Remember the Lord's Work!

Scripture Reading

Will you open in your Bibles with me now to Joshua chapter four, Joshua chapter four. Joshua chapter four, let's read God's word now. And it came to pass when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan that the Lord spoke to Joshua saying, take for yourself 12 men of the people, of one man from each, from every tribe and command them saying, take for yourself 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 a lodging place where you where you lodged tonight. Then Joshua 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, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in 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 ark of 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 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 bore the ark of the covenant stood.

And they are there to this day. 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, the ark of the Lord and the priest crossed over in the presence of the people. And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed before the children of Israel as Moses spoke to them. About 40,000 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 priest saying, come up from the Jordan. And it came to pass when the people, when the priest who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan and the soles of the priest's 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 asked 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 Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until he had crossed over. that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty, that you may fear Yahweh your God forever.

Prayer for Illumination

Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank you for your word and we pray now that as we sit at your feet that your spirit would teach us. Lord, we pray that we would be a remembering people. Father, we pray that your spirit would do his work now in Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

Well, if you're married, I have an exercise for you. If you're married, I would like you to look down at your left hand. Go ahead, look down at your left hand. What's on your left hand? A wedding ring, that's right, a wedding ring. But why do you wear a wedding ring? Why would you wear a wedding ring? It's a sign of a promise that you have made, and it's also a sign to help you remember the promises that you made to your spouse. God's providence is really fun.

And I never expected to be a wedding photographer, but I loved being a wedding photographer, because we were in the business of capturing memories. and helping people remember this day in their life that was so important, remembering the day that their family was established. And I would tell people regularly, you know, these are memories that you need to look back on. And I would plead with people, Please don't just leave these on a file on your computer and go the way of JPEGs and just be buried forever, but remember your photos.

And I didn't really get that all the time until just recently, Ellie, she does this thing where I have my coffee cup that Olivia got me when we were married, and it has our wedding pictures on it. And Ellie looks at it and she goes, you married mommy. And she just reminds me of that. And every year on our anniversary, we pick up our wedding album. And we remember, we go through it with our kids, and we remember, oh, here's grandma crying. Oh, and look, there's your aunt, and she was there at the wedding. Here's when mommy and daddy kissed for the first time. Here's these beautiful memories when our family was established for the first time. We want to remember these things because they're important.

There's a few words that pop up again and again and again in the Old Testament, and one of the key words that God gives in the Old Testament is remember. Zakkar, remember. It's even in one of the Ten Commandments. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Remember, remember, remember, and here they're being commanded to remember. God's people are a remembering people. And as we work through this passage this morning, I pray that we will remember the great things that God has done and remember who God is.

First Point

So first, verses one through three. As we read these passages, this is Yahweh's command to have one man from each tribe take up a stone from the river and take it to the camp, verses 1 through 3. from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, Take for yourself twelve 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 lodge tonight. This is picking up where there was just a parentheses in chapter three, verse 12. God had told Joshua, pick one man from each tribe. And it just made that command and then just gone.

We have to come to this chapter to figure out why did God have Joshua pick one man from each tribe? Well, now they have stones to pick up. They got to pick up rocks. Sounds like a glamorous job, doesn't it? Maybe you've had a job like that before, where your job was just some menial manual labor. where it seemed like all my job is just to pick up rocks. Well, they've got a specific job and so Joshua takes this command from the Lord and he commands the people that way in verses four through seven, but he tells them why. Look with me at verses four through seven.

Then Joshua 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 Yahweh your God into the midst of the Jordan. Each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask you in times 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 ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be a memorial to the children of Israel forever.

Each one of these men are to pick up a stone. Each one of them, this is, remember, the ark was, at first, 3,000 feet in front of them, half a mile in front of them. As the ark went into the Jordan River first, they were in the background, and now the people are crossing, but as they're crossing, there's a small delegation of men, and God says, one man from each tribe, so 12 men, you're gonna go out there, and where the water has receded, where it's dry, you're gonna each pick up a rock.

