Dale Ralph Davis on Joshua VI
Joshua 3:15 is a beautiful example of taking your time on the pudding (see Dale Ralph Davis on Joshua part V).
Here we read:
... and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest) ... (Josh 3:15)
This little verse is the moment—the moment where, after one generation of wandering in the wilderness, Israel finally reaches the Promised Land. It is, in its own way, as exciting a moment as when a human foot in a space boot first kicked moondust. Yet here, of all places, the narrator stops to give us a weather report.
Well, Ralph noted, the writer is eating his pudding slowly. He is savouring the moment. This is a moment well and truly worth taking in slow motion.
In addition, as those who know their geography and history are aware, the idea of the river Jordan overflowing its banks meant, quite possibly, that water had spread so far as to make the other side a full mile away. So the miracle of verses 16-17 is not simply a freak accident of nature but a most amazing testimony to the supreme sovereign hand of God in bringing his people into the land:
... the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. (Josh 3:16-17)
The writer of Joshua is taking his time in order to reveal the power of Yahweh.