(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 3:1–6, “And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.”
We can pray about things and plan as much as we like but nothing will ever happen unless we actually set out to complete the task. Forty years earlier Israel refused to set out to take possession of the Promised Land and the Lord punished them by making them wander for forty years through the wilderness. However, at this stage, Israel set out to enter the Promised Land. They camped next to the Jordan River, the eastern boundary of the Land they were called to take. Israel were acting as the Lord’s agents to punish the Amorites for their sin and the fact that they had debased the good land they lived in. In order to act as the Lord’s agents Israel needed to be ceremonially pure. They were told to make sure that they were ready to serve the Lord so they had to wash themselves and go through the process of preparing to serve the Lord. While Israel travelled in the wilderness the Tabernacle and the ark were in the middle of the tribes (Numbers 10:15–18, “And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.) However, when Israel went to war the ark was taken first so that the people would know that they were following the Lord’s commandments and they would know that the Lord was going before them to make sure that His promises came to pass.
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