Talk about hip deep, that's what the priests were at least when they entered the Jordan carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Today's text says that the Jordan River was at flood stage when the Children of Israel were to cross. They didn't have boats or bridges to cross, so just like when they crossed the Red Sea, God separated the waters so they could all cross on dry land.
One little catch. The priests carrying the ark had to go stand in the river while they all crossed. Only problem was that the river was still flowing at flood stage when they entered. Now when they entered God said that He would stop the flow of the Jordan. He did. But He stopped the flow at Adam near Zarethan, not at Jericho where they were crossing. I'm not a topologist, but just looking at the map, I'd say Adam was about 14-20 miles upstream.
So if God stopped the water at Adam, that means that priests had to stand in the middle of the rapidly flowing river while 14 miles plus of river passed. That had to be a little unsettling. At the Red Sea, the winds blew all night to separate the sea and nobody was standing in the middle of it. Here, these priests had to stand firm against the current holding the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders.
Talk about faith. I would have been a little concerned waiting for the first mile to pass. I'd have been thinking, "Okay, any minute now God. Do your thing. Dry up the river before we wash away." Those guys must have been unnerved a little. God told them to march in, but the apparently the dry land didn't immediately appear.
Waiting on God is difficult. Why God took so long to dry up the water is unclear. Maybe He wanted to give the greatest opportunity for people upstream to know He was doing something. Maybe He was testing the faith of Joshua or the priests. Maybe He needed a lot of ground to get all the Israelites across.
Whatever His reason, the priests had a little standing to do in the river.
I confess, I've done my fair share of standing in the river waiting for the water to pass. I've obeyed God on faith, but haven't seen instantaneous results of my faith. Sometimes I've had to stand there while waters continued to rage around me. I've thought I was going to washed away. I've got impatient with God, only to watch Him work things out in His time.
God, standing in our Jordans create a lot of trepidation. We stand on your promises, but it seems so hard when the waters seem to be rising instead of receding. I need your strength to continue to stand and not run out of the river. Help me be courageous as I stand on your promise.
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