The Book of Joshua - Remembrance
There’s something implied in remembering. We forget, so we need to remember or be reminded. This includes understanding who God is and what God has done, as we are prone to forget.
Remembering gives us a better perspective on how the past ought to shape the present and future.
We should remember what’s been accomplished, what we need to learn, what we have to be thankful for, and what the cost was. But also what to avoid, do differently, and where we need to grow.
Remembering and Forgetting
Why do we forget? Time, circumstances, busyness/lack of reflection, distraction, and even deception.
Take a look at your phone. How many photos do you have saved there? How far back do they go? Why do you keep them? To remember these times as we age. Photos capture a moment we want to remember.
Joshua 3
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits (a little more than a half mile) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
Remembering and Adulting
Have you ever come to a point where you suddenly realize you’re the adult in the room? This transition can make you feel incredibly exposed and vulnerable, but this is when it’s time to act.
It’s one thing to talk about doing something, it’s another to actually do something about your talk.
Words can be powerful, but unless there’s something behind them, they’re just words. The only thing that gives talk actual value is the action it inspires or provokes. Joshua isn’t talking from a standpoint of confidence because he has led this way before. His confidence comes from what he’s seen in the past and his confidence in who God was there and what He will be.
In typical God fashion, He doesn’t lay the whole path out in front of them.
Joshua 3
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” 6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them. 7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.
Up until now, Joshua’s leadership has been hypothetical. He has the title but not the track record. Here’s the moment when it has to become real.
Joshua 3
8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” 9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
So, God is leading them into the middle of the Jordan River. It’s 100 feet wide and about 10 feet deep – not insurmountable, but not easy to cross. Only when they step into it do the waters part. And the ground is dry.
It’s not shallow water or muddy. It’s dry ground.
It’s not just enough to get through it, but so much that you can remember what God did.
They’re in the Promised Land, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. But there are enemies around, a lot of things that seem like the most important thing.
Joshua 4
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.
Remembering and Intentionality
In the wake of such a miracle, you would think that it would be tempting to stay in the place where they saw God move. But God has them stop and do something – pile up 12 stones to create a monument to what He did. But the monument isn’t for God, it’s for them. For them to remember.
Stones don’t naturally stack. It takes a lot of effort.
The right kind of remembrance is something that takes a lot of effort to do, which means it’s an effort that is not easily undone.
So why remember? Because it becomes a launch pad for future faith. If we don’t create reminders of God’s faithfulness, we are destined to forget 3 things.
This isn’t because of a deficiency in God, it’s about us being human. And a few verses later, the people pack up and move on. Even with this place and effort, it’s not a destination. It’s a waypoint.
The stones were stacked up where the presence of God was, but the ark isn’t there anymore. It’s moved on. People have the same tendencies in every generation and nation. We often try to stay where God last moved.
Continuing to move in a way we’ve never been before takes incredible faith and perseverance. It takes complete dependence on both God’s direction and His power. The presence of God is among us where we are, but the presence of God is also leading us beyond where we are.
We’re supposed to remember, but we’re not supposed to remain.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons and Season 2 of our podcast, LHC Unplugged!
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram.
Remembering gives us a better perspective on how the past ought to shape the present and future.
We should remember what’s been accomplished, what we need to learn, what we have to be thankful for, and what the cost was. But also what to avoid, do differently, and where we need to grow.
Remembering and Forgetting
Why do we forget? Time, circumstances, busyness/lack of reflection, distraction, and even deception.
Take a look at your phone. How many photos do you have saved there? How far back do they go? Why do you keep them? To remember these times as we age. Photos capture a moment we want to remember.
Joshua 3
Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits (a little more than a half mile) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
Remembering and Adulting
Have you ever come to a point where you suddenly realize you’re the adult in the room? This transition can make you feel incredibly exposed and vulnerable, but this is when it’s time to act.
It’s one thing to talk about doing something, it’s another to actually do something about your talk.
Words can be powerful, but unless there’s something behind them, they’re just words. The only thing that gives talk actual value is the action it inspires or provokes. Joshua isn’t talking from a standpoint of confidence because he has led this way before. His confidence comes from what he’s seen in the past and his confidence in who God was there and what He will be.
In typical God fashion, He doesn’t lay the whole path out in front of them.
Joshua 3
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” 6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them. 7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.
Up until now, Joshua’s leadership has been hypothetical. He has the title but not the track record. Here’s the moment when it has to become real.
Joshua 3
8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” 9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
So, God is leading them into the middle of the Jordan River. It’s 100 feet wide and about 10 feet deep – not insurmountable, but not easy to cross. Only when they step into it do the waters part. And the ground is dry.
It’s not shallow water or muddy. It’s dry ground.
It’s not just enough to get through it, but so much that you can remember what God did.
They’re in the Promised Land, after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. But there are enemies around, a lot of things that seem like the most important thing.
Joshua 4
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.
Remembering and Intentionality
In the wake of such a miracle, you would think that it would be tempting to stay in the place where they saw God move. But God has them stop and do something – pile up 12 stones to create a monument to what He did. But the monument isn’t for God, it’s for them. For them to remember.
Stones don’t naturally stack. It takes a lot of effort.
The right kind of remembrance is something that takes a lot of effort to do, which means it’s an effort that is not easily undone.
So why remember? Because it becomes a launch pad for future faith. If we don’t create reminders of God’s faithfulness, we are destined to forget 3 things.
- God’s faithfulness when the odds seem long.
- God’s goodness when things seem dark.
- God’s power when the obstacles seem overwhelming.
This isn’t because of a deficiency in God, it’s about us being human. And a few verses later, the people pack up and move on. Even with this place and effort, it’s not a destination. It’s a waypoint.
The stones were stacked up where the presence of God was, but the ark isn’t there anymore. It’s moved on. People have the same tendencies in every generation and nation. We often try to stay where God last moved.
Continuing to move in a way we’ve never been before takes incredible faith and perseverance. It takes complete dependence on both God’s direction and His power. The presence of God is among us where we are, but the presence of God is also leading us beyond where we are.
We’re supposed to remember, but we’re not supposed to remain.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons and Season 2 of our podcast, LHC Unplugged!
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram.
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