This Week's Worship

In the Middle Of the Water

The narrative of the Jordan River crossing reveals a miracle that reflects God’s providential plan for the people of Israel. The significance of this event lies in its profound engagement with a fragile aspect of human nature: the discipline of waiting. Unlike other miraculous interventions, this episode tested the endurance of faith in a prolonged and anticipatory manner, both for Joshua as leader and for the community he guided. This raises essential questions: why was such a test necessary, and in what ways did God employ the Jordan River crossing to examine and shape Israel’s faith?

Joshua 3:14-17 (NIV) 

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood secure on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.