Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 4:1
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,
Ch. Jos 4:1-18. Completion of the Passage
1. when all the people were clean passed over ] Below the spot, where the priests stood firm and motionless, the host, probably at various points, “ hasted and passed over ” (Jos 4:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jos 4:1-24
What mean ye by these stones?
The first act in Canaan
These stones proclaimed certain realities. Taken from the dry bed of the river, they declared Gods power in cutting off the waters before the ark of His covenant; twelve in number, one stone for each tribe, they declared how that all Israel had entered into Canaan; set up together in Canaan, they witnessed to Israels unity in that land. Moreover, they became a memorial to the nation of Jehovahs work for them. First, these stones declared Jehovahs great work for His people; even Jordan emptied of its waters before the ark of His covenant, and His people brought thereby into the fulness of their blessing. Now as we truly recognise that we are brought, in Christ, into the heavenly places, our first action in spirit will resemble that of Israel: we shall extol God for His power and might in accomplishing His purpose in bringing us into such blessing. Christ, our ark, went down into death for us, exhausted its power, stripped it of its might; and God has given us, who were dead in sins, life together with Christ risen from among the dead, and has set us in Him in the fulness of blessing, so that as truly as Israel through the passage of the Jordan were in Canaan, saints now are in Christ in the heavenly places. To enter into this grace, it is necessary to keep before our hearts, in faith, the measure of Gods Divine power exercised towards us, the exceeding greatness of which is according to that energy and might of His which He wrought, &c. (Eph 1:20). And speaking in the language of the type under our consideration as clean passed over Jordan, the Christians first act should be the heart recognition of what God has done. We are across the river; to God through Christ be the praise. Next, the stones, twelve in number, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel (Jos 4:5; Jos 4:8), spoke of the whole of Israel. Christians occupy themselves practically with spiritual, not national, unity; therefore with the truth that all saints of every nation are one in Gods sight and according to His purpose. Saints are seated together in the heavenly places in Christ, the one common place of blessing for all who believe. One association and one privilege mark all saints, and all equally have the highest and the best place. Even as each individual believer has life for himself together with Christ risen (Eph 2:5), so have all believers the highest privileges in common; they are by God made to sit together (Eph 2:6). The pillar of twelve stones, set up in Gilgal, became a memorial to the nation of Jehovahs work for them. The question, What mean ye by these stones? which the children would ask their fathers was to be answered by a relation of the Lords doings. And well indeed may Christians recount to their children what God has wrought. Our little ones should be grounded in the great truths of Gods Word. Redemption, resurrection, and ascension facts should be implanted in their minds and memories. (H. F. Witherby.)
The pile of stones speaking
It is an outrage to build a house like this, occupying so much room in a crowded thoroughfare, and with such vast toil and outlay, unless there be some tremendous reasons for doing it; and so I demand of all who have assisted in the building of this structure: What mean ye by these stones?
1. We mean that they shall be an earthly residence for Christ. Jesus did not have much of a home when He was here. Oh, Jesus! is it not time that Thou hadst a house? We give Thee this. Thou didst give it to us first, but we give it back to Thee. It is too good for us, but not half good enough for Thee.
2. We mean the communion of saints.
3. We mean by these stones the salvation of the people. We did not build this church for mere worldly reforms, or for an educational institution, or as a platform on which to read essays and philosophical disquisitions; but a place for the tremendous work of soul-saving. Do not make the blunder of the ship carpenters in Noahs time, who helped to build the ark, but did not get into it. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Stones buried and raised
I. These stones were most emphatically A monument of great might. The hand of man is capable of great achievements. How stupendous, how unparalleled, was the work of carrying Israel across Jordan in this fashion; yet how easily, how quickly, how quietly, was it all done!
II. Yet these stones formed a monument that might be despised. Simple and rude it was; it had no beauty or architectural comeliness, to be desired; it was nothing more than a rough pyramid of twelve muddy stones. With what contempt would an Egyptian look down upon it. But, after all, ostentation is human, simplicity is Divine; for though, from a human point of view, the wonder commemorated here was very great, what was it from the Divine? Nothing. What, after all, was the opening up of this passage to Him who upholds all things by the word of His power, who gathers the waters in the hollow of His hand, who taketh up the isles as a very little thing? Nothing, and less than nothing. It was easy for the men of Israel to raise such a monument. Yes; yet it was harder for them to heap up these stones than for God to heap up these waters; and all the might that reared the pyramids could never have congealed these depths.
III. Again, this monument had a worldwide reference and a special application. Most monuments have a very restricted reference. They speak to a political or a religious community; to the inhabitants of a city or the natives of a country, or to the members of a common faith; but this simple monument on Jordans bank has a voice for all mankind. It gives a declaration of Gods mighty power, so clear and emphatic that if men do not hear its testimony it is because they have stopped their ears. And if it had, for the human race as a whole, a great lesson to teach, it was fraught with special instruction to the Israel of God. To all men it cried, God is mighty; to Israel it testified, This God abides thy God for evermore. He is your refuge and strength. Therefore this monument was set up that they might remember and fear the Lord for ever and walk in His ways, and do His commandments.
IV. Other lessons are taught by these stones. They were twelve in number, arranged in their places by twelve warriors, one from each tribe; therefore it is plain that the whole people are represented by these stones. Also there were two sets of twelve stones: one set in the bed of the river, buried by its waters; another raised from the bed of the river, and piled upon its bank. Therefore we have here the whole people represented in two different aspects. The twelve buried stones speak of Israel in one relation; the twelve raised in another. Think of the buried. What mean ye by these stones? They lie on the bottom of the river, covered by its muddy waters. They represent Gods chosen people, for they are twelve. The strange place, therefore, in which they lie, must be a representation of some spiritual and important truth concerning Israel. What is it? By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. The death of those who came out of Egypt made this very plain. Now the children have arisen in place of the fathers, and they are about to enter in. What is their title to the inheritance? Is it better than that of their fathers? Is it true that they are worthy; that they have clean hands and a pure heart, and have not lifted up their souls unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully? Is it true that they are righteous? Can they claim entrance because of their obedience to the law? Nay, by the law shall no man be justified; and this burying of the twelve stones most solemnly emphasises this declaration. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. The sinner must leave the old man behind; the body of sin must be destroyed; we must be born again ere ever we see or enter into the kingdom of God. Do we ask, where is the old man, the body of sin? The Cross and grave of Christ give answer: it is gone, clean gone for ever; lost sight of, as these stones in the bed of Jordan. They are buried, to know no resurrection; yea, God tells us He has cast them behind His back, into the depths of the sea, a far deeper grave than Jordan. Through Alaric I. the Goths first learned the way to Rome. He and his rugged hosts were everywhere invincible. All Italy, luxurious and effeminate, lay at his feet. He extended his conquest as far south as Sicily. But at Cosenza in Calabria he was seized with a deadly malady. When he died, his followers had to face a great difficulty. What were they to do with the dead body of their great leader? It was impossible to carry it back over Italian plain and snowy Alp to the dark forests of his fatherland. It dare not be left to the mockery and desecration of the caitiffs he had conquered. Therefore they determined to bury it in the bed of the river Busento. They set their captives to the task of diverting the stream from its channel, and there in its dry bed they dug the grave of Alaric. Then, when he was buried deep in his rocky tomb, and the waters rolled once more in their wonted channel, to hide for ever the secret of this strange sepulchre, all the captives were put to death. These Goths wished to give their king a grave which no hand could reach. Even such a grave has God given our sins, and here in these stones we behold a picture of what He has done. We are buried with Christ. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God by Christ Jesus our Lord. But there were twelve stones raised upon the bank as well as twelve buried in the bed of Jordan, and we may well ask, What mean ye by these stones? This is the positive side of the same truth we have been considering. As the buried stones speak of death, so the raised speak of resurrection. We are not only buried with Christ, but are also quickened with Him, raised with Him, and seated with Him in heavenly places. The twelve buried stones picture our place on account of sin; the twelve raised declare our place on account of righteousness. The first speak of weakness; the second of might. The one declares all old things are passed away; the other, all things are become new. These twelve stones set on Jordans bank were raised from Jordans bed. That river, as it were, begot them. They were of it, from it, out of it. Even so the Church of Christ is begotten and brought forth from His death. The agonies of Christ crucified were the travail pangs of the new creation. As His people are buried with Him, so are they quickened, begotten again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Yes, it is a lively hope. The great pyramid of Egypt was after all a monument of despair, the eternal abode of the dead. This little pyramid of Canaan is a pyramid of hope, placed in the goodly land conspicuously and permanently; reminding those that believe that we are not only raised with Christ, but seated with Him in heavenly places–that we are henceforth a constituent part of His inheritance. (A. B. Mackay.)
Voiceful stones
This primitive form of a memorial is common to almost all nations. Of this character are the Egyptian obelisks and the cairns and the Druidical circles in England and Scotland. The text is the question of the children. The sight of the cairn would awaken curiosity. It has been well asked, What child in Altorf but must have inquired respecting the statue of William Tell, or in Lucerne about the lion sculptured by Thorwaldsen to commemorate the deaths of the Swiss Guard? These memorial stones would remind the tribes of Gods greatness and goodness. But the stones must have tongues in order that their testimony may be more complete. They were not simply to be memorial; they were also to be declaratory . . . Occupying to-day for the first time this place of worship, it is fitting that we should ask and answer the old question, What mean ye by these stones? The form which the stones have taken partly answers the question. Turret, tower, and spire point heavenward. In its symmetry and sincerity the whole structure preaches the need of truth in the heart and life.
1. These stones express our conviction of the worlds need of Christs gospel. Sin is the terrible fact in human existence. It is the absence of wholeness and of happiness; of Godlikeness here, and of heaven hereafter. It has separated man from God, and man from man. It is the prolific parent of all our woes. In the fulness of time the Christ was born. One element, the negative element, in that fulness was the worlds fruitless effort to help itself. Mighty Rome, in her abject helplessness, was calling for a deliverer. Beautiful Greece was stretching out her hands for a healer. Christ was both to both so far as they received Him. The experience of the world must be that of each individual. God says, and experience echoes the saying, Thou hast destroyed thyself. Thank God He speaks this other word: But in Me is thy help.
2. These stones express our faith in Christs gospel to meet the worlds need. To each man, guilty and condemned, it offers, through the death and mediation of Christ, a full and free pardon. It makes the redeemed here have foretastes of heaven. It harmonises all the conflicting interests of human society.
3. These stones declare our faith in and our duty toward the aggressive, the missionary side of Christs gospel. It means to conquer the world. It will do it. This is its lofty ambition and its Divine destiny. In this respect it stands unique among the religions of the world. We are not to satisfy ourselves by singing, Hold the fort! we must shout, Storm the fort! Our anti-mission Church is an anti-Christian Church.
4. These stones declare our faith in our distinctive organic order as a body of Christians, as being in harmony with Christs gospel. (R. S. MacArthur.)
Stones of memorial
I. The memory of gods goodness is honouring to god himself. To receive favours from an earthly friend, and then to forget them, and to act as if they had never been bestowed; this is ingratitude, base and contemptible. How much worse is the conduct of those who are insensible to and negligent of the favours shown by God to man! Especially should redemption wrought by the Son of God be kept in everlasting remembrance. The least we can do is to praise and glorify the God of grace.
II. The memory of gods goodness is a stimulus to piety. Remembrance feeds the flame of devotion, of love, of trust. To think of Gods favours and to be thankful is a good thing, is profitable to the spiritual life, and conducive to fellowship with God, and to true happiness and contentment.
III. The memory of gods goodness is an encouragement in time of trial, danger, and fear. The distressed and harassed may well call to mind the Divine interpositions of the past, which will lead them to exclaim: The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will help us. (Family Churchman.)
The memorial stones
I. What was Gods purpose?
1. The memorial was to be an aid to faith.
2. It had the purpose of cherishing gratitude.
3. It was a reminder of the need of unity.
II. What are the prophetic aspects of this memorial?
1. The two piles of stones, according to St. Augustine, represent the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles; the new Israel on the bank of the old river, the old in the midst of the stream, as the buried past. Thus the memorial is the Church of Christ, built upon the apostles, the one Divine Society, which is founded on a Rock, and against which the gates of hell may beat, but cannot prevail; for it is a memorial for ever.
2. As the passage of the Bed Sea represents baptism–God safely led the children of Israel Thy people through the Red Sea, figuring thereby Thy holy baptism (Prayer Book)–so some writers have seen in the crossing of Jordan a figure of the pardon for sins committed after baptism; in other words, an image of repentance. Further, as after passing Jordan, the Passover was kept, so after repentance the Holy Communion is received. In fact, the memorial as to its purposes may be compared to the Holy Eucharist; that is, a memorial of the death and passion of Christ: Do this, for My memorial; it is the great service of thanksgiving for redemption, as its name announces; and it is a pledge of unity, for we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one Bread (1Co 10:17).
3. Further, as through Jordan the Hebrews entered the land of promise, the Holy Land, so penitence must be introductory to a holy life, which leads to heaven.
4. It may be noticed that by some modern writers Jordan is regarded as the river of death, and the words, How wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jer 12:5) to be applicable to the fears which surround death, through which all must pass before they can see the kingdom of God.
III. Lessons.
1. To sustain our faith by the use of those outward and visible signs–the Sacraments, which our Lord has appointed as the memorials of what He has wrought for us.
2. To make our lives more lives of thanksgiving, and especially by receiving the Holy Eucharist, which is the thanksgiving which Christ ordained to be offered up to the end of time, till He come (1Co 11:26).
3. Further, let the twelve stones remind us of the union which should exist between the members of Christ; for whilst we are bidden to honour all men, the apostle says further, love the brotherhood.
4. The cairn of stones at Gilgal should teach us that we as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, &c. (1Pe 2:5). The truest witness to Christ is to be found in the lives of His members, those who make Him visible. To such, the power which made a way for Israel through Jordan will not fail them, and the promise will be fulfilled by the Saviour (Isa 43:2). (Canon Hutchings.)
Memorials
I. That the spiritual life should be one of continued memorials. Is it not one continued course of mercies? And as these mercies, these proofs of love and care telling sweetly of the provision of a Father, the grace of a Saviour, the presence of a Comforter, are manifested day by day and hour by hour, what cry so fitting as that of the Psalmist, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits? How delightful to look back and trace the dealings of God with your soul; or, not confining the mind to spiritual things, to see how, at times, especial providences have fallen out, telling of unceasing watchfulness on the part of the Lord, and calling for devout acknowledgment on yours. How delightful to find that you have not overlooked these signs of goodness, but that they still live fresh in loving recollection, and that here on earth those things are not forgotten which assuredly will furnish themes of praise hereafter in heaven. It has been so all along. Observe Abraham on mount Moriah; Jacob on the plain by Luz; Moses after Israels defeat of Amalek at Rephidim; Samuel when the Philistines had fled before him; look at the children of Israel here at Gilgal; the same Spirit moves them all.
II. It is useful to consider what we should commemorate, and the manner in which such commemoration should be observed. We might speak of national mercies, and mercies to our Church; of signal benefits, such as our pure creed, our heritage of the Word of God, the opening of wide fields for Christian enterprise, the revival of the spirit of religion, which, a century ago, made England see a wondrous resurrection from spiritual death, and which is still manifesting itself in a thousand forms for the good of man. Such things as these call for deep thankfulness. The Christian community which can recount them may appropriate the language (Psa 78:1-7). But just in proportion as thankfulness fills the individual heart will the general mind of the community feel its expanding power. The revival of Gods work in this, as in other respects, must begin in the individual, and the community will take its tone from the majority. And if we learn to value for ourselves, by personal participation, the blessings of the gospel of Christ Jesus, we are prepared to appreciate the benefit which those blessings confer on the community: if we really set up our memorials for saving mercy conferred on ourselves, the Divine goodness shown to our nation and our Church will not readily be overlooked.
III. Why it is desirable to act in the way that has been pointed out. We are prone to look rather at our sorrows than at our joys; to brood over trouble rather than to be grateful for prosperity. Poor complaining souls, take heed lest you rebuke God. Look on the other side. Try to count your mercies. My mercies. Yes! The help God has given you over and over again; the difference which you may find between your trials, which are so great, and those of your neighbour, which are even greater; the patience and long-suffering with which God has borne all your repining, your murmuring, your forgetfulness of Him, your doubts and fears and unbelief; the grace which has spared you instead of cutting you off in sin and casting you down to hell; the rich privileges and means of spiritual good brought to your very door and placed within your reach, set by your side from time to time, with merciful perseverance and consideration for your soul. Let us be well assured that if we kept these things more in remembrance the spiritual life of the people of God would flourish and abound to an extent as yet not generally seen.
1. There would be more gratitude. Fresh exercises of praise would spring from hearts whose thankfulness would be from time to time more specially revived.
2. There would be more hope. As desires after mercies might arise, they would not be vague, but accompanied by well-grounded expectations based on the past experience of so many mercies remembered.
3. There would be more faith. When dark clouds gather we should see the light streak where they would ere long break, the golden fringe to show that the sun is still there. We should feel that these shadows shall be dissipated as others have been.
4. There would be more happiness. Where gratitude and hope and faith abide, repining and doubt can find no room. (C. D. Marston, M. A.)
Memorials
Memorials! What are they? For what do they stand, and what do they teach? They are special signs of Divine interposition in human lives, and commemorate some event or circumstance claiming special remembrance and study.
I. This memorial was commemorative and suggestive.
1. It commemorated a new departure. They had not been this way before, they had never stood so near the fulfilment of hope as they did now. This is typical of every life. We all have our new departures, times of marked and decisive change, when some sudden bend in the road completely changes the track, leads us into new scenes of activity or rest, giving us new revelations and new experiences, and are truly periods of deep interest, epochs, red-letter days in our lives; we cannot forget them, and have raised memorials marking them as points to be remembered and studied.
2. It commemorated a signal mercy. Every Christian life has its seasons of peculiar need, which are often made special means of grace. And should he not raise memorials to mark both the trial and the mercy?
3. It commemorated a remarkable deliverance. What a sublime spectacle! When all human aid is unavailing, and nothing can save but direct Divine intervention, then Jehovah commands the waters to stand up upon a heap, again showing His salvation to His people. Some such memorial you have in your life. Some time of pressing need, when human help failed, and God came to your deliverance by opening up a path through the deep waters for you. And have you made no mark, no sign, put up no lasting reminder?
II. The value of such memorials.
1. They witness for God. They stand at different points on the ways of life, bearing silent but telling testimony to the power and grace of the Infinite Father in some time of sore and pressing need, confirming our faith in the doctrine of the conscious, abiding, personal presence of God in the lives of His people.
2. They remind us of mercies received in the past. We are consciously faulty in memory, are apt to forget the blessings already received, and to grow impatient and fretful when things are a little contrary; then it is of service to us to go back a little in our history to some of these times of Gods special nearness to us, when He gave us such unmistakable proof of His presence and grace by some marked deliverance, some special blessing, or some signal answer to prayer; when we can refresh our faulty memories by putting our hand upon some place, or time, or event in our life that we had marked by a stone of memorial, as a record of faith in God and gratitude to Him.
3. They inspire confidence and hope for the future. Much was before them to perplex.
4. They check despondency and gloom.
5. They supply precious lessons of Divine faithfulness. God would have us raise these memorials by the way to remind us of His covenant engagements. The past shall repeat itself in our future.
6. These memorials are of service to others. The pillar at Gilgal was not only to be a memento of the sovereign mercy of God to those who had actually witnessed the cutting off of the waters of Jordan, blot it was to supply to posterity some precious lessons of Divine majesty and love. Much so it is with the memorials of Christian lives–they exert a helping influence on other lives.
7. These memorials supply incentives to increased devotion, and stimulate to loftier praise. In this day of scepticism, coldness, indifference, and practical infidelity, when the actual presence of God in individual lives is more or less ignored, it is both refreshing and reassuring to take up Christian biography and hear how the holy men and women who have passed into the Fathers house accounted for similar events in their lives. I have sometimes seen family Bibles marked with peculiar hieroglyphics which a stranger could not read or understand; but ask the husband or wife to tell you what these marks mean, and you will find that each has a history precious and sweet to the marker. They are pillars that have been raised to remind them of some special answer to prayer, when they pleaded that promise; or When some extraordinary light broke upon the mind, on a certain day, as they pondered and prayed over that verse; or perhaps it was a literal fulfilment of another promise on which they had rested in a time of distressing calamity, and they have placed these memorials there to call to mind the signal mercy of God in their time of urgent need, and they would as soon doubt the need as they would the source of supply. God did it for us, they say, as surely as He divided Jordan for Israel to pass over to Canaan. I have also heard matured Christian men converse together on Gods dealings with them, and have felt a strange thrill pass through me as one of them has put his hand upon some pillar in his life and said, Here God met me, and I communed with Him. It was a time of bitter pain and need, and I was bowed down to earth with the burden, and was fainting by the wayside, but the Lord drew very near, and I seemed to hear His voice speaking to me, and asking me to tell Him about the pain, and I was drawn out to tell Him all, and He blessed me there, by giving in a way marvellous to me just what I needed; I rose up a strong man, and the grace was so like a miracle that I put up this memorial, and this spot is very dear to me, for here I saw God face to face and my life is preserved. (J. Higgins.)
The stones buried in the Jordan
As a memorial of this wonderful passage, twelve stones were selected from the rocky bed of the river, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel; and these were borne across before them on the shoulders of twelve men, and planted on the upper terrace of the valley beyond the reach of the annual inundation. In this manner was formed the first sanctuary of the Holy Land, which was a circle of upright stones–like one of the so-called Druidical circles in which our pagan ancestors worshipped in our own country. But besides this memorial which was set up on the western bank of the Jordan, there was another set up in the bed of the river itself. In the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood, in the centre of the channel, twelve stones like those which had been carried across to the opposite bank were arranged probably in the same manner; and when the river, which had been temporarily driven back wards to allow the Israelites to cross, returned to its forsaken bed, its dark, muddy waters flowed over the buried stones and hid them for ever from view. Thus there were two monuments of the miraculous passage of the Jordan taken from the materials of its own bed; one that gave rise to the sacred shrine of Gilgal, which was for a long time the appointed place of worship in the land; and another that was buried out of sight for ever in the muddy ooze of the deep rushing river. The sacred narrative tells us what were the purpose and meaning of the monument that stood on the dry land and was visible to every eye; but we have to find out what were the purpose and meaning of the monument that was invisible beneath the waters of the river. The place where they entered the Holy Land is unique. There is no other place like it in the world. It is the deepest chasm on the surface of the earth–at a great depth below the level of the sea. Do we not see in this circumstance a symbol of the deep repentance and self-abasement which a people so sensual, so ignorant, required before they could be fitted to occupy the heights of worship in Gods holy heritage? Then look further at the fact that the time when the Israelites crossed the Jordan was the spring-time, which in Palestine is the commencement of the barley-harvest. We are told elsewhere in Scripture that the harvest is emblematical of the judgment. It was therefore a time of judgment when the Israelites crossed the river; their past sins, their numerous rebellions, and outbursts of unbelief, deserved condemnation and punishment; their iniquities rose up against them, and demanded their exclusion from the land of promise as unworthy. But God in His great mercy held back the waters of the Jordan, the waters of judgment and death, which would otherwise have overwhelmed them, whilst His holy ark stood in the midst of the stream, and Israel crossed in safety; a token surely that though He was angry with them, His anger had passed away, and He was about to give them double for all their sins. Look further still at the significant fact that when the Israelites had erected their first sanctuary on the other side of Jordan, on the soil of the Holy Land, which by this solemn act became their own inheritance, they were immediately circumcised, and thus consecrated anew to the Lord, made new creatures, as it were, from their birth to Him. So that we see in this incident, as well as in the circumstance that the older generation which had left Egypt all perished in the wilderness, and only their children entered the Holy Land, what we may regard as the origin and illustration of our Lords saying, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Seeing, then, that all the incidents and circumstances of the passage of the Israelites across the Jordan form a very focus of symbolism, we are surely warranted in looking for a spiritual significance in the burying of the memorial stones in the bed of the river. The Jordan was a boundary river, separating between the wilderness and the promised land. It flowed down to the dreary, lifeless solitude of the Dead Sea. Its waters, laden with mud, were dark and drumly, and concealed their bed and whatever they flowed over completely. Its course also was very rapid and impetuous. In all these respects it was a most expressive symbol to the Israelites. The transition from the wilderness to Canaan was not made over continuous dry land; a water-boundary was interposed, through which they had to pass. And did not this teach them that in the passage from the wandering life of the desert to a settled home in the land of promise they were not to continue the same persons in the new circumstances that they had been in the old; but, on the contrary, were to undergo a moral change, a spiritual reformation. They were to be made a holy nation, in order to be fit occupants of the Holy Land. Their passage of the Jordan was therefore a baptism of repentance; the river at the entrance of the Holy Land, like the laver at the entrance of the tabernacle, afforded a bath of purification; and the memorial stones laid in the bed of the river, over which the waters, when they had safely crossed on dry land, returned, burying them for ever from sight, represented the fate which should have been theirs had God dealt with them according to their sins. And just as the scape-goat carried away the sins of the people, confessed on its head, into the wilderness, into a land of forgetfulness, so the dark, muddy waters of the Jordan carried away the stones which represented the sins of the Israelites into the Dead Sea, there to be engulphed for ever. All baptism is in a spiritual sense the crossing of a boundary. When a child is baptized it crosses a boundary between nature and grace–between ignorance and knowledge. And when in later life we are baptized with a spiritual baptism, born again of water and the Spirit, we cross the boundary between spiritual death and life–from the kingdom of Satan to that kingdom which is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now the river of baptism is a river of death. In crossing it we die to sin and live to righteousness. In entering into the new life the old life perishes. Through the death of the old man there is the resurrection of the new man. All that is connected with the old life of sin and unbelief is taken from us and carried down to the Dead Sea. The body of sin is drowned in the waters of forgiveness, and shall no more rise up against us. Like the stones in the bed of the Jordan, there is no resurrection for that which was connected with our former dead sinful selves. And how precious is the significance of the buried stones when looked at in this light! It is not a truth that pleases the intelligence by its ingenuity only; it is a truth that Satisfies the heart by its suitableness to its wants. How comforting and reassuring is the thought that when, through faith in Christ, we have crossed from a state of nature to a state of grace, all our sins are cast into the sea of Gods mercy. They are as completely buried out of sight as the stones in the ooze of the Jordan. The peace that is like a river and the righteousness that is like the waves of the sea flow over them,(H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The witness of the stones
1. They were stones of witness, for in after-years they powerfully proclaimed that the miracle of dividing the water of the Jordan was true, since they were raised at the very time; they were erected publicly in the sight of the people, and no one would have dared to make such a monument, and to declare that it commemorated such an event, had the miracle never taken place. Scripture miracles are attested by witnesses, which attestation distinguishes them from the so-called miracles of the heathen world.
2. And the stones of Gilgal were stones of encouragement, for when Israel looked on them, and recollected that they recalled Gods power, no doubt could be felt that God was able to make their enterprise a success. When the great cities, vast wealth, and mighty armies of the Canaanites were considered, many a Hebrew might feel his heart sink within him as he looked on the rude and undisciplined host which Joshua had led across the Jordan. But a glance at the stones of the circle of Gilgal would dispel all such fears, and he would think–The mighty Jehovah who divided the waters of Jordan is on our side; and against the power that cleft asunder the waves of that river what can the might of the Amorites avail? Jehovah is with us, and against Him whose word divided Jordan vain is the power of the Canaanite, and our victory is absolutely sure.
3. But while these stones gave encouragement to Israel, they bore witness in a different manner to their enemies, for to the Canaanites they were stones of warning. How could Amorite or Hittite withstand invaders whose God possessed the power of dividing the waters of Jordan? They had run riot in sin; they had stifled conscience: they had despised warning; and now the day of mercy was past, and the avengers were upon them, and who could hope to resist their power and to escape their swords, when their God made the waters of Jordan to stand as a heap in the day when His people passed over? Sin will not go for ever unpunished; Gods Spirit shall not always strive with man, and corruption shall not with impunity defile the fairest portions of a groaning creation: but when the day of grace has passed, the day of vengeance shall certainly follow. The stones in Gilgal are gone, the circle is destroyed, and the stony witness of encouragement and warning is no longer borne; but there are stones around us now which give their witness, and our ears must be heavy if we do not hear, and our minds dull if we do not understand, the testimony that they deliver. What mean these stones?
1. They show Gods power; for who could make such mighty foundation rocks, and after their formation could heave them up into their present lofty heights, but a Being possessed of almighty power?
2. What wisdom, too, is exhibited in their formation! What a wonderful skill is shown in the selection of their constituent elements, and in their combination according to a fixed design!
3. And what goodness also do these stones of the hills manifest? for how useful they are to man, and how it stimulates his inventive faculty to quarry, shape, and erect them as monuments to beautify the creations of his genius! Man puts up milestones to measure the length of his journey, and God also erects milestones to mark how man himself is advancing on that journey which we are all travelling. What is our life but a journey? ever advancing and ceaselessly progressing day by day, month by month, and year by year. Lifes journey is to many painful and wearisome. The morning of life, with its freshness, is gone; the noonday sun beats fiercely on our heads; the novelty of changing experiences has passed away; and as we slowly advance along the highway of daily life, our hearts begin to get weary, and we too become discouraged because of the way. God puts up His milestones to mark our progress on lifes journey, and as we pass them successively, it is solemn to notice their witness and their character. The eyesight begins to grow dim: slowly, indeed, but surely; and we treat the fact almost with indifference. It is a mere common event, but it is another milestone on the road of life, to show that the end will before long draw near. The hearing is dulled. Pleasant sounds can no more be enjoyed, and the harmonies of natures and of human music gratify us no longer. We quietly accept the inevitable, perhaps with sigh, but at all events with resignation, knowing that it must be so; and in the heavy ear we recognise another of Gods milestones. Memory now begins to fail. We cannot trust it as formerly, and do not attempt to tax its power for fear that it should prove treacherous. Failing, capricious memory! what is it but another milestone placed by God by the side of the road of life to tell us that we have passed over the greater part of our journey and are drawing near to home? The milestones of the way, how differently they affect different people! Here is a man going away from his country, seeking his place of abode in a distant land, and leaving behind him all he holds dear in this world: his lands, his treasures, and his friends. Milestones are sad things to him, for they tell him that his time in the land in which all his pleasure is found is rapidly passing away. But here is another man, returning to his home. He has been in a foreign land; has made his fortune: has landed on his return at the well-known port, and is journeying rapidly along the highroad to his loved and long-expected home. He knows a welcome is there: dear ones are all looking out for his arrival, and his greeting will be joyous, while he will not merely meet them, but will never leave them again. How quickly he walks! How slowly the milestones seem to pass! The heat of the sun, the length of the way, the ups and downs of the road, are all nothing to him, for the thought of the home ever drawing nearer and nearer makes him take no notice of them whatever. So it should be with us. We have had, perhaps, our morning of life, and it may be that the journey is beginning to grow wearisome; but let us think less of the road and more of the home. (D. G. Whitley.)
