# Joshua 04 📖: Twelve Memorial Stones [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Joshua Overview]] | [[Joshua 03]] | [[Joshua 05]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Israel Crosses the Jordan [[#Verse 01.]] When the entire nation was on the other side, the Lord told Joshua, [[#Verse 02.]] “Select for yourselves 12 men from the people, one per tribe. [[#Verse 03.]] Instruct them, ‘Pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests stand firmly, and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’” [[#Verse 04.]] Joshua summoned the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites, one per tribe. [[#Verse 05.]] Joshua told them, “Go in front of the ark of the Lord your God to the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the Israelite tribes. [[#Verse 06.]] The stones will be a reminder to you. When your children ask someday, ‘Why are these stones important to you?’ [[#Verse 07.]] tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing. These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.” [[#Verse 08.]] The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded. They picked up 12 stones, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried them over with them to the camp and put them there. [[#Verse 09.]] Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan in the very place where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood. They remain there to this very day. [[#Verse 10.]] Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly, [[#Verse 11.]] and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed as the people looked on. [[#Verse 12.]] The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle ahead of the Israelites, just as Moses had instructed them. [[#Verse 13.]] About 40,000 battle-ready troops marched past the Lord to fight on the rift valley plains of Jericho. [[#Verse 14.]] That day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all Israel. They respected him all his life, just as they had respected Moses. [[#Verse 15.]] The Lord told Joshua, [[#Verse 16.]] “Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenantal laws to come up from the Jordan.” [[#Verse 17.]] So Joshua instructed the priests, “Come up from the Jordan!” [[#Verse 18.]] The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land, the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage. [[#Verse 19.]] The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. [[#Verse 20.]] Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan. [[#Verse 21.]] He told the Israelites, “When your children someday ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones represent?’ [[#Verse 22.]] explain to your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.’ [[#Verse 23.]] For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you while you crossed over. It was just like when the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us while we crossed it. [[#Verse 24.]] He has done this so all the nations of the earth might recognize the Lord’s power and so you might always obey the Lord your God.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Twelve men, one from each tribe, carried stones from the riverbed (4:2-3). 2. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests had stood (4:9). 3. About 40,000 armed men from the eastern tribes crossed ahead of the people (4:13). 4. Israel crossed on the tenth day of the first month (4:19), the same day Passover lambs were chosen (Exodus 12:3). 5. Gilgal likely means "circle," perhaps describing a circle of stones. 6. Gilgal became Israel's base camp and was later the place Saul was confirmed as king (1 Samuel 11:15). 7. The waters returned the moment the priests' feet reached dry ground (4:18). 8. Joshua compares the crossing directly to the Red Sea crossing (4:23). 9. The phrase "to this day" (4:9) shows the writer looking back from a later time. 10. Children's questions also prompted the retelling of the Passover story (Exodus 12:26-27). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One whose saving work we are called to remember. Israel set up twelve stones so their children would ask what they meant (4:6-7), and Jesus gave us the Lord's Supper, saying, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The stones were meant to prompt questions from children (4:6, 21). What memorials can your family use to tell God's story? 2. God did this so all the peoples of the earth would know His power (4:24). How do God's works in your life point others to Him? 3. The people revered Joshua as they had revered Moses (4:14). How do we honor leaders without putting them in God's place? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 6-7: The stones are a sign so children will ask, and parents will tell how the Jordan was cut off. - 📖 verse 14: The Lord exalts Joshua in the sight of all Israel. - 📖 verse 24: God did this so all the earth would know His power and Israel would fear Him forever. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Exodus 12#Verse 26.|Exodus 12:26-27]] - When your children ask. - 🔗 [[Luke 22#Verse 19.|Luke 22:19]] - Do this in remembrance of Me. - 🔗 [[Psalm 78#Verse 04.|Psalm 78:4-7]] - Telling the next generation. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 07#Verse 12.|1 Samuel 7:12]] - The Ebenezer stone. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 06#Verse 20.|Deuteronomy 6:20-23]] - Teaching children why we obey. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Joshua 4 - SOAP|Make A Plan to Remember]] ## 📂 Internal Notes