And this is a, it's big enough that they can't just carry it, you know, like this. They gotta put it on their shoulder. They have to carry that burden, and you have to think, they're walking now right past the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark goes into the water first. And then this delegation of men who are walking past and picking up their stones. And then the people following after them.

But it's the ark. It's the ark that gets the attention at first. Look with me at verse 5. The Lord is there, the visible representation of the Lord is there, now you're to go there and where the ark is standing, pick up stones and go carry it the rest of the way.

But he doesn't give them a job to do without reason, he tells them why. You're going to take it to the campsite tonight and you're going to put it down there and someday your kids are going to ask, What in the world do these stones mean? Why do we have a heap of rocks, a circle of rocks in the middle of this campsite?

As you can imagine, some kid walking, it's been 10, 20, 40 years and they're walking with their parents and they're just going on a scenic route. Maybe you've done that before. Maybe you're not from here or maybe you went back home. And you kind of drove past the house where you used to live, and you saw this place and that place. Maybe there's a park in the center of the town that you're from, and you might go back there and visit, and there's a memorial there to someone important. Well, the memorial in the park in Gilgal was going to be this heap of stones. What does this mean?

I remember growing up in Southern California, and there were these five pillars, one, two, three, four, five pillars. And let's face it, kids don't like to read. They just like to ask questions, at least most kids. And I didn't wanna read, so I just asked my parents, there's all this writing on all these pillars, and I thought, just mom, dad, tell me what this means.

And it was for the five different branches of the military for Vietnam. And that gave my family the opportunity to talk to us about my great uncle, who was killed in Vietnam. It gave my family the opportunity to tell us about all these sacrifices. And the parents told us about the draft. And they told us about all these things that had happened that I had no clue about. Because the memorial was set up that we would remember something important, and we wouldn't forget it. But what were they to remember?

Then you shall answer them, verse 7, that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Notice what they're not to tell them is, when we crossed through the Jordan, the river stopped. When we made this trip, this happened. No, the focus of what they were to tell their children was when the souls of the priests touched it, when they were carrying the ark, the water stopped. Even the water had to obey Yahweh. The ark came and the waters stopped. They were cut off. And these stones shall be a memorial to the children of Israel forever.

A quote from a commentator, Dale Davis, I really enjoy his commentary, Joshua, No Unfailing Words, and he writes this, about this passage, he says, we observe a certain operating, a certain assumption operating in this part of Joshua chapter 4. Here's the assumption. that the greatest enemy of faith may be forgetfulness. The greatest enemy of faith may be forgetfulness. Just as in marriage, the real threat may not be infidelity, but simply a slow process of forgetting and a gradual failure to remember the preciousness of the other person.

And there's an implication here, he continues. If Yahweh so insists that Israel remember this day, it implies that this event was unique, and that Yahweh does not usually work with such visibly raw power. And then he gives this situation. He says, if Yahweh did something of this magnitude every fifth Wednesday or so, why should Israel need to remember the Jordan Day? Apparently this sort of miracle will be infrequent. Yahweh's standard method of retaining his people's fidelity is not frequent in dazzling displays of power, but by faithful witness and teaching of those particular acts in which he had already demonstrated his care for his own. What's he saying?

If God was doing miracles, you know, okay, it's Saturday, miracle's gonna happen, we wouldn't need to remember. But the normal biblical pattern, we've touched on this just a little bit last week, the normal biblical pattern is not that there's a miracle all the time, but that God does these miraculous things every once in a while. And the vast majority of believers are called to believe. to remember what he has done, or to remember what he has done.

So children, be curious. Ask your parents why we do weird stuff. Ask your parents, why do you believe such and such a thing? Why do you do so and so? This is one of the things that, I mean, God even said it in the Lord's, or in the Passover, right? When they were to take the Passover and they were to kill the lamb, the children were meant to ask, why do we do this? Why do you gird up your belt? Why do you stuff it in there? Why do we get our stads and act like we're gonna walk out the door tomorrow? Why do we do this whole play acting thing of making this sacrifice again and again and again every year?