The priests . . . stood . . . until everything was finished.
The way of difficulty
I. Remembrance of God is the only encouragement through which some parts of lifes way become bearable and passable.
II. Gods regard to the greater trials of our life does not call off his attention from details. He not only parted the waters, but He waited in the river, both in power and presence, until everything was finished.
III. the general commandments of the bible are meant to regulate and control the specific acts of our life. According to all that Moses, &c. But Moses had never given any commands touching the actual passage of the Jordan. Yet Moses had commanded an implicit reliance on Divine guidance and a careful obedience to Divine requirements. Such general words covered all the particulars of the case. There are many things in the family, in business, in the Church, and in the world, which no specific precept may touch; there is absolutely no place which we can occupy in our daily life which in principle and in spirit is not covered by the Scriptures.
IV. While divine patience never wearies in giving us necessary help, when God goes before we should promptly follow. The people hasted and passed over. Whatever motive actuated their haste, haste was the right thing for the time. God does not work that we may idly look on. His manifest energy is a call for our marked diligence (2Sa 5:24).
V. God, who makes way in the van of our difficulties, is no less necessary to secure our rear (Jos 4:11; Deu 25:17-18). Not only that He may see His people, but that He may save them, He besets them behind and before. (F. G. Marchant.)
The people hasted
Probably the majority of the people were moved by fear, but some feelings may have led some of the host to hasten, and other considerations others.
I. The haste of fear. This also leads to Canaan.
II. The haste of diligence. With so much to be done, each had need to remember, the night cometh.
III. The haste of reverent obedience. God does not work mightily and command urgently that men may move slothfully.
IV. The haste of compassion. While the people tarried, the priests must wait. No man ever idles without expense and inconvenience to some one else.
V. The haste of unconscious influence. The quick movement of a few would communicate itself to all. Our pace times that of our companion, and his that of others. (D. G. Whitley.)
Quick use of opportunity
They made the best use of the golden opportunity afforded them, and with the utmost alacrity and diligence hastened across the river while thus laid bare for them. The torrent was restrained by the mighty power of God to afford the people an opportunity to pass over dry-shod. But there was no time for presumptuous delays, as though they could count upon an indefinite prolongation of this favoured season, and might postpone crossing until it suited their pleasure, in the confidence that Gods grace would wait upon their dilatory movements. There was no disposition on the part of any to remain as long as they could on the wilderness side, with any chance of getting into Canaan before the waters should rush back again into their accustomed channel. (W. H. Green, D. D.)
The peoples haste
The priests and the ark stood still; but the people hasted and passed over. Many commentators assume that they hastened from fear. Such haste would have been both utterly unseemly, and an evil omen for the conquest. There were other reasons for making all possible haste. Were they not keeping the priests of God with their arms outstretched, to bear up their holy burden? And moreover, there, distinct before them, beautiful in the soft, rich light of the early morning, lay the homes, and vineyards, and fields, which they were to possess. A few steps, and their feet would be in Canaan; a few moments, and the weary waiting of years would end. As the tired labourer hastes at the first glimpse of his home, so must they have hastened. There may have been, also, some innocent rivalry to be among the first to touch the further shore. All these motives, indeed, might easily combine as they hastened and passed over. And shall not the thought that Jesus waits till all be gathered in–waits, without coming yet in His power and great glory–shall not this thought stir up His Church, not only to be looking for, but hastening His coming? The love of Christ constraining us, will urge us onward. And who that has had the eyes of the understanding opened to behold what are the riches of glory of this inheritance in Christ Jesus would not fain to his speed add wings, that he might enter it and at once possess it? (S. F. Smiley.)
Come ye up out of Jordan.–
Firm in duty
We can fancy how the people who had reached the western shore lined the bank, gazing on the group in the channel, who stood still waiting Gods command to relieve them at their post. The word comes at last, and is immediately obeyed. May we not learn the lesson to stand fixed and patient wherever God sets us, as long as He does not call us thence? Gods priests should be like the legionary on guard in Pompeii, who stuck to his post while the ashes were falling thick, and was smothered by them, rather than leave his charge without his commanders orders. One graphic word pictures the priests lifting, or, as it might be translated, plucking, the soles of their feet from the slimy bottom into which they had settled down in their long standing still. They reach the bank, marching as steadily with their sacred burden as might be over so rough and slippery a road. The first to enter were the last to leave the rivers bed. Gods ark goes before us, and is our rearward. He besets us behind and before, and all dangerous service is safe if begun and ended in Him. The one point made prominent is the instantaneous rush back of the impatient torrent as soon as the curb was taken off. Like some horse rejoicing to be free, the tawny flood pours down, and soon everything looks as aforetime, except for the new rock, piled by human hands, round which the waters chafed. The dullest would understand what had wrought the miracle when they saw the immediate consequence of the arks leaving its place. Cause and effect seldom come thus close together in Gods dealings; but sometimes He lets us see them as near each other as the lightning and the thunder, that we may learn to trace them in faith, when centuries part them. How the people would gaze as the hurrying stream covered up their path, and would look across to the further shore, almost doubting if they had really stood there that morning! They were indeed Hebrews–men from the other side–now, and would set themselves to the dangerous task before them with courage. Well begun is half done; and God would not divide the river for them to thrust them into a tigers den, where they would be torn to pieces. Retreat was impossible now. A new page in their history was turned. The desert was as unreachable as Egypt. The passage of the Jordan rounded off the epoch which the passage of the Red Sea introduced, and began a new era. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Life a journey
I. That human life in this world is a journey.
1. Change of scenery.
2. Approach to an end.
3. Unsettledness of feeling. Lifes journey is–
(1) Unremitting;
(2) irretraceable.
II. That human life in this world is a journey which will have an end.
1. Our end is certain.
2. It is solemn.
III. Human life in this world will have an end which may be glorious.
1. It may be glorious in the courage of the traveller.
2. It may be glorious in the destination reached. (Homilist.)
Those twelve stones.., did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.–
The double monument of the passage of the Lords host across the Jordan
Many fine allegories have been reared upon the foundation of the twenty-four stones that were placed, twelve in the river-bed, and twelve at the encampment in Gilgal. Some have spiritualised them as types of death and the resurrection; others have seen in them a representation of the prophets and apostles of the Old and New Testament dispensations. They mean that the passage of the Israelites over Jordan is–
I. A real event. The history that records it is not an oriental poem or a patriotic legend. It is not a fine conception of an impassioned imagination. It is not an exaggeration. We have before us a plain matter of actual history.
II. A significant event.
1. God was glorified. He was herein exhibited as the living God (Jos 3:10), and the Lord of all the earth (Jos 3:11).
2. Joshua, moreover, was magnified, and shown to be Moses divinely-sanctioned successor (Jos 3:7).
3. The Israelites, moreover, were assured. With the remembrance of the naked channel of Jordan, what cause of trepidation can remain?
4. By this miracle their enemies were appalled–namely, the inland Amorites, the immediate spectators; and the Canaanites, or coast tribes (Num 13:30) in the distance, who heard the report (Jos 5:1). The passage took place right against Jericho (Jos 3:16). Oh, portentous sight for the inhabitants of that fortress!
III. A pattern event. It was with apparent reference to this event that God promised His people by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, When thou passest through the waters, &c. Let us, then, claim the promise, and embrace the consolation that this history declares to us for ourselves. And what can we do in these swellings of Jordan? Here is an answer to our misgivings, The Lord will do wonders among you!
IV. A symbolical event.
1. On the one hand, we may regard the passage of the Jordan as a glorious and abundant entrance into the promised inheritance.
2. On the other hand, we may regard it as illustrating, not only the triumphant close, but also the hopeful beginning of the believers course, and conversion, not death, will be the aspect of Christian experience that we shall recognise.
Application:
1. Are you yet in your sins? and do you long to experience the saving change of the new birth? But does a very torrent of difficulties seem to roll at their fullest height between you and the peace and pardon you long to enjoy? Go forward, and fear not. Jesus Himself calls you. He Himself accompanies you. Every hindrance will vanish if you obey His word.
2. Are you already amongst Gods people? Have you anxieties, difficulties, obstructions, in your course of life? He who opened a highway through the Jordan is also your helper.
3. Is Jesus your hope, and do you nevertheless quail when you think of the hour of your departure hence, when you must leave all you love here below? (Isa 43:1-8). (G. W. Butler, M. A.)
The stones of memorial
I. Great events deserve commemoration. In them God is the teacher. Men have always been ready to perpetuate the memory of their own great deeds. By memorial structures, memorial days, memorial observances, they have sought to keep alive the knowledge of their achievements and to foster a regard for the sentiments which lived in them. It has been common for all men in every age to act upon the principle which Daniel Webster stated when the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument was laid: Human beings are composed not of reason only, but of imagination also, and sentiment, and that is neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and opening proper springs of feeling in the heart. But no memorial structure elaborately reared to perpetuate right feeling and sentiment could subserve this end as fitly and fully as did the rude circle of stones set up at Gilgal. It nursed no pride of ancestry. It declared Gods mighty acts. Reminded by this rude memorial, one generation praised His works to another. They were led to speak of the glory of His kingdom, and to talk of His power.
II. God expects the children to become interested in great events of the past. It was for the childrens sake that the circle of stones was set up at Gilgal. It was to awaken their curiosity. God wishes the children to ask a great many questions. In this way He would have them learn what He has been doing for His people in past ages.
III. God expects the fathers to be ready to answer the childrens questions. The stones of Gilgal could be of little use to those children whose parents did not keep freshly in mind the events commemorated. They would become a monument whose inscription had faded away. No doubt the word fathers means parents, but it is worthy of remark that it does not mean mothers only or especially. The father who gives over to the mother the religious training of the child fails in the special duty which fatherhood imposes. He shirks the greatest responsibility of life. The father who answers his childs questions by evasion acts unworthily. My wife takes care of the religion of the family, a busy man said. But this is not Gods plan. This fathers life, in many respects admirable, failed miserably in a central, essential duty. For this failure no other well-doing could compensate.
IV. The stones erected at Gilgal suggest more lasting memorials which God has set up.
1. A memorial book. Concerning this book He would have the children question and the fathers give answer. How has this book been made, and by what providence has it been preserved?
2. A Church with memorial rites. What do baptism and the Lords Supper have to tell us about Gods ways with men?
3. A memorial day. Sunday is Gods commemoration day. It stands a lasting memorial of the greatest event in human history. (W. G. Sperry.)
The memorial stones
Gilgal, the first encampment, lay defenceless in the open plain, and the first thing to be done would be to throw up some earthwork round the camp. It seems to have been the resting-place of the ark, and probably of the non-combatants, during the conquest, and to have derived thence a sacredness which long clung to it, and finally led, singularly enough, to its becoming a centre of idolatrous worship. The rude circle of unhewn stones without inscription was, no doubt, exactly like the many pre historic monuments found all over the world which forgotten races have raised to keep in everlasting remembrance forgotten fights and heroes. It was a comparatively small thing; for each stone was but a load for one man, and it would seem mean enough by the side of Stonehenge or Carnac, just as Israels history is on a small scale as compared with the world-embracing empires of old. Size is not greatness; and Joshuas little circle told a more wonderful story than its taller kindred, or Egyptian obelisks or colossi.
1. These grey stones preached at once the duty of remembering and the danger of forgetting the past mercies of God. When they were reared they would seem needless; but the deepest impressions get filled up by degrees, as the river of time deposits its sands on them. We do not forget pain so quickly as joy, and most men have a longer and keener remembrance of their injurers than of their benefactors, human or Divine. The stones were set up because Israel remembered, but also lest Israel should forget. We often think of the Jews as monsters of ingratitude; but we should more truly learn the lesson of their history if we regarded them as fair, average men, and asked ourselves whether our recollection of Gods goodness to us is much more vivid than theirs. Unless we make distinct and frequent efforts to recall, we shall certainly forget Gods goodness. The cultivation of thankful remembrance is a very large part of practical religion; and it is not by accident that the psalmist puts it in the middle, between hope and obedience (Psa 78:7).
2. The memorial stones further proclaimed the duty of parental instruction in Gods mercies. They speak of a time when tradition was the vehicle of history; when books were rare, and monuments were relied upon to awaken curiosity which a fathers words would satisfy. Notwithstanding all differences in means of obtaining knowledge, the old law remains in full force, that the parent is the natural and most powerful instructor in the ways of God. The decay of parental religious teaching is working enormous mischief in Christian households; and the happiest results would follow if Joshuas homely advice were attended to, Ye shall let your children know.
3. The same principle which led to the erection of this simple monument reaches its highest and sacredest instance in the institution of the Lords Supper, in which Jesus, with wonderful lowliness, condescends to avail Himself of material symbols in order to secure a firmer place in treacherous memories. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Lord your God dried up the . . . Jordan.–
Hindrances removed
That is true. We saw it. We were there. It is happening every day. Take out the mere detail and put in the great picture, and what is it? It is Divine interposition in the affairs of life. It is God taking away all hindrances to the progress which He Himself has purposed and defined; not the hindrances to your progress, but the hindrances to His own progress as shown through your life. He will not take any stones out of our way if they lie between us and ruin. He will rather embed those stones a little more firmly. God be praised for His hindrances! We wanted to make that contract, and could not. We had the pen in hand to sign it, but the ink would not flow, or the light suddenly gave out, and we dropped the pen. What did it? We see now we were going to sign away our birthright, our liberty, our honour, our conscience, and we were doing this more or less unconsciously, and God said No. Blessed be God for His denials! Sometimes we are able to say, Blessed be God for His bereavements! Let God alone. Let us put our lives lust into His hands and say, Lord, they are Thy lives more than ours. Thou hast only lent them to us. We would not spoil one moment of these trembling frailties which we call our lives. Undertake everything for us and use us. We will run Thine errands, we will obey Thy will, we will do what Thou dost bid us do. Lord, undertake for us. Then if there is a river in the way Thou wilt dry it up, if there is a Red Sea in the way Thou wilt command it to stand back, and we shall walk through the beds of rivers as if they were beds of roses, you would be greatly comforted, as I have been in a thousand instances, by reasoning from the river to the sea. This is the right method of inference, by induction and by deduction. What has God done for us in the past? Hear David. He said: The God that delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine. I will strike him in the name of the Eternal. Was it a rash act? It was reasoned piety. Why did the young mans blood boil for one moment and then subside? It was all the piety of the past gathered up into one supreme stroke. Sometimes one act of faith condenses a lifetime of study, experience, and prayer. Wondrously doth life bring its own power, and marvellously doth yesterday contribute its quota to the forces of to-day. When a great man advises you upon a certain course, he does not speak for the moment. For a quarter of a century and more he has been buried in the study of law, and when he gives you advice that could be written down in a line he puts a lifetime into that line. When the hoary physician touches your pulse half a century touches it. So we should thus see God moving, as in contemplation and in faith, from the Jordan to the Red Sea. He says to us, as we near the sea: What about the Jordan? Was there one drop of water on the sole of your feet? No, Lord, there was not. Then, saith He in reply, as with the Jordan, so with the Red Sea. It shall be dried up as if it had never been. When the disciples said, How can we feed this multitude? He said, Did I not feed a multitude once. What lack was there then? None. Had the people barely enough to eat? Nay. How many baskets took you up? Twelve. And He helped them to carry out that reasoning, that He who was able to do it once was able to do it twice; and if He could do it twice, He could do it for ever. Here is the historical lesson He teaches us, that what He did yesterday He is going to do to-morrow. If you have no faith in to-morrow, surely you have faith in your own recollection of yesterday. There are timid souls who never dare look at to-morrow. The Lord says to these, Then think about yesterday; that is over. Now what was done to you yesterday? You thought your heart was going to burst. Did your heart break yesterday? No. You thought all things were against you yesternight. Did one star fall out of its place? No, Lord, they are all there. Then, saith God, as yesterday, so to-morrow; as the Jordan, so the Red Sea. What is your experience? How have you been treated in straits and perplexities and difficulties? Who cooled your fever? Who brought light when all was darkness? Bacon saith, A little learning inclineth to atheism; but much learning, great wisdom, makes a man pray. Whenever you doubt God, think that you are but feebly or superficially instructed. When you can lean upon Him four-square, know that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. How true it is that all things in life are done by an unseen power in so far as they are either good or bad. The devil is as invisible as God. How wonderful a thing it is that-life becomes shaped into palaces and temples without any handling of our own. The Jordan was dried up not with hands; the Red Sea was dried up–not with hands. Hands, poor hands, what can hands make? The hand can make and break is a little proverb, I would suggest. Whatever can be made by the hand can be unmade by the hand. God Himself takes all primary ministry unto His own power and employs us, even when we are going about our own errands, simply as His messengers. All life as it grows wisely and well turns and tends to service. Blessed be God, there is a bondage of love, there is a slavery of joy! Are you dreading the Jordan? He will dry it up for you if you put your trust in Him. Are you dreading the Red Sea? He will blow it away with the wind of His mouth. You may go within a step of it, nay, you may touch it, but the moment the foot of faith touches that sea, the sea is gone. (J. Parker, D. D.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER IV
When the people are passed over, Joshua commands twelve men, one
taken out of each tribe, to take up a stone on his shoulder out
of the midst of the river, and carry it to the other side, to
be set up as a memorial of this miraculous passage, 1-7.
They do so, and set up the stones in the place where they encamp
the first night, 8, 9.
The priests stand in the river, till all the people are passed
over, 10, 11.
Of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
40,000 fighting men pass over with the other tribes, 12, 13.
Joshua is magnified in the sight of the people, and they fear
him as they did Moses, 14.
The priests are commanded to come up out of the river, which, on
their leaving it, immediately returns, and overflows its banks
as before, 15-18.
This miraculous passage takes place the tenth day of the first
month, 19.
The stones are set up in Gilgal, and Joshua teaches the people
what use they are to make of them, 20-24.
NOTES ON CHAP. IV
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This was commanded before, Jos 3:12, and is here repeated with enlargement, as being now to be put in execution.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-3. the Lord spake unto Joshua,Take you twelve meneach representing a tribe. They had beenpreviously chosen for this service (Jos3:12), and the repetition of the command is made here solely tointroduce the account of its execution. Though Joshua had beendivinely instructed to erect a commemorative pile, therepresentatives were not apprised of the work they were to do tillthe time of the passage.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan,…. As related, Jos 3:17;
that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying: as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Crossing the River. – In the account of the crossing, the main point is their taking twelve stones with them from the bed of the river to the opposite side to serve as a memorial. To set forth the importance of this fact as a divine appointment, the command of God to Joshua is mentioned first of all (Jos 4:2, Jos 4:3); then the repetition of this command by Joshua to the men appointed for the work (Jos 4:4-7); and lastly, the carrying out of the instructions (Jos 4:8). This makes it appear as though God did not give the command to Joshua till after the people had all crossed over, whereas the twelve men had already been chosen for the purpose (Jos 3:12). But this appearance, and the discrepancy that seems to arise, vanish as soon as we take the different clauses-which are joined together here by vav consec., according to the simple form of historical composition adopted by the Hebrews, “ and Jehovah spake, saying,” etc. (Jos 4:2, Jos 4:3); “ and Joshua called the twelve men,” etc. (Jos 4:4), – and arrange them in logical order, and with their proper subordination to one another, according to our own modes of thought and conversation, as follows: “Then Joshua called the twelve men-as Jehovah had commanded him, saying, ‘Take you twelve men out of the people,’ etc. – and said to them,” etc.
(Note: So far as the meaning is concerned, Kimchi, Calvin, and many others, were perfectly correct in taking Jos 4:1-3 as a parenthesis, and rendering as a pluperfect, though, grammatically considered, and from a Hebrew point of view, the historical sense with vav consec. does not correspond to our pluperfect, but always expresses the succession either of time or thought. This early Hebrew form of thought and narrative is completely overlooked by Knobel, when he pronounces Jos 4:1-3 an interpolation from a second document, and finds the apodosis to Jos 4:1 in Jos 4:4. The supposed discrepancy-namely, that the setting up of the memorial is not described in Jos 4:5. as a divine command, as in Jos 4:8, Jos 4:10 -by which Knobel endeavours to establish his hypothesis, is merely a deduction from the fact that Joshua did not expressly issue his command to the twelve men as a command of Jehovah, and therefore is nothing more than an unmeaning argumentum e silentio .)
Jos 4:1-5 When all the people had crossed over Jordan,
(Note: The piska in the middle of Jos 4:1 is an old pre-Masoretic mark, which the Masorites have left, indicating a space in the midst of the verse, and showing that it was the commencement of a : parashah .)
Joshua issued to the twelve men who had been appointed by the twelve tribes the command given to him by God: “ Go before the ark of Jehovah into the midst of Jordan, and take every man a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,” or, as it is expressed in the fuller explanation in the divine command in Jos 4:3, “ from the standing-place of the priests, the setting up of twelve stones ( is an infinitive used as a substantive, or else it should be pointed as a substantive), and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place of encampment where ye shall pass the night.”
Jos 4:6-7 This (viz., their taking the twelve stones with them and setting them up) was to be a sign in Israel; the stones were to serve as a memorial of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan to all succeeding generations. For the expression “ if your children ask to-morrow (in future),” etc., see Exo 13:14; Exo 12:26-27, and Deu 6:20-21.
Jos 4:8-9 The children of Israel carried out these instructions. The execution is ascribed to the “children of Israel,” i.e., to the whole nations, because the men selected from the twelve tribes acted in the name of the whole nation, and the memorial was a matter of equal importance to all. does not signify that they set up the stones as a memorial, but simply that they laid them down in their place of encampment. The setting up at Gilgal is mentioned for the first time in Jos 4:20. In addition to this, Joshua set up twelve stones for a memorial, on the spot where the feet of the priests had stood as they bore the ark of the covenant, which stones were there “ to this day, ” i.e., the time when the account was written. There is nothing to warrant our calling this statement in question, or setting it aside as a probable gloss, either in the circumstance that nothing is said about any divine command to set up these stones, or in the opinion that such a memorial would have failed of its object, as it could not possibly have remained, but would very speedily have been washed away by the stream. The omission of any reference to a command from God proves nothing, simply because divine commands are frequently hinted at but briefly, so that the substance of them has to be gathered from the account of their execution (compare Jos 3:7-8, with Jos 3:9-13, and Jos 4:2-3, with Jos 4:4-7); and consequently we may assume without hesitation that such a command was given, as the earlier commentators have done. Moreover, the monument did not fail of its object, even if it only existed for a short time. The account of its erection, which was handed down by tradition, would necessarily help to preserve the remembrance of the miraculous occurrence. But it cannot be so absolutely affirmed that these stones would be carried away at once by the stream, so that they could never be seen any more. As the priests did not stand in the middle or deepest part of the river, but just in the bed of the river, and close to its eastern bank, and it was upon this spot that the stones were set up, and as we neither know their size nor the firmness with which they stood, we cannot pronounce any positive opinion as to the possibility of their remaining. It is not likely that they remained there for centuries; but they were intended rather as a memorial for the existing generation and their children, than for a later age, which would be perpetually reminded of the miraculous help of God by the monument erected in Gilgal.
Jos 4:10-11 Whilst Joshua was carrying out all that Jehovah had commanded him to say to the people, according to the command of Moses-that is to say, whilst the people were passing through the Jordan before the ark, and the twelve men were carrying over the stones out of the river to the resting-place on the other side, and Joshua himself was setting up twelve stones in Jordan for a memorial-during all this time, the priests stood with the ark in the bed of the river; but after all the people, including the twelve men who took the stones out of the Jordan, had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord passed over, with the priests, before the people: that is to say, it stationed itself again, along with the priests, at the head of the people. The words “ according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua ” do not refer to any special instructions which Moses had given to Joshua with reference to the crossing, for no such instructions are to be found in the Pentateuch, nor can they be inferred from Num 27:23; Deu 3:28, or Deu 31:23; they simply affirm that Joshua carried out all the commands which the Lord had given him, in accordance with the charge which he received from Moses at the time when he was first called. Moses had called him and instructed him to lead to the people into the promised land, in consequence of a divine command; and had given him the promise, at the same time, that Jehovah would be with him as He had been with Moses. This contained implicite an admonition to Joshua to do only what the Lord should command him. And if this was how Joshua acted, the execution of the commands of God was also an observance of the command of Moses. The remark in Jos 4:10, “ and the people hastened and passed over, ” i.e., passed hastily through the bed of the river, is introduced as an explanation of the fact that the priests stood still in the bed of the river the whole time that the crossing continued. As the priests stood in one spot whilst all the people were passing over, it was necessary that the people should hasten over, lest the strength of the priests should be exhausted. This reason for hastening, however, does not preclude the other-namely, that the crossing had to be finished in one day, before night came on. The statement in Jos 4:11, that when all the people had passed over, the ark of the Lord also passed over with the priests, is so far anticipatory of the actual course of the events, that up to this time nothing has been said about the fighting men belonging to the two tribes and a half having passed over (Jos 4:12, Jos 4:13); nor has the command of God for the ark to pass over been mentioned (Jos 4:15.), though both of these must have preceded the crossing of the ark in order of time. It is to be observed, that, in the words “ the art of the Lord passed over, and the priests,” the priests are subordinate to the ark, because it was through the medium of the ark of the Lord that the miracle of drying up the river had been effected: it was not by the priests, but by Jehovah the Almighty God, who was enthroned upon the ark, that the waters were commanded to stand still. “Before the people” (Eng. Ver. “in the presence of the people”) has the same signification in Jos 4:11 as in Jos 3:6, Jos 3:14.
Jos 4:12-14 The account of the fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan passing over along with them, in number about 40,000, is added as a supplement, because there was no place in which it could be appropriately inserted before, and yet it was necessary that it should be expressly mentioned that these tribes performed the promise they had given (Jos 1:16-17), and in what manner they did so. The words do not imply that these 40,000 men crossed over behind the priests with the ark, which would not only be at variance with the fact so expressly stated, that the ark of the covenant was the medium of the miraculous division of the water, but also with the distant statement in Jos 4:18, that when the priests, with the ark, set their feet upon the dry land, the waters filled the river again as they had done before. The imperfect with vav consec. here expresses simply the order of thought, and not of time. “ Arboth Jericho,” the steppes of Jericho, were that portion of the Arabah or Ghor which formed the environs of Jericho, and which widens here into a low-lying plain of about three and a half or four hours’ journey in breadth, on account of the western mountains receding considerably to the south of the opening of the Wady Kelt ( Rob. Pal. ii. pp. 263ff.). – In Jos 4:14 the writer mentions still further the fact that the Lord fulfilled His promise (in Jos 3:7), and by means of this miracle so effectually confirmed the authority of Joshua in the eyes of Israel, that the people feared him all the days of his life as they had feared Moses. “This was not the chief end of the miracle, that Joshua increased in power and authority; but since it was a matter of great importance, so far as the public interests were concerned, that the government of Joshua should be established, it is very properly mentioned, as an addition to the benefits that were otherwise conferred, that he was invested as it were with sacred insignia, which produced such a felling of veneration among the people, that no one dared to treat him with disrespect” ( Calvin) .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Passage over the Jordan. | B. C. 1451. |
1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3 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. 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5 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: 6 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? 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.
We may well imagine how busy Joshua and all the men of war were while they were passing over Jordan, when besides their own marching into an enemy’s country, and in the face of the enemy, which could not but occasion them many thoughts of hear, they had their wives, and children, and families, their cattle, and tents, and all their effects, bag and baggage, to convey by this strange and untrodden path, which we must suppose either very muddy or very stony, troublesome to the weak and frightful to the timorous, the descent to the bottom of the river and the ascent out of it steep, so that every man must needs have his head full of care and his hands full of business, and Joshua more than any of them. And yet, in the midst of all his hurry, care must be taken to perpetuate the memorial of this wondrous work of God, and this care might not be adjourned to a time of greater leisure. Note, How much soever we have to do of business for ourselves and our families, we must not neglect nor omit what we have to do for the glory of God and the serving of his honour, for that is our best business. Now,
I. God gave orders for the preparing of this memorial. Had Joshua done it without divine direction, it might have looked like a design to perpetuate his own name and honour, nor would it have commanded so sacred and venerable a regard from posterity as now, when god himself appointed it. Note, God’s works of wonder ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance, and means devise for the preserving of the memorial of them. Some of the Israelites that passed over Jordan perhaps were so stupid, and so little affected with this great favour of God to them, that they felt no concern to have it remembered; while others, it may be, were so much affected with it, and had such deep impressions made upon them by it, that they thought there needed no memorial of it to be erected, the heart and tongue of every Israelite in every age would be a living lasting monument of it. But God, knowing their frame, and how apt they had been soon to forget his works, ordered an expedient for the keeping of this in remembrance to all generations, that those who could not, or would not, read the record of it in the sacred history, might come to the knowledge of it by the monument set up in remembrance of it, of which the common tradition of the country would be an explication; it would likewise serve to corroborate the proof of the matter of fact, and would remain a standing evidence of it to those who in after-ages might question the truth of it. A monument is to be erected, and, 1. Joshua, as chief captain, must five direction about it (v. 1): When all the people had clean passed over Jordan, not even the feeble, that were the hindmost of them, left behind, so that God had done his work completely, and every Israelite got safe into Canaan, then God spoke unto Joshua to provide materials for this monument. It is the pious conjecture of the learned bishop Patrick that Joshua had gone into some place of retirement to return thanks immediately for this wonderful mercy, and then god met him, and spoke thus to him. Or, perhaps, it was by Eleazar the priest that God gave these and other instructions to Joshua; for, though he is not mentioned here, yet, when Joshua was ordained by the imposition of hands to this great trust, god appointed that Eleazar should ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim, and at his word Joshua and all the children of Israel must go out and come in, Num. xxvii. 21. 2. One man out of each tribe, and he a chosen man, must be employed to prepare materials for this monument, that each tribe might have the story told them by one of themselves, and each tribe might contribute something to the glory of God thereby (Jos 4:2; Jos 4:4): Out of ever tribe a man. Not the Levites only, but every Israelite must, in his place, help to make known to the sons of men God’s mighty acts, Ps. cxlv. 12. The two tribes, though seated already in their possession, yet, sharing in the mercy, must lend a hand to the memorial of it. 3. The stones that must be set up for this memorial are ordered to be taken out of the midst of the channel (where, probably, there lay abundance of great stones), and as near as might be from the very place where the priests stood with the ark,Jos 4:3; Jos 4:5. This intended monument deserved to be made of stones curiously cut with the finest and most exquisite art, but these stones out of the bottom of the river were more natural and more apt indications of the miracle. let posterity know by this that Jordan was driven back, for these very stones were then fetched out of it. In the institution of signs, God always chose that which was most proper and significant, rather than that which is pompous or curious; for God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. These twelve men, after they got over Jordan, must be sent back to the place where the ark stood, being permitted to come near it (which others might not) for this service: “Pass over before the ark (v. 5), that is, into the presence of the ark, which now stands in the midst of Jordan, and thence fetch these stones.” 4. The use of these stones is here appointed for a sign (v. 6), a memorial, v. 7. They would give occasion to the children to ask their parents in time to come, How came these stones hither? (probably the land about not being stony), and then the parents would inform them, as they themselves had been informed, that in this place Jordan was divided by the almighty power of God, to give Israel passage into Canaan, as Joshua enlarges on this head, v. 22, c.
