Two Sets of Stones

After leaving Egypt, the Israelites had a hard time believing God would be with them and carry them to the land He had promised them.  What made their lack of belief extraordinary was that time after time God displayed His miraculous presence among them.  The whole time they travelled there was a miraculous pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the night to lead them.  They saw miracles like the parting of the Red Sea and the provision of manna and water.  They saw God miraculously defeat their enemies before them.  Again, and again God delivered and provided and yet the Israelites could not maintain their trust in Him nor could they maintain their obedience.  It seems that they continually forgot God and what He had done.

Finally, a new generation of Israelites were ready to cross the Jordan into the promised land.  God through Joshua gave specific instructions on how to cross the river into the land (Joshua 4.1-24).  God would provide another miracle, very much like the miracle of the Red Sea by parting the Jordan River so the Israelites could cross over on dry land.  It must have been a dynamic, frightening and glorious time.

As part of the instructions, God told Joshua to do something he might not have expected.  What God told Joshua to do with two sets of stones is recorded in this passage:

The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded.  They picked up twelve stones, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua.  They carried them over with them to the camp and put them there.  Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan in the very place where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood.  They remain there to this very day.  

Joshua 4.8-9 (NET)

Well that is a bit odd; especially setting up stones in the riverbed.  Why do that?  Joshua 4.7 gives us a clue, …The stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.

Like most rivers the Jordan at times would fill the riverbanks and times where it would flow well below the riverbanks.  During those low times the Israelites would be able to see the stores set up in the riverbed.  They would always be able to see the stones that were set up on the land near the Jordan.  What was the purpose for the two sets of stones?

The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.   Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.   He told the Israelites, “When your children someday ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones represent?’ explain to your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.’  For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you while you crossed over.  It was just like when the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us while we crossed it.  He has done this so all the nations of the earth might recognize the Lord’s power and so you might always obey the Lord your God.” 

Joshua 4.19-24 (NET)

We tend to forget God.  In good times we might forget because we are happy and satisfied, forgetting the source of our happiness and satisfaction.  In bad times, while we are sometimes driven to God, we may also forget God, especially what he has done for us in the past because our difficulties, be they great or small, overtake us.

In the age of COVID-19 nearly all of us are facing difficulties and while we may be praying a lot, we may ironically forget what God has done for us in the past and forget that God is with us now in the difficulties, great or small.

The reason for the two sets of stones was twofold.  First, they would be a reminder to the Israelites of what God had done in the past, and in that remembrance be encouraged to obey and trust God in the present.  The second reason for the two sets of stones was as a witness to the world of God’s power.

Set up some stones.  Even if you are having difficulty, great or small, ask God to remind you of what He has done for you in the past and set up some stones.  Of course, what you set up does not have to be actual stones.  It could be an object on a table that reminds you of a time of God’s deliverance or provision.  It could be a photograph, or a piece of paper in your wallet, or a trinket someone gave you, or perhaps a book where you have written down the dates and places where God acted in your life.  It could be many things but what it important is that you have something that causes you to remember how God delivered, provided, strengthened, comforted, demonstrated His love, showed you His Grace.  The stones you set up not only will remind you of what God has done but can be an object that prompts you to tell someone else, especially a non-believer about what God has done for you and the Grace He has provided you in Christ.

The late Francis Schaeffer in his commentary on the book of Joshua say this about stones,

This way, when the waves get high, we can look back and see that God has worked, and that helps to give us a faith in the future.  It is this work of God in our lives which should be open to observation and should give a testimony to the world roundabout us that God is mighty and God is different, that God is neither a projection of man’s thinking, nor a God who cannot move in history.

Francis A. Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview (vol. 2; Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1982), 216.

You could set up some stones in your backyard…