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Stones of Remembrance
The Old Testament lectionary reading for today recounts the Nation of Israel crossing the Jordan River and entering Canaan at Gilgal near Jericho (Joshua 4:1–13). The preceding chapter tells us that the river was at its peak, flooding the banks. Yet when the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the Jordan, the current stopped and everyone walked across on dry ground.
Unlike the time the Israelites passed through the Red Sea on dry land, this crossing was not marked by the urgency of being pursued by an enemy army. Instead, after the whole nation made its way across the dry ground, Joshua followed the Lord’s command and sent 12 men — one for each tribe — back to the riverbed to collect a stone, then carry it out to the encampment of the people. Joshua placed the 12 stones in Gilgal as a memorial of the miraculous event.
Joshua instructed the people, saying, “When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord … So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:6b-7)
When they went to the river to bathe or collect drinking water, the stones were there. When the river overflowed its bank in the spring, the stones remained. For those native to the territory, the stones made smooth by the river’s current were a conspicuous reminder of the miracle that made their leaders’ hearts melt in fear (Joshua 5:1). The stones marked the territory — an unfamiliar, pagan land — with evidence of God’s faithfulness to His people.
God intended that the significance of those 12 stones would be etched in the collective memory of the Israelites. The story of their meaning and purpose was to be handed down from one generation to the next. The telling and retelling of the story was a proclamation of the faithfulness of the one true God who created, redeemed and sustained them.
What stories do you have of God’s faithfulness? Have you written them down? Have you told them to others so they may be encouraged and their faith strengthened? What are your stones of remembrance?
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