AM Bible Study Group; September 18, 2013
Joshua 4:1-24
Theme: There memorials that God established at the crossing of the Jordan teach us spiritual truths about our victory in Christ.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Chapters 3 and 4 of Joshua tell the story of how the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River and began to enter the promised land. It’s easy to pass by the story of the crossing of the Jordan. But we shouldn’t pass by any of the Old Testament stories that are told to us of the people of Israel. There are important lessons being taught to us in them. As Paul said, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). In our last study, we considered Chapter 3; and how the crossing of the river illustrated our death to self in Christ and our new life of spiritual victory through dependence upon Him. Today, we consider Chapter 4; and the lessons that it teaches us about that spiritual victory through the monuments that God established of that crossing.
This chapter can be a bit confusing at first. Things are not presented to us in a strictly chronological order of events. But as one commentator wrote, “If the chief purpose of ch. 4, the erection of the memorial stones, is kept in mind, the apparent lack of order and composition, which many have thought to characterize the account at this point, ceases to be a pressing problem” (M.H. Woudstra, The Book of Joshua, NICOT, [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1981], p. 90). A helpful way to consider this chapter is to think of the lessons we might learn from the key elements in the story . . .
I. THE TWELVE STONES ON DRY LAND.
A. Consider that there were twelve stones taken from the river. Verses 1-3 tell us, “And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: ‘Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, “Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.”‘” Those twelve men were referred to back in 3:12; but it must be that they were kept on stand-by and were only put to their task after the people had completely crossed over. The fact that they each carried their specific stone on their shoulder symbolizes that they bore the significance of that stone for the whole of their tribe. As stones that were formerly in the midst of river, they would have been stacked as a monument that testified that God had dried up the river for them and enabled them to enter into victory. The monument made from these stones, then, would have testified of the victory God had given them over their old way of living (on the East side), and of their entry into the fullness of the blessings God was giving them (on the West side).
B. Consider that they were set up at Gilgal. We’re told in verses 5-7 that these twelve tribal leaders were told to carry these stones as “a memorial to the children of Israel forever”. They did so; carrying them “to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there” (v. 8). This place came to be known as “Gilgal” (vv. 19-20); and it became the first place that the people of Israel occupied in the land on the other side of the river. This is significant because the name Gilgal means “Rolling”. It’s the place that symbolized the fact that God had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt” from the people (see Josue 5:9). As we read further in the story of Joshua, we’ll find that it’s a place at which some significant events occurred. It was the place from which God would later remind His disobedient people of His covenant with them (Judges 2:1). The crossing meant leaving the old way of life behind; and the stones set up at Gilgal were to be a monument to that fact.
C. Consider the day this occurred. We’re told that this occurred on “the tenth day of the first month” (v. 19). That date had already been given significance to the people of Israel back in Exodus 12:3. That was the day that the people of Israel were to select the Passover lamb. On that day, they were to begin keeping it in their households; and they would slay it four days later. What a picture this is of Jesus!—our Passover Lamb by whose death our reproach has been rolled away!
II. THE TWELVE STONES IN THE MIDST OF THE RIVER.
A. Consider who set them up in the river. Verse 9 says, “Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. It should be noted that the New International Version translates this verse as if the stones mentioned in it were the same stones as were set up on the river bank. But as the translation we’re using—and as the marginal reading of the NIV— indicates, these were different stones than the ones set up on the river bank. And in this case, it was Joshua—not the twelve men—who set them up.
B. Consider where they were set up. They were set up at the place where the feet of the priests stood as they bore the ark. They were at the place where the flow of river—that kept the people from God’s blessings—was held back so they could, by God’s grace, cross over. The stones on the river bank symbolized the victory of new life brought about by our Savior’s resurrection; but the stones in the midst of the river symbolized our Savior’s tomb where He experienced death on our behalf.
C. Consider where they would be when the waters returned. Once the waters returned, the top of this monument of stones in the river’s midst would probably have been visible. Joshua wrote that they were still visible at the time of his writing. They would have served as a monument of what they had been delivered from. Alan Redpath wrote; “If any Israelite had gone back over Jordan into the wilderness, the stones in the bed of that river would have cried out against him. The stones that rested on the river bank would have cried out in protest that the people united in redemption and placed together on victory ground should [sic] go back to the wilderness. Do your standards of Christian life, your worldliness and compromise and sinfulness, cause the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus to cry out in protest? Get onto the victory side again: you have been placed there!” (Alan Redpath, Victorious Christian Living: Studies in the Book of Joshua [Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1955], pp. 73-74.) “[L]et us go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1; see also Philippians 3:12-15).
III. THE PEOPLE WHO CROSSED OVER.
A. Consider who it was that was specifically said to have crossed over. In verse 1, we’re told that “all the people” had completely crossed over. This would have been all twelve tribes—over 2.5 million people in number! God’s wanted all His redeemed people on the side of victory; and the ark stayed in place until they crossed. Note too that the two and a half tribes from the east side went ahead of their brethren (vv. 12), and about forty thousand soldiers in all crossed over (v. 13). Victory in Christ involves battle in this world. Only after they had all crossed over did the priests with the ark crossed over. And once they did, the waters returned to their place (v. 18).
B. Consider what their reaction was to Joshua. Joshua, we’re told, was “exalted” by God in the sight of all the people of Israel. They “feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life” (v. 14). This is as the people had done for Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea (see Exodus 14:31).
C. Consider what the monuments would do for the future generations. Joshua told the people, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (vv. 21-24).