Joshua 3-4
It is certainly true that the presence of God as symbolized through the Ark of the Covenant takes center stage in these chapters. It is less about the beginnings of the military conquest and more about the faith journey of Israel. As B&W say, the Ark was “a symbol of ‘sanctuary-presence’ of the Divine Warrior” (180) and the “Divine King’s portable palace” (159). Then, as Dr. Coleson notes, “Israel knew God led them because they saw the Ark going before them” (Joshua 3, pg. 2). The Ark clearly holds its rightful place of prominence in the on-going story of Israel.
But we must give another thought to those Levite-Priests who were charged with bearing the Ark in and to its place of prominence. It’s as if we can see a foreshadowing of Jesus’ words in Luke 12:48, “from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” The Levite-priests were charged with the high responsibility of bearing the Covenant-Ark before the entire nation. While the nation of Israel looked to the Ark for faith, hope, and encouragement, they not only saw the Ark, but also those who were carrying the Ark. With this position comes the high demand for faithful obedience.
The faithful obedience of the Ark-bearers communicates to Israel (and to us) the importance of actions that require trust in God’s word. In 3:6, they begin their journey of faith by preceding the nation toward the Promised Land. They were the vanguard and the trailblazers. In 3:8, they are commanded to “go and stand in the river.” Dr. Coleson says, “By carrying the Ark into the water first, the priests would show their faith, or at least their obedience. We may go further and say that when God clearly directs God's people to act, obedience is faith.” (Joshua 3, pg. 3).
As the Ark-bearers made their procession forward, the waters of the Jordan would not recede until the soles of their feet touched the water (3:13). This shows the kind of trust and commitment necessary for Israel to enter into the Promised Land. After all, they have “never traveled this way before” (3:4). Israel (and all of God’s people) must be willing to take God at His word and be invested with a whole commitment that what He says is true. In this way, the priests physically displayed their obedience to God while at the same time communicating God’s faithfulness to His word and His people.
Finally, in 3:17, we should, as Christian leaders, place ourselves in the position of the priests as they stand in the middle of a ‘heaped up,’ flooded river with all their friends, family, and neighbors passing by. The people are looking to God in faith, hope, and trust, but they are ‘seeing’ them. I can imagine a scene reminiscent of when Aaron and Hur helped to hold up Moses’ arms while Joshua fought the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10-13). For Israel to fight the battles of faith that lie before them, they need the assurance of the presence of God. With that, however, God invites people through whom he can minister through – and the Levites help to fulfill this position to their people.
It’s not difficult to see the application for us today. As Christian leaders, we want people to see God in and through us. We don’t want to be the objects for their faith, but we are certainly the representatives and emissaries through whom God is inviting us to raise Him up. There is nothing within us that is valuable or useful except our faithful obedience and trust in God’s word and nature. We must remember that with this high responsibility that has been given to us comes the high demand of living wholly committed to God. There will times when we are asked to go and “stand in the river.”