3:1–5:12. Jordan. The Passage Of It.

D  E¹  3:1–4:24. Event. The Passage.
   E²  5:1-12. Event. After the Passage.

3:1–4:24. Event. The Passage.

E¹  F  n  3:1-6. The Ark going before.
        o  3:7. Joshua magnified. (Promise).
         p  3:8. Commands to Priests.
          q  r  3:9-17. Cutting off of the waters.
              s  4:1-10. Memorial.
    F  n  4:11-13. The Ark going before.
        o  4:14. Joshua magnified. (Performance).
         p  4:15-17. Commands to Priests.
          q  r  4:18,19. Return of the waters.
              s  4:21-24. Memorial.

Joshua 3)

1: And Joshua rose early in the morning (i.e. after the command in 1:2); and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

30th March, 1451 B.C.

2: And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the host (= camp);
3: And they commanded the people, saying, “When you all see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God (not the cloud, but the ark; as from Sinai. Cp. Num. 10:23), and the priests and the Levites going before bearing it (Ellipsis supplied from next clause), then you all shall remove from your place, and go after it.
4: Yet there shall be a space between you and it (this is very significant. Cp. Ex. 19:12,13,22. Lev.10:3), about two thousand cubits by measure (about 1 1/2 miles): come not near to it, that you all may know the way by which you all must go: for you all have not passed this way heretofore.”
5: And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
6: And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people.” And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

7: And the Lord said to Joshua (9 various times: 3:7; 5:2; 6:2; 7:10; 8:1,18; 10;8; 11:6; 13:1), “This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, according as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

8: And you shall command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you all are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you all shall stand still in Jordan.’ ”

3:9–4:10. Cutting Off, and Memorial.

r  t  3:9-16. The cutting off.
    u  3:17. Priests' feet standing firm.
   t  4:1-9. The Memorial.
    u  4:10. Priests' feet standing firm.

3:9-16. The Cutting Off.

t  v  3:9-12. Ark going before.
    w  3:13. Prediction. Waters.
   v  3:14. Ark going before.
    w  3:15,16. Fulfillment. Waters.

9: And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come to this place, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”
10: And Joshua said, “Hereby you all shall know that the living GOD is among you (this title always used has a latent reference to idols. Here, to the gods of the idolatrous nations named), and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and (note the 7 nations) the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
11: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth (Heb. the Adôn of all the earth. A title connected with sovereignty in the earth. Cp. 3:11,13. Zech. 6:5, the only 3 occurrences of this full title. Cp. Ps. 97:5. Mic.4:13. Zech. 4:14) passes over before you into Jordan.
12: Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel (#12 = governmental perfection.), out of every tribe a man.

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 Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above (3 times: here, for Israel; 2 Kings 2:8 for Elijah; and 2 Kings 2:14, for Elisha); and they shall stand upon one heap” (cp. Ps. 114:3).

14: And it came to pass, when the People removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

15: And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, {for Jordan overflows (so to the present day) all his banks all the time of barley harvest (cp. 2:6),}
16: That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam (the waters were divided at or near the city "Adam", and they were heaped up at or near "Zaretan"), that is beside Zaretan (from Heb. root = pierce, puncture. In the land of Mannaseh. Called Zartanah in 1 Kings 4:12. The brazen vessels of the temple were cast there in the plain of Jericho [1 kings 7:46]): and those that came down toward the sea of the plain (i.e. the Dead Sea), even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the People passed over right against Jericho (a way cleft through the sea [Ex.14], through the river [Josh 3], and in the future through the spirit [Phil.3:14. 1 Thess. 4:17).

17: And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the people were finished passed over Jordan.

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