God's Promise in Uncertainty
Joshua 3 addresses how God’s presence guides us through the deepest waters
At the Liberty Science Center, there’s an exhibit called the Touch Tunnel—an 80-foot crawl through pitch-black darkness. You can’t rely on sight, only touch and sound, to guide you. It’s disorienting, even panic-inducing for some. Some kids loved it, but others feel trapped, overwhelmed by the lack of clarity.
Life can feel like that tunnel sometimes—crawling blindly, unsure of what’s ahead. Nowadays many of us may feel that way politically as we are faced with a new current event almost every day, but personally we also feel moments where clarity is gone, and we’re left stumbling for answers.
But there are many times like this in the Bible as well, when the people of God didn’t get to see the other side or were limited in their own autonomous capabilities. The Israelites faced such a moment in Joshua 3:7-13, standing before the Jordan River, swollen to its fullest during harvest season, separating them from the Promised Land. Commentators would explain that this harvest would take place around the season of March to April, when the melted snow from Mount Hermon would dramatically increase the river’s flow. And so what might be a manageable stream most of the year, during this specific season would become an impossible hurdle for the Israelites.
And yet, the passage continues to show that it is precisely through problems such as these– impossible, immeasurable problems, that God leads His people by Preparing them with a Promise to Possess.
Preparation through Consecration
In Joshua 3:1-6, the narrative begins with Joshua rising early—a sign of obedience—and leading Israel to the Jordan’s edge. The officers instruct the people: when the ark of the covenant moves, follow it, but keep a distance of 2,000 cubits (about 3,000 feet). The ark, symbolizing God’s holy presence, had to be visible, but more crucially, it reminded Israel that God is set apart, wholly “other.” Unlike today’s obsession with “relatable” leaders, God’s leadership emphasizes His transcendence, the fact that He is wholly “other”.
Joshua then commands, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you” (v.5). This echoes Exodus 19, where Israel prepared for God’s revelation at Sinai through cleansing and waiting three days, all the while also keeping a distance from the mountain of God. Here, too, God calls His people to holiness before He acts—preparing them to witness His power, not because He needs their help, but to make them partakers in His work.
Promise through Covenant
In v.7, God tells Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” The Hebrew for “today” marks a decisive moment, instead of communicating simply a temporal sense.
God then ties Joshua’s future leadership with His past promise to Moses when he revealed Himself in the burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The language referencing God’s covenant name is deliberate— The same unchanging “I AM” who revealed Himself to Moses now assures Joshua, “I will be with you.”
Following this covenant promise, Joshua relays this to the people: “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you… Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan” (v.10-11). The phrase “Lord of all the earth,” unique to this passage, underscores God’s universal dominion.
Currently, one of the most difficult issues to parse for the Christian is the Iran and Israel conflict. Whether someone is on on one side or another, they must agree that foreign policy is one of the most difficult things to discern. The ceasefire recently brokered demanded intense negotiation and bartering between our president and other world leaders, and even now, its durability remains shaky, a topic of heated debate.
However, unlike human leaders who are limited by borders or negotiations, God’s sovereignty knows no bounds. He doesn’t barter with the Jordan’s waters; He commands, and they obey.
We forget this sometimes. God’s promises are as unchanging as He is. As Malachi 3:6 declares, “I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” If He promises to be with us “to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20), no darkness—political, personal, or spiritual—can separate us from His love (Romans 8:39). His promises are “yes” and “amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Possession through the Cross
As the priests carry the ark into the Jordan, the narrative slows, highlighting again the impossibility: the river overflows during harvest (v.15). Yet, when the priests’ feet touch the water, “the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap… and those flowing down… were completely cut off” (v.16). The people cross on dry ground.
The language again here is deliberate, echoing Exodus. The waters “stand” in a “heap,” as in the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 15:8). The term “pass over” recalls God’s mercy and wrath in Egypt during the Pass Over (Exodus 12:12-13) and the crossing of the Red Sea (Psalm 66:6). The word “cut off” shares the same root as “covenant”, such as when God “cut” a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:18).
In one verse, there is a treasure trove of imagery. Through His covenant promise in Exodus, God was cutting off His people’s old life of slavery so they could pass over into a new life of freedom. Here in Joshua, He is cutting off this long era of wandering and uncertainty so that Israel can finally pass over and possess the land promised to Abraham generations ago.
By His divine power and word, the waters stand up in a heap — and just as God’s people crossed the impossibility of the Red Sea and stood firm on dry ground, so now they cross the impossibility of the Jordan
God always makes a way. Life’s tunnels—unemployment, illness, loss—can feel endless. But the God who parted the Red Sea and the Jordan still parts the impossible. In fact, the greater promise in this passage is not just that God parts every difficult thing in our path, but it’s that He has already parted the greatest one.
Through the Son, we too have passed over through the waters of judgment into a new and abundant life. Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant who was cut off from the land of the living as Isaiah 53:8 says, was crucified, dead and buried not just to overcome our circumstances but to overcome the barrier that existed between us and God. In His death, the veil was cut. It was torn open and we have passed over the divide into His presence and His redemption.
God may not always resolve our difficulties as we expect, but His presence is sure. In our darkest moments, He shines brightest. As we pray through uncertainty, let’s trust the God who prepares us, promises us, and leads us to possess His redemption. The greatest impossibility—our reconciliation to God—has been conquered in Christ. What greater assurance could we have?