The Feet of the Priests - Joshua 3:13

In the book of Joshua, we learned how, “the LORD said unto Joshua, … command the priests … when you are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God. And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man”, and in chapter three and verse thirteen of the book of Joshua, Joshua shared what would happen, “as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD” where we read,

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; and they shall stand upon an heap.

The verse reads, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, …” Joshua or the writer began with the words, “and it shall come to pass” which means “and the following will happen and occur”, “as soon as the soles of the feet” or “at the moment the bottom hollow or flat part pertaining to the physical feet” “of the priests” which means “belonging to the spiritual principal officers and chief rulers” “that bear the ark of the LORD” or “who lift up and carry the box or chest belonging to Jehovah whose name means the existing One and is the proper name for the One True God” the following will happen. Joshua told the people how the following would happen at the moment the “priests” who were carrying the “ark of the covenant” put the bottom of their “feet” in the following place.

 

The verse goes on to say, “… 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; and they shall stand upon an heap.” Joshua continued with the words, “the Lord of all the earth” or “the ruler, Yahweh, who rules over each, the whole and everything within the district, region, territory and world”, “shall rest in the waters” which means “will settle down, remain and have repose within the flowing transitory waters” “of Jordan” or “belonging to the Jordan whose name means descender and was the river of Palestine running from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the Dead Sea a distance of approximately 200 miles (320 km)”, “that the waters” which means “that the flowing transitory waters” “of Jordan” or “belonging to Jordan whose name means descender and was the river of Palestine running from the roots of Anti-Lebanon to the Dead Sea a distance of approximately 200 miles (320 km)” “shall be cut off” which means “will exist as stopped and hewn down” “from the waters that come down from above” or “separate and apart from the flowing transitory waters that descend separate and apart from upstream”: “and they shall stand upon an heap” which means “and they, the waters of the Jordan, will remain, endure and continue as a pilling up or mound”. Joshua said at the moment the “priests” rested the soles of their feet into the Jordan river, the waters would stop flowing from upstream and pile up like a mound.

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how Jehovah God was to do a miracle for the people of Israel as they crossed the “Jordan” river. Like Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea (See Exodus 14:19-22), God would again divide waters so the people of Israel could cross to the other side. This time rather than Moses’ rod held over the waters, the priests were to enter the waters, and when their feet were in the river, the waters would stop flowing from upstream and pile up into a mound. God’s work was to be accomplished, and although He varied the implementation, He was still at work in the lives of the people of Israel. God wants to work in our lives as well, and that work involves receiving His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead after three days. When we submit to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and help us to know when He is working marvelously in our lives. 

Next time Joshua shares what happened, “when the people removed from their tents”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".