We love our memorials even today, Nelson’s Column in London, the Arches of Constantine and Titus in Rome, the Arch of Triumph in Paris, the Washington Arch in New York City. All these serve as reminders, and so, God wants His people to construct reminders, Genesis 8:20 / Genesis 12:7 / Genesis 35:7.
When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, God instructs Joshua to set up a memorial. Joshua 4:1. He is to ask twelve men, one from each tribe, to return to the centre of the Jordan and each pick up a large stone from where the priests are standing, Joshua 4:2-3. These were to be carried to where they were lodging for the night and they would serve as a reminder, Joshua 4:3.
Joshua does what God asks and calls together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, Joshua 4:4. He tells them to go over before the ark of God into the middle of the Jordan and each of them is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, Joshua 4:5. The stone are to serve as a sign among them, Joshua 4:6.
In the future, children would ask about them, Joshua 4:6 / Joshua 4:21, and the fathers could tell them how God had cut off the waters so that the people could cross the Jordan, Joshua 4:7 / Joshua 4:22-23. The stones accomplished two things, firstly, they instructed future generations, Joshua 4:7, and secondly, they instructed the surrounding nations, Joshua 4:24.
The Israelites do as Joshua commanded, Joshua 4:8. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as God had told Joshua and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down, Joshua 4:8. Notice that Joshua set up the twelve stones in the centre of Jordan, at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood and they are there to this day, Joshua 4:9.
Hess, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There were apparently two piles of 12 stones each, one at Gilgal, Joshua 4:3-8 / Joshua 4:20, and one in the Jordan Riverbed, Joshua 4:9. Some scholars believe there was only one pile of stones, which the NIV translation also suggests.’
Unger, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The stones left in the swirling Jordan to be overwhelmed by its waters are mementos of Christ’s death under judgment in the believer’s place. Thus, it is the amazing symbolism of these events, as we found so frequently in Exodus, that bears eloquent and indestructible testimony of the divine nature of this narrative. It is beyond the power of any man who ever lived to have concocted a story like this, even if he had had one hundred prior sources to help him! The hand of the infinite God is in every line of this sacred narrative!’
The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything God had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua, Joshua 4:10. The people hurried over 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, Joshua 4:11.
All the people get across, including the two and a half tribes who were ready for battle as Moses directed them. Joshua 4:12. Forty thousand armed men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before God to the plains of Jericho for war, Joshua 4:13.
That day God exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel and notice the respect they show Joshua, they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses, Joshua 4:14. God now tells Joshua, to command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan and Joshua then tells the priests to do so, Joshua 4:15-17. The priests bring the ark on the land and the water began flowing again as it did before, Joshua 4:18.
On the tenth day of the first month, Exodus 12:2, the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho, Joshua 4:19.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The notation that the crossing took place on the tenth day of the first month, Joshua 4:19, is significant. It was exactly 40 years earlier, to the day, that God instructed Israel to prepare to depart from Egypt by setting apart the paschal lambs, Exodus 12:3.’
Notice that now Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua 4:20. In the future, their descendants would ask their parents about them, Joshua 4:21 / Joshua 4:6, and the parents could tell them how God had cut off the waters so that the people could cross the Jordan, Joshua 4:22-23 / Joshua 4:7.
The stones accomplished two things, firstly, they instructed future generations, Joshua 4:7, and secondly, they instructed the surrounding nations, Joshua 4:24.
Faith is not a blind leap in the dark, Joshua’s action was based on God’s promises and God’s direct revelation of facts. The Christian’s faith is based on facts as well, that which God has revealed in His word. Experience or our inner feeling, is no substitute for facts, Proverbs 14:12.
Parents need to take the lead in religious instruction, Ephesians 6:4. The memorial stones served as a reminder but they also provided an opportunity for parents to teach their children. Sometimes in life, we must face a Jordan, there appears before us what seems an impossible river to cross but with God’s strength, somehow, we can cross that river, Isaiah 43:2.