Question:

Nowadays the Jordan River has almost ceased to exist. What was so special about crossing this river in the time of Joshua?


It was spring, when seasonal rains, plus melting snow from Mt. Hermon, put the river at flood stage. Many of the well-known fords were now covered by deep water, swift and dangerous.

Questions:

Had the two spies returning from Jericho experienced any special trouble in crossing the Jordan from west to east?


None was recorded.


So, what could be the problem in crossing from east to west?


The spies were strong young men. The people of Israel were composed of men, women, and children of all ages. They were probably also herding a lot of animals.

Texts:

Deuteronomy 2:35
“We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves…”


Deuteronomy 3:7
“But we kept all the livestock for ourselves…”

Texts:

Compare Joshua 3:5 with 3:7.


Joshua 3:5


Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”


Joshua 3:7 


The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses.

Questions:

At the end of the day, who is going to be considered great in the eyes of the people?


God, Joshua, or both?


Have God and Joshua become good friends, who know that they can trust each other? Neither tries to inflate his own reputation. Each shares good news about the other.

Text:

Joshua 3:8

Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”

Question:

“Take steps into the river, yes?”
“No, not now. Not until verse 13.”

Text:

9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says.

10 “Today you will know that the living God is among you…

11 “Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River, Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.”

Question:

What are these men chosen to do?

For now, we don’t know. But we can feel the suspense building.
And what will happen next?

Text:

13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.

Question:

How far upstream? Will we actually watch it happen?

Text:

14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.

15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge,

Question:

Yes! Tell us quickly. What happened?

Text:
16 the water above that point began backing up

Question:

Yes! but how far above that point?

Text:
16 a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan.

That was about 20 miles upstream! None of the Israelites got to observe the method by which God stopped the river. But would God’s impeccable timing, and his promised results, be impressive enough?

Question:

Is there historical or geological evidence that the Jordan River has been stopped by earthquakes/landsides, not once, but on several occasions?

Let’s ask geophysicist Amos Nur (1938-2024):

1267 The Jordan stopped at flood time; the mechanism was not described.

1546 Waters of the Jordan river were cut off for two days by a landslide above today’s Damiya (or Damia) bridge, c. 26 kilometers north of Jericho; and there was a tsunami in the Dead Sea.

1906 The Jordan was stopped near Jericho for 24 hours.

1927 There was an earthquake (retrospectively judged to be about magnitude 6.6) producing a landslide 15 kilometers north of Jericho. Aftershocks continued until 1930.

The earthquake was large enough to be recorded at seismological stations then in existence in Europe, South Africa, North America, and the USSR.

Question:

This remarkable event happened too long ago for us to be sure what God did. But if we knew that God stopped the Jordan River by an earthquake, which set off a landslide, damming the river for one day, would it still be a divine miracle?

“As with most miracles, it is…. the timing that is significant.” — (personal communication, Lawrence Geraty, 28 August 2025).

“When you can explain a miracle, have you explained it away?”
—Jack Provonsha (1920-2004).

Text:

16 the water above that point began backing up and the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

Question:

Don’t you wish that you were a news photographer, with just the right camera, in just the right position, documenting this one-time event?

Which would be more impressive? Watching thousands of people and their animals, courteously waiting for each other, as they all used the same ford?

Or not even needing to cross at a ford? Now the whole river was dry, for miles to both the right and the left. There was plenty of room for many people, and lots of animals to cross, just about wherever and whenever they pleased!

Text:

17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

Lesson Guide:

Later, the Israelites meditated on these acts and, as a result, praised the Lord (Ps. 9:1) and proclaimed Him among the nations (Ps. 96:3).

Question:

Would these wonderful acts, and the resulting praise that Israel gave to God be best recorded in Israel’s history book, or in their songbook?

OR maybe in both?

Texts:

Compare Psalm 96:1b

“Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!”

with

1 Chronicles 16:23a

“Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!”

Compare Psalm 96:2b

“Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.”

with

1 Chronicles 23b

“Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.”

Compare Psalm 96:3

“Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
“Tell everyone about the amazing things he does,”

with

1 Chronicles 16:24

“Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
“Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.”

Questions:

And did the people of Israel in fact publish God’s glorious deeds among the nations?

Did they tell everyone about the amazing things He did?

If so, when and where did they share this good news?

