Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 19
4:9–5:5
J osh u a
7
Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the
Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant
were standing. And they are there to this day.
The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river
until all of the Lord’s commands that M
oses had given to Joshua were
carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. And when
everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark
of the Lord as the people watched.
The armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe
of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed. These armed men—about 40,000 strong—were ready for battle,
and the Lord was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.
That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Is
raelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had
revered Moses.
The Lord had said to Joshua, “Command the priests carrying the Ark
of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed.” So Joshua gave the command. As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant
came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water
of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before.
The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then
they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jeric ho. It was there at Gilgal that Joshua
piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River.
Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask,
‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the
Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried
up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all
across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all
crossed over. He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that
the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God
forever.”
When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite
kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had
dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart
and were paralyzed with fear because of them.
At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this
second generation of Israelites.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.
Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old
enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness.
Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born