Joshua 4
Our reading tonight will be the
entirety of Joshua four. And I’ll admit to you a little
secret. We should be covering Joshua
three, four and five all at once. Um, but that would be, I don’t
know, 60 or so verses. And so, uh, we’ll look at chapter
four tonight, chapter five next week, and then we’ll maybe catch
a glimpse of the whole thing is it, uh, moves on into, uh,
the battle of, of Jericho. reading from God’s word here
with me. It says, when all the nation
had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,
take 12 men from each tribe, a man, and command them saying,
take 12 stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from
the very place where the priest’s feet stood firmly, and bring
them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge
tonight. Then Joshua called the 12 men
from the people of Israel whom he had appointed a man from each
tribe. And Joshua said to them, pass on before the ark of the
Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan and take up each
of you a stone upon his shoulder according to the number of the
tribes of the people of Israel. that this may be a sign among
you when your children ask in time to come, what do these stones
mean to you? Then you shall tell them that
the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan,
the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall
be to the people of Israel, a memorial forever. And the people of Israel
did just as Joshua commanded. And they took up 12 stones out
of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of
the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they
carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and
laid them down there. And Joshua set up 12 stones in
the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priest
bearing the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there
to this day. For the priest bearing the ark
stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished,
that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people according
to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over
in haste. And when all the people had finished
passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priest passed over
before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons
of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before
the people of Israel as Moses had told them. About 40,000 ready
for war passed over before the Lord for battle to the plains
of Jericho. On that day, the Lord exalted
Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him
just as they stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life. And the Lord said to Joshua,
command the priest bearing the ark of the testimony to come
up out of the Jordan. So Joshua commanded the priest,
come up out of the Jordan. And when the priest bearing the
ark of the covenant came up from the midst of the Jordan and the
soles of the priest’s feet were lifted up on dry ground, the
waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed
all its banks as before. The people came up out of the
Jordan on the 10th day of the first month and they encamped
at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those 12 stones
which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And
he said to the people of Israel, when your children ask Their
fathers in time, times to come, what did these stones mean? Then
you shall let your children know. Israel passed over on this Jordan
on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up
the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over as
the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for
us until we passed over. So that all the peoples of the
earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that
you may fear the Lord your God forever. Amen, God’s word. Every so often I get an email
that says your memory 12 years ago. Yesterday there was a memory
from the Shutterfly. Maybe we uploaded some pictures,
ordered some. but it was a picture from when the kids were smaller
and it’s neat to relive those memories. Maybe some of you,
as you’ve packed up and moved and unpacked, or maybe you dust
the house on a regular basis, you see things, trinkets or mementos,
maybe a wedding gift, maybe a graduation gift, maybe a retirement gift,
something like that. You have mementos that remind
you of certain life events Our nation has planted a flag on
the moon. You drive along the highway and
you see highway markers. Here on this place and thus in
such time, this event took place. This crossing of Israel into
the promised land is 500 years in the making. God promised to
Abraham, your people will be numerous in Egypt, And after
about 460 years or so, I will rescue them. I’ll hear their
cries. I’ll rescue them at 40 years wilderness wanderings. And now it’s 500 years in the
making this crossing of the Jordan. It’s also been 40 years in the
making for this wilderness generation. All these, except Joshua and
Caleb were born in the desert. Joshua, Caleb, and some of the
leaders are about 80 years old. The others are all at the most
about 40 because they were born in the desert. Their parents,
because they did not believe, died in the wilderness. And so
in chapters three and four and five of Joshua, we have this
account of God crossing the Jordan River with Israel in tow. God
doing mighty and great works for the people of God as he redeems
them and rescues them. And the central figure in this
passage, in addition to God Almighty, is his ark, his covenant, his
his presence, his throne. I was watching just a little
tidbit of it yesterday on TV, the Raiders of the Lost Ark. And, you know, they they wonder
where it is. Well, if you read Revelation
chapter 11, John, when he’s looking into heaven, says, oh, there
it is. It’s in the heavenly tabernacle. It’s up in the heavenly places.
