Joshua, Chapter 3 - Crossing the Jordan | Prophets of Israel

Shalom friends. [music] Welcome to the Prophets of Israel Daily. This is the book of Joshua chapter 3. My name is Ari Bramletz [music] and I'm here with Jeremy Gel. This series is brought to you by the Land of Israel Network at the land of Isisrael.com. Okay. Now, Joshua chapter 3 captures one of the great threshold moments in all of Jewish history, the crossing of the Jordan into the land of Israel. Okay, let's go back into it. Just picture it for a moment. You're standing there with your entire family, children gripping your hands, everything you owned strapped to your back. And before you stretches the Jordan River at peak harvest season, swollen, raging, overflowing at its banks. Your kids look up at you and ask, "Are we really crossing that?" The warriors grip their swords, fully trained, battle ready, yet they know they're completely powerless as long as the river blocks the way. There's no bridge, no boats, and again, no visible strategy. Behind you lies the wilderness. 40 years of wandering failures, miracles, rebellions, forgiveness, transformation. Behind you are the graves of parents and grandparents who dreamed of this moment but never lived to see it. And right in front of you stands the promised land. woven into your prayers, carried in your tears, whispered into your bedtime shama, the land your soul has been walking towards long before your feet ever touched its soil. But between you and destiny stands a raging river. You know, the more I think about it, I I think it may be a part of the lesson. It's like the final step into the promise always is going to look the most impossible. I mean, it's almost comical. I think about 40 years wandering in the desert with just sand and rocks. They had probably never seen a body of water and just when they're about to enter into the land, Hashem says, "All right, straight ahead through the raging river." And just maybe that's how destiny works. It's like the priest had to step into the water before it split, not after. And which means that the miracle it it didn't remove the risk. It was responding to us taking the risk in faith. And sometimes you can look at Israel's situation and think this country is up against impossible odds. Because maybe the impossible step isn't proof that you're in the wrong place. It's actually the clearest sign that you're standing exactly where history wants you, where heaven wants you. Well, so I'll tell you what you're saying speaks strongly to me, which is why when Joshua finally speaks, he doesn't give military strategy or engineering plans. Instead, he declares, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow, Hashem will perform wonders among you. Not sharpen your swords. That's what you'd expect. No, sanctify yourselves because this is a spiritual war before it is anything else." And then comes the command that must have made every heart skip a beat. Right? The kohanim, the priests of Israel carrying the ark of the covenant are instructed to walk straight into the floodwaters, not to wait for the miracle. They need to step forward first in ultimate trust, as you said, Jeremy, and walk right into the raging waters. Just imagine being one of those priests carrying the holiest object in Israel. The entire nation is watching and the instruction is terrifyingly simple. Step into that river that could sweep you away. Step into uncertainty, into danger. Step into the unknown. And then verse 13 reveals one of the great spiritual secrets of redemption itself. As soon as the souls of the priests feet touch the water, only then the river splits. The miracle did not precede the step of faith. The miracle followed it. That's how it plays out. It's a partnership, right? And notice how the chapter opens. Vesh Yeshua Booker, Joshua arose early in the morning. Redemption in Jewish history so often begins at dawn. Not full daylight, not midnight, not total clarity, not pitch darkness, just enough light for the next faithful step. Right? The officers instruct the people. They instruct the nation that when they see the ark carried by the kanim, they must follow. But from a distance of 2,000 cubits, which is roughly a kilometer, which is the distance that ensured the ark stayed visible to the entire nation because the people needed to see clearly that they were not crossing due to military genius or charismatic leadership or or human strategy. They were crossing because they were following the presence of God. Our sages teach that Joshua's call to sanctify themselves meant inner preparation. Miracles don't descend randomly. They emerge when a people align themselves with their covenantal destiny. Redemption is never passive. It demands transformation. So the Jordan crossing isn't just a geographical relocation. It is Israel's metamorphosis from a wandering people into a sovereign nation in its land. God then tells Joshua that this miracle will establish his leadership in the eyes of all of Israel. Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel so that they will know that just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. That must have been a tremendous comfort to Joshua. I mean the parallel is unmistakable. Moses split the Red Sea at the birth of Israel as a free people. Joshua parts the Jordan at the birth of Israel as a nation in its land. Both moments teach the same eternal truth. Jewish history unfolds through human effort partnered with divine orchestration. We labor and we struggle and we build and we defend and we give it our all. But we never forget that our very existence here is sustained by miracles. We're quite literally living on a prayer. And the chapter concludes with a deeply symbolic image. The priests stand firmly in the middle of the Jordan until every last Israelite has crossed safely. And the ark representing the divine presence stands between past and future, holding open the gateway of redemption until the entire nation passes through. And it's almost impossible. It's it's almost impossible not to feel how this echoes in our own generation. This is not ancient history. This is living prophecy unfolding in real time. For nearly 2,000 years, the Jewish people stood on the banks of history, dreaming of return, praying towards Jerusalem and whispering shaabalim next year in Jerusalem. And then something shifted. Divine will stirred. The time had come and there were Jews in the nation who rose up and aligned their will with his will. Stepping into seemingly impossible waters, draining swamps, planting vineyards, building kibbutim, reviving the Hebrew language, all while defending these fragile borders against the Fedí, against terrorists, against marauders, and just overwhelming odds. The waters of impossibility parted only after their feet stepped forward in faith. And the truth is the nation entering the land was told that they were walking a road that no generation