Because God did do it one time and it's real. It really did happen and we need to remember this. Jesus picks us up. This is why we read Luke chapter 22. This is why Jesus gives us a sacramental meal. Why we need to remember the sacrifice that he made. Why we remember what he has done for his people.

And then in verses 8 and 9 there is a second memorial that Joshua himself sets up. Look with me at verses 8 and 9. And the children of Israel did so just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as Yahweh 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, and the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there to this day." Francis Schaeffer writing on this passage says, inscribed on a stone near Lake Geneva in Switzerland is this message. So written on this stone is this message.

When you read this, weep. Someone carved this because when the water gets that low, the territory is in drought. When you can read the words, then cry, because the country is in trouble. So when Lake Geneva gets too low, you know the crops might fail. You know people might go hungry. But when the waters of the Jordan might get low, when the rocks that Joshua set up in the middle of the Jordan start to show, It does not call us to weep, but to remember God's faithfulness.

That's where the priests stood. That's where the ark once stood. That's where God brought his people on dry ground. That's where God showed that he was a promise-keeping God. That's where God demonstrated that he is the one who is sovereign over all creation. So there's this memorial set up in the middle of the river that there's to remember when the water gets low. But then in verses 10 through 14, the people do cross the Jordan. Look with me at their crossing of the Jordan. Verses 10 through 14.

So the priest 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 Yahweh and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, men armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. About 40,000 prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle and to the plains of Jericho. On that day, Yahweh exalted Joshua in the sight of Israel, and they feared him as they had feared Moses all the days of his life.

The people cross over, but they do not cross over presupposing God's mercy and power is just going to keep the status quo forever. They don't mosey across the Jordan. They don't dilly-dally, they don't, you know, oh wow, look at these stones, we haven't seen these before. It wasn't like people were sitting there picking up smooth pebbles from the bottom of the river, no. No, they were moving with a purpose, they hurried. They hurried, maybe some of us have become too slow in our pace with our faith.

Maybe you remember those days in your life where you ran. Where you ran for the Lord. Where you were on fire for the Lord. When you took great strides in your faith. When you were zealous because you feared the Lord and His word was in your soul. And it was like He was always between your eyes. It was like His word was written on your hands. And you had to go and do the work of the Lord.

But now you found yourself moseying through life. Not moving with a purpose. But just assuming, just assuming that the waters are always going to stay parted. The people didn't think this, they hurried. They hurried as they crossed over, then they crossed, this was the first time again.

There was always to be a distance between the ark and the people. The ark was that sign of God's presence, but it was also a sign of his power and his holiness. It hadn't been too long ago, under 40 years, that Aaron's own sons had been consumed by fire for treating God's worship contemptually, by bringing strange fire to the Lord. It would only be a few generations later that Uzzah would reach out his hand and touch that ark and would be struck dead. And here the people have to walk by that ark.

They don't sit there, but they move quickly. They get through the Jordan River. And notice it's not just that they're on a scenic tour, but the men of the two and a half tribes are ready for war. 40,000 men march in front of everyone else. The people who are leading the way are the ones that we had looked at in chapter 21, who had promised that they would abandon their wives and their children, that they would leave them at home, and that they would go and secure the land of Canaan with their brothers. 40,000 of them of the two-and-a-half tribes cross, and the result of this crossing is that Yahweh exalted Joshua.

He was no longer playing second fiddle, but he was the commander-in-chief. He was the general of God's forces. He was the one who was to lead God's people into the promised land, and this was actually happening. The people knew it to be true now. The people knew that this was a shedding moment in your life. Imagine for 40 years you had been wandering through the wilderness. For 40 years you've been walking around in circles. For 40 years you've heard these stories that God has promised Abraham, our father, that he was going to give us the land. The land of Canaan is there. We marched through the Red Sea, but we were just little kids. We were babes at that time. Not a single one of us was over 45 years old. Or not a single one of us now is over 45 years old. We were all little kids back then. Was he gonna do it again? Was he actually gonna be faithful to his promise? And now they know, oh yes he is. Oh yeah, he's faithful to his promises and he's powerful enough to do it.

