Joshua 4:1

Joshua 4:1 says, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,  After the people had crossed the Jordan, God again spoke to Joshua.  God had said all He needed to say until they crossed over in obedience to Him.  Once we are sure what God wants us to do, we may not hear anymore from Him until we obey His command to us.  If we are not going to obey God's command to start, He cannot very well speak to us along the way.  Verse two states, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, Joshua was take twelve men, one out of every tribe of Israel.  These men were to be called for a particular purpose, just as people today are called for a particular purpose.  Verse three declares, And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.  They were to take twelve stones out of the Jordan, where the priests feet had stood, and carry them to the lodging place.  Verse four states, Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:  Now, we don't have a person call us to do what God has for us to do, but we have the Holy Spirit.  Someone may encourage us to do a particular task for God, but unless the Holy Spirit calls us to do it, then we are better off to not do it.  Verse five adds, And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:  Joshua told the men what they were to do.  These were not small pebbles that they were to get evidently, but large stones.  Verse six continues, That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?  These stones were to be a memorial to God for the coming generations.  We today need to make sure that we leave a big memorial to God in the way that we live our lives so that the coming generations will be curious about God.  They will not find the answers about God in the world.  Verse seven declares, Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.  The stones were to be a memorial to God for cutting off the waters of the Jordan as the people of Israel passed over.  Today, the cross is the memorial to the sacrifice of Christ.  When people ask us about the significance of the cross, we must be able to tell them what it means.  The cross is a sign that Jesus provides a way for us to cross over into our promised land, which is heaven.  Verse eight proclaims. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.  The people obeyed not Joshua, but the command of God through Joshua.  All we can really do is ask people to follow the commands of God that come from His word and the Holy Spirit.  Verse nine says, And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.  Joshua set up the memorial, and it remained until that day.  Christ set up the memorial, the way to salvation, on the cross, and it remains until this day and until He returns.  Verse ten adds, For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.  The priests had remained in the Jordan until all that God commanded had been accomplished.  We, as followers of Christ, are the priests of today, and we must remain in the Jordan, or doing whatever it is that He calls us to do, so that others may be saved and God may be glorified.  We are not called to a place of safety for ourselves with no concern for others, but are called to reach out to the lost world no matter the cost to us individually.  Verse eleven concludes, And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.  After all the people passed over, then the ark of the covenant and the priests passed over in the presence of all the people.  When we obey God, He is with us by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we are followers of Christ, and God goes before us to keep us spiritually safe.  Now, the Holy Spirit is with us at all times, but unless we are being obedient to God's will, then God cannot keep us safe.