Meanwhile, back in the river:

Question:

Should the priests receive a special commendation, for simply standing in one place for hours, holding the ark on their shoulders, while humming softly to themselves, “O wait, meekly wait and murmur not?”

Wait a minute! Are we going to end chapter 3, with the priests still in the middle of a dry river?

And what about those 12 men—
who were selected in verse 12—
from each of the 12 tribes?

The suspense is killing us; we can’t stop right here!

TUESDAY October 14

Lesson Guide: Read Joshua 4.

Questions:

Why did God ask the Israelites to build a memorial?
Did the people of Israel perhaps have short memories?
And why do we also build memorials?Question:

Remember those twelve men chosen in chapter 3 verse 12?

12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

Questions:

What have these twelve especially chosen men been doing?
Nothing so far?
Maybe they are getting a bit perplexed?
They were chosen for what?

Text: Chapter 4

1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,
2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe.

Question:

Please, Joshua, with all due respect: You did that already, back in Chapter 3.
Do these chosen men now have an actual have a job to do?

Text: Chapter 4

3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel.

5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Question:

Joshua, again, pardon my question. On both banks of the river there are already big round stones—just like those in the middle. But we’re going to pick up big stones from the middle of the river, and do what with them?

Text:

6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

Question:

And will this memorial that we’re building have an engraved bronze plaque explaining the reason for this pile of stones?

Answer?

No. Remember that hardly any of our people can read or write. This pile of river rocks, far from the river, will look unusual. Children ask questions about unusual things. When they ask about these rocks, you will tell them your story about how you crossed the flooded river on dry ground. Then you will ask your children to tell the story to their children, and so on….

Text:

8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

Text:

9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.

Question:

“Wait a minute; let me get this straight: We have just carried on our shoulders, twelve stones from the middle of the river. And we have stacked them next to our camp.

OK so far. Now Joshua goes down to the still-dry riverbed, where the very patient priests are still standing, still holding the ark on their shoulders.

There in the middle of the river, Joshua makes another stack of big rocks. And when the floodwaters return to their bed, will this second pile of rocks be miraculously preserved? And for how long?

Might “this day” be a note-to-self from a scribe, copying the story while Joshua was still alive?

Could “this day” be a comment by a later editor?

If “this day” can mean that Joshua’s second rock pile is still there in the middle of the Jordan River [4:9],

and “this day” can mean that Rahab is still accepted in Israel [6:25],

and “this day” [17:63] means that the Jebusites still control Jerusalem,

and there are about 20 more “this day” references in the book of Joshua alone,

can we understand that “this day” is a rather elastic term?

Is it all right to admit that in the Bible are some terms that “still to this day” we simply don’t understand?

Text: Joshua 4

10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the Lord’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed.

11 And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the Lord as the people watched.

Let’s imagine that Jericho had sent one or more spies to observe Israel’s crossing of the Jordan:

Are these spies from Jericho impressed with a God who can, when he so wishes, dry up the Jordan River?

Are they impressed with the purpose and quiet order of the Israelites as they cross the Jordan?

Are they impressed with the patient endurance of the priests, who have been standing all day in the middle of the river?

And what is the secret of the box that the priests have been all day holding on their shoulders?

If, as Rahab previously reported, all the people of Jericho are terrified of Israel’s God, will their terror now be enhanced by the presence of 40,000 armed men, ready for battle?

The king of Jericho will be very interested in Israelite battle plans. Yes, he feels reasonably secure in his well-fortified city.

But now that his spies have seen how the Israelites crossed the Jordan, he has another question:

King of Jericho:
“As you watched a parade of 40,000 armed men, ready for battle, how many battering rams, ladders, catapults, or other siege machines did you count?”

Spies:
“Your Honor, we saw no war machines. The army carried only swords, spears, and shields.”

King of Jericho:
“What? No siege equipment? No war machines? None at all?”

Spies: “No sir, none.”

King of Jericho: “So, what do you imagine will be their battle plan?”

Spies: “We’re sorry, your honor, we have no idea at all.”

Text:

14 That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses.

15 The Lord had said to Joshua,

16 “Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed.”

17 So Joshua gave the command.

18 As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before.

Text:

19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho.

20 It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River.

21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’

22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

23 For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over.

Question:

And what was the main point of this monument?

24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.