And so in the next section, verses 15 through 18, God commands Joshua to call the priest carrying the ark to come up out of the Jordan River. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua saying, command the priest who bear the ark of the testimony to come up from the Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priest saying, come up from the Jordan. And it came to pass. when the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh 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."

Notice we get one little tiny part of a verse that talks about all the people crossing over the Jordan. But in this long, prolonged section, the soles of the feet of the priest, as soon as they touch the banks, the water's back, overflows its banks. Why? Because the ark is back on dry land. The ark is back on the other side of the Jordan. God has fulfilled his promise. God has kept his promise. And so now they're there. And it's a special day. We might not catch it, but it's a special day to the Jews.

Look with me at verses 19 through 24 as Joshua wraps this section up. Now the people came up from the Jordan on the 10th day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those 12 stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. The first day of the 10th month, the first of that month, or the 10th day of the first month, the first month being the month of Abib, this is the day in which, if you were an Israelite, you would bring the Passover lamb into your house.

They were about to celebrate the Passover. The Lord had designed this, that they would celebrate the Passover, cross the Red Sea, and then would cross through the Jordan River and celebrate the Passover again. And indeed, that's what we're going to get to next week as we come to chapter five.

The Lord had created this beautiful symmetry to show that this was his mercy, his kindness, his doing. It was no mistake that they were entering into the land that day. And Joshua fulfills these words. He sets up the stones in Gilgal. And once again, children are curious. Verse 21.

Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in the time to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, and this time it's a much longer thing that they're supposed to say to their children.

First Point

First, they're to answer their children that Israel crossed over on that dry land. Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on the dry land.

Gilgal is in such a close place to the Jordan River that they're able to point to it and they're able to say, this right there, that's where we crossed over. That's where we were when God kept his promise. That's where we were when we saw the sea, or when we saw the river part. That's where we were when God displayed his power. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. Notice how they speak to their children. Do they use the first person? Do they say, when I crossed over? When we crossed over? No, what does it say? When you crossed over. When the Lord your God did to the Red Sea.

See, it is not just our faith, but the good news is for us and for our children. Remind your children that Jesus Christ is for them. Remind your children that the power of God is not relegated to people with graying and white hair, but it's for the youngest of the children. It's for those who are even the smallest of children.

But why had God done all this? Why had God dried up the Jordan River? Why had God dried up the Red Sea? Why did he do all of this? If we don't get to the reason of why, then the memorial doesn't make any sense. Why build a memorial? Why tell our children about crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River?

First Point

Verse 24. that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty." The first reason that they were to tell the children this and to build up this memorial is that the Lord himself is mighty. The Lord is the one who has strength. It is the Lord who brought them out of Egypt by His mighty right hand. It is what Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10 says, fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. It is the Lord's might, it is the Lord's strength they are to look to.

How are they going to conquer the promised land? As they looked up the hill and they could see Jericho there and as they are surrounded by the mountains and they know that they're going to have to go into the places where the Anakim are, where there's giants who are in the land. How are they going to conquer? How will they become victorious? How will they actually get this land? It is only if the Lord is going to fight for them. If they're going to trust in their own strength, they're going to fail. If they're going to try to trust in their own might, they're going to fail.

But they build this memorial so that they might be able to demonstrate that, look, it is the Lord who is mighty. It is the Lord who brought us out. It is the Lord who upholds us. And there's a heart reaction to that. Look with me at the very last part of verse 24. that you may fear Yahweh your God forever. Let me ask, how do you think of God?