II. According to these orders the thing was done. 1. Twelve stones were taken up out of the midst of Jordan, and carried in the sight of the people to the place where they had their head-quarters that night, <i>v. 8. It is probable that the stones they took were as big as they could well carry, and as near as might be of a size and shape. But whether they went away with them immediately to the place, of whether they staid to attend the ark, and kept pace with the solemn procession of that, to grace its triumphant entry in to Canaan, is not certain. By these stones which they were ordered to take up God did, as it were, give them livery and seisin of this good land; it is all their own, let them enter and take possession; therefore what these twelve did the children of Israel are said to do (v. 8), because they were the representatives of their respective tribes. In allusion to this, we may observe that when the Lord Jesus, our Joshua, having overcome the sharpness of death and dried up that Jordan, had opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, he appointed his twelve apostles according to the number of the tribes of Israel, by the memorial of the gospel to transmit the knowledge of this to remote places and future ages. 2. Other twelve stones (probably much larger than the other, for we read not that they were each of them one man’s load) were set up in the midst of Jordan (v. 9), piled up so high in a heap or pillar as that the top of it might be seen above the water when the river was low, or seen in the water when it was clear, or at least the noise of commotion of the water passing over it would be observable, and the bargemen would avoid it, as they do a rock. Some way or other, it is likely, it was discernible, so as to notify the very place where the ark stood, and to serve for a duplicate to the other monument, which was to set up on dry land in Gilgal, for the confirming of its testimony and the preserving of its tradition. The sign being doubled, no doubt the thing was certain.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Joshua – Chapter 4
Prepared Men for a Purpose, vs. 1-9
Now occurs the event which was anticipated in chapter Num 3:12. These twelve men had been chosen in the beginning, but did not have anything yet to do until now. Their business was to be ready and waiting for the time when their services would be needed and they would be called on. So the people are now across the Jordan, on the same side as Jericho, and the Lord repeats the command. These men are representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel. They are to go into the river bed, each to take up a stone on his shoulder from the place where the ark-bearing priests had stood and to precede the ark out of the river, depositing them on the shore. These large stones will compose a large pile, and will be a memorial. Children of future generations will be attracted by the memorial stones and ask their fathers why they are there. They are then to be told how the children of Israel came to the Jordan at flood time, and the Lord stopped the flow of the river so that the Israelites crossed the river on dry ground.
Thus the remarkable event would be well known and the faith of future generations encouraged.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
l. And it came to pass, etc The brief and obscure allusion previously made with regard to the twelve men he now explains more at length. He had said that they were chosen by the order of God, one each from his own tribe; but breaking off his discourse, he had not mentioned for what purpose. He now says, that by command of Joshua (47) they took up twelve stones and placed them in Gilgal, that a well marked memorial might exist among posterity. Moreover, as he only relates what was done after the passage of the people, what is interposed should be interpreted as in the pluperfect tense. (48) It is also very obvious that the copula is used instead of the rational particle. (49) The substance is, that before the priests moved their foot from the middle of the river where they stood, the stones at their feet were taken and placed in Gilgal, to be perpetual witnesses of the miracle, and that Joshua thus faithfully executed what God had commanded. Joshua, therefore, called the men whom he had previously chosen, but not without the command of God, that through it he might have a stronger attestation to his authority. For had Joshua raised up a trophy of that kind of his own accord, the piety which dictated it might indeed have been laudable, but the admonition founded only on the will of man might perhaps have been despised. But now when God himself raises the sign, it is impious to pass it carelessly by. He intimates, accordingly, that it was a monument deserving of the greatest attention when he introduces the children asking, what mean these stones?
(47) “Joshua.” Apparently a misprint for “Jehovah;” as the French says more accurately, “ Le commandment de Dieu;” “The command of God.” — Ed.
(48) French, “ Par un temps passe plus que parfait (comme parlent les Latins;) “ “By a past time more than perfect, (as the Latins speak.)” — Ed.
(49) French, “ Et quant a ce mot Et, on peut aisement juger qu’il se prend pour Car ;” And as to this word And, we may easily judge that it is taken for For. ” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE PRIESTS AND THE PARTING WATERS
Joshua, Chapters 3, 4 and 5.
And, Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the Children of Israel, and lodged there before they Passed over (Jos 3:1).
THE man upon whom responsibility rests seldom sleeps late. He is not conforming his conduct nor limiting his labors to an eight-hour scheme. Such time-observers are never leaders!
The spies had made their report! The time to strike had come! Valuable time was not to be lost. Joshua, the true captain, is astir. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host: And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it (Jos 3:2-3). They were now carrying his commands to the people; and the ark, that marvelous symbol, comes into prominence.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ARK
It was the symbol of Divine leadership. For a full discussion of the Ark, we refer the reader to Volume II, Old Testament, page 259. There we discussed its construction and content, its greater spiritual suggestions, and its service and successes. It was between the cherubim, and above the lid enclosing its sacred contents, that the Shekinah glory appearedthe symbol of Gods actual presence.
By a study of the chapter above referred to, it will be seen that the ark rested in the center of the camp, and in an ordinary march was carried at the middle of the procession. Here it takes the place of the van, for it was to be followed, not attended. Then shall ye go after it.
What man dare go to war without the recognition of Divine leadership? If God go before, who fears to follow?
The space between it and Israel, of two thousand cubits by measure, was essential to the certainty of direction. Had it been in the rear, some other leadership would have been required. Had it been in the center, only the very few, within twenty feet of it, could behold the Divine symbol; but at a distance of two thousand cubits, every Israelite would behold and follow.
God is always careful to make his leadership clear. The man who walks in darkness walks there because he has refused to turn his eyes toward the light, and his feet into the path that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
This distance also suggested sacred respect. The ark contained Aarons rod that buddedthe symbol of the miraculous power of Jehovah; a pot of manna symbol of His willingness and ability to provide sustenance to His own; and the tables of the lawa silent voice, more eloquent than thunders, and one that clearly marks the path of righteousness before mens feet; but, above all, the Shekinah gloryevidence of His own presence.
The Ark was a holy thing. It occupied central place in the Holy of Holies and represented the Divine personality in miracle working power, sustaining grace and in righteous guidance. If Moses warned the people against touching any part of the mountain in which God had appeared, lest His holiness flash judgment against their unremitted sins, how necessary that proper distance be put between an unclean people and a perfectly holy God present with the ark. Reverence becomes even the symbol of the Divine presence, and the Shekinah glory was more than symbol. It was the visible expression of personality.
This ark signified the successes to be expected.
In times past, victory had always attended its presence. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God is with us, who dare confront us? When Joshua encouraged the people, saying, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you, he put his trust in that Divine presence, signified by the Ark, which was to go before them, and before which the waters of the Jordan would part, the walls of Jericho would fall, and the land of Canaan would surrender. Is there any amazement that the waters of the Jordan part at the presence of the Ark? Once before those waters have parted, and the rod that the Ark now contains was stretched out over them. At the sight of it they receded. How much more, now, when to the rod is added the pot of manna, the tables of the Law, and the Shekinah glory? Will not the same presence that rolls back the Jordan at a time when its terrific current raced to the Dead Sea, assure success against Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and the Jebusites? Who can fight against God? What army can live when once He has frowned at the same? What walled city can stand when He has spoken against it, and what people dare oppose Him?
SALVATION THROUGH THE ARK
The ark opened passage to promised possessions. When the feet of the priests that bare the Ark were dipped in the brim of the water, * * the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap. How marvelous! And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan (Jos 3:17).
Jehovah is not equal to little miracles only. A man might have dried up the Jordan at certain seasons, but not in the time of the harvest, when its banks were overflowing. That is Gods opportunity! That is the time when He elects to prove His power. Our God doeth wondrously! He undertakes the impossible and proves that with Him all things are possible. Mountains and rivers and oceans are not barriers across the path of the men who follow God. Faith causes the first to be removed, causes the second to break and bank up, and causes the third to either vanish or yield to a victor.
In that passage was included every Israelite. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan. God doesnt save a little select company alone. Gods provision of salvation is always adequate, and if any fail it will not be Gods fault.
If by one mans offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life (Rom 5:12; Rom 5:18).
No true believer can perish.
That passage was to be properly memorialized.
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
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.
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the Children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the Children of Israel:
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 (Jos 4:2-10).
Twelve men, representatives of the twelve tribes; twelve men, types of the twelve Apostles; twelve, the use of Gods favorite numeral! Twelve stones, each speaking of a tribe, but all bearing their testimony to Gods interest in every descendant of Israel; and twelve stones that would silently speak to generation after generation through thousands of years, and tell the story of Divine deliverance and of redemption in grace.
THE SPIRITUAL INSIGNIA
The twelve men represented the twelve tribes. God never forgets any people or fails in His promises to any. There was a distinct difference in these tribes, and some of them were of more worthy sires than others, but grace was manifested alike to them all. Fortunately for weak men, God is no respecter of persons. If He has any favorites they are those who need Him most. Christ condemned Pharisees, but received sinners. It matters not to what tribe you belong, you are within the plan of grace and the pale of mercy.
The twelve stones signified the complete salvation. They referred not alone to the successful passage of Jordan, but to the circumstance that all were brought over. At other points you will find recorded deaths and various disasters. Not here! People came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. There is not the record of the loss of one. What an occasion for memorial! No wonder Jehovah said,
When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
For 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:
That 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 (Jos 4:21-24).
Circumcision signified their complete separation. Chapter five is almost entirely given to the repetition of this ceremony. The phrase, Circumcise again the Children of Israel the second time, does not refer to a second circumcision for the same individuals. One circumcision sufficed. One baptism suffices. One salvation is all that will ever be needed. But the second time referred to the fact that the first circumcision was not experienced by this new generation, and they must come to God as their fathers came. God has no new way of access to His presence, and will adopt no novel plans in the execution of His program. Neither will He consent that the unwilling be excused, or that His commands be compromised. His salvation is for all the people. His significant ceremonies are also for all. It was when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whale. It was when all had been obedient that the reproach of Egypt was taken away. It was when all had been obedient that they were fed on the old corn of the land and the fruit of the conquered country. It was when all had been obedient that the captain of the host of the Lord appeared and manifested more fully both the Divine presence and Gods perfect holiness.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN, AND ITS MEMORIAL
CRITICAL NOTES.
Jos. 4:2. Take you twelve men] These had been already chosen for the work. The twelfth verse in chap. 3. is not to be regarded as misplaced, but as a brief record of the notice then given to prepare the men to whom reference is again made here. Jos. 4:4 plainly recognises this previous selection.
Jos. 4:3. Where the priests feet stood firm] The stones were to be taken as nearly as possible from this spot, that the monument might be more vivid in its appeal to memory and reflection.
Jos. 4:4. Out of every tribe a man] The unity of the twelve tribes was to be preserved in one memorial. The very river which should afterwards separate the eastern tribes from the western, should furnish from its bed the materials for a memorial which should bind Israel together in the recollection of a mercy common to all its families.
Jos. 4:5. Pass over before the Ark] Probably these twelve selected men had remained behind the Ark, on or towards the eastern bank, during the crossing of the multitude. When the people had all passed over, Joshua commanded these twelve men to take each a stone, and precede the Ark out of the river. As the Ark had been first in entering the river, so it should be last in leaving, that the power from the beginning to the end of the miracle might be manifestly of God. Upon his shoulder] This indicates that each stone was to be as large as one man could conveniently carry.
Jos. 4:9. In the midst of Jordan] Dr. Kennicotts proposal to read FROM the midst, instead of IN the midst, seems to have no support in the best MSS. Joshua appears to have erected this separate memorial in the ordinary channel of the river; and Calvin suggests that it could probably be seen when the swellings of Jordan subsided. If it be asked, Would not the first rush of the waters, which had gathered during the passage of the Israelites, sweep the memorial away? it may be answered that the Divine power, which had for so long kept the waters back, would also be able to guide them past these twelve stones.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jos. 4:1-9
REMEMBRANCE OF GOD THROUGH HIS WORKS
An American gentleman, speaking very recently to a meeting of Christian people assembled in London on the occasion of opening some new buildings as a college for ministerial students, said, I have been, during the last day or two, looking at some of the national monuments in your great metropolis, and almost every one seemed to me like an eloquent page in your conspicuous national history. All current history may be said, in one respect, to be merely a monumental record; it perpetuates only the things which are most prominent. History, in the ordinary meaning of the word, is made up of great events and conspicuous lives. The principal events in the lives of principal men are written down; to these are added the chief events which belong to a nation or people, taken collectively, and the result is called history. Perhaps it is the best thing of the kind for which men can either find time or make room. And yet a mere record of great battles, chief men, and conspicuous parliamentary measures, is in many respects very unsatisfactory. The view which it gives is rather distorted than correct; and just as a drawing of a mansion which only set forth to view the tallest chimneys, the largest windows, and the most prominent features would be a poor picture, so history is poor and misleading if we forget to bring to it a good knowledge of human nature and human life, and to fill in, by the help of imagination, some of the numerous blanks which are necessarily there. We have only a partial history of the Lords mercies: they are new every morning, and where we cannot even count correctly, it is hardly likely that we shall truthfully record. God only asks His people to remember what they can. Comparatively, it is only here and there a monument which He bids His children erect. In the sweet reasonableness of His pity for our weakness, He did but bid His servant write, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
The subject set forth in these verses teaches
I. Mans forgetfulness of God and Gods works. This direction to build a monument, to perpetuate the memory of the miracle, is a recognition of our liability to suffer even the mightiest of the Lords works to pass out of mind.
1. The occasion of our forgetfulness is often found in the pressure of earthly duties. But for the specific command of God, it seems quite possible that the day on which the Jordan was crossed might have been thought too crowded with necessary duties to leave any time to prepare for the erection of a memorial. Think of having to get two millions or more of people over a river divided in this manner. Many of them would be timid and shrinking, many of them were children, who would have to be carried over a rough or muddy path, and up steep banks; and though, saving Caleb and Joshua, no man in the host would be over sixty years of age, yet in so vast a company there must have been many sick and feeble, who would have needed assistance in crossing. Added to all this, there was the enormous task of transporting to the other side the tents and effects of the people, and all their cattle. If, as many are but too ready to believe, there are ever days when religious duties may be neglected because of the pressure of secular claims, this day must have been one of them. It is with both instruction and reproof that this passage should be read by most of us; this day of pressing secular duties is also a day of urgent religious service. How commonly do we meet with people who seem to have no time for perpetuating their memory of Gods mercies; they have no time for prayer, no time for public worship, no time for religion. To be in harmony with itself, a life like that ought to have no time for death. Time and Eternity, said Pulsford, both touch me, for I am both. Time assaults me for the dust which I have, and insists that I give back to the dust every atom which I have derived therefrom. Eternity appeals to me for the spirit which I have. Owing to these two claimants, the partnership will soon have to be dissolved between my soul and body, that Earth may take its own, and Eternity its own. No man, be he ever so busy, can postpone for a single day the claims of eternity. Would it not be wise to make room for the claims of religion while it is called to-day? This pressure of business makes the pressure of religious need still more urgent, not less. The very fact that life is so fast, tends to blot out from the mind our memory of God and His merciful works. It is said that Luther, the hard-worked reformer, complained that the duties of life pressed him so heavily that he could not perform them without having three or four hours in each day set apart for prayer. Havelock, the busy soldier, is said to have risen every morning two hours before commencing his military duties, that he might spend them in communion with his God.
2. The real cause of our forgetfulness of God is ever IN THE HEART. The natural powers of our memory are strong enough to retain good recollection of things which we love. Cardinal Mezzofanti, who was the son of a carpenter at Bologna, and who died less than thirty years since, is said to have acquired his first knowledge of languages by listening to scraps of Latin and Greek, heard through the open casement of a schoolroom window, near which he often worked. To many of the boys within, the tasks were no doubt irksome enough; but the stolen waters were sweet to the poor lad who could not pay for such learning. He went on acquiring knowledge from the very love of it, till at the age of seventy he could converse in upwards of fifty languages, besides possessing some acquaintance with at least twenty more. If men only loved God as they love some earthly objects and pursuits, they would need few stone memorials to keep Him or His works in mind. Bad memory is usually owing to bad interest and poor attention. The heart needs setting right, and then the mind would not often be wrong.
3. The forgetfulness of Gods merciful works is a sure indication that we have forgotten God. A man may repeat the Apostles Creed week by week, or join with devout exterior in the worship of the Free Churches; but if he forgets Gods mercies, no weekly public service, let him engage in it as heartily as he may, is sufficient to contradict the six days of testimony that he has forgotten God.
II. Gods gracious interest in mans remembrance of His works.
1. The Scriptures are full of Divine complaints and solicitations on this matter of human forgetfulness. God speaks as if mans ingratitude wounded and pained Him. How pathetic are some of the words in which the Lord reminds men of their neglect. If an ungrateful heart were not invariably so hard, men might be moved to tears to read thoughtfully, as from the lips of Him who made heaven and earth, such words as those spoken through HoseaIsrael hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; or, She went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. How humanly they read, and how real the pain of them seems; how they seem to tell of a heart balanced and poised between the dignity that feels so worthy of better regard that it may justly punish, and the love which is so deep and tender that it cannot forsake. A keen observer of human nature said
How sharper than a serpents tooth it is
To have a thankless child.
We read some of these complaints from the Divine lips; and so real is the parental relation in which God stands to His people, that they come to us in all the tenderness and pain and pathos which pervade a natural cry from the wounded heart of an earthly father. Let us seek to possess an observant eye to the goodness of the Lord, and to cultivate a spirit of praise for His manifold mercies.
Some murmur when their sky is clear,
And wholly brought to view,
If one small speck of dark appear
In their great heaven of blue;
And some with thankful love are filled,
If but one streak of light,
One ray of Gods good mercy gild
The darkness of their night.
In palaces are hearts that ask,
In discontent and pride,
Why life is such a dreary task,
And all good things denied;
And hearts in poorest huts admire
How Love has, in their aid,
With care that never seems to tire,
Such rich provision made.Trench.
2. Although our remembrance can be but a small thing to God, He well knows that it is everything to us. However base our ingratitude may appear in His sight, our praise could be but a few strains the less in the mighty song of the universe. It is because of Gods love to us, and of His knowledge that our forgetfulness of His works must leave us to destruction, that He so graciously manifests this interest in our thankfulness.
3. He knows that His works are our only sufficient interpretation of Himself. Even Jesus Christ, who has been seen in the flesh, needs His mighty and merciful works to make Him known to men. He went about doing good, speaking gracious words, doing benevolent miracles, and thus we learn of Him who must otherwise be an abstraction. We want the cradle, and the life, and the cross, to expound the Saviour. So he who never reads Gods works, and above all His unspeakable gift of Jesus, can never have anything more for his religion than a superstition, and nothing more as an object of worship than a theological abstraction called Deity.
III. The condescension in which God graciously meets men in this infirmity of their forgetfulness.
1. He allows them to help their memory through things which are visible. A man ought to be able to remember his mother without a monument; much more should he remember Him who said, Can a woman forget? etc. Yet God deigns to say, Put up the stones, and try and keep Me and My mercy in mind by the help of these.
2. He points out such helps to memory as are most suitable. (a) The stones were to be taken from the very spot where the priests had stood. God condescends not only to allow His people a monument; they may have one so vivid, that, as far as possible, it shall recall the whole scene. (b) The twelve stones were to be taken out of the river, and carried to Gilgal, by one man from each tribe. The tribes would soon be divided by the river. It only wants something to separate men, and forthwith they grow clannish. A highway, a hedge, an idea, a dozen sticks, any small line, is often enough to divert human feeling into channels, and make the quarrelsome take sides. By this selection of a man from each tribe, God virtually says, I will not only have your remembrance vivid, but I will have the praise of all Israel to be as the song of one man. Take, from the very river that will soon separate you, the materials for a memorial of thankfulness in which all your hearts may be knit together, and knit together in Me.
3. These material helps, given to His early people, were given by God to teach a principle and to cultivate a habit. It was not merely now and then, when some mighty work was wrought on their behalf, that they were to pile up a few stones and occasionally go and inspect them, that this command was given. By this God would teach all men to definitely mark heavenly mercies, and cultivate the habit of thanksgiving for all His manifest help. The lesson was written also for our, admonition. Some people contemn the habit of having special services which mark the lapse of time. Watch-night services, special appeals on the occasion of a new year, and even the worship of the Lords day, have provoked remarks like the following:These things are all very well; but men ought to be religious and devout all the year round, and all the week through. It is enough to answer, The man who finds no special appeal made to his heart by peculiar seasons like these, is seldom very devout at any period. It is natural, and the Divine teaching supports our human feeling, when we give emphasis to our praise where God has set special marks to His mercy. The conspicuous events of social life should find us setting up memorials in our hearts. Anniversaries of deaths, marriages, births, of business prosperity or failure, may well call for their corresponding stress of thought and worship in our religious life. Anniversaries of spiritual experiences should, above all, be times of memorial. He who has no special prayers and special songs will probably have few ordinary ones which are useful to himself or acceptable to God. He who spread the table of His supper for our help, and said, Do this in remembrance of Me, will love to see us finding in this memorial of the greatest work of God for man the devout recognition of the principle that all peculiar mercies demand our special praise.
TEACHING THE CHILDREN.Jos. 4:6-7
In the formation of the liberated Hebrews into a nation, most significant prominence is given, from the very beginning, to the religious education of their children. The godly nation was to be made by teaching godliness to its sons and daughters The fathers proved rebellious, and were left to die in the wilderness; the hope of Israel was in its children, and it was left for them to enter into the inheritance, and to commence the national life in its more consolidated form. Divine care was shewn concerning the children from the first. Even before the people left Egypt, the very rite which commemorated the exodus was pointed and emphasised in the direction of the children. The ordinance of the Passover was to be perpetual, that when the children should ask their parents, What mean ye by this service? they might be taught to fear, and love, and praise, and trust the God of their fathers deliverance. The sojourn in the desert is marked by repeated injunctions concerning the pious training of the young. The words of the Lord were to be taught to the children diligently, to be written even on the doorposts of the houses, and on the gates (Deu. 11:18-21); and in a great septennial gathering in the year of release, at the feast of tabernacles, the words of the law were to be read and expounded, that any who had been neglected in servitude, that the children who had not known anything, and all the people, might learn to fear the Lord. In the miracle which makes a way through Jordan for entering into the long-deferred possession, equal stress is laid on teaching the children: as in the exodus, so here, the teaching of the young is the first thing for which provision is made. Gods hope of the nation is seen taking shape and form through hope in the families, and His hope in the families through religious training in childhood. Perhaps these early histories, in this aspect, ought to give more alarm to people who have grown up into manhood and womanhood without God in the world, than any other part of the Scriptures. Men and women sin away half or three parts of a lifetime, and contemplate repenting before they get too old, and before they die. Taking these urgent injunctions, which are written as in capital letters on the very face of the miracles which lead out of bondage and into Canaan, and reading them in the light of the overthrow of the fathers in the wilderness, it seems as though even God were half hopeless of genuine piety in those who grow well into maturity without the knowledge and fear and love of Himself.
Dealing rather with modern necessities than with ancient details, we may consider the subject of parental training in two principal aspects:
I. Some mistakes which we are apt to make.
1. Perhaps we are too ready to assume, that the children of Christian parents will become Christians. Saved ourselves, it becomes easy, in the bustle of daily life, almost to take it for granted that our children will be saved also. True, we Christian parents teach our children; we are not Antinomians, and we believe that if they are to be saved we must train them. True, we pray for our children; it is right and it is pleasant to remember before the Lord these who are so dear to us. But is this real, or do we suffer it to become perfunctory? Do we realize that our children may be lost? We believe that some children grow up to be bad men and godless women, and that many of these die out of Christ, and perish. Our Christian convictions and our whole Christian work are grounded upon this. Then it ought not to be thought sensational to ask, Have we realized that our dear children may thus perish? Have we carried our awful convictions about the children of other people to the case of our own dear boy or beloved girl? To what holy patience and perseverance and effort and prayer would such a realization lead. What is meant by those dark pictures in the Bible about the children of godly parents? What are we to gather from the histories which tell us of the wickedness of the children of Eli, of Samuel, of David, of Hezekiah? What are we to learn from these? Many have looked on them as a ground for serious discouragement, and yet that cannot be the reason why they are written down for our reading. Matthew Henry says of the two thieves at the crucifixion, One was saved, that no man might despair; the other was lost, that none might presume. Should we not also read, The children of some godly parents are saved, that no Christian father or mother may despair; the children of some of the best O.T. saints seem lost, that no one may take it for granted that his children will be saved. Piety does not run in the blood, nor is grace always hereditary.
2. Many make the mistake of supposing that a child must grow up into maturity before its conversion will probably take place. The possibility of early conversion is generally admitted; as a matter of fact, many parents do not expect it in their own children while they are children. Some seem to take it for granted that there will most likely be a previous course of open connection with the world, that presently conversion will come with a kind of manifest jerk, and that then it will probably be genuine. A most unhealthy spirit seems in recent years to have grown up among some of the most earnest evangelical workers, in respect to the prominence given to cases of conversion after a long course of sin. It would be unfair, as some have rather recklessly asserted, to say that children have been received into the Church with suspicion; it is only too true that people have got to behave as if it were comparatively a small thing to be saved young, and something for endless parade when a bad man of forty or fifty years of age is brought to the Saviour. It is an occasion for joy, and great joy, when such as the latter are led to Christ; it cannot but be a matter for sorrow, when they are almost taught to feel as if there were some special merit in not having become Christians before, and when they are supposed to be authorities as to what is the proper measure of Christian zeal and holiness in proportion to the wickedness of their own previous lives. Instead of such men being helped to know that it is a thing for humiliation and a cause for modesty that they have served sin so long and so deeply, they are led to think that preaching to other people, and teaching even Christians whose lives have been a holy training, is the natural outcome and prerogative of their previous and long-continued wickedness. The way in which converted prizefighters, or converted colliers, or converted chimney-sweeps have been handed round, as if they were a kind of specially burnished jewel worthy of the profound attention of the Christian public, has, during late years, been a fit cause for considerable shame. To say nothing of the comparative neglect which Christian children and youths must have sometimes been made to feel, or of the premium tacitly put on a previous life of wickedness, the serious harm done to these people themselves ought to have led Christian men to keep them more decently in the background. The temptations given to vanity and self-esteem, in some cases, might well have been fatal even to a trained Christian life; how could it be expected that such feeble uprightness could endure so severe a strain in the direction of the old and chronic crookedness? What wonder if the sow that was washed has turned again to her wallowing in the mire, when men in authority have made the heat of temptation unbearable even to acclimatised feeling and habit, and then have driven some newly cleansed one straight in the direction of the mud?
3. There is a temptation to make the teaching of children interesting rather than substantial. Too interesting it never can be made, so long as love of the pleasant and the cheerful does not impair the quality of the truth imparted. Has it been wise to give up the old methods of catechisms, and learning verses and hymns? Are not many trusting more to impressions, scratched lightly in with the point of an anecdote or picture, rather than to that deeper graving in of truth on the mind which used to be customary? The story of the cross and of the Saviours love should be cut deeply into the memory, as well as be made pleasant to the heart for the time in which it is being heard. Impressions are very fleeting, and most of us soon forget them, but well-learned words come up even in after years, and repeat the impressions again.
II. Some encouragements which we are tempted to forget.
1. The work has Gods command. No Israelite had any need to fear that he would be doing wrong in an earnest endeavour to lead his children to God. The memorial was for the teaching of all the people and all their children. We need none of us feel that we are presuming, in any efforts which we may make to lead our children to the Saviour. No man is made to feel that God would not welcome his children also. On this point we cannot apply the commands of Scripture to the wrong family. We cannot get the wrong child in any family. Whatever truth there may be in election, we never have to read, Train up a child in the way he should go, and if he happen to be one of the elect, he shall not depart from it. With such encouragement, every one may and should bring up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. A lady, it is said, once told Archbishop Sharpe that she would not communicate religious instruction to her children until they had grown to years of discretion; she received an answer from the prelate no less true than blunt, as he replied, Madam, if you do not teach them, the devil will.
2. The work to which every parent is thus commanded is full of promise. It has the promise of nature. Most training, when wisely and perseveringly pursued, does succeed. The obedient vine and tree, which yield to the gardener; the dog, who learns from his shepherd; the horse and the ox, that learn to obey their trainers; all these preach encouragement. If the Christian training of children be more difficult, it has, to meet that, the higher stimulus of the promise of God. God co-operates with the pious parent. This memorial was a Divine suggestion, and carried in itself the promise to every pious Jew that he should be a worker together with God. The promises are unto us and to ours also, if we are Christian parents; and if we have not that necessary qualification, our first duty is to seek Christ for ourselves. Do we go to this work, feeling as we do it that God works with us?
3. The work has an eternal and glorious reward To the faithful parent it would not be right to say that it may have such a reward; surely it must have. We can hardly think of a holy and persevering labour of faith for our own children as fruitless at last. It cannot be that a life of faith and prayer and wise labour shall ever fail here. But Christian parents may have to wait long; it may be that they will not even live to see their children brought to Christ. If we can be patient anywhere, surely we may be for our childrens salvation. It is said that when Kepler, the immortal astronomer of Wurtemburg, who discovered the laws of the motions of the planets, lay dying, he was asked by a friend whether he did not suffer cruelly to be obliged to depart without seeing his discoveries appreciated. He answered, My friend, God has waited five thousand years till one of His creatures discovered the admirable laws which He has given to the stars; why should I, then, not wait till justice is done to me? We might all well labour on in the beautiful spirit of that reply. How long, in many cases, does God patiently wait for the salvation of the parents themselves; remembering that, they may well wait before Him for their children. But to earnest prayer, wise training, and holy faith, the reward cannot but come eventually. Let us lead our children to Christ. Though it may not be before, yet when we are dead and gone, when the coffin and the grave contain all that is left of us to earth, when the clods of the valley cover our heads, and years of fled time have in many minds obliterated our memory, still shall our children remember that they once had Christian and then have glorified parents. Thoughts of a holy life and earnest prayers will follow them, even in the way of sin; and when the sacred beacon of our past rises, like another star of the East, to guide them to Him who was born in Bethlehem, that memory of Christian father and godly mother will be for ever a shrined and holy thing in our childrens hearts. It will go with them in their own Christian life, recollected as their noblest birthright, and cherished as a princely heritage. With our own Cowper, they may think of us and sing
My boast is not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth;
But higher far my proud pretensions rise,
The son of parents passed into the skies.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos. 4:1-2. The command of chap. Jos. 3:12 is reported in that place, because it was given by Joshua at that time. The election of twelve men by the people would have been impossible whilst they were crossing, though, after they were chosen, Joshua could easily explain to them, whilst the rest were passing over, what they were to do. The twelve men were elected by the people, that they might act as their representatives, and be witnesses of the miracles which were about to be wrought at their passage through the river.Keil.
