Joshua 4

[alon]

Joshua 4

The old generation with their defeatist attitudes and slave mentality had to die out in the desert. Likewise we must leave our old habbits, attitudes, understandings and life-views behind us before we cross onto sanctified soil. The Hebrews went through tevilah in the Yarden river. This is a river you cannot straddle. We should be mindful of this whenever we go through tevilah. And the deliverances God has done for us as well as our country should be frequent subjects of family discussion.

The damming of the Yarden was every bit as necessary as the parting of the Red (Reed) Sea had been in the exodus. At flood season, and with the means at their disposal, crossing with an army as well as families would have not been possible. It was fitting that a miracle similar to the one in the exodus from a land of slavery should mark the Hebrews entrance to their land and freedom. It was also fitting that Yehoshua’s ministry should begin Divinely attested like that of Moshe before him.

Joshua 3:7 (KJV) And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

This would also be to Yisra'el a pledge of future victory and demonstration of the might of their God; while to their enemies it was a sign of the judgement about to be delivered on them.

Joshua 1:3 (NASB) Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

Joshua 4:5 (NASB) and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

Yehoshua would place large stones as a commemorative act- twelve stones reminiscent of twelve pillars which represented the twelvetribes of Israel:

Exodus 24:4 (NASB) Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

We do well to memorialize the great acts of the Lord, provided we do not view the memorials as idols. Each generation must learn anew what God has done for His people so they will want to obey his word, trusting in Him for their future:

Psalm 78:1-8 (KJV) Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

When our faith is in a living God, the past is not dead history; it stands before us with living vitality!

Joshua 4:6-7 (NASB) Let this [that this may] be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

The question and answer format for expressing the meaning is characteristic of the instructional style of Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 6:20-21, 24 (NASB) “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. … So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today.

We must never forget the Rock out of which we are hewn:

Isaiah 51:1 (KJV) Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

Joshua 4:8-9 (NASB) Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

Yehoshua himself sets up stones, thus connecting himself with Moshe who erected pillars in Exodus 24. Critics claim this is a conflicting tradition within the story. Not so- these are two separate memorials, each expressive of different aspects of the ministry of Yeshua. The twelve stones taken out of the Jordan and erected at Gilgal speak redemption, victory and conquest for Yisro'el and all who would trust YHVH El Elohim- The Lord God of gods. Those stones left in the depths of the Yarden are mementoes of Yeshua’s death under judgement in our place. We died in Yeshua:

Romans 6:3 (KJV) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

The stones set up at Gilgal tell us to reckon that death and enjoy life and conquest in the His name:

Romans 6:11 (KJV) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Crossing the Jordan is not a euphamism for dying and going to heaven, despite what we heard in church. It illustrates the teachings of Romans 6: death to the old self and identification with and being set apart for YHVH. Nobody but God sees the stones in the Yarden. However the record bears witness they are there. It is thus with death and resurrection of Yeshua. We believe the record and so experience the miracle.
It is possible these stones could have been seen at low tide in dry years. The lesson there would be Elohim Machase Lanu- the God of Our Refuge always leaves us a witness; a prophet and a remnant.

Joshua 4:10-14 (NASB) For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed; and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; about 40,000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.

The crossing of Yarden is again told, here with with emphasis on the connection of these events led by Yehoshua with similar ones of Moshe and the exodus. “Speedily” here is reminiscent of haste of the exodus. The trans-Jordanian tribes participation in expected military conquests echoes his earlier commission and connection with Moshe:

Joshua 1:12-13 (KJV) And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, The Lord your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

Joshua 4:15-18 (NASB) Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

This is mostly a repetitive description of priests exiting Yardan, except now the river resumes its flow. The Ark was the sign of God’s presence with Israel. He is our only protection against this world, sin and death.

Hebrews 2:14 (KJV) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;


Joshua 4:19-24 (NASB) Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

This last part of the crossing narrative emphasizes the instructional role of the story. The first month would have been Aviv (Nissan), and entrance to the land west of Jordan on the tenth day of this month harks back to the date preparations began for the first Passover:

Exodus 12:2-3 (NASB) “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household.

This passage has many echoes of the exodus tradition, and in fact that connection is stated clearly here.

“All the people” now extends the focus form one people (Yisra'el) to the non-Israelite world as well. Yisra'el’s crossing gives other peoples’ knowledge of the power of El Gibor- The Mighty God, El Elohe Yisro’el. And so here we see illustrated the fact that salvation always meant to come from God through the Jews. This is why we are grafted to a Jewish tree when we accept El Malechi- God my King.

The stones in the river and on shore reminded people of their old life which they buried and that they should “walk in newness of life”:

Romans 6:4 (KJV) 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.

Here in this chapter which is alive with symbolism we see that Yehoshua, like itself, points us directly to Yeshua HaMoshiach. He is one of the best pictures we have of our Savior. I don’t see the faults so common in other Biblical figures emphasized in the character of Yehoshua. He is faithful and a leader who inspired his people to greatness- but always greatness in and through the Father. He performs miracles, but he does not boast in them or rest on them. Always forward to conquest over evil, be it in the enemies of Yisro'el or within his own camp, as we shall later see.

Dan C

Resources: JPS Study Tnk, W Wiersby, Meyer, Unger, Edersheim, Pastor Bill Best, my father and others.