Joshua 4

Setting up a monument at Gilgal

And it came about when all the people had finished crossing over the Jordan that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourself twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, Take up for yourselves twelve stones here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, and carry them over with you, and leave them in the camping place, where you will camp tonight”.

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he appointed from the children of Israel, a man from each tribe, 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God to the middle of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, in accordance with the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 so that this may be a sign among you, so that when your children ask their fathers in the future, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.’ And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever”.

8 And the children of Israel did just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD told Joshua, in accordance with the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there.

4:2-8 Verses 21-22. This memorial pillar was a remembrance, not simply of the crossing of the Jordan River, but of the great grace God showed to His people in bringing them thus far. It was to serve as a reminder of God’s goodness and power to the following generations. God often impressed on His people the duty of remembering His great acts (Josh 24:26; Deut 7:18; 8:2-4; 24:9). Compare 1 Cor 11:24-26; 2 Tim 2:8; Ps 103:2; 105:5. The believer should always call to mind the great things God has done and the way God has worked in his life.⚜

9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

10 For the priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people was finished, in accordance with all that Moses commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed over. 11 And it came about when all the people had finished crossing over that the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over, in the presence of the people.

12 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, crossed over armed before the children of Israel, just as Moses had told them. 13 About forty thousand of them prepared for war crossed over to battle, in the presence of the LORD, to the plains of Jericho.

4:13 Those 40,000 were from these 3 tribes only.⚜

14 On that day the LORD made Joshua great in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him, just as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15 And the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 16 “Command the priests, who carry the ark of the Testimony, to come up out of the Jordan”.

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up out of the Jordan”.

18 And it came about, when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were set on dry land, that the water of the Jordan returned to its place and overflowed all its banks, just as it did before.

19 And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal, on the eastern boundary of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took from the Jordan, in Gilgal. 21 And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “When your children ask their fathers in the future, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then you must tell your children, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had passed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea which he dried up from before us until we had crossed over, 24 so that all the people of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you might fear the LORD your God forever.’ ”

4:24 God had two purposes in performing this miracle at the Jordan. He wanted all nations to know that He, the God of Israel, not their gods and idols, was the God of power. And He wanted His people to have a reverential awe of Him that would produce obedience in their lives. Notes on fear of the Lord at Gen 20:11; Ps 34:11-14; 111:10; Prov 1:7.⚜