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Joshua 3

Joshua book home•Chapter 3 of 24•17 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Joshua 3 Overview

Israel moves to the Jordan and is told to follow the ark of the covenant while keeping a respectful distance because the people have not passed this way before. The LORD promises to magnify Joshua in Israel’s sight. When the priests carrying the ark step into the overflowing Jordan, the waters stop upstream, the priests stand on dry ground, and the entire nation crosses.

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Before you read Joshua 3

Coming from

Chapter 2 ended with the spies reporting that the LORD had delivered the land into Israel’s hand and that its inhabitants were afraid.

In this chapter

God himself opens Israel’s path into Canaan, publicly confirms Joshua’s leadership, and places the ark—the sign of his covenant presence—at the center of the crossing.

Leads into

Chapter 4 preserves the crossing in Israel’s memory through twelve stones taken from the Jordan and a memorial set at Gilgal.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The Jordan is specifically described as overflowing its banks during harvest, emphasizing that the crossing is not presented as a convenient shallow-water event. The ark goes before the people and remains in the riverbed while all Israel passes. The miracle also validates Joshua in a way consciously comparable to Moses: the people will know the living God is among them and will drive out the nations before them.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

Israel enters the land because God makes a way no human army could create.

Truth 2

The ark’s central place emphasizes that Israel’s advance depends on the LORD’s covenant presence.

Truth 3

Joshua’s authority is confirmed by God rather than manufactured by personal promotion.

Truth 4

The crossing is preparation for conquest: the same God who opens Jordan promises to drive out the nations.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Exodus 14 records the Red Sea crossing under Moses, the clear earlier parallel to this event.

Connection 2

Psalm 114 poetically recalls both the sea fleeing and Jordan being driven back.

Connection 3

Joshua 4 interprets the crossing as a sign meant to teach future generations and cause all peoples to know the LORD’s mighty hand.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not automatically turn crossing Jordan into a symbol of dying and going to heaven; in Joshua it is entry into a land that still contains warfare.

Keep this clear 2

The ark is not a magic object. Its significance is tied to the LORD who commands and goes before Israel.

Keep this clear 3

The comparison between Joshua and Moses concerns God’s public confirmation of leadership; it does not erase Moses’ unique prophetic role stated in Deuteronomy 34.

Read Joshua 3 watching for…

The distance Israel is told to keep from the ark.

The timing of the crossing during Jordan’s flood stage.

The promise that Joshua will be magnified before Israel.

Where the priests stand while the nation crosses.

The list of nations God says he will drive out.

Chapter outline3 sections

1-6Israel prepares to cross Jordan behind the ark 7-13The LORD promises to magnify Joshua and gives instructions for the crossing 14-17The Jordan stops and Israel crosses on dry ground

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.

And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

And Joshua said, Hereby ye 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 passeth over before you into Jordan.

Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

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.

And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

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Joshua 3:13

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