Joshua 3:14-17 – The Strangeness of the LORD’s Method

Look at the little bit of information that is given in brackets at the end of v15: “(now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest)”. This detail might seem a frustrating interruption in the middle of an exciting report about a miracle!

V13 tells us that the waters of the river will stop when the priests’ feet touch it. From v14 onwards, the drama is building up – phrase after phrase. The people set out to cross the river. The priests go ahead of them. The priests reach the river. Their feet dip into the water. Then … we have this report in brackets on the river conditions! Why break up the tension and expectancy with this?!

Because it helps us to appreciate the miracle. This was no trickling stream the Israelites faced. It was a raging torrent – possibly a mile wide. This is an important detail. God led Israel through the Jordan at precisely the time of year when such an achievement looked and was impossible. The God of the Bible delights to show His might in the face of our apparent helplessness. This helps us see that we contribute nothing at all to our deliverance!

There is a strangeness about the LORD’s method. And yet there is method in such apparent ‘madness’. Perhaps He brings us into impossible circumstances, situations so bleak and hopeless, for the very purpose of teaching us that if we make it through, if we endure it, if we are not overwhelmed and washed away, it will only be because of His grace and power. It may be His way of showing us our own inability and helplessness so that we realise that our “help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:2).