FAMILY BIBLE SERIES:
Trusting God can lead to
watershed miracles
___
Joshua 3:1-17
___By Susan Pigott
___Logsdon School of Theology, Abilene
___I had always been told that giving birth was one of the most miraculous events a person could ever experience. And I thought I understood what people meant, at least intellectually, when I heard them describe their experiences at the births of their children. But until I experienced giving birth for myself, I never really understood. There's just nothing to compare with seeing your own child for the first time after nine silent months in the womb. I wept for the sheer joy of it--and that was when I understood miracle.
___The day had finally come for the Israelites to cross over into the Promised Land. But there was one small problem--the Jordan River was at flood stage and there was no bridge. 
Surely as the people gazed at the raging waters they wondered how they could cross safely. But this very obvious barrier became an opportunity for divine intervention.
___ Preparations (Joshua 3:1-13). Officers went throughout the camp instructing the people to watch the ark and to follow it. Joshua commanded them to consecrate themselves, to prepare themselves for a holy encounter. Notably, the people were not initially told what was about to take place, just that God was going to do something "amazing" among them. God explained to Joshua that something wonderful would happen to him this day as well, "I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses." When everything was in order, the priests were commanded to carry the ark to the edge of the waters.
___ Miraculous crossing (Joshua 3:14-17). The moment the priests set foot in the river, the waters upstream stopped flowing and piled up in a heap at a place called Adam. The waters downstream were cut off. The result was that the people crossed over to Jericho on dry ground. For the second generation of Israelites, this could not have been more significant. They had probably heard stories of God's great miracle at the Red Sea where their parents had crossed over on dry ground and witnessed the decimation of the Egyptian army. But now they witnessed for themselves a miracle. This was, in essence, the second generation's Red Sea event. To commemorate it, one man from each of the 12 tribes picked up a stone out of the dry river bed, and piled they them on the opposite shore.
___The second generation of Israel had heard about the great miracles of Egypt, and I'm sure they thought they understood their significance. But this generation needed to experience God's miraculous intervention for themselves, especially as they prepared to invade the land. And so, God provided them a "birthing" experience, of sorts. They witnessed the taming of a raging river and felt their own feet sink firm on dry river bed as they crossed unscathed into a foreign land. Now they understood for themselves the power of God. Their faith was no longer their parents' faith--it had unremittingly become their own.
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