Certainly we are still years prior to the Davidic kingdom, and the era of the prophets. In order for Messiah to come, Israel must be in the land. But more than this, it brings us closer to the coming of Christ. It moves us forward from the judgment imposed on the covenant nation for their disobedience-40 years of wandering in a wilderness-to the conquest of the land promised 500 years before to Abraham. Amen.The Book of Joshua serves an important role in the story line of the Bible. Pile up the memories that point to Your goodness through Jesus, our Lord. Let Your Word lead people to You and instill in them a faith that will never fail. Save Your people and bless Your heritage as many call upon You. Lead me to part my lips, even as You parted the waters, to fill those listening ears with words that will well up even to everlasting life. When they see your stones piled up and ask about it, let them know of the love of Jesus in your life, and that it is available to them, too! PRAYER: When people ask, O Lord, of the markers I have placed, let them serve as an opening to share the faith I have in You. Whatever it is, let your markers be a door that opens opportunity to others.
Maybe your marker is your well-used Bible sitting beside your chair or on a table in your house, visible for everyone who enters to see or it could be that you have a number of crosses or religious plaques that share your faith. Maybe you have piled up rocks to remind you of them. Look at the markers of faith you have in your life. Has anyone ever asked you about the picture or the knickknack? Did you take time to explain the importance of it to them? Were they more interested when you finished telling them than when you began? You have placed a marker, a monument, that allowed you to share! Do they remind you of a trip you took? You might think of the very day you bought the item. When you look at them what do you remember? Do you remember an occasion? Maybe you remember something special about the person. Think of all the pictures you have in your home. They may remind us of an event or someone special to us. Markers are important for us too because they remind us of some of the miracles we have experienced. Maybe your rocks are more figurative than literal, but we all pile up rocks. I remember walking the path on Mackinac Island and seeing many markers piled along the way. These twelve stones would become a memorial, a marker of the miracle God had performed for them. God also tells Joshua to have each of the leaders take a stone from the river where the priests stood. As the priests step into the waters, the waters part so that the people and the priests remain dry! God instructs the priests to take the Ark of the Covenant into the middle of the river to allow the people to pass through on dry ground. Joshua who, along with Caleb, returned from spying out Canaan with a favorable report, would lead them into their new home.īut there is the issue of the Jordan River before them.
Even Moses, who had led them all those years, would not go in with them because he had disobeyed God’s command. They passed through safely, while the Egyptians were drowned as the parted waters were again joined.Īfter wandering for forty years in the wilderness, now God’s people are entering into the Promised Land. The first time was when they were leaving slavery in Egypt and were being pursued by the Egyptian army.
Here we find the second time God parts the waters for His Children to pass through on dry ground. I encourage you to read the whole chapter of Joshua 4. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. Readings: Joshua 4:1-24 and Acts 9:23-43 Joshua 4:19-24 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
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