“…the water upstream stood piled up like an embankment for a great distance at Adam, the city next to Tzartan; so that the water flowing downstream toward the Sea of the ‘Aravah, the Dead Sea, was completely cut off; and the people crossed over right by Yericho.”-Joshua 3:16
In order to enable the Israelites to cross the Jordan River, Hashem blocked the southern flow of the Jordan River at a town called Adam located near the city of Zarethan.
In the original Hebrew, a very interesting word is used to describe the Lord stopping the flow of water.
That word is KARET.
Does it ring a bell?
It should because in the past we’ve already examined the meaning of this word many times before.
KARET means to “cut off” and it’s usually used in the context of cutting someone off from the Lord due to his or her sin and disobedience.
For example, if one commits murder, that person is cut off via execution and then permanent spiritual separation from Hashem.
Or one can be KARET if he becomes unclean due to TZARA’AT (one of the many skin diseases one could come down with).
The point is that KARET is a spiritual term that in many cases has a physical aspect connected to it.
And in many cases it involves death, both physical and spiritual.
It is a spiritual term that often carries with it a physical manifestation and usually involves some kind of death (physical, spiritual, or both).
This makes sense because separation from God IS death.
So why do the Scriptures use such a strong term to describe how He blocked the flow of the Jordan River so the waters wouldn’t harm the people?
I can’t say for sure but there is definitely a sense of finality being expressed here.
KARET means an absolute cutting off without mercy.
There ain’t nothing gentle about it.
When the Lord cut off the flow, within a few minutes time the bottom of the river was exposed and dry.
This allowed the priests to carry the Ark to center of the riverbed and hold the space there while the Hebrews crossed over.
And just to give you a clearer picture, understand that several miles of the riverbed were exposed and dried.
Due to the consecration rituals the people had performed earlier, they were already spread out by tribe over a 3-mile span along the Jordan River bank.
The nearest view of the Ark now situated in the middle of the riverbed would have been about 1000 yards depending on where one was standing.
Crossing over would have been quick and easy since the river bed was pretty flat (no more than a 15-foot drop from the shore to the center of the riverbed) and the distance from one side to the other was only about 60 yards or so.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JOSHUA CHAPTER FOUR
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