In Joshua 3:7-17, we have a text that seems to reflect an early act of worship by the Israelites as the re-enacted entry into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.
The initiative for the scene is with the Lord: 7 The Lord said to Joshua. Joshua will be the first of the “judges” of the Tribal Federation Period of the history of Israel. He has a high stature, separate from future judges. Joshua will oversee the triumphal entry of the Ark into the Promised Land, with the voice of the Lord confirming the responsibility of Joshua for this act. “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. 8 You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” The scene unfolds with great drama and suspense. Behind the crossing over is the power of the Lord. In his "opening night" role as Israel's anointed leader, Joshua's command and timing are impeccable. Yet even his words lend authority to the status of his own role as Joshua focuses the whole meaning behind this "crossing over" on Yahweh's power and plans that await Israel on the other side of the divide. With the Ark of the Covenant front and center, the text shows its symbolic importance. The power of the Lord is amid the people. It symbolizes the covenant as the living promise that binds the Lord to the people and them to their Lord. 9 Joshua then said to the Israelites, “Draw near and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 Joshua said, “By this you shall know, such knowledge recognizing the relationship that exists between the sovereign and the subjects, that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: 11 the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan, emphasizing the respect early Israel showed toward this symbol of the presence and power of the Lord among them. We can see the similarity of this passage with Exodus 15:8 and Psalm 78:13. This is the Ark of the Covenant. The covenant itself is the living promise that binds Yahweh to the people and them to their God stands at the water's edge with the people. The River Jordan varies 2-14 miles in width, 3-12 feet in depth. The soft limestone banks sometimes temporarily disrupt the flow of water. 12 So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. Joshua now reveals that here on Jordan's bank, another great miracle is about to take place. The language used to describe the Jordan's abrupt drying up is intentionally reminiscent of that used to describe the miraculous Red Sea parting. 13 When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.” In Exodus 14:21-22 and 15:8, we find a similar statement related to Moses, as the waters formed a wall to their right and left and as the waters piled up and stood up in a heap. Yet while the obvious intention is to demonstrate the close connection between Moses' leadership on the shores of the Red Sea and Joshua's role here on the banks of the Jordan, there are differences. Like Moses, God tells Joshua how to proceed to cross the water. Unlike Moses, however, Joshua himself does not actually participate in performing the miracle. He describes what the result will be when the feet of the ark bearing priests step into the river. However, Joshua either does not know or does not reveal exactly how God intends to go about stopping the Jordan's flow. It was time for the annual flooding of the river. The focus is on the ark of the covenant of the Lord rather than Joshua. The living and guiding presence of the Lord is what stands amid this miracle. The Israelites must pass through the covenant in a symbolic way in order to enter the Promised Land.
14 When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. 15 Now, the Historian informs us as readers, the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, 16 the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The Hebrew text provides a dramatic and drawn out narrative at this point. It describes the details of the people's physical arrangements. It presents the seasonal conditions of the Jordan's waters (it is the time of the annual floods). 17 While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, as Joshua had promised, the moment the priests' feet touch the waters, miraculous events begin to occur, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. We might wonder how the stopping of the river occurred. History records the collapse of very soft limestone banks temporarily damning the stream is recorded on Dec. 12, 1267, July 11, 1927, and in 1906. If Joshua did not care to describe the engineering details that cause the Jordan's waters to halt, the narrator here has no such qualms. The geography of the entire area affected by the ark's being carried into the water is described at length. It is evident that this miracle has far-reaching ramifications. Israel's God did not sneak into the Promised Land unannounced. The narrator is careful to return to the source of all this activity as the text records the people's actual "crossing over." Joshua is shortly out of sight. Instead, the text focuses once again on the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. The living, guiding presence of God literally and figuratively stands amid this miracle. The ark and the covenant occupy center stage in the drama acting as the only gate through which the Israelites must pass in order to safely cross over and enter the Promised Land.
The Deuteronomist Historian is drawing upon liturgy and ritual from early sources. Robert Boling says that verses 3-6 are dramatization reported in early sanctuaries. It is a liturgical conquest. The historians used worship sources to describe historical events. This is liturgical material with a complex history. It celebrates entry into the land. One can see the recounting of these saving events in Micah.
