STONES OF REMEMBRANCE (JOSHUA 4:1-7)

 

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE

BIBLE PASSAGE: JOSHUA 4: 1 -7

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: ptr tony evans sermons &

https://www.gotquestions.org/stones-of-remembrance

 

NOVEMBER 07, 2021

MEMORY VERSE

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

DEUTERONOMY 4:9

 

INTRODUCTION:

Do we easily forget? Yes, because the storage of our minds is limited. It’s different thing if we have some health issues. Let’s talk about family, do your children easily forget? After so many years of their existence, do they easily forget what sacrifices parents have done in the family? (Allow responses)

Today, I act here as a daughter in the family. Sometimes or most of the times, children act as if they know better than their parents. They’ve forgotten that before, they can’t clothe themselves, feed themselves or house themselves. There are children who forgot the fact that if it wasn’t for their parents, not only would they not be here, that they would not have the life that they have now. In fact, we have a generation of children who’ve forgotten or neglected their mothers and fathers and we have seen that in the news. They forget the overtime, hard work, and forget the effort of their parents. God knows we are prone to forget. We may forget a lot of things in life, but God is not the One you want to forget, right?

We know in the Bible that Israelites were forgetful. Let’s go back to the time they were in the wilderness. They were there in about of 40 years. The number forty (40) is major in the Bible. Forty is a time of transition in the Bible. Jesus was in wilderness 40 days as He transitions into His public ministry. It was forty years in the wilderness of preparation before Israel was ready to go into the Promised Land. A generation in Bible is spoken up in terms of 40 years; you enter the next generation when you reach forty and the next generation comes along. Israel had been in the wilderness for forty years. Forty years for them to learn faith, forty years for their habits to be corrected, forty years for them to be humbled, forty years for them to be trained and now it’s time for them to cross-over. What a miracle cross over it was because when they crossed over the Jordan River, it was a flooding season. It was a dangerous time for them to cross over but God told the priest with the Ark of the Covenant to do the first step. When they stepped at the brink of the water, they should stand still. Joshua 3: 13 says, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.” What a miracle! Even it is not passable, God can make it passable.

After the people crossed over Jordan, God told Joshua to choose twelve men, one man out of every tribe. These men will carry upon their shoulder's stones, and they would make a sign; these stones would be a memorial – stones of remembrance.  Joshua 4: 6 says, “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?” What do these stones mean?

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  NEVER FORGET WHAT WAS HAPPENED AND WHO DID IT (DEUTERONOMY 6:10-12; 8:11,14,18-20)

Joshua 1: 7 says, “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.”

 

Never forget what happened in the Jordan River when you all crossed over and who did it? Never forget that the Lord who made these all happened in your lives. Like what I have said a while ago, we are subject to forget. After the Israelites’ life in the wilderness, they might forget who made their dreams come true; they already have the “PROMISED LAND.”

 

When the people following Joshua arrived at the Jordan, the river was at flood stage, transforming it from its typical 100-foot width to a daunting mile-wide, raging river. Israel’s entrance into Canaan was completely blocked. Let’s try to imagine this scene; maybe others think, they were always blocked by seas or water and there’s no way out and even in the last step, still they had problems needed to face. Still, they are blessed, problems arise but God is always there for them to pass over. But as soon as the priests dipped their feet in the river’s edge, God stopped the flow of water, and the people crossed on dry ground. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood in the middle of the riverbed until the whole nation had passed over (Joshua 3:14–17).

 

Crossing the Jordan represented a major change for the nation of Israel. Their wilderness wanderings were over. No longer would Israel be fed with manna provided by the hand of God (Joshua 5:12). From now on, the people would need to walk by faith in God’s promise to give them a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8).

God sent the ark ahead of the people into the overflowing waters to encourage their faith. The ark represented God’s presence, His very self, going before them and opening the way for them in their new walk of faith. Just as God had parted the Red Sea to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt, so also would He spread open the Jordan to lead them into the Promised Land. Remembering God’s miraculous provision and presence gave the children of Israel the courage to follow Him into this new territory fraught with conflict and enemies to conquer.

