Crossing the Jordan, Part 5 - Remember
Joshua 4v19-24
23rd October 2015
After crossing the Jordan, the people of Israel rested for nine days. Then:
Joshua 4v19-24
On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border
Jericho.
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
He 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.'
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.
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.
We remember the wonderful story about the time when God parted the Jordan so the Israelites could enter Canaan, because the Lord ensured it was included in the Bible. The Israelites had these scriptures too, of course, and they also had a memorial - the twelve stones from the river bed. Every time they saw the stones, they remembered.
They remembered Joshua's prophecy. They remembered the priests faithfully standing in the middle of the river bed while everybody passed through. They remembered the twelve men who went back into the river to fetch the stones. But mostly, they remembered the Lord. They told their children that "the Lord your God dried up the Jordan". In all that we see God do in our churches and lives, people have some involvement, but it's God who leads, and it's God who provides the power.
And it's good to remember.
It's good to remember that the hand of the Lord is powerful, and it's good to remember to always fear the Lord your God. He's so much more powerful that we are.
How many miracles have you seen? How many of your prayers have been answered? How many times has God forgiven you, taught you, led you, inspired you, provided for you? It's good to remember.
It's good to remember because God deserves to have us remember what He's done for us, and give thanks. And it's good to remember because next time we need God's power, we'll know that He freely gives to His people, and willingly acts to help us.
And it's good to tell our children, and others, about His amazing mercy.