Scripture Daily

Context No. 3292 of 4322 · Joshua

Context · Reflection

Joshua 4:15-19: in context

15The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 16“Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, that they come up out of the Jordan.” 17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan!” 18When the priests who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet had been lifted up to the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before. 19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.

At the LORD's command, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant step up out of the Jordan riverbed, and the moment their feet reach dry ground, the waters that had stood piled up come rushing back and overflow the banks as before. The miracle held only while the ark, the sign of God's presence, was in the midst of the river. The people cross over and camp at Gilgal, where twelve memorial stones are set up.

There is a rhythm here worth noticing: God does a great thing, and then his people mark it, memorialize it, so that later generations will ask what the stones mean and be told the story. The crossing is finished, but it is deliberately remembered; God does not want his acts forgotten. Deliverance is meant to be marked and retold, not simply left behind. The stones stand at Gilgal so that the memory of what God did at the Jordan will not fade, but be passed on to children who did not see it.

Do I mark and remember God's acts of deliverance in my life, setting up "memorial stones" so that I and others do not forget what he has done?

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