Joshua 4:1-24 1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. (Joshua 4:1-3, NIV) 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean? (Joshua 4:4-6, NIV) 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. 8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
2 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. (Joshua 4:1-9, NIV) Joshua s leadership was magnified in the sight of all Israel. They knew that he was God s mighty leader in the will of God. The miracle of crossing the Jordan was just a token of what God was going to do in their midst in the coming days. Joshua had said, 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you (Josh 3:10, NIV) Imagine as a father walks with his son by the river Jordan. Looking into the water, the boy saw a neatly piled marker of 12 stones. To his surprise, he stumbled upon an identical pile of stones on the bank.
3 With curiosity aroused, he asked his father, What do these stones mean? The father, an obedient son of Abraham obeyed the word of the Lord and related how the LORD had delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and across the Jordan into the Promised Land. In detail he would have described how God had stayed the waters of the river as the priests held the Ark of the Covenant in the midst of the riverbed. He reported how at that very spot the priests had brought the Ark over into Canaan after all the people had passed through the Jordan. God, he told the boy, had commanded that the two piles of stones should be placed there to remind each succeeding generation of this miraculous deliverance. I. The Establishment of the Memorials. A.In accordance with God s command. 1. God had previously stated that they were to set up memorials of stones.
4 2 When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the LORD your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. 3 Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. (Deut 27:2-3, NIV) 2. These stones were to stand to remind them of the crossing of the river Jordan. 3. One was to be in the water and one was to be on the land. B.Vs. 1-8 tell us of the fulfillment of God s command. 1. One man of each tribe (12) were to carry a stone to the place of encampment. 2. There they were to take the stones from the riverbed and build a memorial to what had happened in that place.
5 3. This was to be a sign to their children of God s miraculous work that day in cutting off the waters of the Jordan. 4. Joshua then set up a second memorial in the midst of Jordan (v. 9). 5. This was where the priests feet rested as they bare the Ark of the Covenant until all the people had crossed over. C.God Was Leading Miraculously (v. 10-14). 1. This was the final act of separation from the bondage of Egypt and from the past. 2. All the people, including 40 thousand of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and ½ the tribe of Manasseh, crossed over before the LORD. 3. No one who was supposed to cross over was left behind it was complete! 4. Only God could work this miracle! 5. It was clear that they were being led by the powerful hand of God.
6 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, (Psalms 107:7-8, NIV) 6. Joshua was magnified in the sight of all the people (v. 14). D.Vs. 15-18 show us the power of God in the completion of this wonderful work. 1. God instructs Joshua to bring the priests out of Jordan. 2. As the soles of the priests feet touched down on the other side God released the waters of Jordan. 3. As it began so it ended. 4. The waters flowed again even over the banks and it would have covered all the evidence that they had crossed over except 5. The memorials stood as witness to what took place. II. The Importance of Memorials (v. 19-24).
7 A.We are prone to forget. 9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. (Deut 4:9-10, NIV) 1. God had warned the nation to be careful not to forget, but they did. 2. The Scriptures record for us the fact that they soon forgot the covenant they had made with the Lord. 7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. (Judges 3:7, NIV) 3. Of course the ultimate result would be their captivity at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
8 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. (Deut 28:49-50, NIV) B.Their act of putting up the stones, was in obedience to the will of God. 1. Memorials are placed to remind us. 2. The Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam wall in Washington. 3. Along with many other memorials, they do two things. 4. They get our attention and the attention of succeeding generations and they cause us to ask why? 5. Then they answer the question as we are reminded of what they memorialize. C.The two-fold purpose of these memorials. 1. To cause their children to ask what do these stones mean?
9 2. To stand as a reminder to all the people of the earth that God is an awesome God who does mighty and wonderful works on behalf of His people. 3. That we, His people, might fear or reverence Him forever! III. The Memorials of Christ. A.Two Ordinances. 1. One in water and one out of water. 2. Baptism and the Lord s Supper. 3. Both are similar in that they serve to remind us of the mighty work of God in our salvation. 4. They remind us that we have crossed over from darkness to light from death to life.
10 Conclusion 24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24, NIV) B.Memorials are reminders not originators. 1. The stones stood as a testimony to what God had done for His people. 2. In the same manner, baptism and the Lord s Supper stand as reminders of what Christ has done for the believer. We need memorials to remind us of what a mighty and wonderful God we serve. We are so prone to forget His wonderful works in our lives. It would be easy for us to look at Israel with disdain and shame them for their forgetfulness, but we are just as guilty! The Lord initiated the memorials for us because He knew us!
11 As often as you do this do it in remembrance of me Perhaps you have never been saved. The memorials will not mean much to you. May I invite you to come. and let us share the gospel with you? Jesus died on Calvary to pay the debt of our sin we can be forgiven if we obey the gospel. Will you trust Him today? Will you be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38)? Christian, do we remember what God did for us? How He gave His Son that we might have eternal life? Let s not forget. Let s live for Him!