God places emphasis on the fact that it is He who gives them title to the land of Canaan. The promise made to Abraham (Gen. 13:15) was now to be fulfilled to his descendants (see Gen. 15:16-21). The iniquity of the Amorites was “full,” and they were to be dispossessed. The conquest of Canaan, however, was to be progressive. It was to be theirs only as in faith and obedience they should go forward to possess it. Thus it is with all of God’s promises. They are ours only as we press forward to obtain them. His gifts are greater in proportion to our capacity to receive them. Our capacity for receiving increases with each added gift, and God’s resources are unlimited. His ability to give is limited only by our capacity to receive.

Heb. Yarden, from the verb yarad, “to go down.” The name aptly describes the swift current of the river, which rises on the slopes of the 9,232 ft. (2,814 m.) Mt. Hermon, and descends at the rate of 60 ft. to the mile, to the Sea of Galilee, 686 ft. (209 m.) below sea level. After it leaves the Sea of Galilee the rate of fall is much less, approximately 10 ft. (3 m.) to the mile. In spring, when the snows on Mt. Hermon are melting, it overflows its banks and becomes a rushing torrent all the way from Hermon to the Dead Sea, about 1,300 ft. (400 m.) below sea level, the lowest body of water on earth.

The reason for its Hebrew name, “the descender,” is obvious. It was over this river that Joshua was to lead Israel.