This is a strange chapter but it has some good stuff in there for us. Remember, the people miraculously crossed the flooded river. The water stopped and they walked on through on dry ground and it was all amazing. These are the instructions and what happened next.
JOS 4:10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of
1. The priests stayed in the river. How long? Long enough for all the people and their animals to walk through (maybe as many as two million.) = a long time. And then they have to stand longer while these guys get there rocks out. Probably got sore feet.Being in some ministry is great but sometimes it takes dedication. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes things aren’t easy. Actually, I will promise you that if you are involved in doing things for God, things will be tough. There is no where in the bible that says life will be easy if you obey Jesus.It says obedience means you will be prosperous and successful (remember Chapter 1) but it doesn’t say that it will be easy, remember God said be strong and courageous in Chapter 1 too. You gotta be strong when life is tough. But notice these priests where right in the middle of the miracle. God used them, how cool. Imagine hearing the people walk past. “Look at this dry ground, no water in the middle of flood season, Our God is sooo cool.” God was using them to facilitate a miracle. The foundations of the memorial are possible because their leadership, that is the Levites carrying the ark stood their ground as God told them. Our basis and foundation in life has to do with our obedience to God. (Foundation is solid, has more rocks – (Rocks 1-5)
JOS 4:1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” JOS 4:4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the
2. 12 tribes – a stone for each family group. Symbolizing that everyone was included. Notice, no-one got left behind. Each tribe had a stone for itself, they all got included. But think of it – twelve good men – representative of the people. 12 Good men to make something that will last as a reminder of God working in these people’s lives. We have got to get into this point. We need to be inclusive of people who come here. Everyone needs to attached to their stone. So we know where we fit. We need to know we belong here. Have you ever been anywhere that you felt totally out of place, I have heaps. One was when I played music at a party. It was an Italian celebration and I didn’t understand a word anyone said. I felt totally out of water. Yet when I come to church, I should feel like I belong. Now I realize that not everyone likes everything all the time, but we should feel like we belong here, kinda like it’s a big extended family. We are the next level of the memorial. Church is a memorial to how God works in people’s lives. (Stones 6-9) JOS 4:8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the
3. The stones got made into a memorial. I used to go into cemetries and have a look at what people said on their tombstone. Some are clangers. What would you want people to remember you by. A one line statement on a bit of rock, or maybe the fact you did something famous, or maybe published a book, made a recording. What do we want to be remembered by?I used to also look at the names on Anzac memorials, to see if there were any Armstrongs who died. Once even went to the War memorial in
This memorial that these guys made was Kind of like our War Memorial in
What is it that people see in us?? (Stones 10-11) 4. Normal blokes made the memorial.20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the
Now, we don’t make memorials like that although sometimes churches are memorials and we remember people are christians by seeing a church. The memorial that God wants these days is a memorial that is alive. USHe wants us to live a life that shows that he is God, a life that shows that Jesus has made a difference in our lives. We are God’s memorials to Jesus. When people see us they should be able to say “That person lives for Jesus.” Here is the issue. If people see us, do they see Jesus. Is our christianity really fair dinkum????????? (Stone 12)
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