Title [Jos 4:19-24] Twelve Memorial Stones
The Israelites crossed the Jordan River safely by the grace of God. This day is the eleventh day of the first month, which is forty to four days short of the Exodus. It was the day of preparing the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:3). It must have been to commemorate the Passover as well as the Passover of passing through life in the wilderness. God took twelve stones from each tribe and made them come to the center of the Jordan River, where the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stood, cross the Jordan and build a monument in Gilgal, the first campsite.
1. It teaches us that we must not forget the grace of God.
The chosen people of Israel are a nation that has received more grace from God than any other nation on earth. Nevertheless, that nation has forgotten God's grace and betrayed countless times. The first words of the rebuke through the prophet Isaiah were, “I brought up children, and they rebelled against me. An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its owner's manger, but Israel does not know, and my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1:2-3). Their behavior has been shown countless times in the wilderness. But they are not alone. Today we are no different. Even though we are living by God's love and grace, there are many things that we forget, complain about, resent, and even betrayed God's grace, so there is no shame in it. Like David, who was faithful to the Lord by vowing, “Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all his favors” (Psalm 103:2), I hope that we will become saints who repay grace and live faithfully every day .
2. You can see that the people of Israel are teaching unity.
Realizing that we are descendants of one father, Israel, we emphasized the need to unite our children and descendants. Unity is the most important thing in conquering the land of Canaan. However, he had a stone monument erected in order to realize that they were one bloodline, knowing in advance that they could be divided into quarters if the years passed and the regions were divided. The church must be one. We must not forget that the saints are members of the family of one God.
As the saints who shared the precious blood of the Lord, we must strive to become one. This is the will of God and the desire of the Lord. When Jesus prayed a special prayer for his disciples (John 17), he first prayed for unity (John 17:11) and secondly prayed for sanctification with the truth (John 17:17). It was what you wished for. We must strive not only to sanctify ourselves with the Word of God, but also to strive to become one with one another. Twelve stones mean it.
3. The twelve stones were to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan River by God's grace.
The commemoration of Jordan's Doha served two purposes (Joshua 4:24).