Jos 3:12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

 

Here, they don’t say what these twelve are for, but it comes up again later.

 

The Number Twelve:

 

The 12 months and the 12 signs of the zodiac probably suggested to the old Babylonians the use of 12 as a symbolic or semi-sacred number, but its frequent employment by the Israelites with special meaning cannot at present be proved to have originated in that way, although the idea was favored by both Josephus and Philo.

 

So far as we know, Israelite predilection for 12 was entirely due to the traditional belief that the nation consisted of 12 tribes, a belief, it is true, entertained also by the Arabs or some of them, but with much less intensity and persistence.

 

In Israel the belief was universal and ineradicable. Hence, the 12 pillars set up by Moses (Ex 24:4); the 12 jewels in the high priest’s breast-plate (Ex 28:21); the 12 cakes of showbread (Le 24:5); the 12 rods (Nu 17:2); the 12 spies (Nu 13); the 12 stones placed by Joshua in the bed of Jordan (Jos 4:9); the 12 officers of Solomon (1Ki 4:7); the 12 stones of Elijah’s altar (1Ki 18:31); the 12 disciples or apostles (26 t), and several details of apocalyptic imagery (Re 7:5 ff; 12:1; 21:12,14,16,21; 22:2; compare also Mt 14:20 parallel Mt 19:28 parallel Mt 26:53; Ac 26:7).

 

The number pointed in the first instance at unity and completeness which had been sanctioned by Divine election, and it retained this significance when applied to the spiritual Israel. Philo indeed calls it a perfect number.

 

Jos 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, [that] the waters of Jordan shall be cut off [from] the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

 

They were told what the Lord wanted them to know; exactly what would happen.

 

Jos 3:14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

Jos 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

 

The grain harvest took place in April and May, so it was springtime. The Jordan was at flood stage due to the spring rains and the melting of snow on Mount Hermon.

 

The town of Adam (now a site called Tell ed-Damiyeh) was approximately 16 miles (nearly 26 km) north of the point at which the Israelite procession crossed the Jordan, located at a spot where the river flowed near high banks.

 

The Jordan Valley, part of the great Rift Valley, is an unstable region where earthquakes frequently occur. Earthquakes in the region of Adam have occurred several times in recorded history, resulting in a damming of the Jordan. The most recent occurrence was the quake of 1927, at which time an embankment on the western side of the river collapsed, completely blocking the waters for over 21 hours.

 

Similar cutoffs have been recorded (moving backward in time) in A.D. 1906, 1834, 1546, 1267, and 1160.

 

Excavations at Jericho indicate that an earthquake did in fact occur at the time that city was destroyed. This suggests the possibility of seismic activity around the time of the crossing of the Jordan. It is possible that God used one tremor to dam up the Jordan, and a second a short time later to bring down the walls of Jericho.

 

Jos 3:16 That the waters which came down from above stood [and] rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that [is] beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, [even] the salt sea, failed, [and] were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

 

According to the narrative in Jos 3 the ark cooperated at the crossing of the Jordan in such a way that the waters of the river ceased to continue flowing as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark entered the water. And, that it stood still above until these priests, after the people had crossed over, again left the bed of the river with the ark.

 

Adam = “red”

1) first man

2) city in Jordan valley

 

Zarthan or Zaretan = “their distress”

1) a place in the Jordan valley where the river parted for Israel to pass over for the conquest of Canaan

a) site unknown

 

 Jos 3:17  And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.