So poor Harrison Ford. Had to endure the snakes and
the desert to search for something that’s already somewhere that
we have been told. So how do we think about this
passage? How do we think about Israelites crossing over and
making their way into the promised land and then this whole business
of 12 stones of remembrance? The first 14 verses of this passage,
one through 14, tell us what life looks like outside the promised
land as they prepare to enter. The second part of the passage,
verses 15 through chapter 5, verse 1, tell us exactly the
same thing, but in past tense. We’ve crossed the river, we’ve
got our stones, and we’ve got a memorial stone to build so
that we will remember. Well, one of the things we want
to be reminded of is, first of all, this was an orderly event. The priesthood to carry the ark
The Eastern tribes, the fighting men of the Eastern tribes, whose
wives and little ones and servants will stay behind and make their
dwelling across the Eastern side of the Jordan. The fighting men
will cross, so they’re next. Then there’s Joshua and the Israelites
bringing up the rear. And remember the command, stay
2,000 cubits back. A cubit is about 18 inches, so
3,000 feet. I guess that’s the right math.
They’re to stay, what, over half a mile back from the ark so that
they can see the way into the promised land. Remember, the
river at flood stage is not just coming out of the banks. It is
flooding probably for a mile or so. And so this is quite an
event, quite an undertaking. And We see overall in this orderly
event, God, Yahweh, crossing the Jordan River with the Israelites
in tow. So there’s an orderliness to
this event. The second thing we want to think
about is there’s something miraculous. about this. Now we know God ordinarily
works through regular creation. We hear people say something
about the miracle of childbirth, right? Well, we know how to make
babies and we know it makes babies come out. There’s no miracle
in it, it’s just order of creation, right? It’s pretty neat when
babies are born, but it’s no miracle, it’s just part of creation.
Or every year, oh, the miracle of spring. Well, no, flowers,
out right the leaves come back out and you could go through
all kinds of examples in creation there’s no miracle in it it’s
just God’s regular work of creation and provenance miracles are events
like this when he stops up a raging river or when he makes the Sun
stand still or when he raises the dead back to life so this
is a rather miraculous event Over and over in our passage,
it says that the waters of the Jordan were cut off. They stood
back as a heap. They discontinued flowing downstream. And this is such a miracle because
the millions of Israelites crossed over on dry land. Yes, that’s
millions with an M. One man from each tribe was to
pick up a stone from the middle. And then when they finished passing
over, They would take these stones to the camp and build an altar. There are all kinds of understatements
in the Bible. You read quickly like Jesus rose
from the dead, or the blind man can see, or the lame man can
walk. It simply says here, Israel crossed over on dry land. Think
about that. How would the Army Corps of Engineers
stop the flow of a river? They could do it, but in time.
How could they get the ground to dry out where it was firm
enough for people to march over, to walk over without getting
in quicksand and mired down in the mud? This was an extraordinary
event. These are the understatements
of the Bible. The third thing I want us to think about tonight,
and this is the main thing to think about, in addition to this
being an orderly crossing, a miraculous event, this passage has eternal
lessons. I think the central theme of
the verses we’re looking at tonight tell us over and over, you’re
to set up a memorial. You’re to set up a stone, a stack
of stones, so that your children will see these stones and in
time ask, mom, dad, what are these stones all about? And you
can tell them. Now, fast forward a few chapters
in the Bible, another book after Joshua, Judges. Judges chapter
two has a really startling statement. It says, there arose a generation
in Israel that did not know the Lord their God, or the things
he had done for his people. That’s gonna be these people’s
children. So to put it in our modern day
terms, think about this. Think about your children growing
up, never knowing about the cross. Think about your children as
you go to your grave, never, ever, ever hearing about Jesus.