BEARING WITNESS TO THE WORKS OF THE LORD
I. Gods witnesses are carefully prepared beforehand. Memorials of Gods wonderful works and great mercies had for some time been contemplated. A command in relation to them had been given by Moses (cf. Deu. 27:2). This commandment was partially obeyed on this very day of the passage, and fully at Mount Ebal (chap. Jos. 8:30-32). The men who were to prepare for this particular memorial at Gilgal had been already selected. They were to be stationed close to the spot where the waters were divided; and while the multitude hasted and passed over, they could stand during the whole time and watch this marvellous work, reporting it afterwards each man to his own tribe. God graciously prepares the testimony of those things which He would have most surely believed among us. For centuries before He came, the prophets bare witness unto Christ. Jesus Himself told His disciples of things to come, that when these came to pass they might believe. Peter speaks to those in the house of Cornelius of witnesses chosen before of God, who did eat and drink with Christ after He rose from the dead. Elsewhere the same apostle says, We were eye-witnesses of His majesty. In the testimony of the Lords marvellous works and mercies, nothing is left to accident.
II. Gods witnesses are so prepared as to merit the confidence of men. In this case they were chosen by the people from among themselves. They were not priests or Levites, who might afterwards be suspected, from motives of interest, of having coloured the report to keep up the good name of the Ark.
1. The witnesses to the truth of the Scriptures demand our confidence. Many of them were men who sacrificed much for the truths sake. Who can venture to cast suspicion on such men as Moses, who forsook Egypt; or Jeremiah, whose life was one long persecution; or Elijah, who seemed alone in his fidelity, and whose grief in the desert is told with such evident truthfulness? What a life of testimony, ever bearing witness of itself while testifying of the Saviour, is the life of Paul! Think of his self-sacrifice, of his persecutions, of his boldness, his manifest integrity, his exemplary life, and of the unmeditated coincidences of his letters as shewn in Paleys Hor Paulin.
2. The witnesses to the truth since the days of the apostles have been also eminently worthy of the faith of men. (a) Many Christians have been men of holy and self-denying lives; men who have done great services or given much in sacrifice for their fellows; men whose death has been a confirmation of their own previous testimony. (b) There is the witness given by poetry, painting, music, and literature contributed by many who have made no profession of attachment to the gospel. The noblest inspirations of men have been drawn from the Bible, and have thus borne testimony at least to its elevated character and holy power. (c) There is the witness of the enemies of the gospel. Literature abounds with concessions and expressions of admiration in which avowed unbelievers have borne their witness to Christ and His word. Few will suspect these of any interested motives. (d) There is the witness of Christian societies and Christian work. When men look at the fruits which the tree of truth has ever borne, and is still bearing, they read testimony which surely is worthy of some confidence: missionary societies and schools; hospitals and poor laws, both of which sprang from the Church.
III. Gods witnesses are so placed that they can speak with authority. These men were near to the Ark, and to the scene of the miracle. They could tell what they saw with the claim that belonged to men who had possessed good opportunities for information. The apostles repeatedly insisted on their qualifications in similar respects. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes. declare we unto you, said John. Think of the power in which these men were qualified to speak, when they stood up to bear witness, beginning at Jerusalem amongst the very men who could best sift their evidence, and whose malice and desire to vindicate themselves would lead them to deny anything which could be denied. Let us learn that no word of God is to be received lightly. Dr. Bushnell says, A suit upon a note at hand had long been pending in one of the courts of our commonwealth, payment of which was resisted on the ground that it was and must be a forgery, no such note having ever been given. But the difficulty in the trial was to make out any conclusive evidence of what the defending party knew to be the truth. His counsel was, in fact, despairing utterly of success; but it happened that just as he was about closing his plea, having the note in his hand, and bringing it up so that the light struck through, his eye caught the glimpse of a mark in the paper. He stopped, held it up deliberately to the light, and behold, the name, in water-mark, of a company that had begun the manufacture of paper after the date of the instrument! Here was evidence without going far to seek it; evidence enough to turn the plaintiff forthwith into a felon, and consign him, as it did, to a felons punishment. The truth of Gods word has also the witness in itself; although its water-mark is one, not which disproves, but which strikingly confirms, its own utterances. This man of our counsel has the aspect of truth in every feature, and may well be felt to speak with indisputable authority.
IV. Those who bear witness for God now should also seek to make their testimony unimpeachable. There is still room for holy and disinterested and self-sacrificing lives. These will impress most men more than argument, and more than eloquence. To all Christians the word is spoken still, Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord.
Jos. 4:1, first clause. THE COMPLETENESS AND DELIBERATENESS OF GODS WORKS.
I. The effectual working of Divine power. All the people were clean passed over Jordan. Not one of the mighty host whose inheritance lay on the other side of the river was left behind.
1. Divine power was sufficient to cover all human weakness. Some of the people would be infirm, some infants, some sick and diseased; all passed over nevertheless. So in our passage to the inheritance above, Gods power not only meets the case of the spiritually strong, it equally covers the need of those who are spiritually feeble. The gospel of our JOSHUA, also, is a gospel for the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind. When Moses stood before Pharaoh previous to the exodus, Pharaoh spoke as if he had made a great concession when he said, Let your little ones also go with you. Moses answered him, Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind. Brave words were those, for one man to dauntlessly speak in the face of a despot, and they were as beautiful in their significance as they were bold in their spirit. Nothing of the Lords was to be left in the land of the idolater. The power of God should be found sufficient to bring out every one of the cattle also.
2. Divine power was sufficient to cover all difficulties and obstacles. God not only parted the waters, but held them parted till all the people were clean passed over. Not less the effectual working of His power proves sufficient for all obstacles in the path of His children now.
II. The absolute sufficiency of Divine mercy. All passed clean over. The fathers had died in the wilderness, for mercy must punish sin, lest all suffer destruction. Justice is more passive than active in the matter of punishment for transgression; it is the attribute which proclaims that punishment is right and due. It is Mercy that applies punishment. It is Jesus Christ with tears in His eyes who says over Jerusalem, The days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee. So, for the sake of the living, Mercy had sorrowfully smitten and buried the fathers in the wilderness. But the children were completely forgiven. They, too, had sinned deeply and long. The plains of Moab were close by; the people had grievously erred there, but Divine mercy is equal to the occasion, and it is from those very plains of Moab that the people pass over. Every one enters in; not only Phinehas and Joshua and Caleb, but the forgiven sinners also. How complete and beautiful is the pardon of the Lord! No man may tamper with sin, for even Mercy stands weeping by the graves of the dead which her own hands have slain; all the more glorious is it to see that where Mercy once forgives she has no memory whatever of the past. While the people clean pass over, she utters not a single upbraiding to any one of them all.
Kind hearts are here, yet would the tenderest one
Have limits to its mercy; God has none;
But mans forgiveness may be true and sweet,
When yet he stoops to give it: more complete
Is love that lays forgiveness at thy feet,
And pleads with thee to raise it. Only heaven
Means crowned, not vanquished, when it says, Forgiven.
A. A. Proctor.
III. The majestic deliberateness of Divine methods. Four hundred and seventy years before God made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land. At the same time the four centuries which were previously to elapse were predicted as years to be spent in Egypt, many of which were to be years of bondage and affliction. At the end of four hundred and thirty years, not a day had been lost in the Divine count of time (cf. Exo. 12:40-41; Gal. 3:17). Then the Israelites sin in the desert, and calmly and patiently God takes forty more years to blot out the evil of this transgression. Slowly and painfully, and often solemnly, these days of the wilderness go by, God working miracles, shewing mercy, and bearing His people all the way. Here at the end of the timefour days before the end, for His mercy loves to discount the bill of our sufferingGod divides the river, and leads the people into the land. How calm, how deliberate, how patient, how stately, is the slow, sure march of God in this working for His peoples good!
1. The natural processes in the cure of human sinfulness and weakness are slower than men usually estimate, and God does not hurry them. It took four thousand years for fallen man to become ready for the cross; then, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. It took over thirty years for the Saviour, in His way from Bethlehem to Calvary, to leave the influences and words and works necessary for the salvation of men; at the end of this period He prays, saying, Father, the hour is come. So the time from the cross to Pentecost, from Pentecost to the last words of the solitary man of Patmos, ere he sits down to write the gospel which closes Divine revelation, seems long. Gods way has no hasty miles.
2. The slowness of Gods method is never for lack of pity and mercy. Scripture calls the Divine waiting long-suffering, a word which means not simply long patience, but also long pain. So we read of this waiting in the desert, Forty years long was I grieved, etc. The bearing of God, while He waits, shews that His deliberateness and slowness are never for lack of mercy. Think of the manna falling in the wilderness on the days of Israels great sins! Manna on the morning of Korans rebellion; manna and the brazen serpent in one day; manna from heaven and a calf for a god on earth; think of it, and see how Gods slow methods and great mercies go on together!
The magnitude of the miracle.This seems to us a more signal miracle than the passage of the Red Sea; and it appears as if expressly framed, not only to effect its own objects, but to relieve the other from all naturalistic interpretations. In connection with the Red Sea passage, we hear travellers and scholars talk learnedly about east winds and tides and shallows, so that, whether intentionally or not, the fact, as a demonstration of Divine power, is explained away or attenuated. But nothing of this is possible in the case of the passage of the Jordan. The fact must be taken as it stands. It was a miracle, or it was nothing. There has not been, and there cannot be, any explanation of it on natural grounds. And if, therefore, men are obliged to admit this, it becomes scarcely worth their while to tamper with the Red Sea miracleunless they would deny the authority of the narrative altogether. [Kitto.]
Jos. 4:3-5. OBJECTIVE TEACHING.
I. We see God developing the spirit of enquiry. The Lord loves to set His children problems. This is not to perplex them, but to teach them. Men everywhere may hear Him saying, SEEK, and ye shall find. His way is to stand up before men strange objects, and so to set them asking questions.
1. God takes this way in Nature. We are to lift up our eyes on high, and reverently to enquire, What meanest Thou by these stars? Who hath created these things? In the depths below, where He putteth forth His hand upon the rock, marking it here with the footprints of extinct animals, there with the rain-drift, and piling it elsewhere in strange formations of strata, we are to behold that which shall prompt our devout question, What meanest Thou by these stones? There is no thunder in which we may not hear the voice of the Lord; no lightning of which we may not enquire concerning the laws of electricity, and thus find out in a deeper sense how His brightness is as the light. Nature is full of wonders; strange forms stand up in all her fields to provoke the spirit of investigation within us.
2. It is the same in providence. The wicked prosper, and the righteous fail; and this has set men asking questions ever since the days when David wrote the thirty-seventh Psalm, and he or some one else the seventy-third, not to speak of earlier bewilderment. Why do babies die? Why do our boys and girls just get our whole being entwined around their own, and then suddenly pass from us? Broken-hearted fathers and mothers, for centuries, have been walking into grave-yards, looking at little graves and broken columns, and have cried out in anguish, What meanest Thou by THESE stones?
Only a babys grave,
A foot or two at the most
Of star-daisied sod.
Yet methinks that God
Knows what that little grave cost.
So intense have been the questions; so soft and trustful, as the case has had to be referred back to Him, have been at least some of the answers. Sudden sickness or calamity blasts the hopes of a life which henceforth drags on in pain; appalling accidents slay their thousands, and fierce diseases their ten thousands, and men and women who are left bow their heads low, hardly lifting them for a time, saving in the energy that asks with such terrible earnestness, Why is this? Wherefore am I dealt with thus?
3. It is so hardly less in the Scriptures. The hardened heart of Pharaoh here, slaughtered Canaanites there; the origin of evil, the mysteries of the fall; federal responsibilities and privileges; sovereignty over, and accountability in, the will; vicarious burdens, pain, and death; atonement, its effect; punishment, its duration; immortality, its basis and conditions: what numberless stones there are, standing up, too, in such strange forms! What can these all mean? They mean enquiry, investigation, reverent curiosity. SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES; that is what they have said to thousands; thousands have obeyed, wondered still more, adored, trusted, loved, and been content presently to put for their whole case, Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Anything is better than stagnant contentment with our own ignorance, which corrupts so fast into deadly pride, unless there are problems from which we have now and then humbly to turn away, saying, Thy judgments are a great deep! This is what so many of the stones mean.
II. We see God cultivating and directing the powers of memory.
1. The powers of memory in many instances have been not a little remarkable. It is said that Themistocles could call by their names each one of the twenty thousand citizens of Athens. Cyrus is reported to have been able to name every soldier in his army. Ben Jonson tells us that he could repeat all that he had ever written, and whole books that he had read. Still more remarkable instances are on well-authenticated record. Memory was as much given to be trained as any other faculty.
2. Memory, however, may be abused, and so God directs it to the highest objects. Men are to remember His marvellous works and His gracious goodness.
3. In teaching us to remember His works, God uses the natural rather than the ornate. Stones from the rivers bed, where the feet of the priests stood firm, would tell the story better than the most artistic and elaborate monument. So, as M. Henry suggests, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to keep His name and works before men to this day.
III. We see God, through well-directed remembrances, provoking praise to Himself, and care for the piety of men in the future. The Israelites for years to come, their children, and all who saw the stones, were to learn to fear and worship God. Memory was to provoke praise, and lead to interest in the piety of others.
Jos. 4:6-7. TAUGHT OF THE LORD.
I. Gods method of teaching children He stimulates enquiry. He would have the fathers set their children asking questions. This is the Divine plan in the service of the passover. The same idea pervades such passages as Deu. 6:8-9. This method has the advantage of beginning with the heart. When a desire to know is created, when curiosity is excited and interest is stirred, teaching is comparatively easy. True tact begins by laying siege to the heart; let that be taken, and forthwith the mind readily yields. Our human methods of teaching, although much improved during the last generation, are too often awkward and unnatural. Impress a child very formally and solemnly that you propose to give him some religious instruction, and you repel him by the very manner of your approach. The light and cheerful heart of a child shuts itself up before a solemn face, a didactic bearing, and under the opening sentences of a set lecture, as a sensitive plant closes before the coming of a cold wind or the beginnings of night. Satan teaches his pupils by beginning with the heart; he fascinates men through the medium of the senses, sets the heart aglow with wicked longings, and the biggest dullard can soon master the hardest ways of sin alter that. Heaven and hell alike shew us that the way to learning is through loving. He whose interest is deeply excited is already far advanced towards the attainment of the lesson which the careless pupil thinks it very tiresome to have to begin.
II. The subjects which God selects for the teaching of children.
1. God does not urge upon men the teaching of things which are secular. This is not because secular things are unimportant. All through the Scriptures, and not least in the Pentateuch, the importance of knowing civil and social duties is fully recognised. But men do not so much need urging to teach their children the things of this life.
2. Divine wisdom, therefore, lays stress on spiritual teaching. It is this which is of supreme importance, it is this which parents would most readily neglect; therefore, whenever the subject of teaching children is mentioned, God says, Teach them of Me, teach them of My works, teach them My words.
III. The ends which, through such teaching, God would secure.
1. He would lay deep the foundations of the national welfare. These should rest in nothing less than the Lord Himself. So far is the Bible removed from any sympathy with the modern cry against political dissenters and political Christians, that it shews us God Himself most carefully connecting the political welfare of His people with their religious training. Worldly and wicked men may think it highly desirable to have all government in their own hands; it is so much more comfortable than to be subject to the constraints of piety. Besides, it is easier for such men to feel religious when they control the Church, than when society is held in check by men of evident godliness. Some good but weak-minded Christian people think that it conduces to piety for all who love God to let politics alone, and thus leave all government, and elections to all places of authority, in the hands of the enemies of the cross of Christ. This is not the manner of God with His model nation. Divine wisdom was wont to teach that personal holiness was a necessary qualification for civil authority; the holiest men were placed highest in power, and their sins were treated as so much personal unfitness for the control of others. The children of every household were to be trained in the fear of the Lord; all the nation was to be pious. Had this direction been faithfully followed, and all Israel loved God, no one thinks that it would have been necessary to have spared a few wicked Canaanites for the government of the people, in order to keep the piety of the nation uncontaminated by politics. God would have all the people pious, for thus only could their highest national welfare be secured.
2. This teaching was to aim not less at the personal welfare of each citizen. (a) God would have them correct the mass by attending to the units. (b) God would have each person to feel himself a subject of Divine care and love.
3. Most of all, this religious teaching was meant to secure spiritual life and eternal salvation. Civilization would be nothing, social and national greatness nothing, without this. All the ways of God with men are meant to lead upward to Himself. He who afterwards said through Hosea, I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms, never yet taught men a single step which was not meant to lead to the throne of God and eternal life, and which was not a part of the way there.
Parents should relate to their children, and hold before them, not their own vile deeds, but Gods merciful deeds (Exo. 10:1-2; Deu. 6:20).
That is the right application of Gods marvellous and beneficent acts, when we learn from them truly to know, fear, and love Him (Joh. 2:11). [Starke.]
These stones were erected into a memorial to keep the generations in remembrance that the waters were cut off before the Ark of the covenant of the Lord. How readily we forget, in our afflictions, that the covenant is our only security. Like Canute and his courtiers, we too endeavour, by methods of our own, to keep back the tides which flow towards us. Happy is he who at such a time is enough in the secret of the Lord to hear Him whisper, When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
Those who have been delivered from suffering and danger, through the covenant mercy of the Lord, should not fail to erect memorials of praise, which may serve to teach and remind others of the only means by which the waters of affliction can be effectually cut off.
Jos. 4:8. VICARIOUS SERVICE AND HONOUR
I. Our labour for Gods people is representative labour. We work not only for others, but in place and instead of others. One man was chosen from each tribe to bear these stones from Jordan to Gilgal, and the work is spoken of as that of the children of Israel.
1. There is not room for all Christians to be doing the same thing, nor are there men to spare. If the Church were to attempt it, the industries of life would be crowded at some points, while at others they would be utterly forsaken. And the desolation of the forsaken places would soon be fatal to the overwrought industry of the crowded places, even if the crowds themselves were not fatal to the success of the few works in which everybody felt it his duty to engage. Christian men cannot all preach; there is not room, nor time, nor can more than a few be spared for the work. For the same reasons, all cannot be Sunday-school teachers or missionaries. So some are chosen out of our families and congregations to serve for all. But those who go down into the deep waters for service are there for their brethren, who elsewhere are engaged in holding the ropes which keep the direct workers from sinking. These twelve men from the tribes needed others, it may be, to help their wives, and little children, and aged relatives, or their sick, or some weak ones in the host for whom they should have cared, across the river. Thus the division of labour, urged so forcibly by Adam Smith, must ever be recognised, if we are to realize as we ought the proper wealth of Churches. Each worker in a prominent position should say, I am here at this post for all my brethren; I represent them, and I must carry as for them, as well as for myself, as big a stone as I can, so that my tribe, my church, my school, my town my family, may be well represented in this memorial of work for the Lord, which we are trying to build to the honour of His name, and for the help of the generations now and to come. Each worker in a lowly position may feel, on the other hand, I am here that my brother may be yonder; and all the time I am freeing his hands to bear the actual burden of memorial, I am working in his work, which but for me and others like me he could not labour in at all.
2. All are not fitted to do the same thing. Lifes discipline tries us and selects us, choosing one man for this part of the common service, and another for that. The tender and gentle-spirited man may not be fit for carrying large stones, but he may care for the children and encourage the weak excellently. The brawny muscular man may do well for the stones, but be poor and out of place in stimulating those who lack faith, or in sympathising with such as need patience and gentleness. Both workers are wanted, and one may be as valuable as the other.
II. The results of work for God are representative results. If Christian men thus labour vicariously and for one common object, it follows that the fruits of labour belong to them all.
1. No Christian worker whose labours seem much blessed should claim preeminence in usefulness over his equally laborious and earnest brother. No doubt some are more useful than others, but they are often poor judges, and especially so if they think their superior usefulness very self-evident. After all, we can seldom tell who is most successful in the process of bringing souls to the Saviour. Some conversions are claimed by many different workers, each one, instrumentally, regarding the work as his own. There are other cases in which the new-born believer acknowledges some one Christian worker as the means of leading him to the Saviour, whereas, perhaps, there have been fifty or a hundred other workers, each of whom has done as much, and it may be some of them far more than the last. If a chain in the time of storm were to hold a ship from going on the rocks, would it be meet for the link next to the vessel, supposing it sentient and vocal, to exult over its brother links, and cry, I saved the ship, and its two hundred passengers owe their lives to me; not a link had hold of the vessel but myself? Why, every link all down the chain would have done as much as the links nearest to the ship. The same principle is often not less true in the salvation of men.
2. No conscientious worker should depreciate his service, and discourage himself, because he seems to be less successful than others. If he be working zealously and faithfully, perhaps he merely stands farther from the results. Spring does not get depressed, and say, I was utterly unsuccessful with that wheat, and in my hands it never became much more than grass, whereas summer had no sooner come in than it burst out into ear, then into blossom, and in a few short weeks it was converted into golden grain ripe for the harvest. Spring had as much to do with that conversion as summer, though it had died out of the calendar, and become a buried season, long ere a single ear was ripe. And winter did as much in that conversion as either spring or summer. But for its cold wind and hardening atmosphere, keeping back as they did the blade, and allowing time for the downward growth beneath the soil, the whole crop might have been root-fallen and lodged and blighted, and never have come to corn at all. Winter and spring were much farther away than summer, and did a lowlier and less cheering part of the work; but surely at the time of garnering the Lord of the year shall say to these also, Well done, good and faithful spring; well done, good and faithful winter: enter each into the joy of harvest. Not less do humbler workers contribute to the salvation of souls, and not less will they have the commendation of the Lord of this more glorious harvest.
III. The honour in Gods work should thus also be representative honour. It should not merely be so by and by before the throne; as far as possible, it should be thus down here. They also who took care of the families of the men from the twelve tribes had part in the memorial of Gilgal. When Ciseri painted that wonderful picture of The Entombment, which has been for some time hanging in the gallery of the Crystal Palace, the honour was not all won by the artists hand. In point of execution, that may have been nearest to the work; but the eye saw, the mind thought, the imagination conceived, the emotional nature felt, the nerves and the whole body suffered the strain, as the hand became the vehicle to carry to the canvas those marvellous mysteries of light and shade, and that embodiment of a broken heart which looks out upon the beholder through the grief-smitten face of the Madonna. Did we regard our spiritual work as all our other labour and the processes of nature teach us to regard it, the balance of honour would be struck more evenly. Those who are known as very successful would still be glad in a just and righteous joy, though a few might be found humbler and speaking less often of their work; while, on the other hand, many a godly mother who thought she had failed with her children, many a teacher who prayed and strove and saddened under a similar sorrow, many a humble preacher and lowly servant of Jesus would be encouraged, as they were helped to feel that their words had not fallen to the ground, and that their arduous and well-meant labour was not in vain in the Lord.
Jos. 4:9. THE MEMORIAL IN JORDAN
I. The value of corroborative testimony. In the years to come, when the generation who had seen the miracle had died out, the memorial in the river would help to impress beholders with the absolute truth of the tradition. Jordan would go to confirm Gilgal, and the stones at Gilgal would serve to substantiate the record of those in Jordan. So in the history of our Lords ministry, Matthew, and Mark, and Luke, and John, each serve to confirm the other. A single epistle of Paul might be questioned, but the coincident testimony of them all has placed them each above the reach of the most malignant criticism.
II. The beauty of offerings which come from the promptings of the heart. This memorial in Jordan does not appear to have been commanded. It may have been that Joshua was told to erect this also, but there is no record of the command. This memorial seems to have been the outcome of the hearts gladness. Such praise is comely to God. Christs reception of the irregular and, to some, unseemly offering of the womans box of ointment.
III. The permanence of interest which belongs to our holier service for God. They are there unto this day. Bush says, These are either the words of Joshua, who wrote his history near the close of his life, and about twenty years after the event occurred, or they were added at a subsequent period by Samuel or Ezra, or some other inspired man or men by whom the sacred canon was revised.
1. Our holier times of thankfulness to God and communion with Him can never be forgotten by ourselves. If Joshua wrote this verse twenty years after the miracle, it shews how deep was the spiritual joy in which he had thanked God for dividing the waters. Every godly man should have times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord which he can never forget.
2. Our holier times of thankfulness to God and communion with Him will lead us so to use and record them that they will long prove of interest to others. If Samuel added these words, it must have been three hundred years later; if they were added by Ezra, it must have been after the lapse of nine centuries. Probably they were written by Joshua, for the phrase, unto this day, occurs no less than twelve times in this book. Be this as it may, it is the work of our deeper spiritual experiences which furnishes memorials of interest to others. When, being dead, a Christian man yet speaketh to those who follow him, it is ever from the intenser experiences of his spiritual life. It is such experiences that preserve the names of the men themselves: Luther, Knox, Brainerd, McCheyne. It is only in the outcome of his richest life that any Christian survives himself.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The Memorials of the Crossing Jos. 4:1-9
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3 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.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 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:
6 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?
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
1.
How long did Israel take to cross the Jordan? Jos. 4:1
The Scripture does not tell us how many hours were consumed in crossing the last natural barrier which stood between the people of Israel and the land God had promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacoband their descendants. Since the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the month and observed the Passover at the regular timethe fourteenth day of the first month, the month Abiband some six days were evidently spent in waiting, the people must have moved across rapidly. The priests stood throughout the time, and we are led to believe the hundreds of thousands of Israelites were moved across the river in a period of no more than several hours. Certainly they did not take a number of days to make this last journey.
2.
Who were the men Joshua commanded the people to take? Jos. 4:2
The men mentioned here are evidently the men referred to in Jos. 3:12. Joshua gave the people some time to select the men from each of the tribes. At the time the initial order was given, he did not indicate the reason for their being selected. After they had crossed Jordan, the reason was made clear. They were to carry stones from the bed of the Jordan River to a point on the west bank where a memorial of Israels miraculous crossing of the river was to be erected.
3.
How is the importance of the taking of twelve stones exemplified? Jos. 4:3
The main point of the story of their crossing the Jordan is their taking twelve stones with them from the bed of the river to the opposite side to serve as a memorial. To set forth the importance of this fact as a divine appointment, the command of God to Joshua is mentioned first of all (Jos. 4:2-3); then the repetition of this command by Joshua to the men appointed for the work (Jos. 4:4-7); and lastly, the carrying out of the instructions (Jos. 4:8). The people were not to erect a memorial to remind them of the greatness of one of their own leaders, but they were to be reminded of Gods great miraculous blessing upon them.
4.
What other stones served as monuments in Bible history?
Stones were quite often used as monuments. Some of the more famous ones are these:
1.
Jacob (Gen. 28:18) going to Haran
2.
Jacob (Gen. 35:14) returning from Haran
3.
Jacob and Laban. (Gen. 31:45-47) as they parted
4.
Samuel at Ebenezer (1Sa. 7:12) when the Philistines were defeated
They were sometimes consecrated with oil (Gen. 28:18). At other times, they seem merely to be set up with very little ceremony,
5.
When was the commandment given to the men? Jos. 4:5
Although the twelve men had been selected earlier it is apparent that the commandment for them to pick up the stones was not given to them until the waters of the Jordan were stopped and the people had crossed on dry land. They must have stood about in amazement wondering what their assignment was to be as the crossing proceeded and there was nothing for them to do, When the commandment was finally given, they each must have eagerly selected a choice stone. One can imagine how they carried the stones with alacrity when they moved out to the western side of the Jordan River.
6.
What was the purpose of the memorial? Jos. 4:7
The memorial served a didactic purpose. God was looking into future ages and making preparation for later generations. The Israelite fathers were responsible for the training and education of their children. The memorial stones would be a visible reminder of Gods great guidance of Israel. The inquisitive nature of children would incline them to ask about these stones whenever they saw them. The fathers were to be prepared to recount what happened at the Jordan as the people crossed over the dry river bed.
7.
Did Joshua set up a second memorial? Jos. 4:9
In addition to the twelve stones set up by the twelve men, Joshua set up twelve stones for a memorial on the spot where the feet of the priests had stood as they bore the Ark of the Covenant. There is nothing to warrant our calling this statement in question. We cannot set it aside as a gloss, either because nothing is said about any divine command to set up these stones, or because of the opinion that such a memorial would have failed to achieve its object. Some say it could not possibly have remained, but would very speedily have been washed away by the stream. The water would reach where the priests stood only in flood times, and for the rest of the year this memorial would be high on dry ground. It would appear from Jos. 4:9 that two sets of stones were set up. Joshua, following the spirit of the Divine direction, caused a second set to be erected in the middle of the river on the spot where the priests had stood. Water would reach the spot only at flood times, and the memorial would thus be enabled to stand for a number of years. Some have supposed the verse to be an interpolation of later date; but, as it occurs in all manuscripts and as it is expressly stated in the Septuagint and Vulgate that this was a different transaction from the other, we must accept it as such.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
BUILDING MONUMENTS. Jos 4:1-24.
[This chapter, more than many others, affords us a noticeable example of the style of the Hebrew historian. While the central theme of the whole chapter is the building of the stone monument in Gilgal, observe how farther particulars of the passage of the Jordan are recorded, which the writer did not wish to interrupt the order of his narrative, in chapter 3, to tell. Strict chronological order is not sought after by him, but rather a record of the facts, leaving the reader’s common sense to infer the order; or rather, treating the order of events as of little moment. See Introduction.] 1. All the people All the people of the nine and a half tribes which afterwards permanently occupied Western Palestine, and the forty thousand picked soldiers of the Eastern tribes.
[ 2. Take you twelve men These men were surely not elected after the people had crossed the Jordan and while the priests were standing in the river bed, but previously, as Jos 3:12 clearly implies. See note there. The command there given to Joshua was to elect the twelve men now that is, before crossing and the exact repetition of the command in this place is only in keeping with the simple style of the Hebrew historian. The choosing of the twelve men, which was, perhaps, done by a popular election, took place before they crossed over; the orders to take each man a stone from the midst of the Jordan were given after all the people had crossed.] 3. The place where the priests’ feet stood firm After the waters had rolled away at the touch of the priests’ feet, they bore the ark into the middle and deepest part of the channel. See note on Jos 3:13. This is also implied in the command, “Come ye up out of Jordan.” Jos 4:17.
Lodging place Gilgal, six miles west of the Jordan. See Jos 4:19-20. They lodged at Gilgal not one night only, but many days.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Chapter 4. Setting Up A Memorial.
This chapter describes how God commanded that the men of Israel should take twelve stones out of the middle of Jordan, and carry them to the first place they lodged at as a memorial of their passage over it. It also describes how Joshua set up twelve other stones in the river itself, and how many men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, went before the Israelites when they crossed over. Once this was done, the priests were ordered to come out of Jordan, and the waters then returned to their place. The time when this miracle was wrought is noted, and an account given of Joshua’s placing the twelve stones taken out of Jordan in Gilgal, and the use that they would have in the future time.
