Joshua 4:11-24.  Yesterday I mentioned that this story connected back to Moses.  Just like God did a great miracle at the beginning of Moses’ time of leadership He did a great miracle at the beginning of Joshua’s.  this was sort fo like a stamp of approval on these leaders.  Later on when things got tough the people should have been able to remember these miracles and been reminded about the power of God and been that Moses and Joshua were speaking for God.  There is another echo in the story of past events too, we are told that everything was completed “just as the LORD had commanded”.  That phrase is repeated over and over in the book of Exodus as the Tabernacle and all the stuff in it was being made.  It is important to see that both Moses and Joshua were faithful to God.  They listened and acted.

Today’s part of the story is an echo too.  It repeats the story from yesterday from a different point of view.  Yesterday the author focused on the miracle.  The reading today focuses more on the obedience of Joshua and the people.  We see the 2-1/2 tribes from the east side of the Jordan crossing over just like they had agreed to do with Moses.  But now they are doing it under the leadership of Joshua.  Then we see Joshua giving direction to the priests to come up out of the riverbed and when they do the river returns.  This is a lot like when Moses put his hands out and the waters of the Red Sea returned to their place (Exodus 26:14-28).  Finally Joshua took the stones that they had brought from the riverbed and set them up as a memorial just like God had told him to do. So they were obedient.

The story ends today with Joshua reminding the people about the reminder.  He reminds them what the stones are about and what they are to tell their children.  The stones were set up in a place called Gilgal.  Jericho was six miles from the river and Gilgal was in between.  The Israelites set up camp in Gilgal when they crossed the river.  It looks like Gilgal remained their command center the whole time Joshua was alive and even for part of the period of the Judges.  In Judges 2:1 we see God approaching the Israelites to scold them about not doing what He had told them to do about getting rid of the people in the promised land.  God came to them from Gilgal.  That is probably where the Ark and the Tabernacle had been set up in the beginning.  By the time of the second judge, Ehud, there are idols set up in Gilgal (Judges 3:19).  Right next to pile of stones which were to remind them about the power of the true God were false and useless images of so called gods.

It is sad how quickly we can forget, even when we have things around to remind us.  It’s also sad how many things we bring in that crowd out those reminders. Sometimes it isn’t things that make God hard to remember sometimes it’s other memories.  It’s interesting in relationships how one bad thing can wipe out a whole bunch of good things.  One lie and people see us a liar even after years of honesty.  I’m not saying lying is right I’m just saying we are quick to forget, especially good stuff.  In Deuteronomy 4:1-9 Moses was reminding the people to be diligent about remembering all the things God had shown them and told them (Deuteronomy was Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites.  It was given shortly before crossing the Jordan River several day or maybe a few weeks before the stuff we are reading about right now.).  We need to be diligent to remember what God has done in our lives and the lives of those around us.  We need to work hard at doing the things that please God (Deuteronomy 6:17) and we need to be diligent to teach our children about God (Deuteronomy 4:9.  But, not quite yet for you Junior High students).  And we need to be diligent so the world around us can see God too (Deuteronomy 4:6-8 and Joshua 4:24).  We need to remember and act and teach and show so that the all those around us will see and know about God to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  God help me remember.  Help me set up the stones from the rivers you have me cross.  Help me not allow other monuments to be set up and hide the stones.  Help me be diligent to remember.  Let my actions be faithful to what you have done in my life.  Help me be evidence of you to the world.