Joshua 4 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Josh 4:1-9

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 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 for ever.’

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.

A. Find out:

1. From where did the 12 men come? v.2
2. From where were they each to take a stone? v.3a
3. Where were they to put them? v.3b
4. What future question would they provoke? v.6
5. What response would be given? v.7
6. What, therefore, were they to act as? v.7c

B. Think:

1. How was this in a sense, a symbolic act?
2. What was its purpose?
3. Why do we need this sort of thing?

C. Comment:

     It seems that part of human nature is to quickly forget important things. We therefore need reminders constantly, to help us keep in mind great things from the past. We need to remember because they teach us things and prevent us from falling into error. God knew this and He therefore established a reminder for future generations, of what happened here. Twelve stones from the center of the river were to be taken by twelve men, one from each tribe, and set up nearby on the other side. Thus, each stone represents the involvement of each and every tribe. They remind them that they walked dry over the stones when they were at the bottom of the river, a miracle provided by God.

     We, as Christians, have Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, to remind us regularly of what Jesus has done for us. We have His word, the Bible, to remind us of so much of what God has done for us. We need reminding, and future generations will need reminding; this is here because of what the Lord did for us! This also symbolizes death and resurrection, necessary if we are to be new people. As they walked through the midst of the Jordan they walked in obedience into the place of death (absence of human life), and as they walked out they walked into a new life, the new land promised for them.

D. Application?

1. We have died to what? See Romans 6:2,6 / 7:4
2. We have been raised! See Romans 8:11

Passage: Josh 4:10-24

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 in flood 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 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.’

A. Find out:

1. How long did the priests remain in the river? v.10
2. What did the people think of Joshua? v.14
3. When did the river flow again? v.18
4. Where did they set up the 12 stones? v.20
5. To what would this crossing be compared? v.23
6. Who would know the power of the Lord? v.24

B. Think:

1. Read John 20:30,31 Why were those miracles recorded?
2. Read Isaiah 8:16a,20 What is important?
3. Why, therefore, was what happened in today’s reading important?

C. Comment:

     We considered previously the importance of being reminded about parts of the past. Today we will consider the part that testimony plays. Something miraculous happened when the priests stepped into the Jordan and now it was confirmed as no “chance accident” when they step out and it flows again. This is clearly the hand of God, and they compare it to the crossing of the Red Sea, after the exodus from Egypt. Having established it as one of the great miracles of history, we now observe the results of it. First, it established Joshua once and for all as a man who heard God and was worthy of leadership. Second, it let all the surrounding peoples know that this wasn’t an ordinary nation coming into the land, for with them there was One Real God who genuinely DID THINGS for His people.

      For the Israelites themselves it created a sense of awe, but even that dulls with the passing of time, hence the stones at Gilgal to be a constant reminder to future generations. Testimony IS important because it is the account of the acts of God and it is upon testimony that faith is built, not upon the law. It is the testimony of Jesus that releases faith in us which in turn opens the way for our salvation.

D. Application?

1. Do we allow the testimony of the Bible to stir and release faith in us for living today?
2. Faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17)