July 12 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Joshua 4:19-24

¹⁹And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
²⁰And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
²¹And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
²²Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
²⁴That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.

Devotional

After commenting upon Deuteronomy 6:20-25 we might well pass over this section. But that was Moses. This is the testimony of Joshua.

After Moses died God's people were led into the Promised Land by Joshua. Under his brave leadership they passed through the Jordan River in a fashion that reminds us of the way in which God enabled Moses to lead them through the Red Sea.

As they were passing through the river they took from the river bed twelve stones, one for each tribe. They placed these on the shore on the far side, in accordance with the command of the Lord.

Why did God command this strange thing? He did it to form the basis of training for the children not yet old enough to understand the miracle God was performing, yea, even for the children not yet born. He did it as a vehicle for the testimony of the parents.

The children would see the heap of stones. They would say, 'What do these stones mean, Dad?' (What does the bread mean, and the wine, in the Lord's Supper?)

And the parent would be able to say, 'God brought His people through this rushing river over to the Land of Promise. He preserved us. He cared for us. He is our God!' (God brought His people out of sin and sorrow. The bread and the wine represent the body and blood of His own Son, crucified for us, to make atonement for our sins. He so loved us! He is our God!)

How good is God to save and take care of His people! And how good He is to give parents the opportunity to bear testimony unto their children concerning His grace!