and his work of salvation at Calvary on the cross. To you,
that is an odd thing. But that’s exactly what Judges
chapter two describes. These are a people who made their
way into a promised land. They lived in houses they did
not build. They drank from cisterns they did not dig. They ate grapes
from vineyards they did not plant. They had rest from all their
enemies because God judged all these enemies and their warriors
put them to the sword. And somehow, some way within
that generation, they decided that they had accomplished all
this all of themselves. And there was no Yahweh who dries
up riverbeds. There was no Yahweh who puts
to death an entire Egyptian chariot army. There is no God who brings
water from a rock or bread from heaven or quail by the day. No God who Dwells in the heavens,
but comes to the midst of his people and brings a law. No,
no, no memories of the thunder at Sinai and the shaking and
quaking of the mountain. So there’s an eternal lesson
here for us in this passage. Never forget who God is and what
he has done. I remember some years ago hearing
a Jewish rabbi say that one of the big principles for the Jewish
faith is to remember and to observe. Have I got that right? To remember
and to observe. How often do we sit down and
think and remember? How often do we observe? We’re
talking about the Sabbath in our Sunday school class. And
really the teaching on the Sabbath is to observe the whole day.
You have six days to labor. You have six days to recreate.
You have six days to do all the things that you enjoy. You can
go, go, go, go, go for six days. But the seventh day is a day
to be given the whole day to the Lord, a day of rest, a day
of worship, a day of service and mercy to others. a day to
remember and to observe. You have a whole day to stop,
think, listen, muse over what God has done in
your life. And what this passage is teaching
us, what Judges chapter two, a generation later, is challenging
us and warning us is you don’t want to forget the wonders of
Yahweh in redeeming you. You don’t want to forsake for
a whole lifetime regular worship. Or maybe the mementos on your
wall. Maybe some of you in your house, you have a cross or maybe
you have the Joshua passages for me and my house will serve
the Lord. Maybe you have some of that Michael Podesta art,
you know, that has wonderful Bible verses and calligraphy.
Maybe maybe you have some paintings or or different things that remind
you that God is at work in your life, what would it be like to
miss these? Well, there’s a bunch of reasons
that we might see for these 12 stones of memory. The first of all, the first reason
is for our children. How do children learn? They learn
by touching. They learn by tasting. They learn by smelling. They
learn by hands-on experience. And, you know, it’s why we all
remember the felt board. right in Sunday school, the felt
board. And, you know, I can remember the felt board with Joseph’s
coat of many colors. I can remember the slaves in
Egypt. I can remember Jesus and his
miracles. You know, we can remember the tomb and you, you know, you
really rolled back on the felt board, the stone and all those
things. Um, you know, I think most kids
end up in Disney by the into their lives. I was deprived.
I never went. But I did get dragged to Jordan and Israel and Egypt.
And so I saw with my own eyes some of these sites. I don’t
hold no Disney against my parents. But what a rich experience to
get to go see. We should we should put our children
in the path of the words and the works of redemption. Psalm
78. is an important passage for that.
It says, uh, I will open my mouth and parables. Uh, I will speak
to my children and tell them of all the wondrous works of
the Lord and what he has done. And maybe some of you have that
chance with your grandchildren or great grandchildren, you can
share with them your faith. And so we ought to, um, have
these stones of remembrance. We have to have these services
of observing and remembering God’s words and his work so that
our children don’t forget. Some of y’all have heard me,
I guess complain is the right word, but it’s really not a complaint,
it’s a concern. Children are not in worship these
days. And so though a child who’s not
yet professed faith can’t take communion, do they not witness
the visible body of God with the bread and the wine? And do
they not get to ask mom and dad, what is the meaning of the bread?
What is the meaning of the cup? Why do you why do you have tears
in your eyes when you take the Lord’s Supper? Why do we confess
our sins? Why do we go through this solemn
time? And so a challenge would be to
bring the generations back into church, quit entertaining them
with puppet shows and videos. loud music, what you win them
with, you’ve won them too. And you will never wean them
off of it. But God has instituted these things for them to see.
It’s also a witness to the world of the one true God. Remember
Rahab when the spies come into her home, she says, we have heard,
we have heard what your God has done and it has melted our hearts. You know, it’s a wonderful thing
for us to have a, building like this a facility like this and
you know it’s on a rather public road and our steeple out front
rises to the sky and when people walk walk by or drive by and
a lot of people seem to know our church its location oh that’s
the church that’s a pretty place and whatever it’s a it’s a traditional
building it looks like a church building not a warehouse or a
Starbucks or a Barnes and Noble, like so many churches do these
days, but it’s a witness to the watching world. People gather
there to worship the living and true God. They gather there to
worship him as creator and redeemer and the lover of their souls.
