Today I'm going to imagine I was in the Bible. I am next to the river as Joshua leads the people to the promised land. Coming?
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I stood near the swollen river, surrounded by my people. The river splashed noisily as it rushed down its path. I had woken early that morning. Officers had gone through the camp, and told us to stay a certain distance from the ark of the covenant. The priests stood, holding the ark. They were ready to walk-but where? I had heard the story of the Red Sea opening to my people as they fled from Egypt, but that was years ago, and under the leadership of Moses. Now our leader was the younger Joshua, son of Nun, the only man besides Caleb alive from the time Israel rebelled against God's leading. He had never led Isreal through a sea. And this swollen river, with its angry torrents, was blocking our path to the Promised Land. We were sanctified, but would God work a miracle for us today? I shivered in the early morning chill. I heard babies cry and children giggle and men and women talking. And then, it was quiet. The Levites were stepping forward, into the river. And then-the water stopped. The riverbed was dry. The priests stood still, and we walked across. I can still hear the dry sand under my sandals as I passed the Ark. An altar was built in the middle of the river, and a man from each tribe took a stone to build another altar on dry land at our camp that night. I turned to watch as the priests climbed onto the riverbank. Suddenly, the water was flowing once more. I watched, amazed, as the altar in the Jordan was swallowed up in the muddy waters. Then, it was as if the miracle had never happened-except we were on the opposite side of the river, all dry. And then I knew that my God was going to take care of us during our claiming of the Promised Land.
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I hope you enjoyed that little glimpse I had into the Old Testament. Which story in the Bible would you travel back to if you could? There's so many others that I love! Maybe I'll write some more at some point in the future!
God bless!
Indi