When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,” Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 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.” So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 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, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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.” 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. 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 4:1-8
It had been forty long, hot, dusty years of wandering. Parents had been laid to rest in wilderness graves. Babies had been born. Life had settled into a routine. Every morning Manna would mysteriously appear. Every evening Quail would come into camp. And, of course, there was the ever-present column of smoke and pillar of fire to guide the people of God. Mixed among all of this were memories of God’s provision and His judgment. Finally, under the leadership of Moses and now his assistant, Joshua, the nation of Israel was finally on the brink of entering the land that had been promised to them.
It must have seemed like an eternity ago that the Red Sea was crossed and the adventure begun. The stories of Egyptian dominance and abuse, the crossing of the Red Sea, water from rocks and the mysterious arrival of Quail and manna were now stories handed down from a generation earlier, and lessons learned. As the Israelites prepared to cross over the Jordan, there was one final instruction that Jehovah God gave to them. Each tribe was to choose a representative to carry a stone from the center of the river and place it in a pile where the people were to camp for the night. “These stones are to be a memorial for the people of Israel forever”.
That ‘simple pile of stones’ taken from the river would be a sign of God’s presence in the lives of the Israelites forever. On the one hand, it reminded them that the long, tedious wilderness journey was finally gone. On the other hand, it served as a promise that better days would come. God is still in the business of stacking stones. Life lessons and mile-markers, as it were, along our paths to remind us of His presence in our lives. These sign-posts along the way remind us of four things that God does not want us to forget as we travel the journey of life.
Protection: The stones on the banks of the Jordan were a constant reminder to the Israelites that God had protected them along the way. The promise he made to Abraham would not be thwarted by human weakness or rebellion. That promise is still true today. If we truly believe that God is sovereign then we also must acknowledge that He will protect us. That does not mean that we will be free of physical calamity. It does mean that only what he allows to cross our paths will do so.
Direction: From the time Abram was called from Ur, the story is the same. God has a plan and a purpose for us. That plan is given to us in steps. We see but one part of the map, the part immediately important to us. The Israelites had no idea what they faced as they crossed the Red Sea. The length of the trip grew considerably longer when, upon seeing the ‘giants of the land’ they reacted in fear rather than faith. The significance of the stones was that it forced the people of Israel to look back and by looking back, be reminded of the presence of God along the way.
Instruction: The stones would also prove to be valuable in reminding the children of the Israelites of God’s law and the consequences for failing to follow that law. The Ten Commandments have been touted by some as being restrictive, outdated and out of date for our times. While the “Law” was abolished at the Cross of Jesus Christ, the basic message remains the same and was summarized for today by Jesus Christ Himself. The Ten Commandments and all of the Law is summarized in Matthew 22:36-40. Love God. Love your neighbor. THIS is the law for today.
Recollection: Lastly, the stones served as a reminder. This last point is really a summary of the first three. If the Israelites were to look back throughout history they would see the overwhelming evidence that Jehovah God was an active, loving part of every part of the journey. In Psalm 13, David is in agony as he contemplates his situation. Sleepless nights, enemy attacks, emotional distress and the seeming ‘silence of God’ had brought him to the point of hopelessness. But, in the final two verses of this prayer he remembers God’s love and that changes his entire outlook on life.
Life is hard. Bad things happen to good people. Yet, during those difficult times in life, if we can look back at that pile of stones from the Jordan. If we can bring ourselves to look at how we have experienced the best things God has to offer, we too can say as David did, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” (Psalm 13:5-6)
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 