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SURVEY OF BIBLE HISTORY
The Miraculous Crossing of the Jordan
Joshua Lesson 3; Works well with Jensen’s Chapter 3 & 4.

Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1998
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Joshua 3:1-4:18

The spies returned from Jericho, and Israel, moved to the banks of the Jordan in preparation for crossing: this account is recorded in Josh. 3:1-13:

1. To better understand this story, consider this background information:

a. From Shittim to the fords of Jordan is about 8 miles· The route lies through a hot, sandy plain broken by shallow, dry watercourses and sparse scrub. Eight miles would have been a good day's journey for such a large group as this·

b. Once by the river ford, Joshua and the people waited deliberately for the Lord to intervene, and make a crossing possible. At that season of the year, the river was customarily in flood stage. Note V. 15. Bro. Edgar Carlisle pointed out also in PROPHECY TODAY, that then the volume of water flowing in the Jordan was much greater than it is now. Irrigation,dams, and other uses, have greatly reduced it's size. To bring women and children, sheep and goats, tents and baggage, and other animals across would have been impossible short of a miracle.

c. To Joshua, God revealed that the river would form a dam and back up for as long as it took for Israel to cross· Listen to God's statement in V. 13, "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD. the LORD of all the earth~ shall rest in the waters of the. Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

2. Joshua did as the Lord commanded; and the waters of the Jordan stopped; and began to back up, forming a giant lake behind the dam and dry ground below it. Josh. 3:14-17:

a. The moment the feet of the priests J bearing the ark of the covenant touched the waters, the waters coming down the river stopped and began to rise as though a concrete levee was there. Note vs. 15 & 16.

b. A huge lake developed up river, even far beyond the city of Adam, apparently Damieh of later days. (Locate on map). Also note from V. 16, that all smaller tributaries also stopped; and "All the Israelites passed over on dry ground", V, 17.

c. All the time Israel passed over, the priests with the ark, stood directly in the center of the dry riverbed, V. 17.

d. As a memorial of this miraculous ushering of Israel into Canaan by God, 12 stones were set up in the center of the riverbed in the place where the priests stood, Josh. 4:9; and 12 more were taken (one by a representative from each tribe) and set up at Gilgal, near the cite of the crossing, Vs. 6-7,20 of Chap. 4.

e.After all the people were passed over, and the memorial stones erected, the priests with the ark, came upon to the west bank; and as soon as their feet touched dry land, about the normal water level of the river, the river waters returned as normal. Listen to V. 18 of.chp. 4, "And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD Were COme up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests feet were lifted up unto the dry l and~ that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before."

3. Many efforts have been made to explain this miracle away as being only a natural phenomenon such as an earthquake or tornado would cause:

a. Adam or Damieh is 16 miles upstream from Jericho or Shittim. The best middle ford of the Jordan is there (jisr el Damieh). Because of great earthen cliffs on the west banks in this area, the river has been temporarily blocked on several occasions by great mudslides. One is documented in 1266 A.D., and another in 1267, which blocked the river flow for 16 hours. An earthquake at 3:50 p.m. on July 11, 1927, caused the 150 foot high west bank of the Jordan, immediately below the ford to collapse. It fell directly across the river, and no water flowed for 21½ hours.

b. Deborah sang of this Israeli crossing in Judges 5:4, and said, "LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out Of the field of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water." King David also spoke of it in Psa. 114:1-8, Note the earthquake mentioned in V. 7

c. Obviously, the liberal skeptics argue' that a section of the cliffs at Adam collapsed in Joshua's day, making it possible for him and Israel to cross. I will grant that God could have done it this way; although I categorically deny that he did. I contend this is a true miracle, and not just a highly un-natural phenomenon. In the first place, Joshua spoke of the event before it occurred. Listen to him in Josh. 3:5, "And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tommorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." He was very specific in Josh. 3:13, "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark ofthe Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above. and they shall stand up on an heap." Even with our technical seismology equipment of today, we are not able to predict earthquake. Neither could Joshua by human means. In the second place, the waters backed up at the exact time the priests stepped into the waters, and returned at the exact time they got out. Such precision timing precludes the possibility of human intelligence or mere coincidental timing. Also, the exact amount of time for Israel to cross could not be coincidental. Third, the waters  backed up at the priests feet; not behind an earthen dam 16 miles away. Fourth, I wonder how the unexpected collapse of a dirt cliff 16 miles up river (out of sight of the people), would have sanctified God or Joshua in the people's eyes as V. 10 of chap. 3 says it would, and 4:14 says it did.

d. In my opinion it takes considerably more imagination to believe in an earthen dam theory than to believe the story the way God told it in his book, the Bible. I never cease to be amazed at the lengths to which men will go to explain away the accounts God has given of what has happened. I am reminded of Rom. 1:28, which says, "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." With Paul I say, "Let God be true, but every man a liar", Rom. 3:4. Men seem to have a bias against what God says. Rather than just believe him outright, they so often want to question him, and assume he meant something other than what he said. Men are always trying to reduce God to mere human abilities; and deny any such things as supernatural power. Today, we call it humanism; and men have been at it for centuries. Listen to how Paul put it in Rom. 1:23, "And changed the glory of the un-corruptible God into an image made like, to corruptible man and to birds and fourfooted beasts, and creepinq thinqs,"

Although, regardless of men's skepticism and their incessant efforts to reduce the supernatural to the unusual, you can be sure that however God said it happened is exactly how it happened. II Tim. 3:16 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." Not just 90%, or 99%, but "all scripture". No wonder Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Words Shall not pass away", in Matt. 24:35· The great O. T. prophet Isaiah said, "The qrass withereth. the flower fadeth: but the word of our god shall stand forever", Isa. 40:8.

QUESTIONS ON THE MIRACULOUS CROSSING OF THE JORDAN

Joshua 3:1-4:18

1. Describe the distance and terrain from Shittim to the banks of the Jordan.

2. What human preparations did Joshua and Israel make for passage across the Jordan?

3. What made this particular spot on the Jordan a favorable crossing area?

4. Why was this time a bad time to cross the river?

5. Compare the water flow of the ancient Jordan with it's current waterflow.

6. Why is the water flow less today than in Joshua's day?

7. What evidence do we have that Joshua knew in advance that the river would cease to flow long enough for Israel to cross?

8. When did the waters of Jordan start to back up?

9. When did the waters return to their natural flow?

10. How far upriver did the lake, created by the stoppage of the water flow extend?

11. What did the priests with the ark do as the people passed over?

12. What memorial was placed in midstream to commemorate this event?

13. What other memorial was established as a reminder of this event?

14. What natural phenomenon has occasionally occured causing the Jordan to temporarily cease it’s flow?

15. How do we know an earthquake occured at the time of Joshua's miraculous crossing?

16. How do some liberals try to explain away this miracle?

17. Give specific reasons why we know this was not only an unusual natural phenomenon.

18. What did this miracle cause the people to think of Joshua? and God?

19. What has been the humanistic reaction toward God by many men down through the centuries ?

20. Give evidence that the Bible is absolutely accurate.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"