Commentary - Joshua 4:15-18

The Order of God's Miracles

15 Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

Everything in this great event happens by direct command from God. Nothing is left to human intuition or guesswork. Joshua is not trying to figure out the best time to wrap things up; God tells him. This is a military operation, and the Commander-in-Chief is Yahweh Himself. He gives the order to start the miracle, and He gives the order to conclude it. This is how God always works. He initiates, He directs, and He completes. Our salvation is not a cooperative venture where we come up with the bright ideas and God provides the muscle. He provides the whole thing, from start to finish. Joshua's role here is crucial, but it is the role of a faithful lieutenant, not a co-strategist. He listens and he obeys. That is the beginning of all godly leadership.

16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.”

Notice what the ark is called here: the "ark of the testimony." It wasn't just a magic box that stopped rivers. It contained the tablets of the law, the testimony of God against the sin of man. It was the seat of God's covenant government. The priests are carrying the very presence of God's rule and reign. They went down into the place of death, the bottom of a riverbed, carrying the law. And they are commanded to come up out of it. This is a picture of Christ, who bore the full testimony of the law against our sin, went down into death for us, and was then called to "come up" out of the grave. The command is specific. The priests, the designated mediators, are to move. God's presence, which held back the judgment (the rushing waters), is now to be removed, but only after the people are safely across.

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”

Joshua is a faithful transmitter of the command. He doesn't add to it, he doesn't embellish it, he doesn't form a committee to discuss it. God says it, Joshua relays it. This is the pattern of faithful ministry. We are not called to be creative originators of the divine message, but rather faithful heralds. The power is not in the cleverness of the herald, but in the authority of the King who sent him. Joshua's authority is entirely derived. He speaks for God, and so the priests obey. The command is simple and direct: "Come up from the Jordan." This is the call of the gospel. Come up from the death of your sins. Come up out of the water of baptism. Come up into the new life that has been secured for you.

18 So it happened when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before.

The timing here is precise, and it is glorious. The miracle does not end a moment too soon or a moment too late. The very instant the soles of the priests' feet touch the dry ground of the Promised Land, the waters are released. God's control over creation is absolute. He is not straining to hold back the river; He simply commands it, and it obeys. The ark is now called the "ark of the covenant," reminding us that this entire affair is a covenantal action. God is keeping His promise to Abraham. He is bringing His people into the land.

The priests' feet are "lifted up to the dry ground." This is a picture of resurrection and ascension. They come out of the riverbed, the place of death, and are established on solid ground. As soon as God's presence, represented by the ark, is safely "landed," the barrier is removed. The waters return "as before." The world goes back to its ordinary state. This teaches us that miracles are not God's standard mode of operation, but rather His special interventions at key redemptive moments to show us who is in charge. For the enemies of God, the return of the waters is a terrifying thing. The way is now shut. For the people of God, it is a sign of their final and complete deliverance. They are on the other side, and the obstacle is once again impassable, but now it is behind them. They have been brought through by the grace of God, led by the presence of God, and established in the promise of God.

Bird's-eye view

In Joshua 4:15-18, we witness the divinely orchestrated conclusion to the miraculous crossing of the Jordan. This is not a chaotic retreat, but an orderly and precise completion of God's work. Yahweh, the supreme commander, issues the orders directly to Joshua, who in turn commands the priests. The entire event is bookended by God's sovereign word. The priests, bearing the Ark of the Covenant, the very symbol of God's presence and His legal testimony, are the last to leave the riverbed. The moment their feet touch the dry land of Canaan, the waters of the Jordan, which had been held back in a heap, are released and return to their full, flood-stage flow. This passage powerfully demonstrates God's absolute control over creation, the importance of His covenant presence, and the finality of His redemptive acts. It serves as a potent historical marker for Israel and a rich typological picture of Christ's finished work for the church.

Outline

Context In Joshua

This short passage is the capstone of the Jordan crossing narrative that begins in chapter 3. After all the people of Israel have safely crossed over on dry ground, and after the twelve memorial stones have been taken from the riverbed, the only ones remaining in the Jordan are the priests holding the Ark. This section provides the crucial, final step. It shows that the miracle was sustained by the presence of the Ark and ended the very moment that presence was removed from the riverbed. It transitions Israel from the act of crossing to the reality of being in the land, ready for the next phase of their covenant duty: the conquest of Canaan, beginning with Jericho.

Key Issues

Beginning: The Bookends of God's Work

God is a God of order. He doesn't just start things; He finishes them. And He does so with precision and purpose. The creation account in Genesis is not a chaotic explosion but an ordered, week-long work with a definite conclusion: "it was very good," followed by rest. The same principle is at work here. The parting of the Jordan was a mighty act of de-creation and re-creation, making a dry path where there was a raging river. But God does not leave it hanging. He gives the command to begin, and as we see in our text, He gives the explicit command to end. This is a fundamental characteristic of God's redemptive work throughout Scripture. Christ's work on the cross was not finished until He declared, "It is finished." Our salvation is not a work in progress that depends on us to complete; He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6). This passage in Joshua is a miniature portrait of that grand reality. God starts what He finishes, and He finishes it right on time.

The Ark as the Testimony and Covenant

In this brief account, the Ark is described in two significant ways: as the "ark of the testimony" (v. 16) and the "ark of the covenant of Yahweh" (v. 18). These are not interchangeable, decorative titles. They get to the heart of what the Ark represented.

The use of both titles here reminds us that God's covenant mercy does not ignore His righteous testimony. Rather, in the person and work of Christ, the demands of the testimony are fully met, allowing the promises of the covenant to be fully realized.

Typology of "Coming Up from the Water"

The command for the priests to "come up from the Jordan" is laden with theological significance that echoes throughout the rest of the Bible. This is not just about geography; it's about salvation.

The Jordan River, particularly at flood stage, is a type of death and judgment. To pass through it is to pass through death. For the priests to "come up" from it onto the dry ground of the Promised Land is a powerful picture of resurrection. This event is a precursor to several key New Testament realities:

Key Words

Ark of the Testimony

The Hebrew is aron ha'eduth. The word eduth (testimony) refers to the Ten Commandments inscribed on the stone tablets housed within the ark. This name stresses the legal, governmental reality of God's presence. He is not a sentimental deity; He is a holy King who rules by His declared word. The law is a testimony to His character and a testimony against our sin.

Ark of the Covenant

The Hebrew is aron berith Yahweh. A berith (covenant) is a solemn, binding agreement, often sealed with an oath and blood. This name for the ark emphasizes God's relational promise. He has bound Himself to His people. The ark was the sign of this bond, the tangible evidence that God was with them and for them, according to the terms He Himself had set.

Application

There are two primary applications for us here. The first is to recognize the absolute sovereignty and meticulous care of God in our salvation. Just as He commanded the priests out of the river at the precise moment, so He governs every detail of our redemption. Nothing is left to chance. We can rest in the finished work of Christ because God Himself orchestrated it and declared it complete. Our security does not depend on our ability to keep ourselves safe on the far bank of the river, but on the God who brought us through the water in the first place.

The second application is to live as a people who have already crossed over. We are no longer on the wilderness side of the river. Through faith in Christ and our union with Him in baptism, we have been brought into the heavenly places (Eph 2:6). We are citizens of the Promised Land now. This means we are to live differently. The old life, the old slavery, the old judgments are behind us, held back by the finished work of our Great High Priest. We are now called to the task before us, which is the conquest of the land, not a geographical land, but the task of bringing every thought and every corner of creation captive to the obedience of Christ. The miracle is over, and the work has begun.