Josué 4

Josué 4

Pink - That monument of stones was designed first as a “sign” unto Israel. It was a message for their hearts via their eyes rather than ears. It was an enduring sermon in stone. It spoke of the goodness and power of God exercised on their behalf at the Jordan. That word “sign” is a very full one—our Lord’s miracles are termed “signs” (John 20:30; Acts 2:22). The two wonders which Moses was empowered to work before his brethren were called “signs” (Ex. 4:1–9), they authenticated him as their Divinely-appointed leader and signified that the power of the Almighty was with him. In Deuteronomy 11:18, and Judges 6:17, “sign” has the force of token or representation-of Israel’s being regulated by God’s Word, and of the Lord’s granting success to the commission He had committed to Gideon. In other passages a “sign” was a portent or pledge of something concerning the future—1 Samuel 10:1–9; 2 Kings 19:29. In each of those senses may “sign” be understood in Joshua 4:6. That cairn of stones was to signify that Israel had not crossed the Jordan by their own ability, but because of the miracle-working power of God. It was a representation unto them that they had passed through the river’s bed dryshod. More especially, it was an earnest and pledge of what God would yet do for them. Second, that monument was designed as a “memorial” that Israel had passed through the river of death, that they were now (typically) on resurrection ground, that judgment lay behind them. Israel upon the Canaan side of Jordan adumbrated that blessed truth expressed by our Redeemer in John 5:24, where He so definitely assures His people that each soul who hears His word and believes on the One who sent Him “hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” The reason why he shall not “come into condemnation” is because in the person of his Surety he has already been condemned and suffered the full judgment of God upon all his sins, and therefore, judicially, as federally united to Christ, he “is passed from death [that death which is the wages of sin] unto life”—that “life” which is the award of the Law, as it was “magnified” by the Saviour and “made honourable” (Isa. 42:21). As the ark of the covenant entered the river of death and judgment the flow of its waters was stopped until the ark had secured a safe passage for all who followed it; so Christ endured the unsparing wrath of God that by His atoning death those who were legally one with Him, and who are made voluntary followers of Him, shall be delivered from all future judgment. (Gleanings in Joshua) (Be A Berean with Pink - Read critique of Pink's interpretative approach) F B Meyer Our Daily Homily Those twelve stones did Joshua set up in Gilgal. (r.v.) Not content with pitching a cairn of stones on the river’s bank, Joshua, at God’s command, set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant stood. And often, as he came back to Gilgal, he must have gone out by himself to walk and muse beside the river, turning the outward and the inner gaze to the spot where beneath the flow of the current those stones lay hidden. They were a perpetual memorial of where the people had been, of the grace which had brought them forth, and of the position to which God had conducted them. Children in after days would gather round those mighty boulders and be instructed, and it is a great matter that the deliverances of God should be graven as with a pen of iron on the soft and yielding surface of the child’s heart; thus the coming generation shall revere and love the name of Jehovah. The story of these stones is told again by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2. We were dead in trespasses and sins, and lay hopelessly in the grave, like stones in the heart of the river of death. But we were brought forth by God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm. We were raised up together with Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is the memorial stone of our position in the sight of God; from this we should never recede. How those old stones would have cried out, if Israel had gone back over the Jordan! And does not Christ’s empty grave protest against our living amid the pleasures and cares of the world from which He has gone, and going, has taken us also? This is not our rest; let us make good our standing in the risen Seven Stone Memorials in Joshua Gilgal a reminder of God’s faithfulness in bringing Israel safely across the Jordan into the Promised Land Over Achan a reminder of Israel’s potential for unfaithfulness and of the dire consequences that result over the king of Ai a monument to Israel’s second chance and restoration Joshua engraves a copy of the law a reminder of Israel’s duty to live in obedience to the divine “Torah,” or “instruction” over Amorite kings at Gibeon a reminder of God’s gracious action in defending Israel’s covenant with a Canaanite city peace in the land of Gilead a witness to the unity of the Transjordanian tribes with Israel west of the Jordan covenant renewal at Shechem a reminder of Israel’s duty to serve the Lord, who fulfilled every promise in bringing them into the land George Bush - Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Joshua - Chapter 4 20. Did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. Heb. הקים hëkim, erect, rear up. A foundation of stone-work or a mound of earth, was probably first laid, of considerable height, and then the twelve stones placed on the top of it; for twelve such stones as a man could carry six miles on his shoulder, could scarcely have made any observable pile or pillar of memorial; but erected on such a base as we have supposed, they would be very conspicuous, and strikingly answer the purpose for which they were designed. Joshua 4:21 He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' When your: Jos 4:6 Ps 105:2-5 145:4-7 Joshua 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Joshua 4:6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSE OF THE STONES OF REMEMBRANCE Pedagogical refers to the principles and practice of teaching. The stones of remembrance were to be the parent's visual teaching aid to remind Israel for generations to come that it was Yahweh Who had brought them through the Jordan, just as He had taken their fathers through the Red Sea. He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying - The memorial stones of remembrance were set up to prompt remembrance of God's mighty power and to prompt their children to ask about the purpose of the stones. What are these stones?' This heap of twelve stones was a reminder of what God did for His people. The Jews were great believers in teaching the next generation about Jehovah and His special relationship to the people of Israel (Jos 4:6, 21; Ex 12:26; 13:14; Dt 6:20; see Ps 34:11-16; 71:17,18; 78:1-7; 79:13; 89:1; 102:18). To an unbeliever, the heap of twelve stones was simply another stone pile; but to a believing Israelite, it was a constant reminder that Jehovah was his or her God, working His wonders on behalf of His people. It’s unfortunate that this memorial at Gilgal gradually lost its spiritual meaning and instead became a site of idol worship (!!!) where the Jews sinned against God by worshiping there. The Prophet Hosea condemned the people for worshiping at Gilgal instead of at Jerusalem (Hos 4:15; 9:15; 12:11), and Amos echoed his warnings (Am 4:4; 5:5). Unless we teach the next generation the truth about the Lord, they will turn away and start following the world. These two heaps of stones were the first of several stone monuments that the Jews put up in the land. In obedience to Moses’ instructions, they also set up the two “stones of blessing and cursing” at Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim (Dt 27:1-8; Jos 8:30-35). They raised a heap of stones over Achan and his household (Jos 7:25,26); and at the close of his life, Joshua set up a “witness stone” at Shechem (Jos 24:24-28; Judges 9:6). The two and a half tribes that lived east of the Jordan set up a “great altar” to remind their children that they were a part of the nation of Israel, even though the river separated them from the other tribes (Jos 22:10ff). (See chart of Memorials above). THOUGHT - There is nothing wrong with memorials, provided they don’t become religious idols that turn our hearts from God, and provided they don’t so link us to the past that we fail to serve God in the present. Glorifying the past is a good way to petrify the present and rob the church of power. The next generations need reminders of what God has done in history, but these reminders must also strengthen their faith and draw them closer to the Lord.