And so these stones of remembrance, maybe it’s in the form of these
stones, our church building, are a witness to the world of
all that God has done. It’s also, It’s also an encouragement to
us to have these stones. Maybe you have a cross you wear
around your neck. Maybe you have a Christian ring on your finger.
Maybe you have some things tucked in your Bible, but you have these
things, these Christian memorial stones that mean something to
you. Maybe it’s the highlighting in your Bible. It’s a bulletin
from a funeral service or a sermon that you heard. And these things
mean something to you. And when you get down and discouraged,
uh, all you have to do is look and say, he, he passed through
the waters. He, he dried up the river bed. He led us into the promised land. And there’s a couple interesting
things I want us to point out as we, we think about these eternal
lessons. Two things in this passage. One is it says exactly the date
and time. It says on the verse 19, the
people came up out of the Jordan on the 10th day of the first
month. Do you know that’s exactly 40 years since they left Egypt? It was on the 10th day. when
the people selected of that month, when the people selected their
Passover lamb. It was on the 14th day when they would slaughter
that lamb and observe Passover. So it’s exactly 40 years since
God said, look, I’m gonna get you out of here. I’m gonna redeem
you. I’m gonna rescue you. I’m gonna keep my promise to
my servant, Abraham, to whom I promised this some five centuries
before. So that’s an interesting thing
to think about. That’s why dates are sometimes
important. But there’s another interesting thing. It says when
they got up out of the Jordan, they encamped at Gilgal on the
Eastern border of Jericho. One of the reasons God rescued
Israel from Egypt was for his own namesake. When
Israel, when the people of God, when the church of God is under
hardship, it’s God’s reputation that’s at stake. Read through
the exile and read through like Ezra and Nehemiah, where they
pray, God put us back in the promised land. Let us rebuild
the temple. Let us reestablish worship for we do not want the
nations to say, where is their God? Is he not mighty to save? Is he powerless? Is his right
hand not strong? Is his mighty arm a weak arm? And so the shame of slavery had
to be rolled away from the people. The shame of God’s people being
subdued by foreign evil nations had to be rolled away. And that’s
exactly what Gilgal means. Gilgal is a Hebrew name that
means rolling away. Their shame was rolled away.
God’s glory was now front and center in the promised land. Think about it this way. You
think about all the shame of the slavery we understand in
our own nation from the black folks who were brought over and
against their will and put into slavery in our nation. It’s a
big mar on our history. It’s not something we think well
of. And so how do you erase something
like that? You really can’t in this life.
And God is saying to them through their crossing of the Jordan
and into the promised land, I have rolled away the reproach of your
slavery. Now, next week, we’re going to
see them consecrate themselves. He’s going to circumcise this
whole generation. They were not circumcised at
their birth. They were not circumcised in the wilderness. And so in
another way, God is going to roll away their shame. And so, do you have some memory
stones? Do you have some mementos, some
things, some bulletins, some dates? Do you, every week as
you come into God’s house, recount how good he has been to you? And does it take away the shame
of your sin? Does it take away the difficulty
of living life in this world under the tyranny of those who
hate God? I hope you do, and I hope these
things are of encouragement to you. Let’s go to God in prayer. Lord, when we get to heaven,
we will see more and more clearly how much you have loved us. much
you have spared us from and what great lengths you have gone to
save us. And we know that our greatest memorial stone will
be the lamb. We’ll look upon him and see his
five bleeding wounds. We’ll see that he was slain before
the foundation of the world, that he I’d loved us with an
everlasting love. And so give us a glimpse, a vision
of all these things that remind us of how good you are so that
we can be encouraged. We can press on, we can keep
the faith, we can stand against enemies and we can do all that
you call us to be and do. We ask for your help and grace
and pray for it in the name of Christ. Amen.