Joshua 3:1-5: a reflection

1Joshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They camped there before they crossed over. 2After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp; 3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the LORD your God’s covenant, and the Levitical priests bearing it, then leave your place and follow it. 4Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure—don’t come closer to it—that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.” 5Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

Israel stands at the edge of the Jordan, about to enter a land they have never seen, and the officers give the people an instruction: when you see the ark of the covenant, follow it, that you may know the way you should go, and then a reason, for you have not passed this way before. It is a phrase that speaks to anyone facing the unknown: you have not passed this way before.

Notice how God prepares them for uncharted territory. Not with a detailed map, but with his presence to follow. Keep your eyes on the ark, they are told, and it will show you the way, precisely because you do not know it. When the path is unfamiliar and you have never been here before, the direction comes not from your own knowledge of the route but from following where God's presence leads. And Joshua adds, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you, prepare your hearts, because God is about to act.

There is guidance here for the new and uncharted stretches of our own lives, the situations we have never faced before, where we cannot see the way ahead. You have not passed this way before, and that is exactly why the instruction is to follow God's presence rather than rely on your own familiarity with the route. Keep your eyes on him, prepare your heart, and expect him to do wonders. He knows the way through the territory you have never crossed. Follow the ark, and step in.

Lord, I am facing territory I have never crossed before, and I cannot see the way. Like Israel at the Jordan, help me keep my eyes on your presence rather than rely on my own knowledge of the route. Prepare my heart, and lead me through the unfamiliar. I follow you, trusting that you know the way and will do wonders. Bring me across.