The importance of this episode comes out especially in the deliberate repetition and tracking back that takes place which has confused many scholars. They overlook the fact that this was intended to be read to the people, and that the repetition and tracking back enabled the listeners not only to grasp the story but to take part in it and to grasp it fully so as to remember it. It helped to ram the significance of the story home to them, together with each important detail, so that they would not overlook it or forget it. They could not glance back at the previous page to remind themselves what had happened, so the account repeats it to ensure that they have grasped and absorbed it. A reading of many ancient narratives will bring home how this was an important method used by ancient writers.
Jos 4:1-3
‘ And so it was that when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying, “Take you twelve men out of the people, a man from each tribe, and command them saying, ‘Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and set them down in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night.’ ” ’
The piling up of stones was a recognised method of establishing a memorial. It carried covenantal overtones (Gen 31:46-48). Here, as in Genesis, each tribe was represented by a stone. As promised the twelve tribes had reached the promised land. God had fulfilled His covenant.
Other examples of memorial stones can be found in Gen 28:18; Gen 31:45-49; Jos 7:26; Jos 8:29; Jos 24:26; 2Sa 18:18). In no case where they put in a circle.
The command was through Joshua to the people. ‘Take you (plural).’ It was the people who were to select the twelve men. These twelve men, representatives of each tribe acting on behalf of the people, were then to take from the place where the priests stood with the Ark, in the middle of the Jordan riverbed, twelve stones, and place them where they lodged that night on behalf of the whole people.
“Out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm.” This may signify that the priests very sensibly stood on rocks on the river bed, but it need not mean that those actual rocks had to be selected.
It should be noted that there is no mention of a circle of stones and Gilgal strictly means ‘a rolling’ or ‘the cartwheel’, not specifically a circle. If the account was supposed to explain a famous circle of stones that fact would surely have been made clear. The usual method was piling up stones and there is no reason to doubt that this was so in this case. The pile showed that the twelve tribes had survived and had arrived and camped there.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Israel Crosses Over the Jordan River Jos 3:1 to Jos 4:24 records the account of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River.
Jos 3:4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
Jos 3:4
Jos 3:7 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.
Jos 3:7
Jos 3:15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
Jos 3:15
Jos 4:18, “And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place , and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.”
Jos 4:13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
Jos 4:13
Reuben was 43,730 men of war (Num 26:7).
Gad was 40,500 men of war (Num 26:18).
Manasseh was 52,700 men of war (Num 26:34).
The grand total is 136,930 men of war in these three tribes.
If you count half of Manasseh, the number of men able to go to war was 110,580 men. So, if around 40,000 men crossed over, this left about 70,000 men who stayed with their wives and children. Therefore, about one third of the men from these tribes crossed over, and two thirds stayed in their territories.
Jos 4:14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
Jos 4:14
Jos 24:31, “And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.” (almost the same verse as Jdg 2:6)
Jdg 2:10, “And also all that generation (Joshua’s generation) were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”
Jos 4:18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
Jos 4:18
Jos 3:15, “And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Stones Taken from the Midst of the River Bed
v. 1. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, v. 2. Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, v. 3. and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, v. 4. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, v. 5. and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord, your God, into the midst of Jordan, v. 6. that this may be a sign among you, v. 7. 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, v. 8. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, v. 9. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE MEMORIAL.
Jos 4:2
Twelve stones. The commemoration of events by the setting up of huge stones was by no means peculiar to the Jews, though it was often used by them, as, for instance, Gen 28:18; Gen 35:14, 1Sa 7:12. Almost every nation has adopted it. The Egyptian obelisks, the stones at Hamath, supposed to be of Hittite origin, the dolmens and other megalithic monuments of the Celts, the Logan or rocking stones, are cases in point. The Scandinavians filled their country with them. Our own Stonehenge and the Avebury stones are supposed by some to be, not temples nor burial places, but memorials of some battle. The command here given to Joshua was regarding what was to be done by the twelve men, who (Jos 5:4; cf. Jos 3:12) were already chosen. The form of the command is merely another instance of the common Hebrew practice of repetition.
Jos 4:3
Stood firm. Much discussion has taken place about the proper rendering of the word which the LXX. translates , and the Vulgate durissimos. It seems best to take it, as our version does, as the infinitive absolute, and to translate as in Jos 3:17. But the punctuation of the Masorites separates it from . They would apparently render “to set up.”
Jos 4:4
Prepared. Literally, appointed.
Jos 4:6
That this may be a sign unto you. There was for many years a visible memorial of the miracle. When your children ask their fathers in time to come (cf. Exo 12:26; Exo 13:14; Deu 6:20). The passover, the law itself, as well as certain outward and visible memorials, were to be the guarantees to future ages of the truth of the history related in the Books of Hoses and Joshua. The monument has disappeared, but the observance of the passover and the whole law by the Jews now, more than 3,000 years after the events related in these books, is a perpetual standing witness of the truth of the record. In like manner the Christian passover, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, is appealed to by Christians of every denomination as a proof of the substantial truth of the narrative of the Gospels.
Jos 4:9
And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan. A great deal of ingenuity has been wasted over this passage. Kennicott would read “from the midst,” instead of “in the midst;” but this purely conjectural emendation is contrary to the fact that these stones were to be set up where the priests bearing the ark stood, while the others were to be set up where the Israelites rested for the night. Again: it has been asked why stones should be placed as a memorial in the Jordan itself, where no man could see them. The answer is a simple one. They were not placed in the Jordan, but at some distance from its banks. They were placed where the priests stood, i.e; at the brink of the Jordan (“juxta ripam,” Jarchi), which at that time had overflowed its banks (Jos 3:15). It is no reply to this to observe with the translator of Keil that the stones would by this interpretation be left high and dry for the greater part of the year, for this would be the very reason why that precise spot was fixed upon for a memorial. Nor does the word in the midst, constitute any valid objection to this interpretation, for the same word is used in Jos 3:17, although two verses previously we are told that the priests stood at the brink of the swollen river with the soles of their feet just dipped in the water (see note there). Thus while the Vulgate translates “in medio Jordanis alveo,” the LXX. renders more accurately by . Thus Rosenmuller’s objection to the two monuments, namely, that such monuments would never be placed in a rapidly flowing stream like the Jordan, vanishes; while, as Poole suggests, these stones might be heavier, and form even a more enduring memorial than that of the first resting place of the Israelites, constructed as it were of stones which were not beyond the power of one man to carry after all, it may be asked whether it is more probable that this passage is an insertion from another, and an irreconcilable account (Meyer, Knobel), or that it is a later gloss (Rosenmuller, Maurer, etc), or that two monuments of so mighty and memorable a miracle should have been set up, one at the place where the priests stood, and the other where the Israelites rested after this wonderful interposition of God on their behalf. So Hengstenberg ‘Geschichte des Reiches Gottes,’ p. 203. The Syriac version only supports Rosenmuller’s view. The LXX. and Vulgate render “twelve other stones.” The supposition that the sacred historian gives all the commands of God to Joshua, and that therefore such parts of the narrative as are not contained in these commands are to be rejected, is refuted by a comparison, for instance, of Jos 3:7, Jos 3:8, with Jos 3:13, Jos 3:17.
Jos 4:10
For. Rather, and. This verse does not give a reason for the last. The priests which bare the ark stood. This must have been a majestic sight. While the people “hasted” to cross, either that they might effect the passage during the day, or, more probably, Because they crossed in fear and trembling, partly in spite of, and partly because of, the miraculous interposition on their behalf, the priests bearing the ark of God, the visible symbol of His presence, stood solemnly still at the brink of the river, nor did they stir until every one of that mighty host had passed over. Then, when all had safely crossed, the ark of God was borne across the bed of the river, and as soon as the soles of the priests touched the highest point that the waters had reached on the other side, they returned to their place, and all was as it had been before. Well might the Israelites erect a double memorial of a scene so wonderful as this! All that Moses commanded Joshua (Deu 31:23). And the people hasted and passed over. “Unde et ego arbitror, quia nobis quoque venientibus ad baptismum salutarem, et suscipientibus sacramenta Verbi Dei, non otiose, nec segnitur res gerenda est, sed festinandum est, et perurgendum” (Orig; Hom. 5).
Jos 4:12
Armed (see Jos 1:14). Before the children of Israel. Not necessarily “in front of,” but “in the sight of,” as in Num 8:22. The Israelites were witnesses of the fulfilment of the pledge given them by their brethren. But the usual place of these tribes was not with the vanguard. See last verse, whine the same words are translated “in the presence of.”
Jos 4:13
Prepared for war. , LXX. Literally, disencumbered, like the Latin expeditus. Unlike Num 31:5, the Hebrew has the article here. The meaning therefore may be “equipped men of the host,” i.e; the light armed and active among them. If we translate thus, it is clear that all their armed men did not go over Jordan. The impedimenta were left behind, under a strong guard (see notes on Jos 1:14). The plains of Jericho. Here the LXX. and Theodotion have , Symmachus renders by , the Vulgate by cumpestria. The original is literally, the deserts or uncultivated lands (see note on Jos 3:16). They formed a “low-lying plain about four hours’ journey in breadth,” at that time largely covered with palm trees and thorny acacias, but apparently not cultivated. Since that time, the palms having disappeared, the plain has become “a very picture of fertility,” “covered with luxuriant vegetation”. The valley narrows to a gorge at Jericho, through which the Kelt, according to Robinson the ancient Cherith, flows, the source of all the verdure which once bloomed around the city. The gorge of the Kelt Canon Tristram describes as “tremendous,” but he believes the Cherith to have been eastward of Jordan, following Mr. Grove, who is here disposed to accept the. tradition of Eusebius and Jerome.
Jos 4:14
On that day the Lord magnified Joshua. This was not, as Calvin remarks, the chief aim of the miracle. But it was, nevertheless, one important result of it. Joshua was the appointed leader of the Israelites, and he was under God’s special protection and guidance. But however much God may overrule our human nature to His own purposes, He never abrogates the laws of its working. Confidence in a leader, from a human point of view, is one of the most essential requisites for success in war. Therefore in the crossing of the Jordan we find Joshua directing all the operations, though the direction of affairs might have been put into other hands, that of Eleazar the high priest, for instance. But this was the public attestation of the secret intimation God had given Joshua (Jos 1:5): “As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.” From this point onward we see no signs of hesitation on the part of the Israelites; nothing but the most unwavering confidence in the Divine mission, as well as in the extraordinary natural gifts, of their leader.
Jos 4:15
And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying. Meyer and others, according to the method of a certain school, regard this as an extract from another document, which is equivalent to saying that the Book of Joshua is a compilation of the most unintelligent kind, a conclusion which is refuted by every line of the Book. A vivid and picturesque narrative, such as we have before us, could hardly have Been brought together by the liberal use of scissors and paste, with utter disregard of the coherence of the extracts. It is not denied that the writer Of the Book of Joshua may have compiled his history from contemporary documents (see Introduction). All that is affirmed is that in so doing he used his materials with ordinary common sense. As has been before remarked, a marked feature of early Hebrew composition was repetition; repetition with additional details to add to the completeness of the narrative, but designed principally to emphasise the principal facts. Thus we are now told that it was at the command of Joshua, on God’s express intimation, that the priests left their post. And to mark more clearly the historian’s sense of the importance of the miracle, it is added that, as soon as the priests’ feet had left the channel in which the waters had flowed up to the moment that they entered the waters of Jordan on the other side, the waters which had been cut off returned, and flowed exactly where they had done before. This additional fact, supplementing as it does the briefer detail in Jos 3:17 and Jos 4:11, must be therefore regarded as a record of the solemn conviction of the historian that in the events he is narrating he recognised a special interposition of the hand of God (see Jos 4:23, Jos 4:24), in which in like manner we find a repetition in fuller detail of the command concerning the stones, designed to mark more clearly the sense the historian wishes his readers to have of the direct interference of God in what he has recorded.
Jos 4:16
The testimony. The word though derived from the same root as witness, would seem rather to have the sense of precept, from the idea of repetition contained in the root. Compare the well known Hebrew particle again. It must refer to the two tables of the law which (Heb 10:4) were placed in the ark (see Deu 10:5, and comp. Exo 25:16, Exo 25:21, Exo 25:40, Num 17:10, where this is said to be the testimony). Other things were placed in the ark, such as the manna, Aaron’s rod, and these, no doubt, were for a witness to the facts of the Mosaic record. The LXX; however, consistently render this word by . The Vulgate here has arcam foederis.
Jos 4:18
When the priests … were come up. There is a difference of reading here. The Masorites read as our version. The Hebrew text implies that the waters began to flow from the very moment that the priests’ feet left the channel of the Jordan. Were lifted up. The original is more vivid, and marks the authentic sources from which this history is derived. Were plucked up, i.e; out of the soft adhesive mud in the channel of the river. The construction of the original is a constructio praegnans. They dragged their feet out of the mud, and planted them on dry ground.
Jos 4:19
On the tenth day of the first month. This statement, compared with Jos 5:10, will bear close analysis, and refutes the clumsy compiler theory. There was just time between the tenth and fourteenth day of the month for the events described in the meantime. And the scrupulous obedience to the law, the provisions of which, we are expressly told, had been of necessity neglected hitherto, is a fact closely in keeping with the character of Joshua, and the whole spirit of the narrative. Gilgal. The Gilgal, according to the Masorites, no doubt from its being a circular encampment. Not as yet, however, called by this name (see Jos 5:9). It was “about five miles” (50 stadia, according to Josephus), “from the river banks”. We gather from Jos 5:3 that it was a rising ground, but it is impossible to identify the spot, since there never existed any town or village there. A spot is shown by the inhabitants about two miles from Jericho, which is held by them in great reverence, but this is further from Jericho than Josephus imagines it to be, for he places it about a mile and a quarter from Jericho. Tristram identifies Riha (see note on Jos 2:1) with Gilgal, but Bartlett places it “a mile east of Riha,” “some three miles or more from the fords.” It is hardly probable, however, that the Israelites, in their then unprepared condition (see next chapter, and cf. Gen 34:25), encamped so near the city, even though they were conscious of Divine protection, as Josephus would have us suppose. It has been denied by some that the Gilgal mentioned in Jos 9:6, Jos 10:6 is the same as this one (see notes there, as well as the Masoretic translation above). The reverence for sacred places, such as Gilgal, degenerated in the course of time, according to a well known law of humanity, into superstitiona superstition severely rebuked by the prophets (Hos 4:15; Hos 9:15; Amo 4:4; Amo 5:5). We may compare the idolatrous worship of the brazen serpent (2Ki 18:4). It is sometimes contended by Roman Catholic commentators that no approval of the conduct of Hezekiah is here expressed; but a comparison of this passage with those above cited will show in which direction the minds of inspired men tended. Other places seem to have been similarly regarded with superstitious reverence. Not only do we find Bethel mentioned among such places as we might well expect from Jeroboam’s idolatrous worship there, but Beersheba also seems to have become a seat of this misdirected devotion (see Amo 5:5; Amo 8:14)
Jos 4:21
When. Hebrews . The relative pronoun here is sometimes equivalent to “when,” as in Deu 11:6; I Kings Deu 8:9. Gesenius would translate “if that,” and Keil would render by quod.
Jos 4:23
For. The original here again is , with the meaning because.
Jos 4:24
The hand of the Lord, that it is mighty. “Thus the river, though dumb, was the best of heralds, proclaiming with a loud voice that heaven and earth are subject to the Lord God of Israel” (Calvin). That ye might fear. The construction here is unusual. Instead of the imperfect or infinitive with we have the perfect. Therefore Ewald, Maurer, and Knobel (who says that the second member of the sentence ought to correspond with the first) have altered the pointing in order to bring this passage into conformity with the supposed necessities of grammar. In so doing they have robbed it of its picturesqueness and its meaning. For the object is clearly to show the lasting nature of the fear, “that ye might recognise now the hand of the Lord, that ye might have a thorough and lasting fear of his name.” We may here remark on the necessarily miraculous character of the whole narrative of the crossing the Jordan. It admits of no explaining away. The account must either be accepted or rejected en bloc. First we have the specific declaration of Rahab in Jos 2:10, that Jehovah dried up the Red Sea, and that this proof of the peculiar protection of Israel by the Most High had struck terror into the hearts of the inhabitants of Canaan. Next we have the fact that Jordan had overflowed its banks. The dangerous nature of the crossing, even at ordinary times, has been mentioned already. Lives are frequently lost in the attempt, as recent travellers with one voice declare. At the time when the waters were out such a crossing was practically impossible to a host like the host of Israel. Nor can there be any mistake about its being the period of the overflowing of Jordan, for the time of the crossing is mentioned. It was the time of harvestthat is, of the barley harvest. This is confirmed by the fact that the recently cut flax was now lying on the roof of Rahab’s house, and by the fact that the harley and flax ripened together, a coincidence which we have already mentioned in the note on Jos 2:6. The time is yet further defined. It was the “tenth day of the first month.” We learn, moreover, from Le Jos 23:9-15 and Deu 16:6 that this was the time when the firstfruits were offered, from which seven weeks were reckoned to the beginning of wheat harvest (Exo 34:2). Moreover, the passover was kept immediately afterwards (Jos 5:10), on “the fourteenth day of the first month.” Thus the date of the crossing, which is accurately fixed by a variety of circumstances, is clearly proved to correspond with the time of Jordan’s overflow. We next come to the measures taken to secure the crossing. There is likewise no mistake here. Not one single intimation is given of an endeavour to break in any way the force of the current, or to preserve the Israelites, either men, women, or children, from the imminent risk they ran of death by drowning. Not only are no other expedients resorted to, but no animals seem to have been prepared to transport them over. Nor, again, were any means used to elude the vigilance of the inhabitants of Canaan. Readers of Xenophon’s ‘Anabasis ‘ will not fail to notice how often the passage of the rivers was a matter of the utmost difficulty to that expedition, and how fiercely attempts at crossing were disputed by the half savage tribes of Asia Minor. How are we to account for the fact that no opposition was offered to Joshua’s passage by the highly civilised nations of Palestine? According to the narrative before us it was effected in the most leisurely and peaceful manner. What other explanation is possible titan that offered in the text, that when the feet of the priests bearing the ark touched the waters, those waters were cut off by supernatural power, and a way was miraculously made for the people of God through the midst of Jordan? The crossing was remarkable enough, we are told, to have been commemorated by a double memorial (verses 8, 9). If it had taken place through an unusually easy ford there would have been nothing remarkable about it. Therefore it is clear that the whole narrative of the crossing is either absolute fable or strictly and historically accurate. Let us conclude by summing up the several reasons which make the former alternative inadmissible. The first is the precision with which the date is fixed, and the fact that the correctness of this date is confirmed, as we have seen, by a variety of corroborative evidence. The next is the simplicity and artlessness of the narrative, and its appeal to still existing monuments as confirmatory of the facts recorded. The third is that no account of a battle at Jordan is even hinted at by the Hebrew or any other historian, a battle which must infallibly have taken place had the Israelites attempted to enter Palestine in any ordinary manner; for the supposition that the waters of the ford at Jericho were unusually low at this time is quite inadmissible for the reasons given above; nor can it be supposed that the Israelites crossed the river by any other ford without rejecting the whole history of the conquest. The last reason is the touch of detail given in the word which seems to mark the transition from the soft adhesive mud of the river to the firmness of the dry land beyond (for the word translated “dry land” in Jos 3:17 only means that it was land and not water. Gesenius). Our witness, in fact, can be subjected to the severest cross examination without shaking his testimony. And we are thus compelled to choose between accepting the literal correctness of the narrative as it stands, or crediting the author with a skill in constructing a work of fiction which itself scarcely falls short of the miraculous.
HOMILETICS
Jos 4:1-24
The memorial.
Prom this chapter we learn several lessons.
I. THE DUTY OF COMMEMORATING, BY A PIOUS MEMORIAL, THE GOOD THINGS GOD HAS DONE FOR US. The memory of events under the law was ever kept up in this way. The memorials of God’s mercy we read of in the Old Testament are innumerable. There was circumcision, the memorial of God’s covenant with Abraham; the stone set up at Bethel, the memorial of Jacob’s vision. There was the passover, the memorial of the deliverance from Egypt; the manna and Aaron’s rod in the ark; the memorial of the miraculous feeding of the Israelites in the wilderness; and the selection of the progeny of Aaron for the high priesthood. Thus we have the memorial here mentioned of the passage of Jordan, and the memorial of the victory over the Philistines in 1Sa 7:12. National deliverances also were commemorated by annual feasts. Such was the feast of Purim, the establishment of which is recorded in Est 9:20-32. Our Lord gives His sanction to the principle in the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion, and the Christian Church has made it her own by the establishment of festivals like Easter, Whitsuntide, Christmas, and the like. The same principle is at work in the erection of memorial churches and other means of commemorating great mercies, or the lives of good men. But the principle is capable of extension. It seems a little ungrateful that we as a nation, or even the members of our religious bodies, think so little of commemorating God’s signal mercies and deliverances by special days of thanksgiving. The observance of such days as January 30th, May 29th, November 5th may have assumed too political and party a character, but there are surely other days of national blessings which, if observed as days of thanksgiving, would not be open to the same objections. At least we may go so far as this. Gratitude, in the Old Testament, was testified by outward signs. Where those outward signs are wanting among our. selves, it is to be feared that the gratitude is wanting also. The country ought to be covered with memorials of national and local as well as individual mercies. Days of recognition of such mercies to the empire, or particular parts of the empire, should be more common than they are. Our unhappy divisions, or even the fear of aggravating those divisions, should not withhold us from publicly recognising what in our hearts we believe to be acts of God’s gracious providence over us. A stranger going through our country should have frequent occasion to ask, “What mean these?” and should repeatedly receive the answer, “These are the memorials of the great things God did for us in our fathers’ days, and in the old time before them.”
II. THESE MEMORIALS TEND TO STIR UP A SPIRIT OF PIETY AND GRATITUDE. There is no more frequent speech recorded in connection with memorials, whether buildings or festivals, than the supposition of an inquiry regarding their nature on the part of the young, and of an answer on the part of parents explaining it. Now the abstract facts of history make but a faint impression on the young, while a noble building or a remarkable observance attracts their attention at once. It is an old heathen proverb,” Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.” It is surely a matter of Christian prudence to stir up as early as possible in the minds of the young an interest in the truths of religion, and of the history of their country and Church. This is done, as regards Christian doctrine, by the increased attention given to the commemoration of the chief events in the life of Christ at the great Christian festivals. But much more might be done. How much of our decreasing respect for the Reformation may be traced to our neglect of some sort of yearly commemoration of those who laid down their lives for it, is a question. How much our very faint sense of the mercies of God to this country, and in particular to the wonderful salvation God vouchsafed to us in the destruction of the Spanish Armada, is due to the same cause, may also be a question. As regards the latter, it is perhaps not too much to say that scarcely one educated Englishman out of ten, and no uneducated one, has any idea from what vast perils we, as a nation, have been delivered by that one event. And in spite of the many signal mercies we have received, and in spite of the great things God has wrought for us in granting us the character we enjoy for fairness, uprightness, respect for liberty and law, and in spite of the vast and extended dominion He has placed in our hands, our sense of gratitude to God for these things seems diminishing daily. We shall do well to ask ourselves how much of it is due to a neglect of the principle laid down in this chapter regarding the wisdom of memorials of past blessings which shall induce the young to ask what they mean, and shall enable us, in reply to their question, to incite them to “praise the Lord for his mercies, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men.”
III. EVERY TRIBE TOOK PART IN THE WORK. The principle above contended for is capable of misapplication. The multiplication of party or sectarian memorials of animosity and ill feeling would be an evil, rather than a blessing. Even memorials of the Reformers, or of so great a national deliverance such as that to which we have just referred, might easily, as is the case in Ireland, be made occasions of strife. But this applies rather to the abuse than the use of them. In modern days of freedom of thought there could hardly exist a single anniversary the propriety of which would be questioned by no one. To keep only such anniversaries as no one objected to, would be to keep none at all. But care should be taken that all memorials of this kind should be
(1) so kept as not wantonly to insult the prejudices of others, and
(2) should be confined to events in which the community as a whole had a share. The victory of Israel over Benjamin was not commemorated by a memorial, though it was doubtless a real national blessing. Only such events as can be commemorated by taking “out of every tribe a man” are intended by the foregoing remarks.
IV. WE ARE ALL EQUALLY BOUND TO DECLARE WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. The duty of erecting the memorial was not confined to the priests or Levites. So now, it is not the clergy only who are to proclaim God’s “noble acts.” All, in their several spheres, are to make known the great things He has done, and to take part in the public commemorations of them. The Church does not consist of clergy only, but of clergy and laity. So, too, the duties of a public recognition of the goodness of God are as incumbent on the laity as on the clergy. The laity are to bear the stones on their shoulders, and to deposit them where the people rest for the night. It is not well when they leave these duties to women and children, or to those whose duty it is to bear the ark. The duties of worshipping God in the sanctuary on other days beside Sunday, of promoting religious works and religious societies, is often left to the clergy by those who have plenty of time, if they preferred to spend their leisure hours in work for the benefit of others rather than in regarding their own comfort.
Other points in the narrative are worthy of mention.
I. THE PEOPLE HASTED AND PASSED OVER. They hasted
(1) because they feared the waters might return and overflow them. So, even when we are experiencing a deliverance by the mighty hand of God, ought we to be watchful and trembling lest we be again overtaken by sin. Want of watchfulness in the hour of triumph has been the occasion of many a fearful fall. Or they hasted
(2) because they were anxious to enter the promised land. Would that all Christians were as full of a chastened eagerness to enter upon the conflict with evil, which they only can do who are delivered from the power of Satan and of sin. Would that they were as anxious to “forget” the days of sinful indulgence they have “left behind,” and to “reach forward” unto the time of victory and triumph, which to faith appears clearly “before.” Lukewarmness in the Christian course is the forerunner, not of victory, but of disgrace. Or
(3) they hastened that they might not try the patience of God. He only works miracles when natural means are insufficient. If we expect Him to stay the waters of Jordan to suit our convenience, to preserve us from temptation when we ought to have removed ourselves from its influence, to guard us by His special providence from dangers from which ordinary care and watchfulness would have preserved us, we shall be mistaken. We ought not to keep the priests standing in the Jordan one minute longer than is necessary.
II. THE ISRAELITES WENT OVER “PREPARED FOR WAR.” This was true, not only of the two and a half tribes, but of the other tribes also.
(1) The Christian must be ready for a conflict. His Master forewarned him that tie came to send “not peace, but a sword,” upon the earth. We have to “fight the good fight of faith,” to “wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We do not enter the land of promise to be idle. A conflict against evil awaits us, both within our own hearts and in society around. A man who leads a life of inaction against evil within or in society around him is a traitor to the cause. We should deceive him were we to lead him to suppose that he should enjoy the milk and honey, the pleasures and consolations of religion, till he had undergone its perils and its struggles first. And
(2) preparation for war involves self discipline. The word in the original means “disencumbered.” The impediments to action were to be removed; that is, habits, social customs, business engagements, which fetter us in our conflict with evil, must be given up. Even the ties of affection must not be suffered to hamper us in the discharge of our duty. The most innocent amusements, if incompatible with effectual action against God’s enemies, must be cast aside. Like the runner in the race, we must “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” So, and so only, must we enter into the enjoyment of God’s covenant, and fit ourselves for the unspeakable blessings which God has prepared for those who are “faithful unto death.”
HOMILIES BY S.R. ALDRIDGE
Jos 4:6
The Children’s Question
“That this may be stones.” The children’s question. That life is intended to be a school of instruction to us we see plainly from the many directions given to the people of Israel. For they were under the immediate government of God; He blessed them with special favours, was ready also to reprove their faults, and omitted no method of inculcating the lessons which the events of their lives were calculated to teach. Christians are “led by the Spirit of God;” their eyes should be open to see, and their ears uncovered to hear, the meaning of providential dispensations. In the instructions conveyed by God through Joshua, posterity was not forgotten. Provision was made for handing down to following ages a record of God’s dealings with His people. With that provision our text is concerned.
I. THE INQUIRY. “What mean ye ‘by these stones?”
1. By what suggested? A representative from each tribe selected a large stone from the bed of the river Jordan, and these twelve stones were set up in Gilgal, where the people spent the first night after the crossing. The importance of erecting this memorial is indicated by the number of times it is referred to in these chapters (Jos 3:12; Jos 4:5; and Jos 4:20). A conspicuous heap of stones was the customary method of directing attention to a particular scene of some remarkable occurrence, and accordingly stones were also placed in the Jordan where the priests’ feet had stood. But the memorial at Gilgal would be more enduring, and could not fail to excite attention each time that the national assembly was held there, as was frequently the case (See 1Sa 11:15, and 2Sa 19:15). It was contrary to the law to erect a carved image, for fear of idolatrous practices, but rude stones served the purpose. The “sensible” is more impressive than the abstract. Ignorant persons and children who had not yet learned to read, to whom writing would be useless, could appreciate the significance of such a memorial.
2. By whom asked? It is the question of children whose curiosity has been awakened. What child in Altorf but must have inquired respecting the statue of William Tell, or in Lucerne about the lion sculptured by Thorwaldsen to commemorate the deaths of the Swiss guards? Young people are not to be discouraged, but stimulated to put questions for information. The test of a good teacher is found in his ability to induce his pupils to make inquiries spontaneously. And the lesson may be of use to older people, not to be ashamed to confess ignorance, but to ask for enlightenment.
3. By whom answered? The fathers are to make the reply, explaining the intention of the “sign” to their interested children. Parents are the proper persons to satisfy the inquiries of their offspring. There is an implicit trust reposed in their statements which is not so readily accorded to strangers. The remarks of Joshua illustrate the necessity of parents attending to the religious training of their children. Can it be deemed sufficient merely to provide food and clothing for the body, and secular learning for the mind, and to allow the moral and spiritual faculties to be neglected? “Godliness is the best learning.” Joshua knew that, the deepest impressions are often created in childhood. The clay is then easily moulded; the tree has not yet grown stubbornly crooked, and can be straightened; the white paper, if not quite a blank, has still much space left for godly teachings. A sculptor once engraved his own name at the base of a statue, and covering this with plaster, cut therein the Emperor’s name and titles, knowing that as years went on the plaster would vanish, and the first inscription become legible. So does early piety become dimly observable sometimes in the rush of pleasure and the turmoil of business, and then the storms of life sweep away the overlaying strata, and the desires of childhood, the gospel learnt at a mother’s knee, the prayer offered to the God of his fathers, these stand out in all their vividness as in the former days.
II. GENERAL LESSONS TO BE DERIVED.
1. The wondrous works of God are for all time. Their impressiveness and utility are not intended to terminate with their immediate effects. They exemplify His power, and teach all men reverence (verse 24). Of no avail to plead absence, the recital to us is sufficient to move our hearts. The demand for a repetition of miracles in order to convince each generation in its turn is extravagant and unreasonable. These works of God exhibit also His favour to His people, and incite to trust and love, if we can declare, “This God is our God forever and ever.”
