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Joshua Chapter 4
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Joshua 4:1 And it came to pass,
when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD
spake unto Joshua, saying,
After they completely went across and
every last one of them were safely on the other side, the Lord
speaks further instructions. He never leaves Joshua to fend for
himself.
- Joshua 4:2 Take you twelve
men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
- 3 And command ye
them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of
the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and
ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging
place, where ye shall lodge this night.
- 4 Then Joshua called
the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel,
out of every tribe a man:
- 5 And Joshua said
unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into
the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone
upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of
the children of Israel:
- 6 That this may be a
sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in
time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
- 7 Then ye shall
answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the
ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the
waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a
memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
Notice here that this is a memorial.
They were not making a place of worship like an idol. They were not
allowed to build a tomb for Moses because people would have used it
as a place of worship. We see here that this was different. It was
set up as a reminder of how God caused the waters to stand up as a
heap while they passed through the river on dry land. People need
reminders to tell the generations to come.
- Joshua 4:8 And the
children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up
twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto
Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of
Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where
they lodged, and laid them down there.
- 9 And Joshua set up
twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the
feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood:
and they are there unto this day.
Twelve stones from the river of Jordan
where set up and placed where they camped at Gilgal. Wow, what
a sight to behold. It appears also that Joshua replaced the stones
from the river with 12 stones taken from the land. So a memorial was
set in the midst of the river as well as on land. When this book of
Joshua was written the stones were still standing. Whether or not
they still exist today, I don't know but would like to see it if
they were.
- Joshua 4:10 For the
priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until
every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak
unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua:
and the people hasted and passed over.
- 11 And it came to
pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark
of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the
people.
- 12 And the children
of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as
Moses spake unto them:
We must remember that the children of
Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh were going to live on
the west side of Jordan but passed over with them to help fight the
battles ahead as Moses instructed them to do.
- Joshua 4:13 About forty
thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto
battle, to the plains of Jericho.
- 14 On that day the
LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they
feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
We should always respect godly
leadership and woe to anyone who abuses or departs from God and uses
his leadership position to control or deceive people. However, if
they remain as servants to God and do not allow sin in their lives
and rule the people with love, then that leadership is to be
respected and not rebelled against.
- Joshua 4:15 And the LORD
spake unto Joshua, saying,
- 16 Command the
priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up
out of Jordan.
- 17 Joshua therefore
commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
- 18 And it came to
pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the
LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of
the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the
waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all
his banks, as they did before.
The waters did not return to their
place until every last one of them were safely out of the midst of
the river. The priests that bare the ark were the last to leave the
middle of the river. The river then returned to the original state
it was in before the crossing.
The first month was Nisan We see that
on the 10th day (around our March or April), the people were camped
at Gilgal east of the city of Jericho. Here we will see the first
trial of faith when they conquer this city. It was a very wicked
city for God to allow this. He doesn't just go around destroying
cities.
- Joshua 4:20 And those
twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch
in Gilgal.
- 21 And he spake unto
the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask
their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
- 22 Then ye shall let
your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry
land.
- 23 For the LORD your
God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were
passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he
dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
- 24 That all the
people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is
mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
They were to tell and retell this story
to their children and children's children from generation to
generation. Now through the preservation of scripture, we can read
about this ourselves. Since we've never actually seen a miracle like
this ourselves, we have to believe by faith that it took place.
By faith we believe Jesus was the Son
of God who lived in Israel for about 33 and one half years, preached
the gospel, died for our sins and was raised from the dead returning
to His Father that He came from. He didn't leave us alone but sent
His Holy Spirit to abide within all who obey Him according to the
book of Acts and the promise of Jesus in the book of John.
If we seek the Lord diligently by
faith, He will not let us down. If we really want to know the Lord,
we can. He left us His written word and His Holy Spirit to guide us
into all truth. Jesus came to save us from sin, give us eternal life
and fill us with His Holy Spirit. We will never be alone after
that.
Reading the book of Joshua, its like
traveling the journey with them. The victories, the setbacks, and
all. DC
Joshua Index
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