Greetings friends,
Today I want to talk to you about memorials in the Christian life. This is important for us to remember—like when we partake in communion. Jesus said that whenever we eat the bread we are to do so in “remembrance of Him.” And whenever we drink the cup, again we are to remember Him. God knows that we tend to be forgetful people, so He calls us to remember. When God led the children of Israel from the wilderness into the promised land—He told them to set up some stones in order to remember what God had done. They were to be a memorial. Let’s go to Joshua 3:14-17 and see about this walk of faith that we are called to…
“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.”
Notice that when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests were leading the way. And for them to enter the land, they must first cross the Jordan which we are told was a flood stage. You can’t walk across that carrying the Ark of the Covenant, obviously, so God is going to have to show up. They were trusting God to make their way possible. Then notice that it says that “when their feet touched the water’s edge,” something happened. God worked a miracle. He stopped the flow of the Jordan. And when this happened, the Priests went out to the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground. And as they did, all the people passed by until everyone completed the crossing on dry ground.
The crossing of the Jordan River here is not a picture of us dying and going to heaven, contrary to some of the songs that we sing. I think the crossing of the Red Sea pictures the believer being delivered from the bondage of sin, while the crossing of the Jordan better pictures the believer claiming their inheritance in Jesus Christ. Joshua is a “Type” of Christ. Their names are spelled the same in the original language. Jesus is the One who is to lead us each day into the inheritance that He has planned for us. He is our Great High priest who leads us in victory.
Often, believers fail to claim their inheritance in Christ—and instead wander aimlessly through life as Israel did in the wilderness. In the Book of Hebrews, we are challenged to go on to spiritual maturity in Christ… leaving all of our sinful past behind. We are called into newness of life. You can’t stand still in the Christian life: we are either moving forward in faith or drifting backward in unbelief. And it is here, at the transition from leaving our past life to our new life that we are to place some memorials in our lives. Let’s look at Joshua 4:1-8…
“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 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.”
We should note that God was in charge of all that took place at this transition. He told the priests when to enter the river and when to leave. He told the water when to roll back and when to return. Both the water and the people obeyed Him, and everything worked according to God’s plan. This day glorified God and His servant Joshua. If we are to go on to maturity and claim all that God has for us, we must do it through obedience to Him. It won’t happen otherwise.
Now God has people do something here. There is an object lesson at hand. God had 12 men each pick up a large stone from the middle of the river and carry it to the place where everyone would camp for the night. And by obedience to the Lord’s command, the twelve men each picked up a stone and carried it to their camp. We later find out that the place was named Gilgal, and it is estimated to be an 8-mile journey. That’s a long way to haul a rock. But it was important. Why? Because God said, “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.”
Today, we don’t carry stones with us to testify about what God did—but we do carry a testimony of faith that tells others what God did in our lives. We are not to forget this testimony, nor should we neglect it. Why? Because this is to be a testimony to the future generations about what God has done in us. It needs to be a constant reminder to us as well. God had them put it in the camp—a visible and present reminder of God’s leading and deliverance. Our testimonies are important. Let’s remember them and rehearse them, so that others may hear of God’s goodness and grace. Without this reminder—we won’t be ready when someone may need an answer from us.
In 1 Peter 3:15-18 we are instructed, “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, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”
Revering the Lord will require a constant reminder that He is our Lord and that He is leading us. We are to live for Him. Set up a memorial in your life, so that you are constantly reminded of His salvation. Be prepared to give an answer—don’t forget what God has done for you. Do this with gentleness. The way to do that is by remembering where you came from and Who it was that saved you. The memorial reminds us of this.
Back to Joshua—there were two memorials that day. One memorial was in the camp, and the other one is described in Joshua 4:9…
“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.”
Joshua, himself, set up this memorial in the middle of the river, right where the priests stood as the people crossed over. To the people, it must have seemed like a strange thing for Joshua to do. He was their leader. And why place a memorial in the river bed? Only God would be able to see it? Nevertheless, it would remain there as a permanent reminder. Why? I think this memorial reminded the Children of Israel that their old life is buried and that they are now to walk in newness of life. Their old life is to stay dead and buried.
This sense of being buried has a New Testament counterpart in Romans 6:1-4 where Paul says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Two memorials are to mark a Christian’s life. One reminds us that we are buried with Christ, while the other reminds us of what Christ did in order to bring us into our inheritance. One guards our past, while the other stands with us in the present.
Now I’m not advocating today that we go out and find stones to stack up in our yards or driveways. The stones were an object lesson for God’s people in that day. Stones taken out of a miraculous river crossing. But perhaps we could find something tangible today to help us remember? We need to remember… and we need to help this generation and the next know what it is that God has done for us. So, let’s find something. Let God direct you. Make it your own. Internalize what God has done for you. Our inheritance in Christ is too important to miss out on.
For me, I wear a cross of nails. It’s not for looks… it’s my reminder. When I get up in the morning, I put it on, and I take it off at night. I almost always have it on. It reminds me of Galatians 2:20 which says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” “I have been crucified” is my past tense memorial. I was buried with Him… and the old man is to stay buried. “The life I now live in the body,” is my present memorial—reminding me to always be ready and that He is with me. How is my present life made possible? “I live it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
My prayer for you comes from Hebrews 13:20-21 which says, “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Pastor Russ Hilsinger
Grace Baptist Church of Dallas, OR