2. The importance of studying Scripture history. Not that we would insist so strongly on the distinction between “sacred” and “profane” history. For all history is sacred, all events being under the control of the Almighty, and evincing His moral administration of the world. Yet Scripture is authoritative, presents us with inspired comments on character and actions, and in many places strips off the the veil and affords us clear and certain glimpses of the movements of Deity. As distinguished from mere declarations of the nature of God’s attributes, history shows us God in operation, and the picture is helpful to true and definite conception. It furnishes us not merely with a statement, but with an illustrative proof.
3. God expects men to propagate His fame
4. The use of a memorial. The stones were for a “sign” to excite inquiry and to prevent past history from sinking into utter oblivion. Events the most illustrious are easily forgotten. There is need of enshrining their remembrance in some permanent form. Read the mournful tale of Israel’s ungrateful want of recollection in Psa 78:1-72. Again and again “they forgat his works and the wonders he had showed them.” Writing has been the chief method of preserving the memory of famous deeds. When resorted to in time it forbids suspicion of legendary exaggerations, and there is not the temptation to relic worship which “signs” foster. The Jewish dispensation was emphatically the age of symbols, but the gospel has dispensed with them almost altogether. Of the miracles of Christ there are no genuine memorials, save the narratives of the Evangelists and the Christian Church itself. What has been the effect upon ourselves of a perusal of the Gospels? Are they merely “idle tales,” or have they revealed to us the love of God, and His willingness to receive His erring children?A.
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE
Jos 4:6-22
Memorials.
The crossing the Jordan dry shod was tile first miracle which marked the entrance of the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. It was God’s purpose that this should be held in perpetual remembrance. Hence the erection of the twelve stones in the bed of the river, to remind the twelve tribes of that which the Almighty hand had wrought for them, in fulfilment of the promise made to their fathers. The material monument would, however, be insufficient of itself to preserve this memory. The story it commemorated must be told from generation to generation. Joshua, as the representative of the people of Israel, speaks thus to the twelve men chosen to carry the twelve stones: “This shall be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 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” (verses 6, 7). After the crossing of the river the same precept is repeated, and now not only to the twelve representatives of the people, but to the entire nation. “And Joshua spake unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.” This narrative shows us the way in which the memory of the Divine story of salvation should be handed down.
I. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN INDESTRUCTIBLE MONUMENT OF THE FACTS OF REDEMPTION, not liable, like a mere verbal tradition, to human additions and interpolations. The twelve stones here represent this character of immutability, by which the truth of God is preserved from misrepresentation. We ourselves have more than one memorial graven by God’s own hand in the rock forever. We have a Divine Bookthe Holy Scripturewhich has preserved for us the great and glorious facts of revelation in their integrity and purity. We must never suffer this sacred monument either to be altered or added to.
II. The twelve stones, commemorative of the passage of the Jordan, WERE PLACED THERE BY THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO HAD THEMSELVES BEEN WITNESSES OF THE GREAT MIRACLE. The twelve men who reared this monument marched at the head of Israel when the waters of the river were driven back. So was it also with the sacred writers of the Old Testament. So was it with the Apostles– the first twelve representatives of the new people of God. Their testimony is at once irrefragable and of primary authority, for those who reared the monument of the Scriptures can say with St. John, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you” (1Jn 1:1). Our first duty, as those who are concerned for the preservation of the truth of God, is fidelity to this original and sacred testimony. Let us carefully separate from it all which is merely fabulousthe creation of our own imagination or reason.
III. IT IS NOT ENOUGH, HOWEVER, TO PRESERVE THE LETTER OF SCRIPTURE UNIMPAIRED, and to fence it round with our respect and veneration, as it would not have been enough for the children of Israel to have simply guarded against destructive forces the twelve stones of commemoration. It was needful, further, that the story of the great miracle should be repeated day by day, not only in the solemnities of the altar, but also at the domestic hearth. No other priesthood can be a substitute for the priesthood of every man in his own household. Let every Christian father himself tell to his children the story of salvation, taking it from the pure source of Holy Scripture; and so let this history form part of that spiritual heritage which is the best legacy to succeeding generations. Let the altar of remembrancethe Book of Godbe set up in the midst of the house; thus will the sacred tradition be handed down in all its purity. Let the story of salvation be told by the lips of father and mother, familiar to the child from its very cradle; and thus preserved in its purity, the gospel tradition will become an element of vital power in the heart of the rising race.E.DE.P.
HOMILIES BY R. GLOVER
Jos 4:7
Memorial stone.
Look for a little at this cairn or Druidical circle, or whatever other shape the twelve stones combined produced. Our text reads as if two such enclosures were raised: one by Joshua in the bed of Jordan, laved at least by its waters; and one in Gilgal, the rising ground about midway between Jordan and Jericho. The first erection made by Israel in the promised land was this stone of remembrance. It was not casually or carelessly done. God enjoined it before they crossed, and men were told off to gather the stones fit for such a purpose during the crossing over. The first religious act they did was this memorial act; and the first bit of Canaan which they took possession of was hallowed as a memorial site. Is there anything analogous to this which we ought to do? And would there be any advantage in our doing it? Let us see what this action would suggest as our proper course.
I. WE SHOULD ALL TAKE SPECIAL MEASURES TO REMEMBER OUR MERCIES. For our own sakes memorial stones are not valueless. Our power of recollection is slight, and innumerable things make their claims upon it. Our misfortunes ask loudly to be remembered. The slights we receive, the injuries we endure, the disappointments we meet with are clamorous in their appeals to memory. While mercies of God, kindness of man, tranquil delights and satisfactions ask to be remembered with only a small still voice which is apt to be drowned in the vulgar din of the other turbulent recollections, there are some memories, as John Foster phrased it, only rows of hooks to hang grudges on. And when memory so weakly yields to clamour, or so morbidly prefers the poorer subjects of remembrance, every recollection is a depressing burden. We owe it to ourselves to remember all God’s benefits, for the recollection of them is green pastures and still waters when we are weak. It is inspiration when we are depressed. It gives the joyous sense of being loved. It purifies the soul by gratitude. It binds us by the sweetest of all bonds to God’s service. It brightens the future by the radiance which is at once most trustworthy and most sweet. It sends us on our way “thanking God and taking courage.” And a wholesome, gracious memory being of such value, we should take pains to cherish it. We should deal with it as with a garden, not permitting anything to grow in it which intrudes itself; but we should constantly keep down the weeds, and plant, tend, and cherish the flowers of fragrance and of beauty. Keep your heart with all diligence, and especially this bit of it. And to this end special actions, stones of memory, vows of service, gifts, meditations should all be employed. There is one great stone of memory which, in obedience to the Saviour, the Church has raised. The rite of the Lord’s Supper was meant to proclaim to those ignorant of it, and to recall to those acquainted with it, the great deliverance wrought on Calvary, and the infinite love which permits us to participate in it. Use that memorial; open your heart to its influence. The less in the mood Christian man is for partaking of that rite, the more does he need to do so. It was ordained to jog the indolent memory and to warm the coldness of the heart. Use this memorial, and make it bigger by adding your own contribution to its gracious testimonies. Each tribe laid its stone on the memorial heap in Gilgal. Each man should add his stone to the memorial everywhere and always rising to the greater deliverance Christ works for us. If we should take special measures to remember our mercies in general, so most of all should we do so to remember the infinite mercy of redemption.
II. IT IS A DUTY TO REPORT TO OTHERS AS WELL, AS TO REMEMBER FOR OURSELVES, THE MERCIES OF GOD. These stones were a publication of God’s dealings to all who subsequently should pass by that way: set up “for the encouragement of pilgrims,” as Bunyan would say. Experience may belong to us individually, but the lessons of that experience belong to all who need them. The children of Israel must not “hide God’s righteousness (i.e; mercy) within their hearts.” They must tell it to the generations following. The story may be told in various waysin a holiday like the passover, which they will keep; in a song, like Miriam’s, which will linger in people’s lips and hearts; or in an outward memorial like these stones. Only, Israel must tell its mercies. In a world languishing for want of a heavenly hope Israel must not be silent. Be the memorial is rearedeach stone a tongue telling of God’s love and help. Wherever there has been mercy received, the Saviour requires that that mercy should be recorded for the good of others. He may, as a temporary precept say, “Tell no man,” to those who would lose its lessons by proclaiming too eagerly their mercy. But if the prohibition of garrulous and thoughtless tattle about mercies suggests need of thought and carefulness, other preceptsas, “Go home and tell thy friends,” “Show thyself to the priests,” requirements of confession, the example of multitudes who have said, “Come, and I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my soul,” the instincts of honour and of graceall combine to lay on him who receives Divine mercy the duty of telling it. We have all need to beware of a guilty secrecy which thinks it a mark of refinement and modesty to be silent about its Saviour. Your neighbors are perishing, all needing, some asking for, a Saviour. Will you be guiltless if you do not say, “Here is a Saviour, Christ JesusHe saved me”? If He has led you across the Jordan into the rest He promised you, set up your memorial, and join the rest of Israel in testifying that Jesus Christ is a great Saviour. Membership in the Church of Christ is the simplest form of testimony and is the duty of every saved man. For the sake of others set up your memorial of God’s mercies in Gilgal.
III. MAKE YOUR MEMORIAL AS ENDURING AS POSSIBLE. They were to set up twelve stones: something that would endure, that could give testimony to many generations. As a matter of fact they did remain till, probably, some centuries after the destruction of Jerusalem. And through all these generations that circle, or cairn, or altar, whatever it was, remained, elevating and inspiring men by its blessed memories. Let your testimony of Christ’s salvation be an enduring one. Set up not a memorial of clay, which rain may soften or heat might crumble, but of atone. Keep your own memories of mercy keen and clear. Do not let them crumble away; anti try to serve the generations that are to come. Inheritors should be transmitters of help. The testimony of those that have gone before us has blessed us; let our testimony bless those that follow after us. Let us not play at testifying of the grace of God, but make it seriously our work. There are men who, giving themselves to the work, have blessed many generations. Let our Saviour have from us some enduring witness which shall carry to the generations after us the record of His love. And, lastly, this lesson should be noted
IV. THAT THE LESSONS OF THE MEMORIAL SHOULD SPECIALLY REACH OUR CHILDREN. In verses 21 to the end it is assumed that the children will be the inquirers about the memorial, anti the parents the interpreters of it, and that thus, from father to son, the story of God’s grace shall be handed down, hallowing each generation. No man can complain that there is no open door set before him, when a child full of inquisitive simplicity faces him. And no one should despair of the future of a land in which parents can engage the ear of children with the story of their sacred experience. Is there not too much reticence between parents and children on the greatest of all themes? If our hearts were more devout would it be impossible for us, without undue detail, to charge our children with a sense of what we owe to our Redeemer? Might they not early learn how poor and worthless our life would have been without Him. Might they not learn something of answers to our prayers, of the blessedness of heavenly hopes, of the safety of protecting grace, of the consolations of God’s love, of that “delivery from all our fears” of which the Psalmist speaks? “Ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.” When we obey this precept in letter and spirit more heartily, probably we shall find our obedience will be rich in the results expected by the writer (verse 24). “The people of the earth will know the hand of the Lord, and Israel will fear the Lord their God forever.”G.
Jos 4:14
Grace for beginners.
In one sense Joshua is not a beginner. For forty years he has been at work for God. As spy, as general, as servant of Moses, during all these years he has wrought in the work, and with the help of God. Yet though eighty-five years of age, this crossing Jordan is his first act of leadership. In the sovereignty of Israel he is a beginner, with a beginner’s fears, difficulties, burdens. And here we see a beautiful illustration of the factthat with a beginner’s cares comes a beginner’s grace as well. A marvellous miracle stamps him as the leader sent by God. The “divinity that doth hedge a king” in an unusual degree invests him. And in his first enterprise he has such help as makes him secure of the future allegiance of all the people. Many are, and more ought to be, beginners in God’s ways. Consider the testimony of this incident as it affects them, and first observe
I. BEGINNERS NEED SPECIAL GRACE AND HELP. Evidently Joshua did. If Moses shrank, how much more might he, from this perilous enterprise, when the efforts of the people, after settlement, had no such stimulus as had been supplied by the oppression of their masters; when he was uncommended by the signs he carried of his Divine commission; when probably Eleazar would have been glad to have been chief ruler; when almost inevitably there would be critics who would oppose his plans and dispute the wisdom of his orders He had double work to doto cross Jordan, and justify his own appointment. Nay, treble work to dofor his power of helping Israel in the future depended largely on what he would now do. Sufficient unto that day was its own troubles; but it had to carry the justification of the past and the assurance of the future with it. Even so all beginners find their work especially arduous. “It is the first step that costs;” the first step of the prodigal returning to his father; the leaving the nets to follow Christ; the first act of service to men. We are unaccustomed; and that force of habit which stands us in such good stead when we have had experience of well doing now operates the other way. All obstacles are enlarged by nervous apprehensions. In subsequent acts we may have societythe first act of right is apt to be profoundly solitary. Do not be staggered at the difficulties of beginning well. All beginners have had the same experience to contend with. But observe secondly
II. BEGINNERS HAVE SPECIAL GRACE TO MEET THEIR SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES. As with Paul’s “thorn,” pity to remove which was asked, grace to endure which was granted; so here God does not take away the difficulty, but gives grace to surmount it. Over and above the usual grace He gives to all His saints, there is special grace given to them. Has Moses a task imposed on him specially arduous? Not one difficulty is removed, but miraculous signs invest him with a sacred inviolable dignity, and plagues of terrific power sanction his demands. Is David indicated as future king by the whispered call of God? In the challenge of Goliath and the pouring of a “patriotic tide through his undaunted heart”the suggested daring, and the power to achieve what he dares to undertakethe beginning of his kingly service is made possible. Does it come to Daniel as a duty to keep himself pure from defiling meats? The beginning of his devotion is helped by a physical grace that keeps him strong and well. The beginning of Peter’s consecration is helped by the miraculous draught of fishes. The beginning of the service of the seventy, by the miraculous powers so freely imparted to them. And so always there is special grace for those beginning. There is some fulness of gracious influenceclearness of lightsome strengthening companionship of mansome closer presence of Godinvigorating hopesthe energy which comes from the sacred calm of penitencesome clearing of the way before ussome moving of the pillar of fire and cloud, or of the Ark of God. And whenever any enterprise of Christian love is undertaken, there is always some help of a special kind. Enlargement of spiritsome power of prayer, or patiencesome great strength of humility or steadfastness. As here, so always, special grace attends the beginnings of all great courses. And this is no light thing, for in all the forms of Christian life and service, “Well begun is half done.” And the grace then given not merely makes the beginning possible, but all the subsequent career. “They feared Joshua as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.” Always, the beginner gets special grace for the beginning of his work, and sufficient to exert an influence on all that follows after. If such is the case, consider lastly
III. WHAT LESSONS ARE INVOLVED IN IT. There is this lesson first and foremost
1. Shrink not from beginning the Christian life. It is difficultnay, to naked human strength impossible. The beginningthe Jordan passagewill try you. But beginners’ difficulties are more than matched by beginners’ grace. You may not feel this grace: it may be “latent” grace, and not “sensible” grace; but it will be there, omnipotent enough to carry you over every hindrance.
2. Shrink not from undertaking any duty of service with which God charges you. Do not be evilly modest, folding your pound in some napkin of seeming humility. If it be the path of duty, let no obstacles deter; they will only prove the occasion for grander help from God than you ever dare to hope.
3. Have you just begun discipleship or service, and are you overwhelmed with . difficulty? “In your patience possess your soul,” for even as a mother gives her finger to the little child just beginning to walk, so to us, who are but children of a larger growth, God lends His finger when we are beginning some great life task.G.
Jos 4:15-17
Prophets and priests-the order of precedence.
Here a layman commands a priest. It was not a case of royal supremacy exactly, nor did he govern them by virtue of his being the civil head of the community; but because, though layman (he was of the tribe of Ephraim), he was a prophet. “The Lord spake to Joshua,” and therefore Joshua could command even the priests of God. We have here not a question of arehaeological interest merely. It is a live question of today. Rome goes in for having an order of priests; Protestantism for an order of prophetsi.e; speakers forth of God’s messages to man. They want a prescriptive class, elevated above their fellows, “ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices to God;” we want, not men ordained, but men inspired, who, fresh from the vision of God and converse with Him, will be able to tell us what He is, and feels, and wants. Are they or we following the more excellent way? Let the subordination of the priest to the prophet here help us to the answer. It may do so, for observe
I. THE PRECEDENCE HERE IS the constant precedence. Aaron was older brother and high priest. Moses was the prophet who “spake with God face to face.” The order of the names invariably is “Moses and Aaron:” prophet first, priest second. In all the subsequent centuries you find prophets foremost, priests subservient. The greatest men of Israelthose who sustained their patriotism, kindled their devotion, fed the flame of hope, those who led them in the path of duty, and were the reformers of religionwere prophets, Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel. Ezra was the only priest who, without being a prophet, can be classed with them. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests and prophets, but it is in the latter character they rendered their grandest service. We must not depreciate the services of the priesthood. Perhaps the tone of Dean Stanley’s lecture on the Jewish Priesthood (‘Jewish Church,’ vol. 2:356) is too disparaging. They tended to keep alive devotion, to familiarise men with the great idea of access to God, they guided men in the ways of gratitude and trust. Still the teachers, inspirers, leaders of souls were the prophets; and throughout all Old Testament history down to the time of the Maccabees, it is the prophetic order that keeps alive piety in all its grand activities. And if we had applied the same terms on the Christian dispensation it might be shown that the greater of the two services has been that rendered by men of the prophetic, rather than that rendered by men of the priestly, stamp. Athanasius, Augustine, Tertullian, St. Bernard, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesleythose that can speak out the heart and the will of Godhave, according to a law of moral gravitation, found a higher level than the most devoted and self forgetful of ecclesiastics. Anyhow, here the prophet commands, and the priest obeys. Observe secondly
II. THIS ORDER OF PRECEDENCE IS THE NATURAL ORDER. The rank of priest is highan ambassador of man in the court of heaven. But the rank of prophet is higheran ambassador of God. The priest’s grandest work is supplication; the prophet’s is to mediate the promises, commands, requirements of God. For the former office the requirements were lowa certain lineage, freedom from physical defect, familiarity with ritual, rubric, and law. For the office of the prophet far higher requirements were madepurity of heart, to see God; the open ear, that could hear His voice; the heart of love, that could enter into His purposes; the courage which could confront men with the Divine behest. The priest could be made by manthe prophet only by God. The former had outward and visible ordination; the latter was ordained by the laying on of the unseen hands of the great God Himself. One reason why communities that have degenerated in faith are so emphatic in their doctrines of holy orders is that the priest is easily made, his work easily done, his claims easily asserted and enforced. But to make men prophets, or catch the inspiration of heaven, is not at all so easy. It takes a happy concurrence of grace and nature, a “bridal of the earth and sky,” to make him. Naturally, therefore, because the prophet’s is a higher taste demanding higher powers, the prophet ranks before the priest. Lastly, observe as the conclusion of the above
III. PROPHETS ARE THE GREAT WANT OF THIS AND EVERY AGE. True priests are invaluable: such as by their pity and their love are spontaneous, fervent intercessors for their fellow men. We should covet to be such: whether in or out of “orders,” we may belong to “the Royal Priesthood,” whose mark is not an official garb, but a compassionate heart. But the great want is prophetsnot prophets of the almanack sort, dealing with the curious questions of the future; but prophets of the Bible sortpre-eminently engaged with “present truth” and present duty. The great want of the age is not priests at the altar, but inspired men in all the pulpits of the landmen who, walking with God, can bring to us the truth, the consolations, the requirements of God, with the authority of those who have learned from His lips what they address to our ears. Such men would speak “with authority” which all would recognise without needing demonstration of it. Their lips would feed many. Their utterances would find or make a way into all hearts. And reason approving, the heart accepting, the conscience endorsing, all their words, the people of our land would become “obedient to the heavenly vision” and “walk in the light of the Lord.” Not after formal authority of the priest, but after the living inspiration of the prophet, let us all aspire.G.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
Jos 4:19-24
Memorials.
The passage of the Jordan has been called a “priestly miracle,” a natural event “turned into a miracle” by the historian for the sake of exalting the priestly office. We fail, however, to see that any such special prominence has been given to the priestly clement. It is the ark that is the medium of the miracle working power, the priests are but its servants and attendants. The ark, as the symbol and throne of the Divine presence, is the centre around which all the supernatural glory of the incident gathers. Indeed, there is rather a notable subordination of the priestly element at this period of Hebrew history. Joshua did not belong to the priestly order any more than Moses did. There was no sacerdotal rule. The twelve men who gathered these memorial stones from the bed of the river were not priests, but men chosen by the tribes for that particular work. The priestly functions were not those most brought into prominence by these incidents. There is no sign of anything like undue homage being paid to the priesthood at that period, and even as regards the religion of the people it was, as Stanley says, “a part of the mechanism of that religion rather than its animating spirit.” The raising of these stones, then, to commemorate the great event that had just taken place, was the act of the whole people through their chosen representatives. Two piles of stones were raised: the one by direct Divine command; at Gilgal, where the Israelites rested for the night after the passage, and where they observed their first passover in the land of Canaan; the other, apparently without Divine command, on the other side, at the spot where the feet of the priests first touched the brink of the flooded river. The words of Joshua present them in two lights before us:
(1) As a memorial for the men of that generation, and
(2) as a means of instruction for their children.
I. A MEMORIAL FOR THAT GENERATION. The wisdom of God is seen in the command to raise such a memorial. It meets that weakness in human nature by which it comes to pass that the most sacred impressions are prone to diethe lapse of time and the succeeding waves of circumstance obliterate them. Most Divine institutions have rested on this principle. God “set his bow in the cloud” a sign and pledge of His faithfulness. The Sabbath was intended to quicken in men the sense of their Divine relations and their longing for the “rest that remaineth.” The passover and other feasts were to be “for memorials;” and when Christ said to His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me,” He asserted the same principle. The sign was to be a stimulus to spiritual apprehension and a help to faith. The history of the olden times is full of examples of the way in which men, as by a natural instinct, have sought to create for themselves some permanent record of the most momentous experiences of their life, by the names they gave to certain scenes, or by the erection of altars, etc. (Abraham at Mount Moriah, “Jehovah Jireh,” Gen 22:19; Jacob at Bethel, Gen 28:18; Moses at Rephidim, Exo 17:14; Samuel at Mizpeh, “Ebenezer,” 1Sa 7:12). All memorials of this kind have their outlook towards the past and towards the future. They serve a double purpose; they keep alive precious memories and awaken buoyant hopes, they excite gratitude and strengthen faith. We do well to set up such way marks in the pilgrimage of our life. Their value lies not so much in the fact that they record the extraordinarythat which happened once and is not likely to happen againbut rather in the fact that they link the past with the future. They show us that through all change something abides. Our nature is the same in its needs, dangers, responsibilities; God is the same in His loving regard for us and His power to deliver. Every passing experience of His grace is a pledge that He will not fail us in emergencies yet to come. Anything is good that deepens this impression, provokes to thankfulness, and rebukes distrust. The darkest passages in our history thus ‘leave benedictions behind them, are transformed into occasions of triumphant joy:
“Out of our stony griefs
Bethels we raise.”
II. A MEANS OF INSTRUCTION FOR THEIR CHILDREN. “When your children shall ask their fathers,” etc. A glimpse here of the simplicity and sanctity of domestic relations which was so important a feature of ancient Hebrew life. The authority of the father over his children almost absolute and unlimited. Something terrible in its despotism, if it had not been modified and softened by certain provisions defining parental duty. Instruction in the sacred traditions of the nation, its memories and hopesan obligation continually enforced (see Exo 12:26, Exo 12:27; Exo 12:14; Deu 6:7-20, et seq).
1. The beauty and worth of a spirit of inquiry in children. It is natural for the child to ask questions. A boundless realm of mystery lies all around the awakening mind, and an irresistible instinct moves it to inquire, “Why these things? What mean ye by these services?” The contact of mind with mind is needful in order to development, and of whom should the children ask, but of “their fathers,” for the solution of the problems that perplex them? The most notable chapter, the only recorded chapter, in the early development of Jesus is that scene in which we behold Him in the temple, “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.”
2. The generous, sympathetic response this spirit of inquiry should meet with. No tender sensibility of childhood is to be suppressed, least of all any that may lead to the discovery of truth. The inquisitiveness of the child is a precious faculty that demands to be rightly directed. The indifference of many parents to the stirrings of the spirit of inquiry in their children arises from selfish indolence, and is a cruel wrong. No doubt children will often ask questions which the wisest cannot answer, but at least let the difficulty be frankly confessed; let the ground and reason of it be defined in a way adapted to the young intelligence. The very disappointment then becomes a means of Divine instruction. The higher interests of our beingthe laws of God’s government, the revelations of His love, the workings of His Providence and Spiritlet these especially be unfolded. What nobler office can any parent perform than to mediate between the mind of his child and the mystery of the Unseento lift up the veil that hides God’s glory, to explain and justify His ways, to be the medium of His truth and Spirit to the young requiring soul?
3. The practical result at which all instruction should aim. “That ye might fear the Lord your God forever.” The miracle, the memorial, the teaching, all find here their ultimate issue. All subordinate purposes must lead on to thisthe showing forth of God’s glory, and the submission of His intelligent creatures to Him in reverence and godly fear. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter,” etc. (Ecc 12:13). W.
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE
Jos 4:18
The passage of Jordan the symbol of death.
The passage of Jordan as the necessary way of entrance into the land of promise has always been regarded as symbolic of the death of the Christian. The same causes which allowed the children of Israel to cross the stream without being buried in its waters, operate in the case of the believing soul, to enable him also to pass through the deep water floods without being overflowed by them. These causes may be described as threefold.
I. THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN WAS EFFECTED AT THE TIME APPOINTED BY GOD. It was in obedience to the command of God that Israel crossed the river, so is it also with our death. It is determined by God. To Him belong the times and seasons. Hence we can in all confidence commit our way to Him and our spirit into His hands.
II. GOD GRANTED SPECIAL AID TO HIS PEOPLE IN THIS HOUR OF TRIAL. This He promises to us also when we are called to pass through the deep waters. “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee.” And David, full of this confidence, exclaims, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Psa 23:4).
III. ISRAEL SEES AT ITS HEAD A GUIDE CHOSEN OF GOD, WHO GOES BEFORE IT IN THIS DANGEROUS PASSAGE. We also have our Divine Joshua, who has passed through the river of death before us; that mighty Saviour, who “died for our sins and rose again for our justification” (1Co 1:1). He will bring us safely to Himself on that blessed shore, whither He is gone before. How heartening is the sweet song of Vinet:
“Quand le bruit des riots, l’aspect et le rivage,
Nous diront, O Jourdain, nos travaux vont cesser;
Jesus nous recevra triomphants et lasses
Pres de ces compagnons d’exil et d’heritage,
Qui ne sont pas perdus, mais nous ont devances.”
“When the rush of Jordan’s waters breaking on the shore
Tells the struggling, fainting pilgrim toil is nearly o’er;
Jesus ready to receive him, brothers gone before,
Welcome him with songs of triumph, ‘Home forevermore!'”
E. DE. P.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
3. The Passage of the Israelites through the Jordan
Joshua 3-4
a. Joshuas Regulations concerning the Passage through the Jordan
Jos 3:1-13
1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed [broke up1] from Shittim and came to [the] Jordan, he and all the children [sons] of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2And it came to pass after three days, that the officers 3[overseers] went through the host [camp]; and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove [break up] from your place, and go after it. 4Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
5And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for to-morrow the Lord 6[Jehovah] will do wonders among you. And Joshua spake2 unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.7And the Lord [Jehovah] 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 8be with thee. And thou3 shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of [the] Jordan, ye shall stand still in [or, at the] Jordan.
9And Joshua said unto the children [sons] of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord [Jehovah] your God. 10And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the [a] living God is among you, and that he will without fail4 drive out from before you the Canaanites [Canaanite], and the Hittites [Hittite], and the Hivites [Hivite], and the Perizzites [Perizzite], and the Girgashites [Girgashite], and 11the Amorites [Amorite], and the Jebusites [Jebusite].1 Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into [through the] 12Jordan. Now therefore [And now] take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel,out of every tribe a Man 1:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters6 of [the] Jordan, that the waters of [the] Jordan shall be cut off from [omit; from], the waters that come down from above; [,] and they [omit; they] shall stand upon a heap [in, or, as a heap.]
b. The Passage of the Jordan
Jos 3:14 to Jos 4:17
14And it came to pass, when the people removed [broke up] from their tents to pass over [the] Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the 15people; and as2 they that bare the ark were come unto [the] Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for [the] Jordan overfloweth all his [its] banks all the time of harvest,)3 16that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap, very far from [by 4] the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those that came down toward the sea of the plain [the Arabah 5] even [omit: even] the salt sea, failed, and were cut off [were entirely cut off]: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] stood firm on [the] dry ground in the midst of [the] Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on [the] dry ground, until all the people [nation, ] were passed clean over [the] Jordan.
IV. 1And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over [the] Jordan, that the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, saying, 2Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a Man 1:3 and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of [the] 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.
4Then [And] Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children 5[sons] of Israel, out of every tribe a man; And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] your God into the midst of [the] Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 6that this may be a sign among you, that [omit: that] when your children ask their fathers [omit: their fathers] in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7Then ye shall answer them [say to them], That the waters of [the] Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah]; when it passed over [the] Jordan, the waters of [the] Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children 8[sons] of Israel forever. And the children [sons] of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of [the] Jordan, as the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children [sons] of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of [the] Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant 10stood, and they are there unto this day. For [And] the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of [the] Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord [Jehovah] commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed oJoshua Jos 3:11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord [Jehovah] passed over, and the priests in the presence of [before] the people. 12And the children [sons] of Reuben, and the children [sons] of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over armed [eager for war, or, in companies Jos 1:14] before the children [sons] of Israel, as Moses spake unto them. 13About forty thousand prepared for [the] war passed over before the Lord [Jehovah] unto battle, to the plains [desert plains, steppes, 5] of Jericho.
14On that day the Lord [Jehovah] magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him [,] as they [had] feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15And the Lord [Jehovah] spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony [law, Gesenius] that they come up out of [the] Jordan. 16Joshua therefore [And Joshua] commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up 17out of [the] Jordan. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord [Jehovah] were come up out of the midst of [the] Jordan, and [omit: and] the soles of the priests feet were lifted up [plucked out ] unto the dry land, that [and] the waters of [the] Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his [its] banks, as they did before.
c. The Erection of the Memorial at Gilgal
Jos 4:19-24
19And the people came up out of [the] 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 [the] Jordan, did Joshua pitch [set up] in Gilgal. 21And he spake unto the children [sons] 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 [sons] know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on [the] dry land. 23For the Lord [Jehovah] your God dried up the waters of [the] Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord [Jehovah] your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: 24that all the people [peoples] of the earth might know the hand of the Lord [Jehovah], that it is mighty, that ye [Fay: they] might fear the Lord [Jehovah] your God for ever.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
a. Joshuas Arrangements for the Passage of the Jordan.And Joshua rose early. as in Gen 19:2; Gen 19:27; Gen 20:8; Gen 22:3; Gen 28:18; Gen 32:1, with and without the addition in the morning. Properly is a denom. from , to load up, on the backs of beasts of burden, which among the nomads is done early in the morning, = Isa 33:20.This breaking up took place immediately after the return of the spies, and this verse accordingly belongs properly to ch. ii.