had ever walked before. There's no manual here. There's no precedent, only trust. Right? Does that sound familiar? We too are living through unprecedented return, sovereignty, global tension, and spiritual awakening. Never in history has it been this combination, this permutation of all of those things. There's never been anything quite like this. We're crossing a Jordan our ancestors dreamed of but never lived to see. You know, for those privileged to live here right now, this chapter reminds us that we are not merely citizens of a country. We are participants in a covenantal crossing. every field planted, every home built, every soldier guarding, every child speaking Hebrew naturally, each one is another step deeper and deeper into the waters of redemption. And I'll tell you that on a personal note, you know, living here in Judea, Jeremy, I don't know if this speaks to you also, but living here in Judea on these ancient mountains and planting these trees, raising children whose first language is Hebrew, my daughter just turned six. Her Hebrew is already arguably better than mine. There are moments it truly feels like walking beside Joshua himself. The geography hasn't changed. The covenant hasn't changed. The mission hasn't changed. What has changed is that we are the generation being called to step forward. >> You know, it's true. I just want to point something out though. The book of Joshua really shows us something profound that we can really relate to. Throughout the book, Israel is constantly moving away from miracles. You know, the book of Joshua is teaching that the ideal life in the land is not constant open miracles like it was in the desert, but rather needs to be a partnership, a life of providence. So God is moving away for from interfering with nature and then appearing and then disappearing because ideally his presence should be sensed always. And at the Red Sea, the miracle was this cinematic spectacle, overwhelming. There were two walls that Israel walked through. At the Jordan, it's really different. Verse 16 tells us that the waters stopped far upstream near Adam beside Saratan. And the miracle happened far up north. They crossed down near Jericho. So, Israel didn't see anything dramatic at all. They just simply walked on drying ground. So, Hashem was acting it just not in a spectacle. He was acting where we couldn't even see. That's the essence of providence. And that becomes the model life for life in the land of Israel. It's not like constant supernatural displays, but just a steady awareness that God is making a way even when we can't see it. But, you know, imagine the fear. Here's a people. They've wandered for 40 years in the desert, nothing but sand and rocks for decades. And now they come upon a raging river. They have to just go into that. And that had to be terrifying. Ari, do you actually think what do you think? You think they were afraid? >> I absolutely think they were afraid. I mean, if you're asking me now, at this point in my life, at this juncture, if you asked me years ago, I'd say no. I used to think that King David totally wasn't afraid. I used to think that the great heroes of Israel had no fear. They had such trust in God. Because I know when I was in the army, I was in Lebanon, Kev, and Gaza. I never felt fear. I was fearless and then I got married and then I had kids and then things changed and my relationship with fear changed and I understood a deeper truth that that honestly if they weren't afraid I don't think it would have meant as much. Right? The the Torah doesn't describe angels stepping into that river. It describes human beings, fathers, sons, leaders carrying the weight of a nation. people who knew exactly how strong that current was and that's what makes the moment so holy just in my journey I'm telling you like I have understood that I'm not fearless I have I was able to tap into courage with God's help I have courage but that's overcoming of fear right because courage in the Torah is never the absence of fear courage is when faith becomes stronger than fear you know I imagine those kohanim those priests at the edge feeling the spray of the rushing water in their faces and hearing its roar and knowing that hundreds of thousands of Israelites stood behind them looking to them for spiritual leadership and unwavering faith and knowing that in front of them was a promise but no visible path and that is a much harder kind of courage. you know, running from danger, that can be instinct, but walking towards purpose, into the unknown, well, that requires vision. And uh maybe that's why redemption works this way, because God isn't just bringing a nation into a land. He's building a nation capable of fulfilling its mission. Before the waters split, something had to split open inside the people. You know, the part that clings to control and demands guarantees. The part that says, "Show me the miracle first, then I'll move." That had to break away because the covenantal life is built on movement first and revelation second. And if you think about it, that really has been the pattern of Jewish history from the very beginning. Abraham left his homeland before he knew where he was going. Ben Israel, the children of Israel, walked into the sea before it split. The Coanim stepped in the into the Jordan before it parted. Redemption responds to movement and to trust to a people willing to lean in to the unknown because they trust the one guiding them through it. And you know on uh again on a personal level there are moments where living out here in Judea I just feel that same tension when you build a home on a mountain that your ancestors walked on and you plant trees in the soil that the prophets promised would bloom again not knowing if they're even going to grow. It's so rocky and filled with stones and it's so arid when you walk with your children through a land surrounded by jihadi terrorists. There are moments when it feels miraculous and there are moments when it feels terrifying because from a a human perspective it all just looks so fragile. You know, but generations prayed to stand where we stand and we are meriting to be here. And maybe maybe those generations that prayed to stand where we are, maybe they weren't only praying to witness redemption. Maybe they were praying to have descendants courageous enough to carry it forward. So yes, I I believe Jeremy, I believe the kohanim, the priests were afraid, but something inside them was stronger than that fear. They knew that behind them was history and in front of them was destiny. And if they hesitated at that moment, the entire nation would remain standing at the edge of possibility instead of walking faithfully into its fulfillment because the waters rarely split for spectators. The waters split for those willing to step forward. All right, my friends. We'll see you tomorrow [music] as we dive into chapter 4 with Jeremy. Oh, hey.