January 10th, 2023
One of the fascinating things about the Word of God is that you can read something that you’ve read many times before and suddenly see it with fresh eyes. That happened to me this week as I read Joshua 4, which recounts the story of Israel crossing the Jordan River into the promised land, in a miraculous way. The priests, bearing the ark of the covenant, went before the people and when their feet touched the river, the water stopped flowing so the people could pass through on dry land. This is reminiscent of what God did when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, however, that’s not the part of the story on which I want to focus!
The Bible says in Joshua 4:1-7,
“When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve 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 those 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.”’
These stones shall be a memorial. How interesting is that? As God did this miraculous act for the people of Israel, He told them to take a stone with them—one for each tribe—as a reminder of what He’d done. These weren’t unique or magical stones, and they didn’t become so because they were brought out of the Jordan as a memorial.
The word memorial means simply, “to remember” and God commanded or instituted things throughout the Scripture to ensure His people would keep the memory of His acts always before them. The Passover feast, for example, was observed annually to remind the people of God’s deliverance from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-20, 13:9). As Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted communion, which is the most powerful New Testament memorial we have (Luke 22:19-20).
All of these things are acts done in remembrance, however, they carry no power unless they ignite a hungry heart to know the Living God! In Joshua 4:12-24, we read the purpose of the memorial stones. It says,
“Those twelve 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 times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, Israel passed over 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, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
The stones were not so the Israelites could focus on the past, but that God’s mighty works, His goodness, would be proclaimed to the next generation and to the nations!
If those stones did not ignite the hearts of the people to declare what God had done, they would have been nothing more than a religious relic. Without the testimony of what God did for Israel, they were simply historical artifacts with no more power than any other rock in the land.
Dead religion is the sad result of forgetting the purpose of a memorial. The religious people of Jesus’ day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, had the most hostility to the truth He brought. They knew in their heads all of the stories about what God had done. They’d studied the Law and the Prophets and had memorized all the history from the Old Testament. They performed all their religious duties (most of which God never commanded). They had all the relics. They kept all the feasts. They were as religious and staunch as anyone could be. However, their religion was nothing more than a museum of what used to be alive (Matthew 23:27-30).
Anything that God tells us to do is intended to draw us closer to Him and to glorify His name. There is power in every memorial when the story of what God did is declared! The power of a testimony is in its telling! That was why God had the Israelites bring rocks across the Jordan river. The rocks were a memorial, so that the children would ask their parents about them, and the story would be told.
This week, as many of us press on with 21 days of prayer and fasting, I want to ask you if there are any memorials in your life? What reminds you of what God has done for you, for your church, or for your family? Now I want to ask you, who have you told recently? We will not find ourselves in dead religion if we keep the testimonies of what God has done and Who He is always before us. God’s intention is to take us from glory to glory. He didn’t bring Israel across the Jordan river so they could set up a camp there with their memorial rocks, satisfied with how far they’d come. They set up a memorial of God’s goodness so their children would never forget, and God would have the glory. They went on to conquer giants and dwell in the fullness of the promised land that God had for them. That’s God’s promise for us too! Don’t stop where you are, remembering all the things God has done, satisfied with memorials and religion. God has so much more! Let the people around you hear of the things God has done for you in the past and let those testimonies ignite your heart to walk with Him into His incredible purpose for your future!
The Bible says in Joshua 4:1-7,
“When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve 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 those 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.”’
These stones shall be a memorial. How interesting is that? As God did this miraculous act for the people of Israel, He told them to take a stone with them—one for each tribe—as a reminder of what He’d done. These weren’t unique or magical stones, and they didn’t become so because they were brought out of the Jordan as a memorial.
The word memorial means simply, “to remember” and God commanded or instituted things throughout the Scripture to ensure His people would keep the memory of His acts always before them. The Passover feast, for example, was observed annually to remind the people of God’s deliverance from their bondage in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-20, 13:9). As Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted communion, which is the most powerful New Testament memorial we have (Luke 22:19-20).
All of these things are acts done in remembrance, however, they carry no power unless they ignite a hungry heart to know the Living God! In Joshua 4:12-24, we read the purpose of the memorial stones. It says,
“Those twelve 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 times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, Israel passed over 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, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
The stones were not so the Israelites could focus on the past, but that God’s mighty works, His goodness, would be proclaimed to the next generation and to the nations!
If those stones did not ignite the hearts of the people to declare what God had done, they would have been nothing more than a religious relic. Without the testimony of what God did for Israel, they were simply historical artifacts with no more power than any other rock in the land.
Dead religion is the sad result of forgetting the purpose of a memorial. The religious people of Jesus’ day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, had the most hostility to the truth He brought. They knew in their heads all of the stories about what God had done. They’d studied the Law and the Prophets and had memorized all the history from the Old Testament. They performed all their religious duties (most of which God never commanded). They had all the relics. They kept all the feasts. They were as religious and staunch as anyone could be. However, their religion was nothing more than a museum of what used to be alive (Matthew 23:27-30).
Anything that God tells us to do is intended to draw us closer to Him and to glorify His name. There is power in every memorial when the story of what God did is declared! The power of a testimony is in its telling! That was why God had the Israelites bring rocks across the Jordan river. The rocks were a memorial, so that the children would ask their parents about them, and the story would be told.
This week, as many of us press on with 21 days of prayer and fasting, I want to ask you if there are any memorials in your life? What reminds you of what God has done for you, for your church, or for your family? Now I want to ask you, who have you told recently? We will not find ourselves in dead religion if we keep the testimonies of what God has done and Who He is always before us. God’s intention is to take us from glory to glory. He didn’t bring Israel across the Jordan river so they could set up a camp there with their memorial rocks, satisfied with how far they’d come. They set up a memorial of God’s goodness so their children would never forget, and God would have the glory. They went on to conquer giants and dwell in the fullness of the promised land that God had for them. That’s God’s promise for us too! Don’t stop where you are, remembering all the things God has done, satisfied with memorials and religion. God has so much more! Let the people around you hear of the things God has done for you in the past and let those testimonies ignite your heart to walk with Him into His incredible purpose for your future!
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