Divine Communication:
This phrase highlights the direct communication between God and Joshua, emphasizing the role of Joshua as a leader chosen by God. It reflects the continuity of divine guidance that was present with Moses and now with Joshua, ensuring the Israelites that God’s presence remains with them.

Leadership Transition:
Joshua's leadership is affirmed through God's direct communication, similar to how God spoke to Moses. This transition of leadership is crucial as it reassures the Israelites of God's unchanging plan and presence.

Historical Context:
At this point in the narrative, the Israelites are crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land. This event is significant as it marks the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham regarding the land of Canaan.

Covenantal Relationship:
The phrase underscores the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, with Joshua as the mediator. This relationship is foundational to the identity and mission of Israel as God's chosen people.

Typology of Christ:
Joshua, whose name means "The LORD is salvation," serves as a type of Christ. Just as Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promised Land, Jesus leads believers into the spiritual rest and inheritance promised by God.

Connection to Other Scripture:
This divine communication is reminiscent of God's interactions with other biblical figures, such as Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3) and Samuel in the temple (1 Samuel 3), illustrating a pattern of God calling and guiding His chosen leaders.

Prophetic Fulfillment:
The leadership of Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan can be seen as a fulfillment of the promises made to the patriarchs, demonstrating God's faithfulness to His word and His people.

1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant-keeping God of Israel, who guides and instructs His people.

2. Joshua
The leader of the Israelites, successor to Moses, tasked with leading the people into the Promised Land.

3. The Israelites
The chosen people of God, who are crossing the Jordan River into the land promised to their ancestors.

4. The Jordan River
A significant geographical and spiritual landmark, representing a boundary between the wilderness and the Promised Land.

5. The Promised Land (Canaan)
The land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants, symbolizing God's faithfulness and provision.Divine Communication
God speaks to His leaders, providing guidance and direction. We should seek to hear God's voice through prayer and Scripture.

Leadership and Obedience
Joshua's role as a leader required obedience to God's commands. In our lives, we are called to lead with integrity and follow God's instructions.

Faith in Action
The crossing of the Jordan was an act of faith. We are encouraged to step out in faith, trusting God's promises even when the path is unclear.

God's Faithfulness
The event underscores God's faithfulness to His promises. We can rely on God's unchanging nature and His commitment to fulfill His word.

Symbolism of Crossing
The Jordan River crossing symbolizes transition and new beginnings. In our spiritual journey, we may face "Jordan Rivers" that require us to trust God for new opportunities and growth.Verse 15. - And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying. Meyer and others, according to the method of a certain school, regard this as an extract from another document, which is equivalent to saying that the Book of Joshua is a compilation of the most unintelligent kind, a conclusion which is refuted by every line of the Book. A vivid and picturesque narrative, such as we have before us, could hardly have Been brought together by the liberal use of scissors and paste, with utter disregard of the coherence of the extracts. It is not denied that the writer Of the Book of Joshua may have compiled his history from contemporary documents (see Introduction). All that is affirmed is that in so doing he used his materials with ordinary common sense. As has been before remarked, a marked feature of early Hebrew composition was repetition; repetition with additional details to add to the completeness of the narrative, but designed principally to emphasise the principal facts. Thus we are now told that it was at the command of Joshua, on God's express intimation, that the priests left their post. And to mark more clearly the historian's sense of the importance of the miracle, it is added that, as soon as the priests' feet had left the channel in which the waters had flowed up to the moment that they entered the waters of Jordan on the other side, the waters which had been cut off returned, and flowed exactly where they had done before. This additional fact, supplementing as it does the briefer detail in Joshua 3:17 and Joshua 4:11, must be therefore regarded as a record of the solemn conviction of the historian that in the events he is narrating he recognised a special interposition of the hand of God (see vers. 23, 24), in which in like manner we find a repetition in fuller detail of the command concerning the stones, designed to mark more clearly the sense the historian wishes his readers to have of the direct interference of God in what he has recorded.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Then the LORD
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

said to
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

Joshua,
יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ (yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3091: Joshua -- 'the LORD is salvation', Moses' successor, also the name of a number of Israelites


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OT History: Joshua 4:15 Yahweh spoke to Joshua saying (Josh. Jos)