Bob Russell
November 20, 2024
After miraculously crossing the Jordan river in Joshua 4, God instructs the children of Israel to set up a memorial for all generations as a reminder how He guided them. Joshua was then instructed that the young men be circumcised and to celebrate the Passover after neglecting these rites while wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. God was calling His people back to practicing the priority of enjoying their relationship with Him.
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Joshua 3:17 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.
Joshua 4:1-8 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.
John 16:33 (NLT) I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth
you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome
the world.
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A spiritual marker is a point in time when God
clearly guided you in a decision.
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Spiritual markers help us to remember the
sovereignty and faithfulness of God.
Joshua 4:9-14 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. 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.
Joshua 3:7 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.
Joshua 4:15-24 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 at flood stage 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.”
Deuteronomy 11:18–19 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds;
tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your
children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Joshua 5:1-9 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite
kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the
Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no
longer had the courage to face the Israelites. 2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make
flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” 3 So Joshua made flint
knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. 4 Now this is why he did so:
All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the
wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. 5 All the people that came out had been
circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from
Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all
the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had
not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the
land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with
milk and honey. 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua
circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been
circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they
were in camp until they were healed. 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled
away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to
this day.
Isaiah 55:8–9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
declares the LORD. 9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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When obedience doesn’t make sense, obey anyway.
Joshua 5:10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal
on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
Exodus 12:2–3 This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your
year. 3 Tell
the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is
to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
Exodus 13:4–5 Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5 When the LORD brings you
into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the
land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and
honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month.
Joshua 5:11-12 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce
of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day
after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the
Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.
Psalm 40:5 (NLT) O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us
are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your
wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.
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