Joshua 3:6-17: a reflection

6Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over before the people.” They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” 9Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.” 10Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. 12Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. 13It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of GOD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.” 14When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, 15and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), 16the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over near Jericho. 17The priests who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.

When Israel comes to the Jordan at flood stage, blocking their way into the promised land, God's instruction requires an act of faith before the way is opened. The priests bearing the ark are to step into the water first, and only then, when their feet touch the water, will the river be cut off. And so it happens: when the feet of the priests dipped in the edge of the water, the waters stood and rose up in a heap, and the people crossed on dry ground. The priests had to step into the water before it parted; faith had to act, to step out, before the way was made clear. The parting came as they stepped in, not before.

Notice the order: the priests step into the water first, and then it parts. God did not part the river and then invite them to cross; he required them to step into the water while it was still flowing, and the parting came as their feet touched it. Faith had to act before it saw the way opened; the priests had to step out into what still looked impassable, and the way opened as they stepped. Had they waited for the river to part before stepping in, they would have waited forever; the parting came in response to their stepping out in faith. The obedience preceded the miracle; faith acted before it saw, and the way opened as it stepped forward.

That is worth taking to heart, for faith often must step out before the way is made clear, and the way opens as we step. We can want to see the way opened before we act, to have the obstacle removed before we move forward; but the priests had to step into the Jordan while it still flowed, and the way parted as they stepped. Faith often acts before it sees, stepping out into what still looks impassable, trusting God to open the way as we go. Do not always wait for the way to be made clear before you step out in faith; sometimes the way opens as you step, as the Jordan parted when the priests stepped in. Step out in faith when God calls, even before the way is made clear, trusting that the way can open as you go, as the priests stepped into the Jordan and the waters parted as their feet touched them; for faith often must act before it sees, and God can open the way as we step out in obedience rather than before, so that the way parts in response to our stepping forward in faith.

Lord, when Israel comes to the Jordan at flood stage, blocking their way into the promised land, your instruction requires an act of faith before the way is opened. The priests bearing the ark are to step into the water first, and only then, when their feet touch the water, will the river be cut off. And so it happens: when the feet of the priests dipped in the edge of the water, the waters stood and rose up in a heap, and the people crossed on dry ground. The priests had to step into the water before it parted. Show me the order: the priests step into the water first, and then it parts. You did not part the river and then invite them to cross; you required them to step into the water while it was still flowing, and the parting came as their feet touched it. Faith had to act before it saw the way opened. Had they waited for the river to part before stepping in, they would have waited forever; the parting came in response to their stepping out in faith. The obedience preceded the miracle. Take that to my heart, for faith often must step out before the way is made clear, and the way opens as I step. I can want to see the way opened before I act, to have the obstacle removed before I move forward; but the priests had to step into the Jordan while it still flowed. Faith often acts before it sees. Keep me from always waiting for the way to be made clear before I step out in faith; sometimes the way opens as I step, Lord, as the Jordan parted when the priests stepped in. Help me step out in faith when you call, even before the way is made clear, trusting that the way can open as I go.