Jos 4:2 is in continuation of Jos 1:10-16. The three days here are the same as in Jos 1:11. In ch. ii. which is otherwise very appositely inserted, and in a way completely suiting the connection, the differences in the dates were not, we must simply admit, duly taken into account. On the other hand it seems to us unnecessary, to assume a contradiction between Jos 4:1 on one side and Jos 4:2-6 on the other, on the grounds that (a.) the people, according to Jos 4:1, were at the Jordan and not 2,000 cubits off from it; (b.) the Israelites spent only one night () there, and so could not have been there after three days. Although we grant that the word here translated lodge commonly means to spend the night (Gen 19:2; Gen 24:25; Gen 28:11; Gen 32:14; Gen 32:22), still in view of such passages as Job 19:4; Job 41:14; Psa 25:13; Psa 49:13], we may well take it here in the sense of to encamp, to tarry, as the Vulgate, when it translates morati sunt. [The English word lodge very appropriately represents .] Again: they came to the Jordan, is certainly not to be understood with literal preciseness. It means: they came near to the Jordan, not exactly on the brink of the river. Two thousand cubits may very naturally still have intervened, especially when we take into account the great extent of the camp. This view is very evidently supported by Jos 4:14-15, which, according to Knobel from the same author as Jos 4:1 a, state that the people removed out of their tents and the priests came to the Jordan. Had they encamped close on the riverbrink, as Jos 4:1 is interpreted by Knobel, we should have been told immediately of the dipping of their feet in the water, but not certainly of their coming to the Jordan.
Jos 4:3. Overseers. As in Jos 1:11 so also here , LXX. : Vulg. prcones; Luther, Hauptleute (head-men); Stier, Amtleute (officials); at first probably altogether general officers, head-men of the people (Exo 5:6-19; Num 11:16), those who knew how to write. Later, the magistrates in the towns (Deu 16:18; 1Ch 33:4). In Arabic signifies simply to write. In 2Ch 26:11 and stand side by side. In Pro 6:7, the former, English Vers. overseer, stands with guide and ruler.6
Ark of the Covenant. Here ark of the covenant of Jehovah, elsewhere also ark of God, 1Sa 3:3, ark of the testimony [law], Exo 25:22 : the sacred ark with the tables of the law (according to Heb 9:4, with other objects also), prepared by Moses (Exo 25:10 ff.) after a divine pattern. It was two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits high, and the same in breadth. It was made of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold plate. The name is derived from , to bore out, hollow out, and signifies properly something hollow, hence also a coffin, Gen 1:26. Figures may be seen in Hoffmann and Redslob, Universal Bibel-Lexicon for the People, i. 244; Kiepert, Bible Atlas, v. Fig. 15. [Smiths and other Bible Dictionaries, and works of the same design, may be consulted. Also Jahn, Coleman, and other writers, on Hebrew antiquities.Tr.]
Jos 4:4. Yet there shall be a space…. two thousand cubits by measure. As a reason it is given that the ark should show the way. Had the masses of the people, who by no means marched as soldiers, crowded around it, those that were behind could not have seen it. The sacredness of the ark is not here directly the reason, as various interpreters have supposed (Mas., C. a Lapide, Seb. Schmidt, v. Lengerke and Knobel), but yet may come in as a secondary consideration. According to Num 4:15 the sons of Kohath bore the sanctuary, but might not touch it. Uzziah died when he did this (2Sa 6:7). We may notice also what Starke has pointed out, that no longer the pillar of cloud but the ark of the covenant leads the way. The manna likewise ceased at this time. The days of the pilgrimage are past. Two thousand cubits = one Sabbath days journey (Act 1:12) = three thousand feet. The Kethib is to be retained instead of Keri, . So also Jos 8:11, since the plural is limited almost entirely to the case where the suff. also has the plural sense. Comp. Ewald, 266 a. (Keil).
Jos 4:5. [Sanctify yourselves. The sanctification of the people consisted not in the washing of their clothes, which is mentioned Exo 19:10-14 with the , for there was no time for this; nor in the changing of garments merely, which according to Gen 35:2, might take the place of washing, and in abstinence from conjugal intercourse, Exo 19:15. These were only the outward signs of the sanctification which really consisted at the same time in the spiritual purification, the turning of the heart to God, in faith and trust in his promise, and in willing obedience to his commands, that they might rightly take to heart the wonder of grace which the Lord would the next day perform among them. Keil.Tr.]
To-morrow. According to Jos 4:19 the 10th of Nisan.
Jos 4:6. And they took up the ark of the covenant. This statement is not exact [not in place here], the correct account is given in Jos 4:15, since Jos 4:7-13 could not be spoken after the procession was already in motion. Keil: Whether the command in Jos 4:6 was given the evening before, as Maurer, or on the morning of the crossing, as Rosenmller supposes, cannot be determined, since both were equally possible. The former is the more probable; but it is certain that the execution of this command in the last words of the verse is anticipated. For the following revelation of God to Joshua, together with Joshuas discourse to the people, cannot have taken place after the priests with the ark had already begun the march. Knobel refers the words to the breaking up of the camp from Shittim.
Jos 4:7-8. Revelation of God to Joshua, in which the Lord promises to make him great from this day forward as he had made Moses great; agreeing substantially with Jos 1:2-9. Then follows, Jos 4:8, Gods command that Joshua should direct the priests bearing the ark to halt when they came to the edge of the water of the Jordan, i. e., as soon as they reached the water in the bed of the Jordan, and their feet stood in it, and to remain standing. On comp. Gen 43:15. What Jehovah communicated further is not here told, because it appears from the following. (Knobel).
Jos 4:9-13. In these verses we have to think of ourselves as addressed in a solemn assembly of the people, a congregation of Jehovah. They contain the purport of the divine revelation, and more fully than it had been stated in Jos 4:7-8.
Jos 4:9. with accent drawn back as in Rth 2:14; 1Sa 14:38, comp. Ewald, 100 a, and 227 b. (Keil).
Jos 4:10. Hereby shall ye know that a living God is among you. The design of the miracle, the furtherance of the knowledge of God as a living mighty God, is significantly put first. ; God is here called from , prop. the Strong One in opposition to the gods of the heathen, which are , Lev 19:4; Lev 26:1, nothings, , prop. breaths, Deu 32:21; Jer 8:19; Jer 14:22; Psa 31:7, or even , Jon 2:8, lying vanities. He is, however, not called merely, which term in the plural occurs also of the gods of the heathen (Exo 15:11), but , to indicate that he is not dead like them, comp. Jer 10:9-10. On the original inhabitants of Palestine see the Introduction, 7. As here, so previously in Deu 7:1, and again in this book Jos 9:1; Jos 11:3; Jos 24:11, seven races are enumerated, but in varying order. The Jebusites, however, always, except in Jos 11:3, stand last.
Jos 4:11. Lord of the whole earth. A significant appellation of God, where the conquest of a land is in question. From Him Israel has his title to Canaan.
Verse 12 compared with Jos 4:2 occasions difficulty. Two questions arise: (1.) When was this direction given; before the crossing or during the crossing? The former according to this passage, the latter according to Jos 4:2. The former seems more probable, because the twelve men could not possibly be chosen during the passage. (2.) Does the choice of the twelve men rest as Knobel teaches, according to our passage, on the regulation of Joshua alone, or on the divine command, as Jos 4:1 expressly says. Answer: The author has here the same view of the divine authority of the command as in Jos 4:1, otherwise he would not have incorporated these words in a discourse which contains the solemn announcement of a divine revelation.
Jos 4:13. Soles of the feet, comp. Jos 1:3.The water. … shall be cut off, , Luther: be broken off; De Wette: part; literally: shall be cut off, that is, the water above the place of crossing stood still, so that no more flowed by. The water below ran away toward the Dead Sea.
b. Chaps, Jos 3:14 to Jos 4:18. The Passage of the People through the Jordan. This took place according to Jos 4:19, on the tenth day of the first month (called Nisan or Abib), hence in the same month as formerly the departure out of Egypt. This like that was immediately before the Passover, which according to Joshua 5 was celebrated four days later for the first time on the soil of the Holy Land. The harvest here, in the deeply sunken heated valley of the Jordan, was already begun. The yellow water of the river stands high at this season, because the snows are melting on the mountains (comp. Furrer, p. 154). So much more wonderful was the event, a proof of the actual help of the living God.
Jos 4:15. And the Jordan overfloweth.. . . harvest. A parenthetical sentence. The Jordan-valley, the Ghor, is two hours across, the proper river-bed, through which the stream flows, only a quarter of an hour, and the stream itself, according to Furrers estimate (p. 154), only 90 feet in breadth. This latter valley was overflowed, and is still overflowed, by the high-water at the time of harvest, precisely as then. See Seetzen, Burckhardt, Robinson, [Stanley, S. & P.,] Furrer. The last named says: When, late in the spring, the snow on Hermon begins to melt, the Jordan commonly overflows its lower bank, and puts reeds and bushes under water. So found it, as was related in Israel, the fathers under Joshua; The Jordan was full on all its banks all the time of harvest.
Jos 4:16. Near Adam. Heb. . The Kethib is to be preferred, since its meaning is that very far from the place of crossing, by the city Adam which lay at the side of Zaretan, the water stood still. This city Adam was situated, probably, where now we find the ford Damieh with remains of a bridge of the Roman period (Lynchs Report, p. 150 f., Van de Velde, Narrative, ii. p. 322 f.), Several hours north of Jericho (Knobel). Zaretan. Not improbably Kurn Sartabeh, near the ford Damieh, a long, prominent rocky ridge, from which a lower range of hills reaches almost to the Jordan, and seems to extend itself obliquely through to the eastern mountains. Here the Jordan valley is compressed within its narrowest limits, and the Ghor divides itself into the upper and the lower. On Kurn Sartabeh it is reported that there are still ruins. So Knobel after Robinson (Lat. Bibl. Res. pp. 283 f., 217 f.). It is worthy of remark that just here the water is cut off where from both sides the mountain ridges narrow the river, and the river valley. The name Zaretan, perhaps identical with Zareda, the home of Jeroboam (1Ki 11:26), as Knobel conjectures, is explained from the Arabic: elatus montium locus. Gesenius likewise holds the two names identical, but derives from , according to the Arabic, to be cool = cooling, also a suitable name for a town on a fresh hilltop in the vicinity of a river. The name Adam calls to mind Admah, one of the five cities in the vale of Siddim (Gen 10:19; Gen 14:2; Hos 11:8), as also Adami, a city of the tribe of Naphtali (Jos 19:33). Edom may also be compared with it.
Failed and were cut off. [The conception of this scene indicated by the Keri (very far from Adam,) is different from that of our author and the recent commentators generally. It coincided with (although not necessary to) what we suppose to have been the common (popular) view, well stated and explained by Gill (among others) on the place. He naively remarks, indeed, that both readings, as is usually, if not always the case, are to be received, but his own exposition does not require anything so unreasonable. Let the waters have been actually cut off above where the priests stood, in full view of the people (as the spirit of the whole account seems to lie in the visibility of the wonder to the people), and still the water would be arrested and stand, before the crossing was finished, very far off. The current might have ceased at Adam, though that were thirty or even more miles above. Not only would this be immeasurably more impressive to the multitude as an exhibition of the divine power than the mere phenomenon of a bare river bed, the reason for which they could not see, but thus the fear with which they hasted and passed over (see on Jos 4:10), is much more naturally accounted for. This view of the miracle ought, at least, not to be wholly ignored. Indeed, Keil seems so to conceive the scene, and he even represents (on Jos 4:8) the priests with the ark (symbolizing the divine presence) as constituting the dam, so to speak, by which the rushing waters were restrained and piled up in a heap.Tr.].
Toward the sea of the plain (Arabah), the salt sea. It is evident that the Dead Sea is meant, concerning whose origin we have a report in Gen 19:24. It is called sea of the plain in Deu 3:17; Deu 4:49 also.7 The region round about is desolate, yet birds sing on the shore of the sea in numerous choirs and fly freely over the water (Furrer, p. 258, Robinson, Phys. Geog., p. 219). The water of the sea is clear but very strongly tinctured with salt, and hence fatal to fish. Bathers become covered with an oily envelope, sometimes painful, sometimes not. From the southern point of the Dead Sea clear to Elath stretches the desert valley in which the Israelites wandered for forty years.[8]
Jos 4:17. : Properly: firmando, i. e. firmiter, with solid foot. used here of Israel, as Jos 4:1; Jos 5:6; Jos 5:8; Jos 10:13; Exo 19:6; Exo 33:13; Deu 32:28. Where the passage took place cannot now be determined.
Chap. 4. After the author has, in Jos 3:14-17, briefly related the history of the crossing, he completes his report in this chapter. The account is not strictly speaking without order, and confused, as some have said, but yet neither is it without repetitions which indicate a variety of authorities, blended together by a later hand. These, however, we cannot assume that it is possible to determine accurately, according to their original parts, as Knobel has with much acuteness attempted to do.
Jos 4:1. And it came to pass when all the people were clean passed over the Jordan. These words were omitted by Luther in his translations. Why? Did he possibly consider the immediately following Piska (o) as a sign of their spuriousness? This Piska is, according to Keil (Bib. Com. in loc), a sign in use before the Masoretes, and by them left remaining to denote a division in the middle of a verse where a Parasche begins: comp. Hupfeld, Ausfhrl. Heb. Gramm. pt. i. pp. 86 and 89. Gesenius in his Lehrgeb. p. 124, takes a different view.
Jos 4:2. See Jos 3:12.
Jos 4:3. For we should read , as in Jos 3:17.
Jos 4:4. Knobel regards this as a continuation of Jos 4:1, a. What intervenes he refers to the second source of his Jehovist, according to which the choice of the twelve men rested on a divine direction, while the first knew nothing of it. We confidently hold that Jos 3:12 presupposes a divine direction, which however is first stated here in the way of a supplement.
Jos 4:6-9. When your children ask. Comp. Jos 22:27-28; Exo 13:8-14.Stones. Here it is a heap of twelve stones, in Gen 28:18; Gen 35:14 a single stone, but in Gen 31:46, again as here, a heap of stones. They were sacred memorials of the simplest kind. According to Jos 4:9, Joshua takes twelve other stones, and sets them up in the bed of the Jordan on the spot ( as in Exo 10:23; Exo 16:29) where the feet of the priests stood, and where the stones have remained till the time of the narrator (Knobel). It has been asked: To what purpose, since afterwards the water streamed over them again? They might become visible in a low stage of the water.9 This second measure Joshua adopts of himself without express divine direction.
Unto this day. A very common phrase in our book, as Bleek (Introd. to O. T. 135) observes: Jos 5:9; Jos 6:22; Jos 7:26 (bis); Jos 8:28-29; Jos 9:27; Jos 10:27; Jos 13:13; Jos 14:14; Jos 15:63; Jos 16:10.
Jos 4:10. The priests remain standing in the Jordan until all the people have passed through. They had therefore, when the camp broke up, only gone the two thousand cubits in advance to show the way, then remain standing after they have taken their position in the midst of the dried bed of the stream until the passage is completed. Their quiet waiting was well calculated to impart courage to the people who hasted and passed over through fear. The contrast well deserves consideration. Knobel assumes that this very standing still of the priests was the ground of this haste. He says: The people passed as quickly through as possible, and that on account of the priests, who during this long passage must stand in one place and bear the ark. This reason may possibly have operated also, yet such a consideration is rather modern than conformable to the sentiment of antiquity. The chief reason for the haste was certainly fear.[10]
Jos 4:11 After the passage, the ark again takes the lead, as in Jos 3:3 ff.
After the history of the crossing has thus been given first briefly in Jos 3:14-17, then more completely Jos 4:1-11, we have some supplementary notices in Jos 4:12-17, and finally the conclusion Jos 4:18 announcing the return of the water.
On Jos 4:12-13 comp. Jos 1:12-18.
On Jos 4:14 comp. Jos 3:7.
What is related in Jos 4:15-17 is a more particular statement of the fact mentioned in Jos 4:11 of this chapter, referred by Knobel, on account of the designation of the ark as the ark of the testimony, to the Elohistic original. This he supposes to have been used here first in the book of Joshua.
Jos 4:18. States the conclusion, pointing back to Jos 3:16.
c. On Jos 4:19-24. Erection of the Monument at Gilgal.
Jos 4:19. The date, on the tenth (day) of the first month, is very exact, and on this account Knobel ascribes the verse to the Elohist. The first month (as Exo 12:2; Exo 12:18; Exo 40:2; Exo 40:17 and often) is elsewhere called also Abib, i. e. month of green ears (Exo 13:4; Exo 23:15; Deu 16:1), and subsequently Nisan (Neh 2:1; Est 3:7.) This name is probably of Persian origin, and to be explained from the Zend navaan, new day, which was transferred to the first month of the year, from New Years day. See Benfey, Names of the Months, p. 131 ff. Gesenius.[11] Frst, in his Hist. of Bibl. Lit. p. 400, fixes the year as having been 1454 b. c. There were four days before the Passover which fell on the 14th, Jos 5:10.
Jos 4:20. Gilgal, see Jos 5:9.
Jos 4:21 like Jos 4:6, with Epic breadth as in Homer.
Jos 4:22-23, might, from the repetition of , seem to be a citation from a poetical panegyric on the Passage of the River, as Bunsen assumes in Jos 4:7 when he translates:
As through the Jordan passed the Ark,
Flowed away the waters of the Jordan.
Here we are reminded of the Book of Jasher, mentioned Jos 10:13, which, however, was not a Law-book but precisely the opposite, a poetical Hero-book. See Introd. and on Jos 10:13.
Jos 4:24. All the peoples of the earth, [Keil: of the land, sc. of Canaan. But not well.] Might know the hand of Jehovah. A beautiful catholicity! The miracle made the passage possible and easy for Israel, but was at the same time to serve also for imparting to the heathen nations of all ages a knowledge of the power of Jehovah, and a fear of the Almighty, (Knobel). Instead of read (Ewald, Maurer, Knobel), with reference to the cordinate . [This is quite doubtful; we rather agree with Keil, that the Masoretic pointing should stand.Tr. ]
[Stanley in the following paragraphs has finely combined the various incidents of this marvelous event, and we have only to regret that he should, as his custom too often is, bring in the Septuagint version, and Josephus, and what not, as if of about equal authority with the inspired text. His work thus wears, with all its charms of learning, arrangement, and style, too much the air of a secular relation of the history of the ancient Church.
The scene of the passage of the Jordan is presented to us in the Sacred Narrative in a form so distinct, and at the same time so different from that in which it is usually set forth in pictures and allegories, that it shall here be given at length, so far as it can be made out from the several notices handed down to us, namely, the two separate accounts in the Book of Joshua, further varied by the differences between the Received Text and the Septuagint, the narrative of Josephus, and the 114th Psalm.
For the first time they descended from the upper terraces of the valley, they removed from the acacia groves and came to the Jordan, and stayed the night there before they passed over.
It was probably at the point near the present southern fords, crossed at the time of the Christian era by a bridge. The river was at its usual state of flood at the spring of the year, so as to fill the whole of the bed, up to the margin of the jungle with which the nearer banks are lined On the broken edge of the swollen stream, the band of priests stood with the Ark on their shoulders. At the distance of nearly a mile in the rear was the mass of the army. Suddenly the full bed of the Jordan was dried before them. High up the river, far, far away,12 in Adam the city which is beside Zaretan, as far as the parts of Kirjath-jearim,13 that is, at a distance of thirty miles from the place of the Israelite encampment, the waters there stood which descended from the heights above,stood and rose up, as if gathered into a water skin;14 as if in a barrier or heap, as if congealed;15 and those that descended towards the sea of the desert, the salt sea, failed and were cut off. Thus the scene presented is of the descending stream (the words employed seem to have a special reference to that peculiar and most significant name of the Jordan), not parted asunder, as we generally fancy, but, as the Psalm expresses it, turned backwards; the whole bed of the river left dry from north to south, through its long windings; the huge stones lying bare here and there, embedded in the soft bottom; or the shingly pebbles drifted along the course of the channel.
The ark stood above. The army passed below. The women and children, according to the Jewish tradition, were placed in the centre, from the fear lest they should be swept away by the violence of the current. The host, at different points probably, rushed across. The priests remained motionless, their feet sunk in the deep mud of the channel. In front, contrary to the usual order, as if to secure that they should fulfill their vow, went the three Transjordanic tribes. Their own memorial of the passage was the monument already described.16 But the national memorial was on a larger scale. Carried aloft before the priests as they left the riverbed, were the twelve stones, selected by the twelve chiefs of the tribes. These were planted on the upper terrace of the plain of the Jordan, and became the centre of the first sanctuary of the Holy Land,the first place pronounced Holy, the sacred place of the Jordan valley, where the tabernacle remained till it was fixed at Shiloh. Gilgal long retained reminiscences of its ancient sanctity. The twelve stones taken up from the bed of the Jordan continued at least till the time of the composition of the Book of Joshua, and seem to have been invested with a reverence which came at last to be regarded as idolatrous.17 The name was joined with that of the acacia groves of the farther side, in the title, as it would seem given in popular tradition or in ancient records, to this passage of the history: from Shittim to Gilgal [?] Lects. on Jewish Church, i. 255 ff.Tr.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The ark which was borne by the priests and Levites in front of the people, takes henceforth, as was noticed above, the place of the pillar of cloud and fire which had led Israel through the wilderness (Exo 13:21-22). It may take this place because it not only serves for the preservation of the tables of the Law (Exo 25:16), but is also a symbol of the presence of God among his chosen people. On the cover of the ark, the Kapporeth adorned with the Cherubim, God sits enthroned (Exo 25:17-22; Num 7:89; Psa 99:1), and from this place speaks with Moses (Exo 25:22; Num 7:89). Hence, as follows indirectly from our passage, and directly from passages like Num 4:20; 1Sa 6:19; 2Sa 6:6 (compared with Lev 16:13), the ark is unapproachable. But hence also, on the other hand, here is the true place of atonement for the people, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled on the cover of the ark (Lev 16:15), once in the year only, on the great day of atonement, by the high-priests hand. To this Paul refers, Rom 3:25, when he calls Christ the true mercy-seat, whom God has set forth before () all the world, as a manifestation of his righteousness, for those who through faith in the efficacy of Christs reconciling death, approach this New Testament place of atonement. The is brought out of the most holy place into the public view of the whole world for those who believe (Lange on Rom. iii. 2). In Christ God dwells among his New Testament congregation (Joh 1:14), goes before them (Joh 14:6), and is reconciled to them (2Co 5:19.)
2. The conception of the living God, the (Jos 3:10), is of great importance for the present day also, since it appears to have vanished utterly from the consciousness of many of our contemporaries, especially that of the Materialists. These, after the example of Epicurus, substitute for this living author of all things, Chance, that is, an ultimate cause which they omit to define because it is utterly incapable of logical definition. Other thinkers, better schooled in philosophy, replace the living God with an Order of Nature determining everything by inevitable law, to which order, as such, they deny self-consciousness and maintain that it comes to self-consciousness only in the consciousness of rational beingsnever in and of itself. This they do from fear of transferring human limitations to the Absolute, especially the conception of personality. Of personality it is maintained that it is predicable of the human individual, never of the Godhead; as if Goethe were unquestionably in the right when he says,
The professor is a person
But God is none.18
But still we think humanly of God even then when we identify him with the Order of Nature, nay, it is absolutely impossible for us to think in any other way concerning God than consistently with our faculties, that is humanly. We certainly shall not, therefore, be found in the wrong course if we again turn more and more toward the sound Biblical realism which recognizes a living God who is at the same time the Lord of the whole earth (Jos 3:11); therefore a God who is the conscious, independent and free Creator and Ruler of all things, of whom, in whom, and for whom we are, who also wakens life in us, so that we possess power, develope power, and bring forth new power. For life is fullness of power; where powerlessness entersthere is death.
Such a living God can perform even miracles. He can, since He is independent and free, establish exceptions to rule, which are and remain exceptions, but which, because planned by his wisdom, no more endanger the continuance of order than any exceptions to rule which a wise house-father may make will disturb the order of his house. Compare Rothe, Dogmatik, p. 80 ff.
Rationalistic explanations of miracles, such as have been attempted in reference to the passage of the Jordan by the people of Israel, are to be avoided. On the other hand, investigation of the Scripture, reverent and believing but not fettered by the spirit of prescription, cannot be avoided. Every report of any miraculous transaction is as much to be examined as the report of any other fact (Introd. p. 17). Such investigation will readily concede that reports, especially these reaching back to the most ancient times, may possibly have acquired a mythical coloring; the more readily, when it is demonstrated that poetical elements have been admitted into the text. As such mythical coloring we regard what is said in the passage before us (Jos 3:16) about the water of the Jordan standing by Zaretan.19
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The regulations of Joshua touching the passage of the Jordan (Jos 3:1-13).Even without pillar of cloud and without ark of the covenant, the Lord still and forever goes before his people.Sanctify yourselves! A word of preparation for the Lords supper.Whom the Lord makes great, he is truly great, as once Moses and Joshua.Joshuas discourse to the people. It contains: (1) a demand to hear the word of the Lord; (2) a promise of the effectual help of the living God.By what do we also recognize the presence of a living God among us? (1) By his word which He still causes to be perpetually published among us; (2) by his deeds which He is still perpetually performing.The Living God! (Jos 4:10). How should we think of God? (1) Not as a rigid order of nature, but (2) as the living God and ruler over all the earth. The ruler over all the world: (1) The mightiest, (2) the best Ruler.
The wonderful passage of Israel through the Jordan (Jos 3:13-14; Joshua 18) to be treated as a Bible Lesson, for which use all these longer sections are generally speaking, well adapted.As Israel went dryshod through the Jordan so we go unharmed through many a danger.The memory of Gods mighty deeds. It is (1) to be faithfully preserved by the parents, (2) carefully to be impressed on the children.The erection of the memorial at Gilgal.After the pilgrimage comes the rest.Increase of the knowledge and fear of God is the holy aim of all his works.
Starke: He that will enter into the promised land on high must also be up early and waste no time, otherwise he will not reach it, Mat 6:33.Whoever will be and be called a right spiritual priest must not only have Christ in his heart but also by an edifying example make him known to others and praise him, 1Ti 4:12; Eph 5:25-27.God may indeed well allow us to erect memorials by which we may remember his wonderful works and his benefits, Gen 28:18; Gen 31:45; 1Sa 7:12; Est 9:27, but we must not worship such things, for that is an abomination to the Lord, Mat 4:10.Teachers and preachers must be an example in faith and constancy, and let no danger terrify them.A Christian on the journey towards the heavenly fatherland must not tarry, must not put off repentance, nor be lazy and slothful in Gods ways, Php 3:14; 1Co 9:24.It is not enough to begin to be pious, but one must persevere even to the end, Rev 2:10.A Christian should never act without, but always according to, Gods will and word, Mat 21:6.It is the duty of the magistracy also to care that the youth should be educated in the fear of the Lord, Luk 7:5.Parents should relate to their children and hold before them, not their own vile deeds but Gods merciful deeds, Exo 10:1-2, Deu 6:20.That is the right application of Gods marvelous and beneficent acts when we learn from them truly to know, fear, and love him, Joh 2:11.
Cramer: When we go to church to hear Gods Gods word and to receive the holy sacraments, we should carefully prepare ourselves, and approach God with a chaste, temperate heart, and hold up holy hands, 1Ti 2:8.Whom God will make great, him he first makes small through wearisome cross, and care, and toil, and danger, Psa 18:36.If often the faithful God before our eyes graciously helps others out of need and peril, while we, in our own thought, are left far behind, still our hour also shall yet come. Let us only await the right time, (Jos 4:17.) God has patience even with the weak, Rom 14:4; Mat 8:25; Mat 14:30.So long as Christ, the true mercy-seat, is under us, and his ministers in this unquiet life preach the gospel, we need not fear; the great floods of sins and of the wrath of God must retire, because for them that are in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation, Rom 8:1. Nor can the enemies of the Church proceed further than has been appointed to them. But if Christ and his word depart from us then must we be eternally overwhelmed and perish and experience the wrath of God.Christ with many saints has passed over into his fathers house through much water of affliction, which came in even unto his soul, Psa 69:1. But he has left a memorial behind him, namely, his twelve apostles and their writings. Happy they who understand this, and thank him therefor.
Hedinger: If those who are to be merely spectators of the great works of God should first sanctify themselves, how much more have those need of sanctification whom God will employ as his servants for the performance of his work, 1Co 9:27.
Bibl. Tub.: Before thee also, O soul! there stand waters of affliction, through which thou must travel, before thou canst enter the heavenly Canaan. But only go in with good heart, and trust thyself to Gods help; He will open a way for thee, so that the streams cannot drown thee, Psa 66:12; Isa 43:2.
Osiander: Dear Christian, remember here the twelve apostles, who have by the preaching of the gospel spread through the world the kindness of Christ in that He would lead us, through the power of his death unto everlasting life; remember them, and heartily thank God for them,God can cause respect for the magistracy, and also take it from them again and cover them with contempt because of their ungodly life, Psa 107:4.
[Matt. Henry: Those that would bring great things to pass must rise early, Love not sleep lest thou come to poverty. Joshua herein set a good example to the officers under him, and taught them to rise early, and to all that are in public station, especially to attend continually to the duty of their place.They must follow the priests as far as they carried the ark, but no further; so we must follow our ministers only as they follow Christ.Though the opposition given to the salvation of Gods people have all imaginable advantages, yet God can and will conquer it.Gods works of wonder ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance and means devised for preserving the remembrance, of them.God had said in his wrath, that they should wander forty years in the wilderness, but to make up that forty years we must take in the first year, which was then passed, and had been a year of triumph in their deliverance out of Egypt, and this last, which had been a year of triumph likewise on the other side of Jordan, so that all the forty were not years of sorrow; and at last he brought them into the land of Canaan five days before the forty years were ended, to show how little pleasure God takes in punishing, how swift He is to show mercy, and that, for the elects sake, the days of trouble are shortened.Those that will be wise when they are old must be inquisitive when they are young. Our Lord Jesus, though He had in himself the fullness of knowledge, has, by his example, taught children and young people to hear and ask questions.In all the instructions and informations parents give their children, they should have chiefly in their eye to teach and engage them to fear God for ever.
