As we follow Joshua through his conquest of the land of Israel’s inheritance, we will discover that he used stones on various occasions as a means of reminding God’s people of all that God had done for them and of all that He was to them.
When Joshua and the people of Israel were preparing to cross the river Jordan and enter the land of Canaan, Joshua instructed the people that when they saw the ark of the covenant of the Lord going before them, they were to follow after it. They were to keep a distance between themselves and the ark so that they would know the way that God would have them go, because they had never passed that way before (Jos 3:1-4).
There is a path before us through which we, as the people of God, have not yet passed. Let the Lord go before us and lead the way. Job said, “He knoweth the way that I take” (Job 23:10).1 Listen to the word of His promise: “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight” (Isa 45:2).
Stones of Commemoration
When they came to the river Jordan, as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark dipped in the brim of the water, the Lord stopped the water and made a path so that His people could cross over on dry ground (Jos 3:14-17). Joshua instructed the people to assign twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, to take twelve stones out of the middle of Jordan and put them in the place where they would camp that night, at Gilgal (4:8).
Joshua also instructed them to set up twelve stones in the middle of Jordan. The river Jordan is a picture of death. The stones placed in the middle of the Jordan picture the Lord Jesus going into death for us. The stones taken out of Jordan picture the Lord Jesus in resurrection triumphing over death.
The stones can also picture you and me, as believers, in death and resurrection. When the Lord Jesus died, we died with Him, but just as He was raised, we also have been raised (Eph 2:5-6). Paul wrote, “If one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2Co 5:14-15). He also wrote, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).
Those stones would serve as a memorial to the people of Israel for generations to come of all that the Lord had done for them. Every soul that has ever trusted Christ for salvation is a memorial, a testimony to all that God in grace has done for them. The twelve stones in the midst of Jordan “are there unto this day” (Jos 4:9). The monument remains, the cross remains – eternal witnesses of a love that surpasses all understanding. They serve as a reminder, too, that we are crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20), that we reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 6:11).
Stones of Communion
After defeating Jericho and Ai, Joshua and the children of Israel came to Mount Ebal, where Joshua built an altar of whole stones and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings (Jos 8:30-34). The burnt offering reminds us, beloved saints of God, of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, who offered Himself without spot to God (Heb 9:14). The peace offering reminds us of what His sacrifice has accomplished for us. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross …” (Col 1:20).
There Joshua wrote a copy of the Law and read it before the people of God. Mount Ebal was the place where the curse of God was pronounced on all who failed to obey God’s Word. Remember, the Lord Jesus bore the curse for us on dark Calvary. The Law stated plainly, “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10). The Lord Jesus kept the entire Law but bore the curse of a broken Law and took the punishment we deserved. Yet, in the place of the curse, God is satisfied, and on the grounds of that perfect, blessed sacrifice He dispenses blessing to all who receive Him by faith in granting forgiveness of sins.
Stone of Commitment
Before he died, Joshua made a covenant with the people, encouraging them to follow the Lord and not to serve idols. He then wrote the words of the covenant in a book and took a great stone and set it up under an oak that was by the sanctuary. The stone was a witness to the covenant that was made (Jos 24:26-27). That stone would always be there as a reminder of the promise of the people of Israel to forsake their idols and serve the Lord in sincerity and truth.
When Jacob was returning to Bethel (the place he called the house of God), he took the idols of his household and buried them under an oak that was by Shechem (Gen 35:1-4). Samuel also exhorted the people of Israel to put away their idols and serve the Lord only (1Sa 7:3-4).
Might we, then, as the people of God, make a vow to bury “under the oak near the sanctuary,” the place of consecration and dedication to the Lord, whatever it is that would occupy our hearts and minds and displace the Lord.
These are but a few of the stones associated with the life of Joshua. I trust that they will ever stand as monuments in our minds to remind us of all that God is and of all that He has done for us.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
