OS 3{M. Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and came to Jordan with all the children of Israel, and lodged there for three days, as the Lord had said. And the officers went through the host and told the people that when they saw the ark and the Levites bearing it, they were to go after it.
S. I suppose they watched the ark all day to see where it would go.
M. Yes. They were to see it before them, but there was to be a space of two thousand cubits between it and them: they might not go near it, that they might know the way by which they went, for the Lord said, You have not gone this way before. So Joshua commanded the priests to take up the ark and pass over before the people; and he called the children of Israel to Him to hear the words of the Lord, and he said, By this you shall know that the living God is among you; and that He will without fail drive out all your enemies before you.
S. By what were they to know that?
M. By their passing safely through the Jordan. That was the place of death, but God had His purpose in bringing His people that way, so He said, There you shall know that the living God is with you. And the Lord told Joshua to choose twelve men out of all the tribes of Israel, and he did so.
Now the river Jordan was overflowing all its banks, for it was the time of harvest; and the priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, went on before the people, and the moment their feet touched the brink of the water, the stream which came down the river on one side stood still and rose up into a heap very far off; and the stream on the other side ceased, so the river became dry land! And the priests went on and stood on dry ground in the midst of Jordan until all the people were passed quite over to the other side. Then the Lord said that those twelve men whom Joshua had chosen wore to go and take up twelve stones from the spot where the priests' feet stood; so they each carried a stone upon his shoulder, and laid them down in the place where they were to lodge that night.
S. What were the twelve stones for?
M. For a memorial to the children of Israel forever, that they might teach their children how God dried up the waters of Jordan before the ark of the covenant.
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan where the priests' feet stood, so that there was a monument of their deliverance in the place of death as well as in the place of victory.
S. Did the ark go over last of all?
M. Yes. It went before them into Jordan, but the priests who bore it stood still in the midst of Jordan until all had gone over and -until all that the Lord had said was done. Also Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh went over armed, as Moses commanded them. Forty thousand people, prepared for war, passed over before the Lord to battle.
S. What a wonderful sight it must have been, mamma!
M. Yes. We can hardly imagine what it was like, the wide river dried up, the priests on before bearing the ark, now standing still in the deepest part, while the thousands of Israel passed by; men, women, and children, with the animals, and cattle, and all the Levites with the parts of the tabernacle, as I described to you when we were reading the Book of Numbers.
S. Were the people frightened when they saw the deep water?
M. No. For the moment the feet of the priests touched the brim of the water it all dried up! When Israel crossed the Red Sea the waters were a wall on the right hand and on the left; but in Jordan there was no water, there was nothing to be afraid of!
And on that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they feared him as they feared Moses all the days of his life. And at the word of the Lord Joshua commanded the priests to come up out of Jordan, and the moment their feet were lifted up on the dry land, the water flowed back again, flowing over all its banks as it had done before.
S. God did not take away the river then, mamma?
M. No. He left it there as deep in ever, but now it shut the people as to the promised land, the wilderness and Egypt were on the other side, and they encamped in Gilgal; and the stones which they took out of Jordan, Joshua pitched in Gilgal, that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty, and that Israel might fear the Lord their God forever.