Remember God’s Mighty Acts

Yep, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua. We're at Joshua chapter four, and in chapter three, the priest's toes dipped into the water, and the water of the Jordan River ceased, heaped up like a wall. So today, we're gonna talk about how they remember that amazing miracle that the Lord did.
So, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. Father, we pray that as we read your word, your Holy Spirit would be working in our hearts. We pray that we would learn and we would grow in our faith. Lord, help us to remember the amazing things that you've done for us in Jesus' name. Amen. You might want to grab your microphone. We're at Joshua chapter four. Why don't we do this? I'll let you read verses one through nine, and I'll read then through the bottom.
And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, Take for yourselves 12 men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, Take for yourselves 12 stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priest's feet stood firm, You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodged tonight. Then Joshua, I'm waiting for you to pick up. Called the 12 men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe.
And Joshua said to them, cross over before the ark of the Lord, your God. into the midst of the Jordan and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. This may be a sign among you When your children ask in the time to come, saying, what do these stones mean to you? Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off, and these stones shall be a full memorial to the children of Israel forever. And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged. and laid them down there.
Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who were on the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there to this day. Need this back, no. So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.
And the people hurried and crossed over. Then it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over that the ark of the Lord and the priest covered over in the presence of the people. Sorry, crossed over in the presence of the people. and the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, the half-tribe of Manasseh, crossed over armed before the children of Israel. And as Moses had spoken to them, about forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle to the plains of Jericho.
On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they had feared Moses all the days of his life. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, Command the priests who bear the Ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come up from the Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and overflowed all its banks as before. Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What are these stones?
Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land. for Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which she dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear Jehovah your God forever." Well, we have to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the And see what are we called to do.
All right. So what is this about? I'm gonna let you know a little secret here. Ready? I was raised in a pretty Christian home for most of my childhood, even though I wasn't a Christian. And you want to know the interesting thing? What? I didn't know about this story until I was 22 years old when I read the Bible for myself the first time. I never heard a Bible story, I never read it in the Bible, and I was amazed that there was a second time that God, just like the Red Sea, had stopped the waters so the people of Israel could walk through. So, what is this about? Yeah. What's that?
The second crossing the Red Sea. You get a little frog in your throat there? Yeah, I have a frog in my throat. Yeah, right, so they're crossing the Red Sea a second time? No, the Jordan. Yeah, they're crossing over the Jordan River. From the east, they're traveling west. They're gonna go to Jericho, right? And so they've got to stop the river. But as they go, is the river running? Yeah. The river is flowing? Mm-hmm. So they just walk through the river? Yes. What happens? They have to. Ask Joshua. Joshua commands them.
The priests have done what God told them. They've got the ark on their shoulders, the ark of the covenant. And as soon as the priests, this is chapter 3 stuff, as soon as the priests put their toes in the water, their feet in the water, the banks of the water, Way upstream, the water stops, heaps up like a wall. And what the passage here tells us is as they're going through, right, the ark stays in the middle. Everyone goes across. And then what does the Lord tell Joshua once everyone's across?
Now the priest. All right, now the priest come out. Now the ark comes out. God has protected them through the waters. And what happens? He comes back. The water comes back. And what's their response to this? What do they do? They set up stones. They set up stones. So they put up an idol. Yeah. No, it's more like a, like we don't wash up the Lord's supper. Just a reminder. Okay. It's a reminder, right? Yeah. So, so they set up this, this heap of stones. How many stones did they put up?
12. Where'd the stones come from? Oh, where'd the stones come from? Um, John? Yeah, from the midst of the Jordan, right? So you bring up these 12 smooth stones, and they put it on the land as a reminder.
Because nowadays you're like, wow, that's easy. Why would they be 12 stones? because it's 12 tribes, but you'd have to think how hard, because normally it's water rushing. It's not easy to go in the water and pick up a giant stone and bring it out. Yeah, right, so these are smooth stones that have been washed over by the water. We've done this at creeks before, right, where we've gone and gotten all the smooth rocks out and built up a dam and stuff.
