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The Beginning of the End
By divine direction, Joshua commanded the people to put away
their sins and free themselves from all outward impurity, “for tomor-
row,” he said, “the Lord will do wonders among you.” The “ark of
the covenant” was to lead the way, carried toward the river by the
priests from its place in the center of the camp. “By this you shall
know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail
drive out from before you the Canaanites. ... Behold, the ark of the
covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into
the Jordan.”
At the appointed time the forward movement began, with the ark
leading the way, carried on the shoulders of the priests. An empty
space of more than half a mile separated the ark from the people.
Everyone watched with deep interest as the priests walked down the
bank of the Jordan. They saw the sacred ark move steadily toward
the surging stream till the feet of the priests carrying the ark went
into the waters. Then suddenly the waters above were swept back,
while the current below flowed on, and the riverbed was exposed.
The priests moved to the middle of the channel and stood there
while the entire mass of people descended and crossed to the farther
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side. The power that held back the waters of Jordan was the same
that had opened the Red Sea to the previous generation forty years
before. When the people had all passed over, the ark itself was
carried to the western shore. No sooner had “the soles of the priests’
feet touched the dry land” than the trapped waters rushed down, an
overpowering flood, in the natural channel of the stream.
While the priests carrying the ark were still in the middle of the
Jordan, twelve men, one from each tribe, each took a stone from
the riverbed where the priests were standing and carried them over
to the western side. These stones were to be set up as a monument
in the first camping place beyond the river, as Joshua said, “that all
the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is
mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
This miracle assured Israel of God’s continued presence and
protection, showing that He would work for them through Joshua
as He had through Moses. The Lord had told Joshua before the
crossing, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel,
that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”