 

Like the Israelites, we are subject to forget. Children forget and we are all prone to forget. After the blessings, what’s next?  Don’t forget that during rainy season, God has guided you all throughout. Remember it’s not passable for them to cross over but God had made it passable. Don’t forget that God has blessed you even in times of pandemic. Never to forget that the only way you got to where you are from where you came from is that God had brought you during rainy season; From where you were to where you are. Is it easy to forget? Yes! It’s Easy to forget; It’s easy to forget to think that you’re the own source. It’s easy to think it's all own you, about you, from you, to you, through you and because of you. It’s easy when going from nothing to something to forget how you got there. It’s easy to forget what was like when you have no car because you can have your own now. It’s easy to forget what was like when you lived in a small house or room and move to apartment then have your own house, earning from a few pesos and now a full salary or dollars. Don’t you think that God set up everything for you – Deu.6 –

¹⁰ And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,¹¹ And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; ¹² Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Deu.8:11,14,18 say, “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:”

¹⁴ Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁸ But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. ²⁰ As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

 

Don’t think that you all did everything by yourself. Don’t forget that God is your source. The stones remind them that “Don’t forget that where you were compare to where you now, it’s not the same place – I walked with you. I clothed you, I preserved you… I fed you in the wilderness. Even in your rebellion I was there. DON’T YOU FORGET. DO NOT FORGET THE GOODNESS OF GOD THAT HE ALONE IS YOUR SOURCE.”

 

You’ll see God even in flood season, we just need to put the ARK OF GOD ahead of us. We’ll see God even in times of pandemic, we just need to put God first in our lives.

2.  TO REMIND YOUR CHILDREN OR THE NEXT GENERATION ABOUT WHAT GOD HAD DONE (DEUTERONOMY 4:9; JOSHUA 1:6-7)

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;

 

God gave Joshua instructions to appoint twelve men, one from each tribe. The men were each to retrieve one stone from where the priests had stood in the riverbed (bottom of the river) bearing the ark of the covenant. The stones of remembrance were not to come from the shores of the Jordan but the center, spotlighting the fact that Israel had crossed over on dry land. Let’s just try to imagine the dry land mentioned in the verse. If a place is flooded with water and have just dried, you can’t cross over without making your sandals stick with mud, right? But in Israel’s case, it is mentioned that they crossed over on a dry land. What a miracle!

Each of the stones of remembrance represented one of the tribes of Israel. The number twelve is repeated five times in Joshua 4:1–8, emphasizing the unity of the tribes as one nation under Joshua’s leadership.

 

Joshua’s stones of remembrance are just one monument in a series of memorials commemorating the mighty acts of God on behalf of the people of Israel (Exodus 13:3–6; 24:4; Deuteronomy 27:1–8; Joshua 22:9–12; 24:24–28; 1 Samuel 7:12). To everyone else, the stones were just a heap of rubble, but to the people of God, they were a constant reminder that Yahweh was a personal and powerful God, working wonders on behalf of His people.

The twelve stones of remembrance would now serve as a perpetual sign and memorial. Joshua piled them up in Gilgal, where the Israelites set up camp. “Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “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? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 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: 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.” (Joshua 4:21–24)

We supposed to have a transferable faith. It’s supposed to be transferred from one generation to the next generation (40 years). This is the problem why our society is in chaos; there has been a transfer problem. We have generation of young people today who have not their faith transferred by their mothers or fathers. I remember a Christian family who always go to church, and the parents were leaders in a certain church. One day the children said to their parents in Tagalog language, “Huwag nyo kaming itulad sainyo, ayaw naming maging leaders or pastors.” That was painful to the parents and let’s continue to pray the next generation of CBT. Let’s go back to the question, what happens when the faith is not memorialized? What happens when you don’t give young people enough to even ask the question what do these stones mean? Judges 2:10 says, “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. ¹¹ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:”

 

One of the successes of the church is do we transfer a living faith about a living God to the next generation. If we don’t, the culture disintegrated; they’ll worship other gods. Don’t forget me because I am the Lord, the Living God. Psalms 145:4 says, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”

 

That’s why Sunday School Teachers should not be weary in teaching the kids because this is one way of teaching the next generation. Sometimes thoughts came to your minds, “Is this worth doing?” Yes, it is as long as you’re doing your best for the Lord. Young People strengthening themselves through Bible Studies, your labor is not in vain. Is the lesson in the Beginning class important? Yes, indeed! Keep on!

 

CONCLUSION:

 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 (Joshua 4:24)

We know that Israel is surrounded by enemies; there’s no way out. If they don’t forget their God, He will make all things possible. They got the hand of the Lord. In our homes, we may be surrounded by evil but God said that if you remember the Lord your God even in your house, when you say, “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” he doesn’t care what the rest of the house are doing around you, He says, “I will make your home great” because you remember me even you’re surrounded by evil – That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord. Our job is to make God’s name great!

People will wonder how you got there on top then it’s time to tell other people the goodness of the Lord. You are blessed because God makes all these things happen. It’s your testimony –telling the hand of the Lord.

No matter how big or how high we get, or what God gives us, remember when we are on the top, you’ve been there because SOMEONE is in there holding you up. If some happens and you move away from God, you’ll crushed down or collapsed.

If something happens and we don’t know what to do or it’s like we don’t know how to cross during flood season, remember the history, remember what God had done.