sound of a soft breath

Listen to Joshua Chapter 3 & 4 or Read "First Step"

Joshua spoke to the people of Israel. ... "The priests will carry the ark of the Lord. He's the Lord of the whole earth. As soon as the priests step into the Jordan, it will stop flowing. The water that's coming down the river will pile up in one place. That's how you will know that the living God is among you."

So the people took their tents down. They prepared to go across the Jordan River. The priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

The water of the Jordan was going over its banks. It always does that at the time the crops are being gathered. The priests came to the river. Their feet touched the water's edge. Right away the water that was coming down the river stopped flowing. It piled up far away at a town called Adam near Zarethan. The water that was flowing down to the Dead Sea was completely cut off. So the people went across the Jordan River opposite Jericho.

The priests carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the river. They stayed there until the whole nation of Israel had gone across on dry ground. (New International Reader's Version)

It is interesting to note that the Israelites had to take the first step before the river stopped. It would have been easier for them if God had just stopped the water from flowing before they got to the river. They had to literally take a step of faith before anything miraculous happened. For me the first step is always the hardest.

Below is a video of an Israeli group rafting down the Jordan River. Kinda gives you an idea of what the river may have been like. By the way (little useless trivia) I looked up the song used in this video and it is an old song covered here by a Finnish Metal band named Nightwish. One of the lines in the song towards the end is "As sure as the rivers reach the seas ..."
go to website to watch video