1. Joshua 3:1–4:24 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why did the LORD dry up the waters of the Jordan River?

Joshua 3:1–4:24 (ESV)

1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

Joshua 3—4 gives us three reasons why the Lord dried up the Jordan River:

  1. To exalt Joshua in the eyes of Israel (Joshua 3:7);

  2. To demonstrate to the people that the Lord is the living God and that he must be feared by them (Joshua 3:9; Joshua 4:24); and

  3. So that the peoples of Canaan would know that the Lord is mighty (Joshua 4:24; Joshua 5:1).