Israel Crosses the Jordan on Dry GroundBible World
114:3Psalms 114:3
The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
Psalm 114:3 is the second strophe of a poem about Israel's exodus from Egypt. It belongs to the Historical Psalms that recount ancient Hebrew history in detail. It belongs to a song celebrating God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. It recalls the fleeing sea and the driven-back Jordan as signs of God's power in leading and delivering his people, with the Exodus and passage through the Red Sea in view.
The verse belongs to a group of psalms associated with the return from Babylonian captivity. The themes of that group include the mixed emotions of the returning exiles and the rebuilding and dedication of the second temple. Psalm 114 was part of the first section of the Hallelujah chanted at the Passover meal as Israel recounted God's deliverance from Egypt. The verse is an example of personification, giving life and action to an inanimate thing. That figure helps explain how the New Jerusalem described as the Lamb's bride can be said to have made herself ready.
The Lord's presence drove back both the sea at the Exodus and the Jordan at Israel's entry into the land. When Israel came out of Egypt, the sea fled and the Jordan was driven back, and every opposing power gave way before the Lord. God opened a way when the sea blocked escape and the Egyptians pursued, and the helpless people could only stand still and witness his saving power.
At the entry into the promised land the Jordan's proud, overflowing, turbulent waters were checked and piled mountain high like a mighty wall before the ark of God's law. They stopped as soon as the priests bearing the law stepped into the swelling waters. Below that bank of waters the priests stood with the ark, held by a power mightier than any wall. The ark held God's holy law condemning all sin, with the mercy seat of infinite compassion above it, and past it filed the whole host humble and penitent, grasping by faith the hand of him who held the waters. There God rolled away the reproach of Egypt from his children, and the descending river bore their sins in figure to oblivion in the Dead Sea, making Jordan to them a river of judgment, of acquittal, of consecration, of victory.
The Jordan crossing was as wonderful as the Red Sea crossing. Both display God's power to overcome obstacles that people cannot overcome by their own strength. The exodus deliverance pictures the call for God's people today to come out of the sinful world. It stands as a symbol of the soul's deliverance from sin and death. It remains a reminder that God can make a way and be appealed to in every peril.
Psalm 114:3 is the second strophe of a poem about Israel's exodus from Egypt. It belongs to the Historical Psalms that recount ancient Hebrew history in detail. It belongs to a song celebrating God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. It recalls the fleeing sea and the driven-back Jordan as signs of God's power in leading and delivering his people, with the Exodus and passage through the Red Sea in view.
The verse belongs to a group of psalms associated with the return from Babylonian captivity. The themes of that group include the mixed emotions of the returning exiles and the rebuilding and dedication of the second temple. Psalm 114 was part of the first section of the Hallelujah chanted at the Passover meal as Israel recounted God's deliverance from Egypt. The verse is an example of personification, giving life and action to an inanimate thing. That figure helps explain how the New Jerusalem described as the Lamb's bride can be said to have made herself ready.
The Lord's presence drove back both the sea at the Exodus and the Jordan at Israel's entry into the land. When Israel came out of Egypt, the sea fled and the Jordan was driven back, and every opposing power gave way before the Lord. God opened a way when the sea blocked escape and the Egyptians pursued, and the helpless people could only stand still and witness his saving power.
At the entry into the promised land the Jordan's proud, overflowing, turbulent waters were checked and piled mountain high like a mighty wall before the ark of God's law. They stopped as soon as the priests bearing the law stepped into the swelling waters. Below that bank of waters the priests stood with the ark, held by a power mightier than any wall. The ark held God's holy law condemning all sin, with the mercy seat of infinite compassion above it, and past it filed the whole host humble and penitent, grasping by faith the hand of him who held the waters. There God rolled away the reproach of Egypt from his children, and the descending river bore their sins in figure to oblivion in the Dead Sea, making Jordan to them a river of judgment, of acquittal, of consecration, of victory.
The Jordan crossing was as wonderful as the Red Sea crossing. Both display God's power to overcome obstacles that people cannot overcome by their own strength. The exodus deliverance pictures the call for God's people today to come out of the sinful world. It stands as a symbol of the soul's deliverance from sin and death. It remains a reminder that God can make a way and be appealed to in every peril.