Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Joshua 3:1) And Joshua rose early in the morning, and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.
In the last chapter, Joshua had sent two spies into their promised land to check out the land around Jericho. Rahab hid and protected them and told them that her entire country feared the terror of Israel. The two spies went back to Joshua and told him that and that they were confident the Lord had delivered that land into their hands. Joshua rose up the next morning and moved the Israelite camp to the Jordan River where they would soon cross over into their promised land.
(2) And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the camp, (3) And they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place and go after it."
After three days officers went through the camp telling the people that when they saw the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord coming through, they were to follow it.
(4) "Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; do not come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."
The people were to follow after the priests carrying the ark, but there was to remain a distance of about two thousand cubits, which was a good distance of about a thousand yards, between them and the ark. But they were to follow after it for it would lead them the way they were to go, as they were about to embark on territory they had never been in before.
(5) And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."
Joshua told the people to sanctify themselves, both in body and in soul, by washing and in prayer and repentance, because the next day the Lord was going to do wonders among them.
(6) And Joshua spoke to 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.
This appears to be the next day when Joshua told the priests to take up the ark of the covenant and go forth ahead of the people, and they did as he instructed.
(7) And the Lord said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you."
The Lord told Joshua that that very day He was going to magnify him in the sight of the Israelites so that they would know that He was with Joshua in the same way He had been with Moses.
(8) "And you shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you have come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"
The Lord told Joshua to command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant that when they had come to the edge of the Jordan River's waters, they were to stop and stand still in the water at the edge of the river.
(9) And Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here and hear the words of the Lord your God."
Joshua then called the Israelites to come to attention around him to hear the words of their Lord.
(10) And Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites."
Joshua told the people that by what they were about to see their God do, they would be assured that He was with them, even there among them, and that He would without fail drive out all the seven tribes that inhabited their promised land from before them.
(11) "Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan."
He told the people to take notice that the ark of the covenant of the Lord, not just their Lord, but the one true Lord of all the earth, was passing before them into the Jordan River.
(12) "Now therefore, you take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man."
Joshua instructed the people to select twelve men, one from each tribe. It is not told to us here why they were selected, but they were appointed for a certain work described in chapter 4 of Joshua.
(13) "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come from upstream, and they shall stand up as a heap."
Joshua told the people that as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the ark stopped in the waters of the Jordan River, signifying that it was the Lord Himself when His ark reached the river, the waters of the Jordan would be cut off from the waters flowing from upstream and they would stand still in walls on each side. God would perform the same miracle for Joshua at the Jordan River that He did for Moses when He parted the Red Sea; thus, He would magnify Joshua in the sight of the Israelites, demonstrating that He was with Joshua just as He had been with Moses (v. 7).
(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, (15) And as they who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), (16) That the waters which came down from upstream stood risen up on a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, failed, cut off, and the people passed over right opposite Jericho.
The people left their tents to follow the priests carrying the ark about 1000 yards behind them. As soon as the priests who bore the ark reached the water of the Jordan River which had overflown its banks and they stepped into that water, the waters which came from upstream stopped flowing and stood still in big heaps or as walls on either side. I believe the sense about being very far from the city of Adam which was next to Zaretan was just to indicate that the waters stopped from very far upstream and all the waters that normally flowed down below where the priests then stood were cut off, and the people were able to cross over the Jordan River directly opposite Jericho.
(17) And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over the Jordan.
It strikes me that it must have been a very wide path made in the middle of the Jordan River for all the people to pass by the priests bearing the ark of the covenant if they were to stay 1000 yards away from the ark. The priests stood firm where they were until all the people were completely crossed over the Jordan River. It was as if it was God present with His ark and He kept the waters at bay while the people passed. Of course, it was God holding back the waters, but I picture Him at His ark in the middle of the Jordan and the waters had to stay back from Him until all His people passed and He then let them flow again.
It is no wonder the inhabitants of Canaan fainted with fear of the Israelites. Imagine this sight of them coming into their land and them having no doubt that it was their God in the middle of the Jordan stopping all the waters from flowing and heaping them up on the sides to allow all those people to cross over on dry land. I had not considered this, but Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that in some respects, this passage over the dry Jordan was more miraculous than the parting of the Red Sea. With the Red Sea, God caused an east wind to blow all night that caused the waters to separate and make dry land (Exodus 14:21). This striking miracle at the Jordan could never be explained by any natural means. There was absolutely no doubt that it was only by the hand of the one true God of the universe, the God of the Israelites.
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