Micah 6:4-5 (NRSV)
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”
One of the significant worship experiences of the period of the Tribal Federation was the ritual re-enactment of the entry of the tribes into Canaan by crossing the River Jordan. Migration of a new people into Canaan had occurred before, as the presence of Philistines reminds us. Israelite or Hebrew tribes entered Canaan, bringing with them a social and religious transformation. From the social side, the tribal system of organization proved more effective than the system of city-states in facing the challenges of the 1200’s and 1100’s. From a religious perspective, the Israelite tribes brought with them the Ark of Covenant as a symbol of the covenant established with Yahweh through Moses. The development of a system of laws rooted in this covenant with Yahweh introduced a new way of believing and living that brought conflict into the land. Fertility and nature cults in Canaan continued their strong hold upon the minds and hearts of people. The struggle would continue for centuries.
As a remembrance of the significance of the entry of Israelite tribes into Canaan, one of the ritual acts of worship was to re-enter the land symbolically, probably as part of a covenant renewal festival. The center of attention was the Ark of the Covenant. It was a war palladium in Numbers 10:35 (P). The Ark was the portable throne of the Divine suzerain. The Ark occupied the holiest place in the tabernacle, which was also portable. Leaders sought oracular decisions from it. The people made special preparations of themselves the day before the service. The priests carried the Ark in front of the people. The service remembered the liberation from Egypt and the military victories in the wilderness. Each of the tribes had a representative place memorial stones as a remembrance of liberation.
The symbolic "crossing over" marks the first real demonstration of Joshua's divinely anointed leadership since Moses' death. It is under Joshua's exacting directions that the Jordan crossing is executed. Speaking under Yahweh's authority, Joshua commands the people on every nuance affecting this climactic moment. Joshua organizes the ranks, orders ritualistic sanctification, oversees the movement of the Ark of the Covenant, times the actual crossing and designates 12 special tribal representatives. What is more, after the crossing is completed, Joshua arranges for an everlasting memorial to be erected and honored as a reminder to succeeding generations of what God has done. With the ceremony, Joshua also crosses over from his previous identity as Moses' right hand man and plenipotentiary to his new position as Israel's authoritative leader and Yahweh's mouthpiece. In the verses just preceding, Joshua explicitly extends his authority over the placement and presentation of the great Ark of the Covenant. While the ark remains under the hands-on care of the Levitical priests (only they may carry it about), all others are commanded to give the sacred box a wide berth. Joshua is clearly in control of the ark's presence before the people.
This event has inspired powerful reflections upon conquering the obstacles of life. The River Jordan is a symbol for the obstacles and challenges that have arisen in your life that seem to block you from experiencing what God wants in your life.
Imagine the scene. It is 1950, and in Carnegie Hall, just off Broadway in New York City an historic event is taking place. The famous venue, which has hosted world-class musicians and singers throughout its history, now for the first time, sees a gospel singer take the stage, a colored singer at that. She glides to the stage and stands before a sea of faces that are not like her face -- at all! Lot of white folk there. But the orchestra plays and then, from the depths of her soul, her powerful contralto voice brings forth the following words, to which you may even want to close your eyes and imagine:
Roll, Jordan, roll;
Roll, Jordan, roll;
I want to get to heaven when I die,
To hear old Jordan roll.
The fact that she is standing on that famous stage at all is a wonder. She is almost 40 years old on that night, and her life story is one of crossing over boundaries and overcoming obstacles, just like the song she sings. As I have been learning more about her, she had her River Jordan to cross. She had her obstacles to conquer.
Are you ready to face the River Jordan of your life? Are you prepared to face the River Jordan in your life? Are you willing to face your obstacles? “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase,” said Martin Luther King Jr. Faith means willingness to take the first step toward conquering your obstacles, most of which are inside of you, refusing to let the obstacle to conquer you.
Stephen Covey in Principle-Centered Leadership (1990), said that leaders need to gain a private victory. Any of us may have obstacles by the accident of birth and other external settings. Yet, the point is that the greatest obstacles we face are within. We can conquer these obstacles by gaining a victory over the forces within us that will keep us from being all that we could be.
Are you prepared to cross over the Jordan you are now facing? How can you "cross over" with confidence into the future God has planned for you? How the church face the 21st century Jordan?
The personal story Steve Jobs tells is the obstacles he had to face in his life. His biological mother adopted him out. She made sure the adoptive parents would send him to college. He did so – for six months. He dropped out, but hung around, taking the classes in which he had interest. Looking back, he can connect the dots. However, one cannot connect the dots looking forward. It will take trust and confidence now, that what you do not see as connected today will become connected in the future. Faith or belief that they will connect will give you the confidence to move forward. Do not let obstacles stop you.
