CROSSING THE JORDAN
by Dennis D. Nelson
I am currently studying the Old Testament book of Joshua. For many people what first comes to mind when they think of Joshua are the walls of Jericho and the challenge to “choose this day whom you will serve” (24: 15). There are several things in the first five chapters that give me strength and encouragement as I seek to live the Christian life.
Right from the start Moses must have seen in Joshua a young man of exceptional ability and promise. The first time we meet him is in Exodus 17 when Israel was attacked by the Amalekites on their way to Mt. Sinai. Moses chose Joshua to lead the battle. A few chapters later – in Exodus 24: 13 – Joshua is called Moses’ assistant and accompanies Moses up Mt. Sinai. Only Moses is called by God from the cloud, enters the cloud, and goes further up the mountain (24: 16-18). We do not know exactly where Joshua was and what he was doing during the forty days and forty nights when Moses was with God up on the mountain, but here Joshua experiences the glory of God. Later Exodus 33:11 tells us that Moses would meet with God in a tent outside the camp, where God would speak to him “face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” One time, after meeting with God, Moses returned to the camp, “but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the tent.” Having experienced the presence and power of God, Joshua must have wanted to remain in the place where he felt closest to God.
When was the time and where was the place where you most experienced the presence and power of God? Where is the place where you like to go back to and remain because there you feel closest to God?
Having shown unusual leadership ability and spiritual sensitivity even as a young man, being chosen and mentored by Moses as his assistant, and having experienced the presence and power of God, Joshua was uniquely prepared to lead God’s people across the Jordan into the Promised Land.
What are the unique experiences that prepared you for your present position of leadership, ministry, and service, or that prepared you for the roles and responsibilities that you had during your time of active ministry?
It amazes me that after forty years of seeing all the pressure that Moses was under and how badly the people treated Moses – and God – Joshua was still willing to take on the challenge of leading the people. Why did he do it? What made him able to do it? Was it because he knew that he had been chosen and that he had spent time on Mt. Sinai and had lingered at the tent of meeting?
1. The book of Joshua starts out with these words – “After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord (after their deaths, but not until after their deaths, both Moses and Joshua are given the honorific title, ‘the servant of the Lord’) the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, ‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan’” (1:1-2).
It would have been very easy and natural for Joshua to say, “Moses is dead; all is lost.” Or “Moses is dead; what do we do now?” Or “Moses is dead; we had better go back into the wilderness.” But God said, “Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan.” We all have had experiences of great loss and great change – experiences after which life will never again be the same – when we have wondered, “What do we do now?” May we hear and heed God’s saying to us the same thing He said to Joshua – “Now proceed to cross the Jordan.” At this point in your life what would be the equivalent for you of proceeding to cross the Jordan?
May we hear God say to us the same thing He said to Joshua – “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. . . . Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1: 5, 6, 7, 9). In 1: 18 the warriors from Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh say to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” What a joy it must have been for Joshua to hear these warriors repeating the words of God.
2. In chapter 2, when Joshua sends spies across the Jordan to check out the land, especially Jericho, he only sends two spies. Was he remembering forty years before when Moses sent twelve spies – one from each tribe? That time only he and Caleb came back with a positive, if-God-promises-it-we-can-do-it report. Was sending twelve spies a set up for trouble that he – Joshua – was not going to risk?
3. In chapter 3 Joshua is getting ready to lead the people across the Jordan. In verses 3-4 he says, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place. Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before.” We all have had times in our lives when we have needed to go where we have not passed before. Are you going through one of those times right now? During those times we need to know that God is going with us – and He is going first. I remember a poster I hung in my room during my first year in seminary. A young man asks, “Is there a future?” God answers, “Yes, I am already there.”
4. Joshua 3: 13 says, “When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord . . . rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap.”
