In the Bible the promises made between God and God's people are known as covenants they state or imply a relationship of commitment and obedience. The ark of the covenant A covenant is a promise or agreement. The ark was built to contain the tablets of the covenant (the Ten Commandments). Joshua 4:9 states that Joshua set up a pile of twelve stones in the middle of the river, as well, to mark the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant The ark of the covenant was a box or chest that God commanded the Israelites to make from wood richly adorned with gold. In time to come, the stones are to serve as a teaching tool for the Israelites that is, when children ask about the stones, their parents are to tell them the story of the river crossing (4:5-7 20-24). To mark the occasion, God instructs Joshua to build a memorial out of twelve stones taken from the riverbed and set up at Gilgal, where the Israelites camp after crossing the Jordan. As such, the crossing of the river is a momentous occasion, the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel. The Jordan River marks the last boundary between the wilderness–where the Israelites have been wandering for forty years–and the land God has promised to Israel. The Red Sea marked the beginning of Israel’s journey in the wilderness of Sinai. This time, the waters are not those of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), but of the Jordan River, a connection made explicit in Joshua 4:23. Joshua The successor of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan More is Moses’ successor, and, just like Moses Prophet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai More, he presides over the miraculous parting of a body of water so that the Israelites can cross on dry ground. This crossing marks the end of the wilderness period for Israel. Just as at the Red Sea, God parts the waters of the Jordan River for the Israelites, so that they cross over on dry ground into the land of promise.
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