Joshua 4:1-7: a reflection

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.’”

After Israel crosses the Jordan on dry ground, God commands that twelve stones be taken from the riverbed and set up as a memorial, a lasting reminder of what God had done. The stones were to stand as a sign, so that in years to come, when the memory might otherwise fade, the people would have a tangible reminder of God's great act, and would tell its meaning to their children. God knew his people would be prone to forget, and so he had them make a memorial.

Notice why God commanded the memorial: because his people would be prone to forget. Even so great a deliverance as crossing the Jordan on dry ground could fade from memory over time, and its meaning be lost. So God had them set up stones, a tangible, lasting reminder, to hold the memory of his faithfulness before them and before the generations to come. The memorial was a deliberate guard against forgetting.

That is a wise practice for us. We too are prone to forget God's works, to let the memory of his faithfulness fade as time passes and new concerns crowd in. Like Israel, we do well to make deliberate reminders, to mark and remember what God has done, so that his faithfulness is not forgotten. Keep some memorial of God's faithfulness in your own life, a journal, a marked date, a token, a habit of recalling and giving thanks, so that you do not forget his works over time. Do not let the memory of God's faithfulness fade. Set up your stones, and let them remind you, again and again, of what God has done.

Lord, you had Israel set up twelve stones as a memorial of your deliverance, because you knew they would be prone to forget even so great a work over time. Guard me against forgetting your faithfulness. I too am prone to let the memory of your works fade as time passes and new concerns crowd in. Help me, like Israel, to make deliberate reminders, to mark and remember what you have done, so that your faithfulness is not forgotten. Give me a memorial of your works in my own life, a way of recalling and giving thanks, so that I do not forget over time. Do not let the memory of your faithfulness fade in me. Help me set up my stones, and to remember, again and again, all you have done.