firm wall until the million host of men, women, and children passed over to liberty and home and conquest. With the law of God in the ark representing the throne and government of God going forward and the people following, the river barring the way was driven back and banked up at its presence so the people went through unimpeded by a new way they had not passed before, making a straight course without regard to intervening obstacles and needing careful leading as never before, for the law of God was the key that opened the promised land. Presented together with reconsecration to God, the short, vivid, luminous sketch holds a practical, priceless, easily discerned lesson for remnant Israel today, to be adapted to urgent present needs for a richer, safer experience.
As Israel prepared to enter the promised land under Joshua's leadership, the command was to select twelve men, one from each tribe, in readiness for the crossing. The Jordan barred the way at full flood with overflowing waters, yet God heaped them into a firm wall where the priests bearing the ark stood firm, so the whole host passed over on dry ground opposite Jericho. The ark carrying the law of God went ahead and the people followed by a new way they had not passed before, the river driven back at its presence. Those twelve men were then to lift twelve stones from the dry riverbed where the priests had stood and carry them over as a memorial of Jehovah's power, favor, and love. Moving forward at His word with exact obedience and childlike trust showed they had learned faith through forty years in the wilderness, and it holds a practical lesson for remnant Israel today to sanctify themselves and trust Him through trouble.
Jordan Crossing Setting
The command belongs to the preparation for passing over the Jordan into the promised land under Joshua's leadership, at the beginning of his leading of Israel about 1451 B.C., the year Moses died. It is part of the account of Israel entering the promised land and crossing the Jordan under that leadership. The instruction itself was to take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe, chosen as the people prepared to cross.
The crossing took place when the Jordan was at full flood, with overflowing, surging, flood-swollen waters. God divided the waters and reared and banked them into a firm wall, piling them up so Israel could pass through and possess the land. The priests bearing the ark of the covenant stood firm in the stream on the dry bed, while the waters were held back until the million host of men, women, and children passed over on dry ground opposite Jericho to liberty, home, conquest, and possession.
The ark carrying the law of God, representing the throne and government of God, went ahead with the symbol of His throne and government going on before, and the people followed behind it. The river barring the way was driven back and banked up at the presence of the ark and the law, so the people went through unimpeded. They went by a new way they had not passed before, making a straight course without regard to intervening obstacles.
The twelve men, one from each tribe, were to take twelve stones from the dry riverbed where the priests stood and carry them over to erect a memorial of Jehovah's power, favor, and love. In this leading Joshua was a type of the Lord, his name signifying Saviour, the same as Jesus in Greek. The chapter gives a brief, precise, vivid, luminous account whose details preserve the scene of entering the promised land.
Faith and Obedience Lessons
The crossing displays love and might and faithfulness, protection and help through trouble, revealing the power of the living God who remains God for His people, and the trust learned there can display His reality and power even to those who do not know Him. The narrative stands written for learning from His acts, not merely to inspire wonder or curiosity. After forty years of preparation in the wilderness the people were tested at the Jordan as their fathers had been tested at the Red Sea.
Beside the apparently impassable Jordan close to hostile nations the host stood fearless and confident and obedient, far different from their fathers at Kadesh-Barnea who believed the fatal report of the ten faithless men sent to inspect the land and took a fateful stand of disappointed murmuring. Through forty years of continuous reminding, while one after another of the murmuring generation returned to dust and fell without sight of the hills and plains, fruits and flowers, liberty and rest now in full view across the river, the host facing Jordan learned the priceless lesson of obedience to God the Deliverer. It had also learned trust because Jehovah had guided and defended and kept His word, enabling astonishing victories over mighty kings and giving extended territory, fenced cities and unwalled towns, and vast wealth in cattle and money and jewels and all manner of spoil, so that it trusted the forceful arm many times outstretched in its behalf.
Moving forward at God's command as the priests bearing the ark stepped into the water showed they had learned to trust and obey, for faith is active and expressed in obedience, and the command itself identified twelve men, one from each tribe, to be chosen. Their service moved forward in exact obedience and in childlike trustfulness and submission, with no impatience or complaint or doubt or dread or terror during three days waiting beside the surging waters and in the crossing itself, and it illustrates that God's people must sanctify themselves as they look for His wonders. The chosen twelve were to take twelve stones from the dry bed of the overflowing Jordan where the priests bearing the ark of the covenant stood firm in the stream, and to carry them over opposite Jericho to erect a memorial of Jehovah's power and favor and love in rearing the waters into a firm wall until the million host of men, women, and children passed over to liberty and home and conquest. With the law of God in the ark representing the throne and government of God going forward and the people following, the river barring the way was driven back and banked up at its presence so the people went through unimpeded by a new way they had not passed before, making a straight course without regard to intervening obstacles and needing careful leading as never before, for the law of God was the key that opened the promised land. Presented together with reconsecration to God, the short, vivid, luminous sketch holds a practical, priceless, easily discerned lesson for remnant Israel today, to be adapted to urgent present needs for a richer, safer experience.