Mahalia Jackson's story is one of many in which people overcome great obstacles in order to reach their full potential. The children of Israel, themselves a people without a home, wandering around in the desert after escaping from their own taskmasters, came to the banks of the flooded Jordan River and saw it as an insurmountable obstacle to the realization of their hopes and dreams. Some scouts went into Canaan and all they saw were giants. The Promised Land lay just on the other side, but the barrier was too great. Too great, of course, unless it is God who is leading the way.
Little wonder that the Jordan River and the Promised Land were favorite metaphors for the slaves of the Civil War era and in the civil rights movement. Slavery was a major obstacle that, sadly, some Americans had to face. Michael P. Graves and David Fillingim in their book More Than Precious Memories: The Rhetoric of Southern Gospel Music, shed some light upon the imagery and metaphor of the Jordan River and the Promised Land for the Civil War-era slave:
"The themes of 'Jordan' and 'Canaan' have biblical connotations, but surely there is some influence from another source of songs in the South. The Jordan River was a euphemism among Southern slaves for the Ohio River. If slaves could cross the Ohio River into free states, then they would be made free. In essence, the area north of the Ohio river was viewed as the promised land. Slave songs used the Jordan River and the promised land to communicate about freedom."
Yes, the imagery of heaven did not lead to inaction, but rather, to hope for a better life in America.
Roll, Jordan, roll; (Charles Wesley)
Roll, Jordan, roll;
I want to get to heaven when I die,
To hear old Jordan roll.
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, (Samuel Stennant, 1787)
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
O'er all those wide extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns,
And scatters night away.
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
No chilling winds or poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and feared no more.
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
When I shall reach that happy place,
I'll be forever blessed,
For I shall see my Father's face,
And in His bosom rest
Faith means refusing to be stopped. You can stop at the River Jordan in your life, or you can move on. You can let the obstacle stop you, or you can move around it, over it, under it, through it, or whatever else you need to do. Of course, when the priests dip their toes in the water, the promise of the Lord becomes a reality. The waters stand up on the north side of the crossing, and the people cross over on dry ground. The people move from becoming a people wandering in the desert to a people confident in God, who cares for them. God made it possible; faith made it a reality.
Nobody would have been surprised if little Halie Jackson had simply settled for life as a poor child, eking out a living in the back streets of New Orleans. “Baby, black promoters oppressed me before white promoters ever got hold of me. Don't talk skin to me.” Sure, she had a natural talent, but everyone has talent that can make a difference in the lives of others. She could have settled or, when she began to have some success, she could have compromised her beliefs in order to land the certainty of a big payday. Many people come to a major barrier in their lives and decide that it is just better to stay on the desert side of the river than to risk any more pain.
* Without a song, each day would be a century.
* Anybody who sings the blues is in a deep pit, yelling for help.
* Blues are the songs of despair, but gospel songs are the songs of hope.
Remember that old adage: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice." Mahalia Jackson practiced not only her singing, but also her faith. The Israelites practiced for 40 years before they crossed over.
* I hope to bring people to God with my songs.
* When you sing gospel, you have a feeling there is a cure for what's wrong.
Truth is that if we want to overcome the obstacles in our own lives, then we are going to need to practice being people who trust that God will make a way for us when there seems to be no way. That trust, that faith, is not merely a passive wishing that God would do something for us. It means that we are willing to keep walking in the right direction, no matter what is in front of us.
Civil rights leader, theologian and educator Howard Thurman calls this willingness to keep walking in the right direction as a "refusal to be stopped."
"This is the discovery made by the slave that finds its expression in song -- a complete and final refusal to be stopped."
In his Deep River: Reflections on the Spiritual Insight of Certain of the Negro Spirituals, he continues:
“The spirit broods over all the stubborn and recalcitrant aspects of experience, until they begin slowly but inevitably to take the shape of one's deep desiring. ... Under such a circumstance even one's deepest distress becomes so sanctified that a vast illumination points the way to the land one seeks. ... He who has made that discovery knows at last that he can stand anything that can happen to him."
Mahalia Jackson overcame obstacles through her faith and participated in a movement that changed the world for many people. What are you willing to do in order to break through your own barriers, and, with God's help, change the world?
nice take on river Jordan and obstacles in our lives. Interesting note on how the river was stopped I had never heard that before.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lynn. It is nice at our age to learn new things. I really liked reflecting on Mahalia Jackson on this one.
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