There are many parallels between the leadership times of Moses and Joshua – parallels that I believe were intentional. God was showing that He would be leading and caring for the people through Joshua just as He had through Moses. At the beginning of the time of leadership for both of them there was a miraculous crossing of a body of water – the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds) for Moses, the Jordan River for Joshua. Both times it says that the people crossed over on dry ground (Exodus 14: 22, Joshua 3: 17). But there is also an interesting and I believe significant difference. Under Moses in Exodus 14: 21 “the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land.” The people did not need to step into the place where the water had been until the path was already provided and the ground was dry. Under Joshua in Joshua 3: 13 the waters of the Jordan were not cut off and the path was not provided until the feet of the priests stepped into the water. It is also interesting that the priests who were carrying the ark across the river stayed in the middle of the river until all the people had crossed over (3: 17).
When in your life has God provided a clear, dry path before you needed to proceed? When have you needed to proceed before God provided a clear, dry path? When have you needed the assurance of God’s presence until you were all the way across and all the way through the difficult time?
I believe it was significant the order in which it happened. It was early in their relationship with God – when they were fresh out of Egypt – that God first provided a clear, dry path. It was forty years later – when there was a whole new generation that had been trained in trust through the daily provision of manna, water in the wilderness, and the guidance of the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire – when God expected them to first step into the water.
5. Joshua 3: 15 says, “Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest.” God did not lead the people across the Jordan during the time of year when it would be the easiest because the water level would be the lowest. Rather He led them across the river when it would be the hardest because the water level would be the highest – during the time of spring harvest when the sources of the Jordan would be most abundantly fed by the snow melt up in the north. We thank God for times when things go relatively smoothly, but we also know that there will be times when life will challenge us and require the best that we have to give. God is with us during both kinds of times.
6. In chapter 4 God tells Joshua to select twelve men, one from each tribe, each of whom was to select a stone from the middle of the river – from the place where the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant had stood – and then pile those stones on the west side of the river. And these were not to be small stones. Joshua told the twelve men, “Each of you take up a stone on his shoulder” (4: 5). These stones would be for the Israelites “a memorial forever.” “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’, then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (4: 6-7). What for you would be the equivalent of the twelve stones west of the Jordan? What are the objects and experiences that remind you of God’s working in your life? And are you telling your children and grandchildren about them?
It is also interesting how 4: 9 tells us that “Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.” The phrase “to this day” occurs often in the book of Joshua. That phrase says something about the passing of time between the occurrence of the events and when they were written down.
7. We read in chapter 5 about two things that happened soon after they cross the Jordan – the circumcision of all the males who had been born in the wilderness and the keeping of the Passover on the plains of Jericho. Then it says, “On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land” (5: 11-12). God had been very faithful in providing manna throughout their time in the wilderness. But when they were no longer in the wilderness, they no longer needed manna and so the manna stopped. Has there been a time when you experienced God’s providing as long as there was a need, but when there was no longer a need, the provision stopped?
8. And then chapter 5 concludes by giving another example of the many parallels between the lives of Moses and Joshua. “Once when Joshua was by Jericho (the taking of Jericho occurs in chapter 6), he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand” (5: 13). The man identified himself as commander of the army of the Lord. He said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy” (5: 15). Reminds me of what the angel of the Lord said to Moses at the burning bush. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3: 5). When have you most had the sense that you were standing on holy ground? Our hope and prayer for you is that whenever you gather with God’s people for worship and whenever you read and study the Bible, you will have a sense of standing on holy ground.
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DISCIPLESHIP
If you have not already done so, I urge you to check out the new Discipleship page on our website. HERE is a link to that page. The page contains links to a number of articles and videos that will help you grow in your relationship with Christ and in your following Christ’s call to mission. Just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus said, “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28: 19). He did not tell His followers to focus on gaining more members for churches. Rather He told them to make disciples. The resources on this page will help you make His last command your first concern.
