DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN…?
Opening Prayer
I am so thankful that You are my God. Be with me in this moment.
Read Joshua 4:1–9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
4 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 are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
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?’ 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. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been[a] 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.
Footnotes
a. Joshua 4:9 Or Joshua also set up twelve stones
Reflect
Think about any mementos you have of special times in your life. Thank God for what they mean to you.Once more God speaks directly to Joshua (1). Joshua demonstrated his loyalty to God by doing what God asked (4–8). The Israelites demonstrated their loyalty to Joshua by obeying His instructions (8). The memory of the crossing of the River Jordan into the Promised Land was so important in the life of God’s people that it needed to be marked and remembered. Look again at verses 5–8 to see the form that this memorial took.
We can imagine the future scene that verse 6 portrays. The people of God revisit in years to come the place which marks the beginning of their life in the land that God gave them. Imagine the children playing around the stone memorial. How would you explain to those children the miracle that happened when the people crossed the river?
It’s almost as if the Lord knew that His people needed physical things to hold on to, to remind them of His awesome power, faithfulness, and provision for them. This is the purpose of the memorial stones – to mark a new beginning as God’s people in the land He gave them and to provide a reminder in the future of His faithfulness to them.
Apply
Make your own memorial today. Find a rock to carry with you. Every time you see or feel that rock, remind yourself of how God has been faithful to you in the past and take heart for the future.
Closing prayer
I praise You, God, for Your faithfulness to me. I am so grateful that I can trust who You are. Help me to trust You more.
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