Connect Joshua 4:20 with other biblical instances of memorials or remembrances. Setting the scene at Gilgal “Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.” (Joshua 4:20) These stones stood on the western bank of the Jordan as Israel’s first landmark in the Promised Land—a visible, enduring reminder of God’s power that dried up the river and kept His word to deliver His people. The purpose of the twelve stones • To recall the miracle: “So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty.” (Joshua 4:24) • To instruct future generations: “When your children ask … then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’” (Joshua 4:21–22) • To renew covenant loyalty: the stones were set at Gilgal, the place where Israel’s reproach was “rolled away” (Joshua 5:9). Echoes of remembrance in the Old Testament • Rainbow after the flood – Genesis 9:12-16 “I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” (v. 13) • Passover night – Exodus 12:14 “This day will be a memorial for you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord.” • Manna jar & Aaron’s rod – Exodus 16:32-34; Numbers 17:10 “Place it before the Testimony, to be preserved for the generations to come.” • Twelve stones on priestly breastpiece – Exodus 28:12, 29 “Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of judgment as a continual memorial before the Lord.” • Joshua’s second stone heap at the valley of Achor – Joshua 7:26 • Covenant stones at Mount Ebal – Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-32 • Samuel’s Ebenezer stone – 1 Samuel 7:12 “Then Samuel took a stone … and called its name Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’” • Mordecai’s Purim letters – Esther 9:28 “These days should be remembered and observed in every generation.” Feasts that memorialize God’s acts • Feast of Unleavened Bread – Exodus 13:3-10 • Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) – Leviticus 23:15-22 • Feast of Booths – Leviticus 23:42-43, a yearly reminder of wilderness dwellings Altars and stones as physical reminders • Abram’s altar at Shechem – Genesis 12:7 • Jacob’s pillar at Bethel – Genesis 28:18-22 • Moses’ twelve-pillar altar – Exodus 24:4 • Elijah’s twelve-stone altar on Carmel – 1 Kings 18:31 A new-covenant memorial • The Lord’s Supper – Luke 22:19 “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’” Common threads in every memorial • God initiates each sign; people merely set it up. • The object points backward to a specific, literal act of God. • It instructs children and strangers alike. • It calls for renewed obedience and faith. • It proclaims God’s faithfulness to every generation. Stones that still speak Just as the twelve stones at Gilgal preached God’s faithfulness to Israel, every biblical memorial—rainbow, feast, altar, or table—testifies that the Lord keeps His word. Remembering fuels gratitude, shapes identity, and calls every observer to trust the same unchanging God whose mighty hand once parted both sea and river. |
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