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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over. |
Came to Jordan – Meaning "Judged down," "Condemned," typifying the sentence which has rested for 6000 years against our race. R3086:4
To the New Creation Jordan symbolizes consecration. R4063:3, R5351:3
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| 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; |
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| 3 and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. |
The people – Representing justified believers in Jesus. R4063:3
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| 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore. |
Two thousand cubits – About three-quarters of a mile. R4063:4
Upstream, thus prominent in Israel's eyes. R3085:6
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| 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Jehovah will do wonders among you. |
Sanctify yourselves – As at Mt. Sinai with the giving of the Law; to set apart by purifying from sin and all earthly things, abstaining from all but necessary food to develop the proper heart condition. R4063:2
A condition of the call--both of the present time and of the Millennial age. R4063:4
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| 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. |
Priests – Representing the Little Flock. R4063:2
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| 7 And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. |
Said unto Joshua – Type of Christ. A79; R4063:2
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| 8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan. |
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| 9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God. |
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| 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite. |
Drive out – Destroy, not cast into eternal torment. R3085:3
The conquests of Canaan represent the spiritual battles of the consecrated. R5351:3
From before you – "The earth is the Lord's" (Psa 24:1). He has the right to do as he will with his own property. R3085:1
The Canaanites, and – These nations symbolize the weaknesses and imperfections of the fallen nature which are to be blotted out during the Millennial age. R3085:2
Typifying the sins with which we must contend earnestly. R4064:2
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| 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you in the Jordan. |
Behold, the ark – Type of The Christ. T121
As Israel had nothing to fear because the ark stood in the midst of the threatening danger, so the Christian has nothing to fear as long as he realizes the divine presence and approval. R1857:2
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| 12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. |
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| 13 And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap. |
Shall be cut off – The cessation of Adamic death to all those desiring to be the Lord's. R4063:2
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| 14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bare the ark of the covenant being before the people; |
Removed from their tents – The lack of murmurings implies that the wilderness experiences had taught valuable lessons of faith. R5345:1
Pass over Jordan – Representing the passing of mankind into the new dispensation. R4063:2
Each Christian crosses Jordan in the sense of beginning a new life of devotion to God. R5345:5
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| 15 and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest), |
Of the priests – Typifying the Royal Priesthood. R3086:5
Were dipped – Representing that the Royal Priesthood must first pass into Jordan before any of the people can pass over. R3086:5
Jordan overfloweth – Supposed to have been about 500 feet wide; ordinarily about 90 feet wide. R5345:1, R4063:1
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| 16 that the waters that came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. |
Upon an heap – The Lord used natural means. R3085:6
Behind a temporary dam caused by a landslide. Such a dam was formed in AD 1267, leaving the bed of the Jordan below it dry for several hours. R4063:5, R5345:3, R3086:1; PD37/48
It was so well timed by the Lord that when the priests stepped up to the water, bearing the ark, the water began to subside. PD37/48; R4063:4, R5345:3
Very far from – A great way off--at the city of Adam. R4063:5, R3086:1
The city Adam – About 20 miles above, where there is a narrow gorge. R4063:5, R5345:3
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| 17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan. |
Ark of the covenant – Representing the divine promise under which they had left Egypt, hoping for grand results. R5345:2
Midst of Jordan – Typifying that the Royal Priesthood give their lives for the life of the world. R3086:5
The ark, representing the Lord, effects the cancellation of the death sentence so that the Millennial blessings might be obtained. R3086:5
All the Israelites – In all, about two million. R3086:5
Until all the people – A limited time to cross over, "now is an acceptable time." (2 Cor. 6:2) R4064:1
The return of the waters represents the Second Death. R4063:2
Clean over Jordan – God's people now pass from death unto life-dying to old interests and entering into the new inheritance. R4603:4, R5598:2; PD37/48
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