The people are now to prepare to enter the land, and things are out in order. They had to follow the ark of the covenant. They were entering a place they had not been to before, so it was vital that they were led by the Lord. We too need to allow God to lead us in and through situations. They had also to keep a certain distance from the Ark. In the Old Covenant there was always a degree of separation between the Lord and the people. Only in Christ is the curtain torn in two and the barrier removed.
The people had to consecrate themselves for the Lord was going to do amazing things among them. Now why did they have to do this? Well, when God does amazing things it means that He is very close. God does not operate at a distance, but gets intimately involved in our lives. When Jesus came He said "the kingdom of God is at hand", and, as we know, He did amazing things.
The Lord then assures Joshua, for this is the biggest moment of his life. Note also that the Lord doing amazing things will result in Joshua being exalted as well, the people will recognise that he is truly a man of God. This is part of the reason why character formation is so vital if the Lord is to work in our lives in a big way, otherwise we will not be able to handle it and will be destroyed.
A representative from each tribe had to be chosen. It was only as they put a foot in the water that the Lord would start to hold the waters back. We will only see the greatness of our God as we take steps of faith.
The Jordan was in flood at the time that this happened. So naturally this did not look like a good time to be crossing the Jordan, but God's intervention made things different. We are not to ignore the natural state of things, but God's word counts for more than anything else.
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