‘ And so it was that after three days, the officers went through the midst of the camp and commanded the people, saying, “When you see the Ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place, and go after it.” '
They stayed encamped by the Jordan ‘for three days', that is for a few days, (the constant mention of ‘three days' was not in order to tie in the accounts but simply because ‘three days' was a standard way of saying a short period of time of less than a week, anything from one and a half days to five or six days). This was while they were making final preparations for the next move. But they had no idea how they were going to get across the river. They were leaving that to Joshua and his advisers, and to YHWH. They simply did as they were told.
The command was that when they saw the Ark starting out, borne by the Levitical priests, they were to follow at a distance. There seems little doubt that the Ark was seen as sometimes leading into battle (see the Battle Song in Numbers 10:35; also see Numbers 14:44; 1 Samuel 4:3), thus the following of the Ark was an indication of the warfare ahead. It had now replaced the pillar of cloud. Now that they were entering the land the pillar of cloud would be no more. The way was no longer uncertain. YHWH would from now on lead them on His throne (the mercy seat on the Ark was His throne) as King over them and Lord of Battle. The pillar of cloud had signified guidance and protection. The Ark symbolised covenant certainty, war, kingship and victory. However, having said that, however, the Ark had also led the people in the wilderness (Numbers 10:33). Even then they had been marching forward into the unknown to battle (Numbers 10:35).
“The Ark of the covenant of YHWH your God.” Here the full stress is laid on the significance of the Ark. It was the Ark which contained within it the covenant made between YHWH their God and themselves. It was the guarantee of His promises. They would go forward as His people. Thus would He go forward with them over Jordan and into battle as YHWH their God.
Note on the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH.
Gold overlaid wooden receptacles and portable shrines are known from the ancient Near East in pre-Mosaic times, although not as containing treaty records. Among certain Arabic tribes even today are objects similar to some extent with the Ark, which still survive. In time of war they accompanied the tribe into battle and guided them in their wanderings. They stood near the tent of the chief and often contained sacred stones. They were seen as containing some mystic, numinous, indefinable power and to be connected with the gods. The idea may well go back into the mists of time and would explain why the significance of the Ark, superstitiously speaking, was recognised by enemies (1 Samuel 4:7).
In the case of Israel the idea was taken over for a twofold purpose, firstly to represent the portable throne of YHWH as ever present with them, and secondly in order to contain within it the tables of testimony, the covenant between YHWH and His people, which we call the ten commandments, but which was in fact a covenant based on the fact that He had delivered them out of Egypt and out of slavery. This ties in with the major descriptions used such as ‘the Ark of YHWH' and ‘the Ark of the covenant or testimony'. The whole idea was that YHWH was their invisible King and Overlord, in treaty relationship with His people. They were His people, united with Him in that covenant. The sacred chest had been taken over and given a totally new significance.
Here in Joshua it has a multiplicity of titles, ‘the Ark' (Joshua 3:15; Joshua 4:10; Joshua 6:4; Joshua 6:9; Joshua 8:33), ‘the Ark of the covenant' (Joshua 3:3; Joshua 3:6 twice; Joshua 3:8; Joshua 3:14; Joshua 4:9; Joshua 6:6), ‘the Ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth' (Joshua 3:11), ‘the Ark of YHWH, the Lord of all the earth' (Joshua 3:13), ‘the Ark of the covenant of YHWH' (Joshua 3:17; Joshua 4:7; Joshua 4:18; Joshua 6:8; Joshua 8:33), ‘the Ark of YHWH your God' (Joshua 4:5); ‘the Ark of YHWH' (Joshua 4:11; Joshua 6:6-7; Joshua 6:11-13 (twice); Joshua 7:6), ‘the Ark of the Testimony' (Joshua 4:16).
Elsewhere the most common usages are ‘the Ark of the covenant of YHWH', ‘the Ark of YHWH' and ‘the Ark of God'.
The addition of ‘the Lord of all the earth' specifically has in mind the parting of the Jordan (Joshua 3:11; Joshua 3:13). ‘The Ark of YHWH' in Joshua has mostly, but not exclusively, in mind going into battle (Joshua 6:6-13 - six times; Joshua 4:11 also relates to going into battle, see Joshua 3:13, compare 1 Samuel 4:6). But not in Joshua 3:13, where it is conjoined with ‘the Lord of all the earth', Joshua 4:5 where it is conjoined with ‘of God' and Joshua 7:6 where ‘of the covenant' would be unsuitable because the covenant had been broken. It is clear that its basic name was ‘the Ark' and that genitival phrases could be added to amplify it, but none seen as required technically or with an exclusive meaning. They were thus appended for a particular reason in each case, even if not necessarily always discernible to us.
The phrase ‘the Ark of the covenant' by itself, without a further genitive added, is unique to Joshua. This demonstrates the great emphasis on the covenant as such by Joshua. After Joshua this description is never used without a genitival addition such as ‘of YHWH'. This unique phrase is only used seven times (always in the book of Joshua), yet appears in sections which are allocated to different authors in the Documentary theory. This demonstrates the weakness of that theory and substantiates the unity of the book. It must be regarded as very unlikely that two or more authors or redactors would have each used this unique phrase only in the Book of Joshua when it is used nowhere else. It indicates one author.
The LXX overwhelmingly has a tendency to change most references to ‘the Ark of the covenant of the Lord' which is the regular phrase for the Ark throughout the Old Testament, from Numbers onwards, when connected with the covenant. But it twice leaves ‘the Ark of the covenant' (Joshua 3:8; Joshua 4:10) which confirms its unique use by Joshua. It never has ‘the Ark of the Lord', sometimes changing it to ‘in the presence of' or ‘before' the Lord (Joshua 4:5; Joshua 6:7; Joshua 7:6). Its testimony is therefore not reliable as to the original text.
(End of note.)
“The priests, the Levites.” This phrase was used in Deuteronomy signifying the Levitical priests (Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 17:18; Deuteronomy 18:1; Deuteronomy 24:8; Deuteronomy 27:9). This indicates that all priests were Levites, but not that all Levites were priests. Deuteronomy 18 clearly distinguishes between priests (Joshua 3:3-5) and Levites (Joshua 3:6-8). The writer of Joshua clearly knew, probably by heart, the basic content of Deuteronomy, which itself was based on the covenant treaty form current around 12th century BC, demonstrating that its basic content at least is of an early date. Normally the Kohathites bore the Ark once it had been covered by the priests with the veil (Numbers 3:31; Numbers 4:5 compare Deuteronomy 10:8) but not when it was leading into battle uncovered (1 Samuel 4:4 - they would not take the veil into battle) or on special occasions such as when it was brought in to the Most Holy Place of the temple where the Levites could not enter (1 Kings 8:6 compare Deuteronomy 31:9).