Stones of Remembrance!

We are travelers. Since the beginning of our marriage, Margaret and I have chosen to make travel one of our extravagances. When we had our children, we continued to travel the world with them. Our adventures were a time of challenge, excitement and bonding as a family. From the very beginning, Margaret started a tradition related to our travels. Everywhere we went, we would take great care to find and bring back a special stone. Once home, this stone would be placed on a shelf in our library as a reminder of a special place and time. You can see those stones in our library today. To you they most likely look common but to us they are a reminder of some amazing event. When I see those stones of remembrance, I see a testimony of what we experienced together.

On Sunday, Chris shared two very powerful sermons and a moving ceremony about the stones of remembrance. In fact in chapter 4, we can see two piles of stones. Each pile is composed of 12 pieces of stones; one pile smooth stone and one pile rough. God had commanded Joshua, when they crossed the Jordan River that twelve men chosen from each of the twelve tribes were to take up twelve stones from the river and put them down at the place where they were to stay that night. The second pile of stones was set up in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. These two piles of stones had the same purpose, they were both a testimony to the power and faithfulness of God – how the Lord cut off the flow of the Jordan and allowed the Israelites to cross the river on dry ground. The only difference is that one is under the river and cannot be seen, the other pile is on dry ground and can be seen.

The pile on the dry ground is a testimony that can be seen. Which pile of stones is more important? The pile under the Jordan River is more important, because without the one under the river, the one on the ground would be a false testimony. This reminds us that the real testimony is often unseen. In other words, it’s not the external but the internal that really matters. The unseen pile of stones testifies to the pile that can be seen. 2Cor 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

In obedience, Joshua set up two piles of stones. In the pile of 12 stones established in the middle of the Jordan River (the pile not seen) we can identify 3 important truths. The stones are a testimony to:

Twelve men picked the twelve stones. These twelve men represented the twelve tribes of Israel. These 12 stones are a testimony to the unity of the 12 tribes. But remember, the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had decided not to cross the Jordan River. They wanted to reside east of the river, so, in reality; only 9 tribes crossed the Jordan River. But verses 12-13 tell us ‘The men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.’ These two and a half tribes sent out forty thousand warriors to help the 9 tribes in battle.

The Book of Numbers, chapter 26, records that the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh together numbered approximately a hundred thousand warriors. Now they had sent forty thousand to help in the fighting. That number would be 40% of their fighting men and 60 percent had remained to protect the women and the children. Imagine a nation sending 40% of its troops to help another nation fight a battle. This is not an easy thing to do. But if the two and a half-tribes did not go, Joshua would not have set up 12 stones, he would have only set up 9 and a half stones and this would not be a testimony of unity, it would be a testimony of disunity.

We live in a generation of disunity. People and nations alike find it hard to cooperate with each other. Even churches find it hard to cooperate with each other. But the Lord wants us to establish a testimony of unity. Psalm 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” In an age of disunity, we can learn an important principle for cooperation from the pile of stones. We must be committed to maintaining unity in principle.

Four hundred years before, God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. Four hundred years later, because of unbelief, the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. After 40 years, Joshua led them across the Jordan River and they stepped on to the Promised Land. As they stacked that pile of 12 stones in Canaan, they established a testimony of God’s faithfulness. The Lord is faithful! He will never fail us. Four hundred years ago, the Lord promised them the land of Canaan, four hundred years after, God’s promise came true.

God is faithful but men are not. There are three reasons why men are unfaithful:

Ø  Forgetfulness. Sometimes, we promised to do something, but we forget.

Ø  Unwillingness. Sometimes it is not because we forget, but because we are unwilling; maybe, because it is difficult or inconvenient, so we fail to do what we promised to do.

Ø Powerlessness. Maybe, at the start, we did not know that the task would be so difficult, so we make promises; but when we find ourselves unable to complete the task, we have no recourse but to apologize and beg off.

But our God is faithful. He is omniscient. He will never forget. He is omnipotent; He will not be powerless to accomplish anything. He can never be unfaithful. He will forever be faithful.

Verses 21- 24 “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 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.”

The Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the Israelites then, this was a great miracle because that generation of Israelites was born in the wilderness. They had never seen a vast river and do not know how they will cross. So for them, crossing the Jordan River was a huge problem. They likely knew of the miracle of the Red Sea but had not witnessed God’s awesome power in this way. When the Lord divided the Jordan River, their hearts and voices must have shouted, “God, how great you are!” Isaiah 43:2 promised, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Can this be possible?

The Lord divided the Red Sea and the Jordan River, so that the Israelites could cross over. When they pass through the waters, the waters did not sweep over them. Scripture also declares that Daniel and his three friends were thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to the gold image set up by Babylon’s king. Yet, they walked around in the fire and were not burned. In fact, there was a fourth man in that furnace. Jesus Himself was with the three Hebrew men. When you go through fiery trials, do not forget the Lord is with you; he is beside you. He goes through the waters with you and he goes through the fire with you. As long as we acknowledge God’s power, we can face all difficulties with faith and confidence. The Lord causes us to know Him through many different situations and His goal is that we may revere Him.

The twelve stones Joshua set up is a testimony to the unity of the 12 tribes of Israel; it also testified of God’s faithfulness and power. Like this pile of stones, may our lives hold such beautiful testimonies to the trustworthiness and power of God.

Resources:

Brance Gillihan – “Joshua – A Pile of Stone” – BranceGillihan.com

Ron Moore – “Stones of Remembrance” – RonMoore.com

Anne Graham Lotz – “The Stones of Remembrance” – BillyGraham.org