Jos 4:22-24 | KingComments | STEP | Twelve men each took a stone from the Jordan to the bank. These stones are set up at Gilgal to form a memorial for the offspring. Twelve other stones have already been set up by Joshua in the middle of the Jordan, also to form a memorial sign. There are twelve stones to represent the whole people of God. The stones in the Jordan are on the place where the ark stood. There, in the Jordan, identification of the people with the ark at the place of the judgment is symbolized. It is the same for us. The believer is judged in Christ, in His going into death. But the ark has also come out of the Jordan again. The twelve stones on the banks of the Jordan remind the believer that he died and rose with Christ. Both aspects – His death and His resurrection – can be found in the letter to the Colossians. About His death and our identification with it we read: “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” ( ). About His resurrection and our identification with Him we read: “Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” ( ). The children will ask us about our life in the land, about enjoying the blessings of heaven. The fathers are told that they will tell their children how the LORD proceeded to give them the land. Future generations must tell it as if they had been there themselves and it affects them personally. The same it is with the whole work of the Lord Jesus. It happened far before our time, yet we can tell about it as if we have been there. The relationship with the Red Sea is made, because everything we possess in Christ is also the result of doing away with our sins. Therefore, in the letter which deals with our spiritual blessings, there is also mention of the forgiveness of our sins: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” ( ). We also see a sequence in explaining the meaning of the sign. First, it is given as an explanation of the sign that it reminds us of the blocking of judgment ( ). Here it is a testimony that we have entered the land as a consequence of the death of the Lord Jesus ( ). These truths belong in the Christian family. Fathers must be able to explain what the death of the Lord Jesus has to do with living in the land. They should not leave this to teachers in the church or to the brother who do the Bible classes. This story must continue. Children must hear it from their fathers. However, every child must test it against the Scriptures, that is his responsibility.

‏ Joshua 4:22-24

Twelve Stones Set Up at Gilgal

Twelve men each took a stone from the Jordan to the bank. These stones are set up at Gilgal to form a memorial for the offspring. Twelve other stones have already been set up by Joshua in the middle of the Jordan, also to form a memorial sign. There are twelve stones to represent the whole people of God. The stones in the Jordan are on the place where the ark stood. There, in the Jordan, identification of the people with the ark at the place of the judgment is symbolized.

It is the same for us. The believer is judged in Christ, in His going into death. But the ark has also come out of the Jordan again. The twelve stones on the banks of the Jordan remind the believer that he died and rose with Christ. Both aspects – His death and His resurrection – can be found in the letter to the Colossians. About His death and our identification with it we read: “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11). About His resurrection and our identification with Him we read: “Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Col 2:12).

The children will ask us about our life in the land, about enjoying the blessings of heaven. The fathers are told that they will tell their children how the LORD proceeded to give them the land. Future generations must tell it as if they had been there themselves and it affects them personally.

The same it is with the whole work of the Lord Jesus. It happened far before our time, yet we can tell about it as if we have been there. The relationship with the Red Sea is made, because everything we possess in Christ is also the result of doing away with our sins. Therefore, in the letter which deals with our spiritual blessings, there is also mention of the forgiveness of our sins: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph 1:7).

We also see a sequence in explaining the meaning of the sign. First, it is given as an explanation of the sign that it reminds us of the blocking of judgment (Jos 4:7). Here it is a testimony that we have entered the land as a consequence of the death of the Lord Jesus (Jos 4:22-24).

These truths belong in the Christian family. Fathers must be able to explain what the death of the Lord Jesus has to do with living in the land. They should not leave this to teachers in the church or to the brother who do the Bible classes. This story must continue. Children must hear it from their fathers. However, every child must test it against the Scriptures, that is his responsibility.