For example, HERE is a link to an article by Jacob Moorman from early 2024. Jacob is a member of River’s Edge Ministries in Mt. Airy, Maryland, which leads local mission trips as well as annual mission trips to parts of the country that have been hit hard by natural disasters. In this article Jacob talks about the impact on him of his working in the devastated area of Clarksville, Tennessee, after it was hit by an F3 tornado just a few weeks before Christmas 2023. Jacob writes, “This storm humbled me. Witnessing the vast devastation put me in touch with the devastation of my own soul. It made me realize how much I need Him. It brought to light the spiritual reality that Christ truly is the only One who can heal and restore.”
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QUESTIONS FOR SYNODICAL LEADERS
In our May 2026 newsletter we had an article which contains links to and summaries of a number of articles which tell about actions that have been taken and decisions that were made during and between the 2022 and 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assemblies. HERE is a link to that article, which we provide as a resource for those who want to learn more about and/or want to inform their congregations about what the ELCA is actually doing.
Here is another resource – a list of questions that you can use if your synodical bishop or another synodical representative visits your congregation. It definitely seems that ELCA leaders do not want ELCA congregations to know what is actually going on. These questions will help you engage with synod leaders in a way that should lead them to face, admit, and communicate the truth.
1. In response to actions taken by the 2025 Churchwide Assembly, a task force is developing “mutual accountability measures and compliance incentives across all expressions of the ELCA to ensure the proactive centering of dismantling racism within the denomination.” What do you expect will be the nature, scope, and shape of these “measures” and “incentives” and how will they be implemented in our synod?
2. At the 2018 ELCA youth gathering Nadia Bolz-Weber, the ELCA’s first “Public Theologian,” led the young people in a chant rejecting traditional views on human sexuality as a lie. Also a pre-adolescent transgender child was a featured keynote speaker.
A keynote speaker at the 2024 ELCA youth gathering, Keats Miles-Wallace, celebrated being queer and transgender and a video argued that the creation account in Genesis 1 provides for the possibility of more than two genders – more than just male and female.
The ELCA’s 2009 human sexuality social statement gives a place of dignity and respect to a variety of views on human sexuality, including traditional views.
Why then do ELCA youth gatherings do nothing to support, encourage, and teach traditional views, but instead are grooming events for LGBTQIA+, transgender, and non-binary ideology?
3. How would you respond to those who are concerned that the provision for bound conscience will be eliminated when the 2028 Churchwide Assembly considers the second set of recommendations from the Human Sexuality Social Statement Reconsiderations Task Force?
How would you respond to those who fear that powerful and preferred voices will not stop until traditional voices have first been silenced and then totally eliminated?
4. How would you respond to those who are concerned that eventually DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility) will be made mandatory for congregations?
5. Why did the ELCA not clearly communicate to congregations that DEIA and a full embrace of every form of sexual orientation and gender identity were incorporated into ELCA governing documents through Continuing Resolutions approved by the ELCA Church Council prior to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly? See my discussion regarding Recommendation 7 from the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church – The Horse Has Already Left the Barn: – Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE)
6. The 2009 human sexuality social statement provided for the approval of (PALMS) publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same sex relationships and the ordination of people in those relationships, and yet that obviously was not enough for the LGBTQIA+/transgender/non-binary community. There was even a memorial that came from a synod to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly wanting the human sexuality social statement to provide for polygamous relationships. And a former synodical bishop who has spoken positively about polyamory (multiple partners) is the Theologian in Residence for this summer’s ELCA Rostered Leaders Gathering. How would you respond to those who fear that even the ELCA’s full embrace of every form of sexual orientation and gender identity will not be enough? Instead extreme, radical (and powerful and preferred) voices will never be satisfied but will always be pushing for more?
7. We have heard and read of instances where synods have used paragraph S13.24 in the Model Constitution for Synods to take over and sometimes even close congregations. Has this synod made use of S13.24? If so, please tell us about the instance(s). What was the justification and reasons given? How was the action taken? What has been the end result? Does this synod have any current plans to use S13.24 to take over and maybe even close a congregation?
