Did the walls come tumbling down, as the chorus says? Not exactly. It’s more amazing than that! A little history might help here. During a series of excavations from 1930 to 1936, British archeologist John Garstang found a burn layer at Jericho which he identified with the biblical story of Joshua. But in the 1950s, […]
Seven days. Seven times on Day Seven. Seven priests with seven trumpets. Talk about a perfect plan! The situation seemed challenging, to say the least. “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in” (Jos 6:1). The sentence actually repeats the words—shut up and shut […]
Read More… from April 4, 2023 — Warning! God Is Coming Through
What makes the difference between a warrior and a worrier? Keeping your eye on the Commander. It was President Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the U.S. Civil War, who said, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” […]
“You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it…You crown the year with Your goodness” (Ps 65:9,11). God provides; there’s no question about that. But how? Our story today shows two different ways, both the Lord’s provision. We read, “And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, […]
Gilgal—what a picturesque name for the turning point in the history of the nation of Israel! Joshua 5 begins: “when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the […]
This is for you! “I will never leave [let up My care for] you nor forsake [loosen My hold on] you.” Listen to these words: “So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua” (Jos 4:10). We looked at the […]
Watch as two stone piles are raised, one in the river and one out of the river. What do they mean? The people had crossed over but the priests hadn’t moved. There they stood with the ark in the dry riverbed. Why? God had something more to do. He wanted not one but two memorials […]
The Jordan River not only flows through the land of Israel; it also flows through biblical history. Let’s pause to think carefully about this historic event. The holy ark, where God resided on earth, took its place in the river. What river? The Jordan, or Yarden, as the Hebrew has it, from yarad, meaning “to […]
As was said of the Thames, the Jordan River—for far longer and far greater—is liquid history. The spies returned across the Jordan. Rahab, not taking any chances, immediately “bound the scarlet cord in the window” (Jos 2:21). How appropriate to be in suspense about the fate of this woman. You know what suspense means—to be […]