Scripture Daily

Context No. 1034 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 4:1-7: in context

1When all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2“Take twelve men out of the people, a man out of every tribe, 3and command them, saying, ‘Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you’ll camp tonight.’” 4Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe. 5Joshua said to them, “Cross before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; 6that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’ 7then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the LORD’s covenant. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.’”

The whole nation has crossed the Jordan on dry ground, and God's first instruction is to build a memorial. Take twelve men, one from each tribe, and have each of them lift a stone from the middle of the riverbed, from the very spot where the priests carrying the ark stood firm, and carry it over to the camp. These twelve stones are to be a sign, so that when children ask in years to come, what do these stones mean, the answer will be that the Jordan's waters were cut off before the ark of the covenant.

Two details are worth catching. First, there are twelve stones, one for each tribe, and one man from each tribe carries his own. No tribe is a spectator to the memorial; every one of them is represented, every one has a stone on its shoulder. The remembrance of what God did belongs to the whole people, and each part has to carry its share of it. Second, the stones come from a specific place, the exact spot in the riverbed where the priests' feet stood firm while the whole nation passed. The memorial is built from the very ground of the miracle, the place where the water was held back. There is something fitting in that: the reminder is quarried from the site of the deliverance itself, so that the stones literally come from where God acted. Israel carries out of the river a piece of the very place where God made a way, and stacks it where the next generation will see it and ask. The monument to grace is built from the ground grace stood on.

What stone am I carrying out of the place God delivered me, a tangible reminder I can point to when someone asks, and am I carrying my own share of the remembering?

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