FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD FOREVER

Joshua 4:1-24 / Keywords 4:24

He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.

 

4:1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 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, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 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.”

8 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. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been[a] 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.

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

14 That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

a. Joshua 4:9 Or Joshua also set up twelve stones

b. Joshua 4:23 Or the Sea of Reeds

1. We tend to have short memories, don’t we? Unlikely as it seems, we often forget what God has done for us. As one generation gives way to the next, the history of God’s great work often goes neglected. God’s work must be remembered and his history taught so that a new generation of believers may live by faith. The LORD commanded Joshua to take 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, and have them bring 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River where the priests had stood. Joshua took the stones and set up a monument in Gilgal. Later, when children asked their fathers about the meaning of these stones, they were to explain how God dried up the waters of the Jordan so the people could pass into the Promised Land on dry ground. They were to know that it was God who led them into their inheritance.

 

2. The 12 stones were to be a lesson for the whole world. All the peoples of the earth are to know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and to fear his name forever. Today, we celebrate Communion to remember the salvation we have received in Jesus. We do this to remember his great love for the whole world as he shed his blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. We celebrate his resurrection and remember the hope we have in eternal life. This is how we honor his name.

 

Prayer Lord, help us to remember your great work.

One Word Teach others about what God has done