12 Stones
Joshua 3:5 “And Joshua said unto the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.’”
There are no stupid questions
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
Good things come to those that wait
Caught between a rock and a hard place
Proverbs don’t seem as common in our language today as they may have once been. The idea of proverbs interests me: short nuggets of knowledge given from lived experiences, without telling a whole story. Perhaps they have not quite died out, but have just changed in format and delivery. Their purpose, however, remains necessary: our lived experiences and our past conquered struggles are important and should be remembered and passed on to the next generation.
In short, Tell Your Story, or, as you may have heard it said, Share Your Testimony.
One of the many wonderful things about the Bible is that it is full of stories of individuals’ and whole groups’ experiences that provide us with wisdom in our lives and decision-making. Not only are they history we can learn from, but every scripture was uniquely designed by God to be included in the Bible for our benefit.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
God included those stories in Scripture and desires for us to share our testimonies (Mark 5:19, Psalm 107:2) for a specific purpose. That purpose is: The Next Generations.
Psalm 66:16 (NIV) “Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.”
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,”
The book of Joshua shows God’s heart on this matter. With every plan and direction that the Lord gives, He is not only thinking of the people to whom He is directing, but He is also thinking ahead to the generations to come.
Joshua 4:1-7 (NIV)
“When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 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.”
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 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, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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.”
The Lord commanded this marker to be built for the purpose of making the next generation ask about its meaning. He was intentionally starting a conversation to remind us of His faithfulness and marvelous works.
Has the Lord ever asked you to do something that may have seemed odd in the moment?
If we flash back more than 40 years in Israel’s history prior to this passage in Joshua, we would land around the time frame of Exodus chapter 12. Here we see another example of God setting up something for His people to do, intending it to be a conversation starter to future generations.
Exodus 12: 21-28 (NIV)
“Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron”
From the book of Exodus to Joshua, the Israelite people go through many ups and downs in life. The generation of Israelites alive in the book of Exodus were mostly born into this captivity under Egyptian rule. God does many wondrous things as He prepares them and frees them from this captivity. Then, on their way to the land God had promised to them, the Israelites continue in this cycle of obedience and strong faith, and then doubt and disobedience. Chapter after chapter you see this cycle and spiritual battle between their hope in The Lord and the desires and faults of flesh. However, despite the back and forth of faith then doubt, God remains faithful! He continues to correct them, show them mercy, and provide for their needs. Such as in the same manner that He treats us today.
Take time and read through Exodus to Joshua and see not only God’s faithful mercies, but also see how often God commanded His people to remember. The Lord continues to look forward in time, caring for those coming after. Just as He did for the Israelites, He is also doing for us. He is preparing and ordering our steps, despite our doubt and disobedience at times.
Psalms 37:23 (KJV) “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way”
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
As He does this, He has not only us in mind, but also generations coming after us! He is commanding us to remember and share. Share with the next generation the faithfulness of the Lord in your life. Create things in your life that spark conversation and questions so that you might give an answer for what the Lord has done.
Psalm 44:1 (NIV) “We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.”
Psalm 44:8 (NIV) “In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever”
Psalm 78: 3-6 (NIV) “things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