Is he just a glorified grandpa in the sky that you just get to come and say nice things to? Maybe he's just a proverbial Santa Claus that you come to him and you just ask him for stuff when you're in need. Or do you see him as a Lord of hosts? Do you see him as the one who can call down a legion of angels? Do you see him as the one who sustains all things by the power of his word? Do you see him as the one who speaks and the cedars split in two? Do you see him as the one who upholds all things by his mighty right hand? Do you see God as the master and creator, the sovereign of the universe, or is he just a little wimpy God? How do we think of the Lord?

Yes, he is our savior. Yes, he is the tender one with our souls. But he is also our great victor. He is the one who is mighty and we must remember his power, what he really did in history. We must be those who remember that he conquered his foes. This is why in two weeks we will celebrate the Lord's Supper. This is why in two weeks we will come before his table and we will remember that Jesus Christ defeated even the grave. This is why in two weeks we will come and we will remember the memorial that Jesus Christ set before us and see it as a sign and a seal of the grace that he has given us and has conquered for us. We need to remember that there is power in Jesus' life.

What are the memorials that you have shared with your children of your faith? Let me ask you. What are the stones that you have drawn up from the river and have shown to your children as you've walked along the way, as you've gone along the path, as the elements were passed to you and your children said, why do we do this? Have you told them about your mighty God? Maybe for some of you, you're thinking, well, I don't have kids in my house anymore. Okay, talk to your grandkids. Purposely have conversations with children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren about the things that you believe.

One of the things that I, it's really difficult for me, but my kids seem to get enjoyment out of this, when we're driving in the road, and we're driving down the road, and they say, Dad, tell us a story, and what they're wanting is a story from somewhere past in my life.

And the problem is I don't remember very well. And so sometimes they're like, come on, dad, come on, dad. And I'm like, dude, I'm too tired. I can't do this. Because seeing, see, remembering is difficult. Remembering isn't easy. If there's one thing I'm convinced of, it's that part of the fall is that we are forgetful people. God was so gracious to us yesterday. We had a beautiful day yesterday. We had a warmth and kids were able to go outside and play and it was great. And then we forget that and today we're mad that it's cold. And we forget his mercy. We forget his kindness. We forget the vows we made to him. We forget our covenants. We forget, we forget, we forget.

And God tells us to remember This one thing I have against you that you have forgotten your first love. It's what the angel tells the church in Ephesus. Do you remember your first love? Do you remember Jesus Christ? Do you remember the mighty acts that he did when he pulled you out of your slavery to sin? Do you remember his mercy and his kindness, his grace and his power? Have you told your children about it? warts and all, not making it pretty for them, not making it plastic, but actually telling them the struggles in your life, but how the Lord overcame all of them.

Remember. I'm going to go ahead and there's a, I'm going to hold up a piece of paper here and on the back table, there's an opportunity for you to remember some things. On the back table, the elders have printed out your promises of Communicant membership. Maybe you remember taking your promises. You remember confessing your faith in Jesus Christ up here one day. Maybe it was a long time ago. Maybe you've forgotten what the content of your promises were.

I'm gonna encourage you, make a practical memorial. We'll have these at the back, and if you're a Communicant member, we'll sign this, and you could sign it again. And I'd encourage you to put it in a frame and put it somewhere that you could see it regularly, where you can remember the promises that you made to God as you profess His goodness towards you. We have a God who's worth remembering, a God who's all-powerful, a God who always keeps His promises.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Oh Father, we do confess to you that we are a forgetful people. Lord, we pray that you might convict us, that you might always keep our hearts boiling hot for you. Lord, please do not let us be either warm nor cold, neither lukewarm. Father, we pray that we would be on fire for you. We pray that we would remember you in the dark hours of life, and we would remember you when things are going well. Lord, we pray, thanking you that you are the champion of our faith, that you are the mighty one. Lord, we pray that we would reverence you and that we would live in the light of the power of what you are and what you have done. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's go ahead and stand and we'll sing Psalm 118, Selection E. Psalm 118, Selection E. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.