7-4-12. Joshua 4. THE TWELVE STONES

Joshua 4:1-24          Key Verse: 4:21-22
Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF   Wednesday, July 4, 2012

“He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that we could celebrate our independence. Thank you that we can be free in America to worship you and to follow you and speak freely and write freely and publish freely about the Gospel and about Christ. This freedom is a gift from you. Thank you for the Gospel that helps us to be set free from the power of sin in order to live a life of love and truth, following the Christ. Thank you for blessing the Bible School. Continue to grow the fruit that you have begun to grow among us. Grant your word in my heart. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Have a Sense of History (1-9).

Verses 1-9 read, “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 are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 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 Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” 8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.”

After crossing the Jordan, God wanted his people to gather twelve stones. He wanted to teach them to have a sense of history, which is to perceive the divine providence of God ruling and guiding history as it unfolds. These stones would become a constant reminder of God’s grace. Their children would see the stones, hear the story, and learn about God. Without a sense of history, a culture cannot survive. Those with no sense of history are destined to repeat it. God was concerned with the spiritual condition of the people.

I need to have a sense of God’s history in my life. I need to have many stones commemorating God’s grace and leading in my life. There is the first stone, July 1986 where I first Jesus Christ. There is the day I decided to live as a shepherd and Bible teacher of God’s flock later that fall. The day I was healed of my stammering, inferiority complex and corrupt mind. There is the day that I decided to come to Chicago to study the Bible and grow as a servant of God. One day in 1992 I married Julie and we began to build our family. There is the day that we decided to pioneer NIU in DeKalb. There is the day that we became an independent chapter in 2001. There is the day that we began to co-work with DuPage UBF. There is the day that my kids began expressing their independence and I had to refine my whole life and ministry. There is the time that we decided to co-work with other area Christians. There are so many “stones” to remember and commemorate in my life and ministry. I know that there will be many, many more stones in my life. I need to always remember the graces of God. I pray that all of my kids and Julie and all my friends may commemorate all of the wonderful things that God has done in their lives. May I never forget.
America needs to remember the grace of God. There are so many providences of God. On this day we need to remember the grace of God in the revolutionary war. When I think of our freedom I think of the Continental Army under George Washington. The government did not have enough money to buy the Army clothing. The ones who had their own clothes were very fortunate. Some were wearing the same clothing for months and months and months until their clothing completely deteriorated. Yes, some men in the Continental Army had no clothing and this was in the dead of winter. They were naked unless they found some rags to put around themselves. Yet, they had discipline and the will to win. How and why? Because George Washington prayed everyday for them. His countenance came from his prayer for his soldiers. He was a man of prayer from first to last, and his soldiers knew it. (His soldiers were showered with prayers and victories from God) and his soldiers knew it. And that is all that a soldier can ask for. Out of his character, and people like him, through the grace of God, America was born.

Part 2: The Priests Play a Pivotal Role (10-24).

Verses 10-24, “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, ready for battle, 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 Jericho for war. 14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses. 15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before. 19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”

The ark of the covenant was held on the shoulders of the priests in the midst of the Jordan with the waters held up by the mighty power of God so that all of the people could walk across. There were millions of people. The priests stood for a long time. They knew they held the fate of all the people. They stood and waited on the word of God. Our responsibility as servants of God is tremendous.

There is a tremendous role and responsibility for servants of God. It is not easy to stand up and serve the people with prayer and Bible study and shepherding. It is not always easy to stand in a place of responsibility to minister to the people continuously. But we, who have heard the call, must stand up in the “gap” in behalf of the land and the people. Lord, there are times when I get tired of ministering to the people. Please help me to pick up my cross of mission and stand up as a servant of the Lord at DeKalb and NIU.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be your servant and stand by faith so that others may be saved.

One Word: Find yourself in God’s history