Israel Crosses the Jordan River

The Israelites crossing the Jordan River (picture from freebibleimages.org).

Central Truth: We should always remember what God does for us in our lives.

Scriptures: Joshua 3 and 4

The city of Jericho is located at the eastern entrance into the land of Canaan, so it was necessary for the Israelites to capture this city first before conquering the rest of the land. Before they could attack Jericho, they first had to cross the Jordan River. Unfortunately, the Israelites came to the river during a time when the Jordan overflowed its banks. It was going to take a miracle to cross the river. Joshua instructed the priest to carry the Ark of the Covenant to the brink of the river. When the soles of their feet entered the water, the water stopped flowing and the people were able to cross the river on dry ground. Twelve men from each of the tribes were instructed to carry a stone from where the priests stood with the Ark and to the other side of the river and made a heap of stones as a memorial. Joshua also took twelve stones from the river and made a second heap of stones where the priests stood in the river. The memorial marked the location of the crossing. As soon as the priests carried the Ark to the other side of the Jordan River, the water again flowed, overflowing the banks as before. 

Bible Scrapbook

Each week the children will be adding to their scrapbooks what they have learned during Sunday School. This time we had fun recreating the scene of the crossing of the Jordan River with scrapbook paper and construction paper. The scene was inspired by a coloring page I found on the Internet. Here are a couple of pages: