Twelve Stones
What are some ways that you keep memories? As you walk through your house, what items tell your stories? Do you keep pictures? Do you store mementos? Do you display gifts? We all have ways to remember important events from our past.
In the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, the people find ways to remember the acts of God. We discover one such example in the Book of Joshua. The book begins with the Israelites rallying around their new leader, Joshua. Their previous leader, Moses, led the enslaved people from their captors in Egypt into the wilderness. After 40 years of aimless wandering, two new generations of Israelites are now ready to receive the promise given to their grandparents and parents – the conquest of the Promised Land. To begin the conquest, the people must first cross the Jordan River. The Lord God, in a public affirmation of his new leader Joshua, provides a miraculous sign: The Jordan will gather into a heap and allow the people to walk from one bank to another – reminiscent of the Red Sea crossing under Moses’ direction. And indeed, the events unfold just as God foretells. The people march from one river bank to another.
God then instructs the people towards commemorating this event: 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 (Joshua 4.8). The people collected twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes. Then, they carry them to their camp in Gilgal where the stones are assembled into a memorial: Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been a 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 4.9).
The reason for this stone commemoration is later proclaimed:[Joshua] said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'” The Israelites are instructed to retell this event to ensuing generations, with the intentional rock pile serving as a conversation starter. And specifically, the people are reminded of God’s provision for them: 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 (Joshua 4.23).
The stones serve a clear purpose: Remember the miraculous work of God. For us, what are the memorial stones for our lives? How have we experienced the wonder of God in our lives? When are the moments we have seen God’s intervention? Which hopeless situations has God provided a resolution? These are the moments that we need to remember. These are the moments that offer security. These are the moments that remind us of God’s love. We may not arrange a cairn as a visual, but let us keep these instances fresh in our minds. Let us cherish these instances in our thoughts. And importantly, let us convey these instances to our friends and family. And if keeping a memento or building a rock heap helps, do that.
Do whatever it takes to remember;
and as we remember, retell the story;
and as we retell, relive the experience;
and as we relive, renew our hope;
and we renew, we forge onward – fueled by endless hope.
I expect as the Israelites marched toward the towering city of Jericho the idea flittered through their thoughts: We cannot do this. And then, they remembered … the Lord God who walked them through the River Jordan will also walk them through the city’s walls. Likewise, let us remember God’s provision in our lives. And likewise, let us march toward new challenges.
