Joshua 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, :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. Joshua 4:6 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. In our verses today I want us to look at the same story but in two different lights. Our bible is not of private interpretation and it means exactly what it says, but there are times when many applications can be made from one story. There is the literal translation, the spiritual application, and the practical application. In our story we will see all three today. Now the literal is self-evident and needs no explanation, for the scriptures tells us what literally happened. It is the spiritual and practical we want to look at today.
The Practical Instruction
God instructs them as they pass through the death waters of Jordan to carry with them a memorial to set up on the other side. Now they were not in danger of forgetting such a miracle but the children who were not yet born and those too young to remember such a deliverance needed something to remind them of what God did for them. So, every tribe has a man place a stone on his shoulder and bring it over to set up a testimony and memorial. God said when they ask you what mean ye by these stones? You tell them of the great deliverance wrought for you by God. How God rolled back the death waters and you crossed on dry ground.
Now let us apply it to ourselves. If You are one of his children God has split the red sea and brought you out of the world, he can part seas and rivers for you on his behalf and your children won’t grow up in Egypt like you did, they won’t wonder in the wilderness like you did but they’ll be born into a family that’s living in the center of God’s will. There will come a day when those children will look around and say how did my family get here? Why is my daddy a preacher and not a drunkard? How is we came to be in place we are? When that day comes you take them back to when God saved you and left Egypt(the world) in the past. Take them back to when God brought out of the wilderness of your wandering and into the land flowing with milk and honey. Or when the hard times come like they did for the Israelite's in their fighting for the land. When their questions are: Why do we serve God when life is hard? Why do we fight to live a life pleasing to the lord when all you can see is more battles? Why do we go to church? Why do we pray? What mean ye by these stones? We can point them to God’s deliverance in our life. When he delivered us from sin, self and Satan. Your life as a Christian has markers and memorials to the great deliverance's God has wrought in your life. Be sure to tell your children where our help comes from and that the life we live is rooted and founded in Him!
The Picture Illustrated.
We have been comparing ourselves to the Israelite's and Joshua and We’ve have also compared Joshua to Jesus. But in our verses today I seen my self as one of the stones. Consider with me now their low position. They were buried beneath the river that stands for death. They were stuck there never to move outside of someone coming for them. Stuck there in the muck and mire of the river bed in darkness, people for centuries passing them by until the Ark of God Passed into the death waters, rolling back the waves that kept them in darkness and the glorious light of the sun now shining unto them and a hand reaches down to where they are and pulls them up out the horrible pit and the miry clay, established there going and set them on the solid ground. Dear friend have you seen your self there? Dead in trespasses in sin, blinded until the glorious light of the gospel shined unto you, God rolling away the reproach and sin that kept you from him, snatching you up, making you joint heirs with Christ. Now when others seen these stones, they would wonder how they got from a dirty riverbed to the solid ground stacked and built up. If those stones could talk, they would sound something like this. I was there in my low estate until God showed up and a hand reached down to where I was lifting me from the muck and mire of my habitation carried me out and set me up as a memorial. People often wonder why your no longer a drug addict or why no longer you are an alcoholic or why you no longer go to the places you used to go and hang with the people you used to. You tell them I was in darkness, I was dead in my trespasses and sin, until one day God came to where I was and plucked me out and set me up as a light on a hill, Jesus said, established my goings and put a new song in my heart. Hallelujah for the day reached down to me, plucked me out of death. set my feet on the solid rock!! Thank God !!Thank God!! I’m reminded of the words of our Savior. Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. :15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. :16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine!! Onward Christian Soldier!!