But the point is, right, this is a specific, whoa, hold on, why are these 12 rocks there, right? And this is what I have double underlined as the best verse to summarize this, well it's more than one verse. I have verse 22, 23, and 24 underlined. Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land for the Lord your God has dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea which he dried up before us until we had crossed over. And then I have double underlined verse 24. that all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord God forever." Right? Is it good enough just for that generation that crossed the Jordan River to know these things? No. No, it needed to be passed down to their children and their children's children and their children's children's children. Right? So however long those rocks were there. Oh, there's stone, stones, and air to death.
No. No, it's been a long time since then. That's what I thought, but it said, uh... Is Joshua writing this after this happened? Yeah. Okay. I was like, why does it mean like to this day? Cause I was feeling there's a bunch of random rock piles. Yeah. But this is right. This is to this day as long as Joshua was writing this, right. The day that he wrote it, the rock pile was still there, but the rock pile is not there anymore. Right. Uh, point being though. Right. But, um, what's so give me a summary. What's this about? God's faithful again. All right. Yeah. God is faithful to them again, and they need to remember God's faithfulness.
There's also a subplot, something else going on here too, right, is Joshua, right? Did you notice what God did to the people with Joshua? They looked up to him like Moses. Yeah, they looked up to him like Moses, right? This is once again, Joshua being established as this ruler and a leader of Israel. So is Joshua the king? No. No, who's the king? God. God's the king.
That's right, good. All right, so I've already done A, what's this about? B, best verse you tell me. What's this call you to do then? How does this show you Jesus Christ? What about the covenant of grace or the new covenant? Is this just great history? Does it die on a page?
No, no, it means we should go to the creek and just tell the water to stop. Oh, so we should take a family trip a half mile down the road or quarter mile down the road and go to Honey Creek and as soon as we step our feet, if we have enough faith, we can step our feet in the creek and it will dry up.
Yep. That's not what this means. That's not our calling. So what are you called to do? Trust in God. Can you imagine what was going through the people's head? Like before this. Mm-hmm. It's like, ah, there's a river here. Yeah. Like, we would be like, oh, wow, they must have believed, right? Like, because, but if it was me, I'd be like, eh, got it once, but maybe, maybe not. Like, maybe not this time. Maybe we have to walk the long way around.
Yeah, right. So, but no, no, it's every, you're right. Every step that they took was a step of faith through that river, wasn't it? Yeah. Who, who, who kept the water from rushing back? They had to have faith in the Lord that they were going to do this crazy thing, take a step into the river, and God was actually going to be faithful. I think every generation has to make that determination for themselves. I can raise you in a household of faith. But can I make you a Christian? Can I make any of my children into believers? Can I give you a new heart?
No, I can't do any of that. I can put the Bible in your hands, but who's it up to to believe? Me. Each generation, right? My parents tried to put the Bible in my hands and I didn't believe until the Holy Spirit changed my heart. And I did. Each generation has to make that choice for themselves. But from generation to generation, we leave the memorial stones and we say, hold on.
He's still the same God. You can believe it or not. That's your obligation. That's between you and God. But I want you to know that this is what the Lord is like. He can dry up the Red Sea. He can dry up the Jordan River. He's come in the flesh. And as you point out with the Lord's Supper, it's not idolatry. It's to remember. The Lord protects us. The Lord is mighty. He cares for us.
So, let's pray. God, we do thank you so much that you have given us those who have walked in the faith before us and have passed down the truth of your revelation and the work you have done to redeem us. Lord, we pray that we would be faithful in both believing and in passing down. Lord, we can't give faith, but we can leave a legacy of the testimony to who you are, our great and mighty God. So Father, we thank you for who you are. And we pray that you would please help us to believe. And that the next generation might rise up and they might believe too.
Lord, we pray that they would be even better generations. Lord, I pray for Nathan. I pray for the children who may watch this. And I pray for the children in the church and those who have yet to be saved, Lord. I pray that they might exceed their mothers and their fathers in godliness in every way. that they might become greater and we might be less. Lord, please build your kingdom generation by generation. Thank you for your faithfulness. In Jesus' name. Amen. May God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes from knowing that your mighty God is able to save. I'll see you next time.