Scott (on Jos 3:3): We cannot in general go wrong in keeping close to the ordinances of God, and thus, as it were, following the ark in all its removals. In so doing we need not fear rivers of trouble, mountains of difficulty, nor hosts of opposing foes; but confiding in the faithful promise, the Almighty power and covenant-love of our God, the living God, the Lord of the whole earth, we may proceed with boldness and alacrity.
The Same (Jos 4:10): When with careful attention to the commands and providence of God, we have taken the place and engaged in the service assigned us, we ought patiently to abide in it, and not to attempt to remove till He evidently commands us thence.Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][Jos 3:10.The Gentile names here are all in the sing., and although the Hebrew usage in this respect does not always coincide with the English, in the present case at least our version would gain as much in force as in fidelity by an exact imitation of the original.Tr.]
[2][Jos 3:15.Our version is here particular to mark the difference between with Inf. const. () and in the same connection in ver 13 (). The distinction is slight, and in many cases probably none was deliberately aimed at in the choice of the particle; yet strictly the latter () denotes an action as contained in another (in time) the former () denotes it as bearing a comparison with that other in respect to time (or quality or condition), as simultaneous, following close upon, about the same as, etc.Tr.]
[3][Jos 3:15.Literally, and the Jordan was full on all its banks all the days of harvest.Tr.]
[4][Jos 3:16. Very far (sc. from the place of crossing, Keil) at or by the city of Adam. Our version followed the Keri here apparently without good reason.Tr.]
[5][Jos 3:16.The Arabah (as in Jos 18:18; Jos 18:22) the definite, individual plain, which bordered the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. See the Exeget. Note on this verse.Tr.]
[6][Leyrer, in Herzogs Encyklop., vol. xiv. p. 1, note, supposing the ground-meaning of to have been to put in order, set in a row, hence to make a row, of letters, says: we may rather conceive that the , from the ground-meaning of the word and from their primary function, are called ordinatores, than from a derived meaning and from a mere accident of their office. See Vater, vol. iii. of his Com.; Von Bohlen, Genesis, p. xlii.; Lengerke, Kenaan, p. 374, Anm.; Hoffman, the Art. Hebr. Schrift in Ersch u. Grubers Encyklop.Tr.]
[7][The plain here (), is the arid bottom land in the gorge of the Jordanthe Ghor (see Introd. 6). To this remarkable feature of the country the name is uniformly applied throughout our book, where it is never applied to anything else. It always has the article in this connection, and nothing seems to hinder its being understood simply as a proper name (in which sense our version twice views it, Jos 15:6; Jos 18:18) except the occurrence of the plural form to denote the broader parts of the depressed balley, as about Jericho. Robinson (Phys. Geog. p. 73) nevertheless declares it decidedly the proper name of this valley. This plain encompassed the Dead Sea also, more or less distinctly, and then stretched on in the modern Wady el-Arabah to the head of the Elanitic Gulf. But see, for a complete account of this very extraordinary natural phenomenon, Mr. Groves article on the Arabah in Smiths Dict. of the Bible, and Ffoulkes on the Jordan, in the same work.Tr.].
[8][A very full and interesting digest of what is known concerning the Dead Sea is given in Smiths Dictionary, Art. Sea, the Salt. In reference to the relation between this sea and the cities of the plain, the criticisms of Dr Wolcott on the views of Mr. Grove in the article just named and in those on Sodom and Zoar, and Siddim, should by all means be carefully considered. See also Conants instructive note on his Revised Version of Genesis, p. 79. Nor should Stanleys vivid and flowing representation in ch. ix. of Sin. & Pal., The Jordan and the Dead Sea, be overlooked. The colored views of the sea and its surroundings in Tristrams Land of Israel assist the imagination greatly in picturing to itself the scene.Tr.].
[9][Or might it be that the midst of the Jordan where the priests stood in this time of the freshet, was at the edge of the dry flat in ordinary seasons? Then the pile of twelve stones would in general be visible and less exposed to the force of the water when high. Here the caution of Maurer, Ne premas, vocabulum, is to be heeded.Tr.].
[10][This fear would evidently be much more natural on the supposition stated above on Jos 3:16, that the waters were cut off and stood in a threatening precipice immediately above the place of crossing. But is not the haste of the people sufficiently explained by the fact which Keil emphasizes, that so vast a multitude must cross in one day?Tr.].
[11][But see this disputed in Smiths Dict. of the Bibl. s. v. Months, p. 2006.Tr.]
[12]
[13]LXX.
[14]Symmachus, as the LXX. in Psa 33:7.
[15]LXX.
[16][This is Professor Stanleys interpretation of the occurrence mentioned Jos 22:10-11.Tr.]
[17][The passages adduced in support of this only show that a superstitious sanctity was afterwards ascribed to the place Gilgal.Tr.].
[18] [Against the arrogance and unreason of godless science some of the Essays of Rev. James Martineau (2 vols. Bost. 1866, 1868) are very effectively directed, e. g that on Nature and God, i. 121 ff. See also a recent article by the same author: Is there any Axiom of Causality? in the Contemporary Review for August, 1870.
The Materialism of the Present Day, a critique of Dr. Bchners system; translated from the French of Janet by Gustave Masson, London, 1866 (in Baillires Library of Contemporaneous Philosophy), is a very able and convincing refutation, in short compass, of the doctrines which would explain the universe without a God.Tr.]
[19][This statement, however, seems quite consistent with the rest. If we are to imagine the water cut off perpendicularly above the path of the Israelites, the fluid wall would continually be raised by the down-coming flood, and the distance to which the water would set back (stand), must depend on the time during which the interruption lasted So that there is no need of suspecting myth particularly in this.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The people having all passed over Jordan, the priests are commanded to come up out of Jordan with the ark of God, and pass over also. A memorial is commanded to be set up, both in Jordan, where the feet of the priests had rested, and also in the place where they lodged, of this great and miraculous event. Joshua is peculiarly magnified in the sight of Israel. These are the principal points recorded in this Chapter.
Jos 4:1
While the people were engaged no doubt in contemplating the mercy, and all without the loss of a single Israelite, were passed over, the Lord directs Joshua to a service every way suited to the mercy received: namely, to perpetuate the remembrance of this great event to all ages of the church.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Memorial Stones
Jos 4:1-3
THUS a memorial was to be set up, commemorating the power and goodness of God. The way of life should be full of such cairns. But is it not early in the history to be setting up stones of memory? The battle has not begun. Israel did not march forth to cross a river but to overthrow a city well-walled and hoary with antiquity. Is it not, then, rather early in the day to be building altars and to be setting up signs of triumph? It is in putting such questions as these that we show the littleness of our faith. In all great spiritual controversy the beginning is the end. The whole history is in one sentence. The entire history of the human race is in the first few chapters of Genesis; all the rest has been translation, variation, rearrangement of particles and individualities and colours; but the soul of the history is all there. With God the end and the beginning are one. To have crossed Jordan is to have torn down all the Jerichos that opposed us. One step is the pledge of another. The first miracle is the pledge of the last. He who turns water into wine at the beginning will raise himself from the dead at the end. The miracles are one. One miracle carries with it all the host of wonders. So it is in all the departments of properly-regulated and disciplined life. It is so in any properly-graduated system of education. He who has conquered one book has conquered all books. The reason why men do not conquer the third book is that they have not conquered the first. No student can set himself heart and soul to the mastery of the First Book of Euclid without therein and thereby mastering the next and the next, until the very end. There must be no paltering, no half and half work, no touching the labour with reluctant and dainty fingers, but a real tussle, a tremendous wrestling, at the first. Jordan passed, Jericho shall totter and fall. Why is the Church so hesitant and uncertain in its movement? Perhaps because it does nothing firmly and completely; it may not have mastered its first principles; it may have considered itself altogether too advanced in life to trouble itself with elementary theologies and considerations, but so considering it will never take any Jericho. The place of evil will have faces at every window smiling upon its furious feebleness. The devil will open his idol-temples shoulder by shoulder with any cathedral or minster we can build; he says These people did not perform the first miracle: they never got through Jordan; they are still splashing in the waters that lave the brink of the channel; they are not complete students, they are not well-equipped thinkers; they have nothing in their hearts they are quite sure about; they are changing all the time, now it is a great argument which none can comprehend, now it is a radiant cloud on which no man can satisfy his hunger, now it is an elaborate and pompous programme without a beginning and without an end and without any reason for its existence at all; these people will never fight me; if they could but get hold of one thing and be perfectly certain of that my days would be numbered, but they have nothing in the possession of certitude; they call themselves “honest doubters” and “patient inquirers,” and whilst they are doubting and inquiring I am digging hell miles deeper. Could we but really read one book of the Bible, could we but hold one Gospel in our hearts, could we but get hold of something and say, This one thing I have and know and use, all the rest would come in happy sequence. So it was not too early to set up a cairn on the one side of the bank and on the other side of the bank. We must have memorials in life. If we do not set up stony memorials we shall still leave footprints. Every man has his history, and every man has had his opportunity and has left behind him a record as to its use or abuse. Blessed is the life that is full of memorial stones! It ought never to be far back to the last one; and if whilst we are building the next one the enemy should suddenly come down upon us in some black suggestion, in some terrific temptation, we should flee back to the memorial last put up, and, under the shadow of that Ebenezer, calmly await the future. Why this unbuilt life? Why this life without any pillar of stone or temple behind it? What wonder if in turning round and seeing nothing a great fear should seize us, and we should suppose that we had been given over to the enemy of souls? There should hardly be one step between one memorial stone and another, so that we may instantly retire for a moment to recruit our strength and renew our hope and confidence in God. How mean are some lives in this matter of erecting no memorial; no diary is kept, no journal is posted up, no entry written, it may be in a trembling hand, but yet setting forth the formula: The true God was with me today; he helped me to cross the river, he enabled me to run through a troop and to leap over a wall; and though I can scarcely read the words yet I will inscribe them every one and come back to them as to a Bible and to a revelation. Men who live in times of haste say they have no leisure for such enterings. The enterings need not be literal: we need not be talking about material paper and ink, but about the tablets of the heart, the records of the memory, always having a vivid recollection of the last deliverance, the last vision, the last mighty prayer, the last sublime victory. There is no other way in which to make life rich and thoughtful. When accused, we should be able to flee back to God’s last record; when tempted to disbelieve him, we should go back to the last fact. Our life should not be a mysterious argument, in the processes of which we may be vexed and troubled by subtler intellects than our own: life should be its own fact, its own confirmation of spiritual truths, its own sanctuary, its own refuge. Have the witness in yourselves. Do not wait for posterity to build the cairns; build your own memorials. Posterity will come and read them, but we might build our own altars, set up our own standards and unfurl our own banners, and accept the responsibility, as we have received the reward, of our own religion. So building we should crowd out all unworthy houses. We should want every inch of land. The whole earth would be filled with the divine presence and glory. Every room in the house would be a church; every window in the dwelling would look towards the Jerusalem that is above; every chair would be an altar; the whole dwelling would burn with unconsuming fire. We cannot, then, begin too soon. The moment the first conviction is wrought in the mind, build a stone memorial; the moment you are conscious of having taken the first real step in advance, build; vow never to retire behind that building, for it begins your best history, it points towards your broadest, brightest future.
We have spoken of posterity. The cairn was to be a sign among the Israelites:
“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? 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” ( Jos 4:6-7 )
History should be matter of interest to all men, and in all history we should be able to identify Providence with the past and to speak of the wonders of the days of old. Here there ought to be no mystery and no doubt. The wonders of redemption may lie far from our intellectual grasp, but the goodness of providence should lie quite handy to every man. Every intelligent man should be able to say Be the mysteries what they may, it is perfectly certain that this life of ours is bound, limited, directed: its ambitions are checked, its blood-thirstiness cannot go beyond a certain range; it is watched; at all events that is the best explanation of life which we have yet discovered; it is so near being almighty, and yet so near being powerless: now it stands upon some eminence as if it would be lord of all, and presently it overreaches itself and falls down in utterest humiliation; we are watched, barred in, shut up. We go certain lengths as if we could go ten times farther, and, lo, in a moment, a great wall of darkness asserts the limit and defines the prison. On this matter of Providence there ought to be no uncertain sound. It is not supposable that any life amongst us has not within itself elements sufficient for the construction of a practical argument on behalf of a living, loving Providence. But are there not many broken lives, sad hearts, perplexed souls? Unquestionably there are; but there are men who have seen God even in darkness and have acknowledged his hand even amid the chastening of affliction; there are men who have said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” There was one singer so valiant in spiritual music that when all nature seemed to be given up to silence and despair he said, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom… I will joy in the God of my salvation;” my religion is not an affair of abundant herbs and plentiful harvests and green meadows: I live in the sanctuary of God’s love, and as a child adopted into his family I will sing as loudly in winter as in summer: I will make up for the inhospitableness of the desert by the loudness and sweetness of my song. So we must not retire upon our desertions, difficulties, broken-hearted-nesses, and say, Whoever may have arguments, we have none. It is possible for ruins to be so shaped and so left as to excite inquiry, touch commiseration, and awaken reverence.
Thus miracles were to be brought within the lines of history: the time was to come when men would speak about miracles as they would speak about the commonplaces of life. The miracle is very startling at first, but there comes a time when men can write about the miracles with hands that do not tremble, with a certitude in which there is no flutter. At first they amazed and stupefied: we questioned their possibility; but by living along that line, moving steadily step by step along that course, we come to a period when we can write about a miracle as if it were a common occurrence, when we can sing the sublimest poetry as if it were glorified prose, when our prayer gradually ascends into praise. Do not, therefore, be deterred by men who ask questions about the miracles, and especially by those men who have proved to their own satisfaction that miracles are impossible. There is nothing so impossible to my imagination as the existence of a man who can deny miracles. He indeed is an enigma in the course of my reading. How he can have unmade himself, choked the angel within him, suffocated the infant spirit, how he can have been guilty of this infanticide I cannot tell: I must leave him to be expounded by-and-by. Meanwhile, my own life springs up into a daily miracle a miracle every moment, a day crowned with wonders; and the time comes when we speak about these things as if they were commonplaces not in the sense of being unsuggestive or unworthy of heed, but in the sense of being so abundant that we have come to regard them with reverent familiarity, and to expect them as men expect the miracle of the harvest. Yes, the miracle of the harvest! The seed is sown and left in the cold earth, but the whole chemic ministry of nature works upon it: the dew and the rain; the morning does its work, and the evening continues its labour; and by-and-by the seed springs up some thirty, some sixty, some an hundredfold, without a stain of earth upon it, pure as if it had grown downwards from the sky, a great golden answer to the prayer of industry. Miracles! The air is full of them, life throbs with them. We have been so blind that we have not seen them, or so fond of doubt that we have questioned their possibility. If we were to live in God we would live as God, and the coming and the going of nature the perpetual miracle would be the perpetual rest. O that men were wise, that they understood these things! This was the Church of sacred romance. We have left romance out of the history of the Church now. It is a question of surface, of bulk, of statistics, of movable figures. Would God the day of sacred romance would return when great things were attempted and great things done in the name of the Almighty God!
There is a Jordan before every one of us. That Jordan must be passed. We call it Death. We speak of it as the black last river. We talk of it sometimes as in swelling indignation and fury, and ask what shall we do in the swellings of Jordan? To the Christian, Jordan is already past. In a material, physical, and limited sense the little conquest has yet to be won, but in all its spiritual significance and glory Jordan is dried up, and they who are in Christ Jesus, the great priest of the everlasting covenant, walk through the bed of the river as upon dry ground. This is our Christian confidence, this is our spiritual hope, this is our standing in life. Death is abolished. The miracles have been completed in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. All that follows will follow like a cadence, without effort, a sweet necessity, the logic of poetry.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou art always drying up rivers before us, or Red Seas, or beating down mountains, or making straight that which is crooked. Thy love is a daily concern for us, leaving nothing untouched and unblessed, but covering the whole sphere of our life as with summer sunshine. We bless thee for thy love, for we live in it. Thy love encourages us, inspires and sustains us, and makes the wilderness into a fruitful field. We know thy love in providence: we see it everywhere every day; but we see thy love most of all in the Cross of Jesus Christ, thy Son, and looking upon the Cross we say, Herein is love; and we hear thy voice saying thou didst so love the world as to create and glorify this Cross. At the Cross we bow; at the Cross we wait; here is forgiveness and here alone. This is the beginning of a new life, this is a gate opening upon eternal blessedness. We therefore glory in the Cross of Christ, and have no other glory, by reason of its celestial majesty. It is the voice of God to the pleading of man, the answer of mercy to the demand of law. May we love the Cross more and more, dying upon it with Christ, with Christ buried, with Christ rising, crowned, and sharing his throne. May this be our life-word; may this be the speech of our tongue and the testimony of our conduct, that we live, yet not we, but that Christ liveth in us, and that the life which we now live in the flesh we live by faith on the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. As for rivers, thou didst make them flow, and thou canst make them cease; as for the desert, it is of thine own ordination, and thou canst turn it into a garden more beautiful than paradise. About these things we have no fear; we are in God’s hands and God’s love. What fear we have relates to sin, guiltiness of soul, forfeiture of sonship and standing in the family of God; and herein where our fear abounds, the glory of thy love abounds still more, so that we have yet hope in the prison-house, and are assured that our sins, which are many, are all forgiven us. In this faith we live; in this faith we serve; in this faith we would die. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XX
THE MIRACULOUS PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN AND EVENTS AT GILGAL
Jos 1:10-5:15
This section commences at Jos 1:10 and extends to Jos 5 . We will make more rapid progress in the book, having gotten through with the preliminaries. The theme is, miraculous passage of the Jordan and the marvelous events that occurred at Gilgal after they passed the Jordan.
1. Analyze Joshua’s commandment to the people.
Ana. (1) He commanded them to get ready to cross the Jordan in three days.
(2) He commanded that the armed men of the two tribes located east of the Jordan, the Reubenites, Gadites and the rest of the tribes help to conquer the lands on the east side.
2. What word is repeatedly stressed by Joshua in this command to the two and a half tribes? What use previously made of this word by Moses and will be made of it by the writers of both Old and New Testaments?
Ans. The word “rest.” We find that Moses uses that word in Deu 25:19 ; Deu 25:19 th verse where he says, “When you have been established in Canaan and God has given you rest.” We find the same word employed in Psa 95 , where there is a reference to those who did not enter into the rest because of their disobedience. They died by the wayside. And in Heb 3:7 ; Heb 4:13 , there is a continuous discussion of that “rest” as applied to Joshua the type of Jesus Christ. It will be very interesting for you to study that in Hebrews particularly, because in it lies the cream of the discussion of the New Testament sabbath.
3. What condition was prescribed by Moses in allotting territory east of the Jordan to the two and a half tribes, and what solemn promises had they made?
Ans. If you will turn to Num 32:20-24 , you will find that Moses, when these people asked to have the east part as their part, told them that the only condition upon which it would be granted was that when the Jordan was crossed they should send these tribes and help to conquer the other land, and they made a solemn promise to Moses that when the time came they would do that very thing
4. How did they respond to that promise, and what the later evidence of a fair fulfilment of it?
Ans. You learn from your lesson Jos 1:16-18 , that they readily recalled what they had promised to Moses and promptly announced their Willingness to do what they said they would do. If you turn to Jos 22:1-8 , you will find that at the end of the conquest Joshua gives them a receipt in full of having kept their promise to the letter.
5. How long were they thus away from their own homes, wives and children and property, that is, the men of the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and what comment do you make on this fidelity?
Ans. Generally, I will say that they were away from their wives and children and property seven years. And the comment is that there is no parallel to this in the history of the world. All the able-bodied men leaving their homes, wives and children and property and going away armed to engage in a terrible war that was to be prosecuted west of the river, fulfilling their engagement to the letter before they ever go back and enjoy their rest as the other tribes were now prepared to do.
6. What event preceded the passage of the Jordan, and what the salient points of the story? Ans. This event was the sending out of the two spies by Joshua to find out the condition of the country and report back to Joshua. The salient points of the story are: (1) When these two men went into Jericho they were received at this lodging-house of a harlot. Why? Probably if they had gone to one of the regular inns or caravansaries they would have been apprehended by the officers of the king. But the true reason was that this woman, because she believed in Jehovah, invited them to come to her house. (2) What the evidences of her faith? These evidences are as follows:
(a) What she did. She received, lodged, sheltered, and protected the messengers of God’s people because they were God’s people. That was her motive, illustrating the words of our Lord in his address to his apostles, “When I send you into the city, you go to a house, and if there be a son of peace in that house, let your peace rest on that house” (Mat 10 ). And where he further says, “Whosoever receiveth you receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.” Now, this woman did so receive these people.
(b) What she said. Read exactly what she said, Jos 2:8-11 : “And before they were laid down she came up unto them upon the roof; and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt because of you; ‘for the Lord your God he is in heaven above and in earth beneath.” Now, that is what she said. Then notice further (c) what she did as an evidence of her faith.
She asked that as she had sheltered them as messengers of God’s people, when they came to take possession of Jericho, they would exempt her and her family from the doom that would fall upon the city. And they gave her a duty to perform as a token. First, that she would bring her kindred into her house and stay there. The walls of Jericho would fall in the other parts of the city but not in that part. Second, that she was to hang a scarlet cord out of the window through which she had let down the spies to enable them to escape over the wall. The binding of the scarlet thread in the window was the token.
(d) The fourth evidence is found in Heb 11:31 , and Jas 2:25 . Another salient point in connection with the story of the spies is that this woman married an Israelite and became an ancestress of Boaz, David, and our Lord. We read about that when we come to Ruth and when we read the genealogy in the New Testament. The next incident is the great sermon preached by Spurgeon on the text, “And she bound the scarlet thread in the window.” He puts a good deal of stress on the “scarlet” as referring to the blood of salvation. The last point is, the spies returned and reported to Joshua that their enemies were panic stricken.
7. What the arrangement or program of crossing the Jordan?
Ans. (1) They must sanctify themselves. That means that they were to perform the ablutions that are required in that kind of setting apart to the service of God, and offer the sacrifice
(2) That the ark must precede the marching by a sabbath day’s journey, 2,000 cubits.
(3) That God himself would that day magnify Joshua in the eyes of the people as he had magnified Moses at the passage of the Red Sea.
(4) That God’s presence would be manifested in marvelous power.
(5) The cutting off of the waters of the Jordan, not dividing them as the Red Sea was divided, but cutting them off.
(6) That Israel should pass over safely.
(7) That a memorial should be erected of that passage.
8. Describe the execution of this program and the effect on their enemies, Jos 5:1 .
Ans. It is of thrilling interest that just as at the passage of the Red Sea they were to stand still and see the power of the Lord, so here. That was something which God would do, not they themselves. Just as soon as the priests, carrying the ark (a sabbath day’s journey), touched the edge of the swollen waters of the Jordan, that very moment, as if a knife had been let down from heaven, the Jordan was cut in two, and all the waters below flowed on to the Dead Sea and all the waters coming down from above, that mighty rush of the “Descender,” were stayed there and massed up and the backwater extended for over thirty miles. By the breath of the Almighty, that turbulent tide in the day of its flood, flowing over that down grade, stopped right there, damned up, not by a wall, but by the Word of God, and there stood the priests in silence, carrying the ark of God. As soon as the way was open, the priests standing still, the whole of that mighty host of 3,000,000 people with all of their animals and goods passed over that empty bed of the river.
Joshua commanded one representative of each tribe to take a rock out of the bed of the river and right where the priests had been standing in the bed of the river, each one of the men should take a rock on his shoulder, and they should carry those stones, and they did just that way. Here came twelve representatives and took up twelve huge rocks and carried them ahead of the column and never put them down until they got to the place where they were going to lodge, and there those stones were placed together as an everlasting memorial of that deliverance. The effect upon the enemy was that it intensified their panic. God said that those Canaanite inhabitants should know that he was God and the story of that divine presence and the display of his power is circled around the world through all the succeeding ages.
9. How do you reconcile Jos 4:9 , with Jos 4:20 ?
Ans. Jos 4:9 , says that Joshua took stones and set up a column right where the priests had stood in the bed of the river, and Jos 4:20 , says that they took the stones across the river and a memorial was erected at the place where they stopped. There are only two ways of reconciling those two statements. One is that the pillar that was erected by Joshua where the priests stood was done not by the command of God, but appropriately done to mark the spot where the priests stood. It is not said that they used the twelve memorial stones carried by the representatives of the tribes, to build that structure. A good many commentaries say there were two monuments erected, one in the bed of the river and another in the camp where they remained a long while, even years. Now, that is one explanation and the more probable one. Another explanation is, that in reading Jos 4:9 , you read it this way, “and Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the midst of the Jordan where the feet of the priests had stood who bare the Ark of the Covenant.” That is a simple statement of what is going to be more elaborately stated in Jos 4:20 and provides for only one monument The first is a brief statement and the second a more elaborate statement. I will leave you to wrestle with the apparent contradiction.
10. What evidences in the later prophets that Israel misused this memorial of Gilgal by making it a place of idolatry? Give a similar case.
Ans. (1) You will find in Hos 4:15 ; Hos 9:15 , and Amo 4:4-5 .
(2) The similar case was the case of the brazen serpent. The brazen serpent that had been lifted up in the wilderness was kept as a memorial, but in Hezekiah’s time the people began to burn incense to it and Hezekiah broke it to pieces, saying, “Nehushtan,” it is only a piece of brass.
11. What the educational uses of this memorial and what similar use of a preceding memorial?
Ans. This section tells us in Jos 4:21-24 , that when the children asked, “Why do you bring these rocks from the river? Why do you set them up here?” they should diligently teach their children that it commemorated the great power of God in cutting off the waters of the Jordan, that his people might pass over in safety. What similar use of a preceding memorial? You will find it in Exo 12:26-27 . They were to eat the first Passover standing with their loins girt about them. Now, after that in their later history the first thing little children will say, “This is a strange dinner, being bitter herbs, roasted lambs, and eating it standing.” Then you may say to your children, “This is the Lord’s Passover.” I think these two incidents about the educational use of the memorials contains a very fine lesson showing the duty of parents whenever a child asks, “Why these monuments?” The first time I ever noticed the Fourth of July, I asked, “Why, what does this mean?” A child naturally asks “why” about Christmas. And a stranger looking at Bunker Hill Monument will ask, “Why this monument?” In Austin, near the Capitol, there is a monument that commemorates the Alamo. On the battlefield of San Jacinto is one, and on my pocketbook is inscribed what is written on the sides of that monument.
12. What the name of the place where the memorial was erected, its location, and how long did that place remain headquarters of the nation?
Ans. The place derived its name from an event that took place there, viz.: circumcision. Gilgal was in the upper part of Judea and not a great way, only a few miles, from Jericho, and for years the Ark rested there, and it was the place of assembly for the nation. It remained until we come to Jos 18 ; there, after the conquest, Shiloh is selected as the headquarters until the ark was captured by the Philistines. Later that ark was brought to Jerusalem, as their headquarters throughout the rest of their history.
13. What great events happened in that first camp?
Ans. (1) The males of the younger generation were circumcised. They had not circumcised any children during the thirty-eight years of wanderings. The old generation had passed away and everybody born in the thirty-eight years, of course, was uncircumcised. Now at that place they were circumcised.
(2) The second great event that took place was that their manna ceased. For forty years that manna had been coming down from heaven) but now they were eating of the new harvest of the Promised Land, and the temporary provision for their food ceased when it was no longer necessary; the cessation of the manna which was a standing miracle for forty years.
(3) The third great event was that there they kept the Passover. No Passover had been kept since they left Mount Sinai.
(4) The most important event that happened there was the appearance to Joshua of a pre-manifestation of Christ, a man with a drawn sword, the captain of the hosts of the Lord. In other words, Joshua, the type, meets face to face, in pre-manifestation, Christ, the antitype.
14. In the meantime what the state of Jericho, and why was the enemy idle while Joshua was remaining so long at Gilgal?
Ans. See Jos 5:11 ; Jos 6:1 . We learn from these passages of scripture, why. The first says the people of Jericho were under an awful fear of the people whose God could open that river, and the second reason is that they had shut their gates; that Jericho was sealed up because the Israelites were lying so near.
15. Describe and explain the meeting of Joshua, the type, with the pre-manifestation of Christ, the antitype.
Ans. Now, that explanation is given in Jos 5:13-15 . Joshua going his rounds meets a man standing with a drawn sword, who approached him and said, “Are you for us or against us?” The man said, “I am the captain of the host of Jehovah.” Later it says the Lord spoke to Joshua, but it means Jehovah. The object of the meeting of the captain on earth with the captain in heaven was to arrange the program for the capture of Jericho. As for the things that would follow that in overcoming the enemy, the people were to do nothing active. Jericho was to be taken by the Almighty and everything in it was devoted, put under ban, consecrated to Jehovah; the inhabitants to die, the property to go to the service of the sanctuary. This is he who later becomes captain of our salvation, who is known in the New Testament as the rider of the white horse, going forth, having written on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” This pre-manifestation of Christ outlines Joshua’s campaign, establishes them, God opening the way.
16. Now here is a question. It says, Jos 5:9 , “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you.” Now, what was this rolling away of the reproach of Egypt?
Ans. “The reproach of Egypt” was the charge they made that Jehovah Was not able to deliver Israel into the Promised Land. Now, since he has delivered them, he has “rolled away the reproach of Egypt” from off them. (Exo 32:12 ; Num 14:13-16 ; Deu 9:28 ).
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jos 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Ver. 1. And it came to pass, when all the people. ] Heb., All the nation; Goi, so the Israelites are here and elsewhere called. The Jews, then, have no reason to reproach Christians by that name, calling us Goiim and Mamzer Goiim, bastardly heathens.
Were clean passed over.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 4:1-7
1Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3and command them, saying, Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight. 4So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5and 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. 6Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7then 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.
Jos 4:1 twelve (cf. Exod. 24:40). See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE NUMBER TWELVE
Jos 4:1-3 We understand now why twelve men were chosen from each tribe, as was described in Jos 3:12. It was for the purpose of taking large stones out of the bed of the River Jordan, where the feet of the priests were standing, and then carrying the stones to Gilgal, the first campsite in the promised land (cf. Jos 4:8; Jos 4:19-20). The stones would become a memorial to the mighty work that God had done.
It is a bit confusing, but there are two memorial piles of stones mentioned. One group was taken to Gilgal (Jos 4:1-8), but another was placed on the brink of the Jordan (Jos 4:9). This second set of memorial stones could only be seen when the Jordan was not at flood stage. They were meant to remind the coming generations of God’s promises and mighty acts of deliverance (cf. Jos 4:6-7; Jos 4:21; Exo 12:26; Deu 4:9; Deu 6:20-25; Deu 11:19; Deu 32:46).
This paragraph has several commands.
1. take for yourselves twelve men, BDB 542, KB 534, Qal IMPERATIVE, Jos 4:2
2. command them, BDB 845, K 1010, Piel IMPERATIVE, Jos 4:3
3. carry them, BDB 669, KB 724, Qal IMPERATIVE, Jos 4:3
4. cross again, BDB 716, KB 778, Qal IMPERATIVE
5. take up a stone, BDB 926, KB 1202, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
Joshua is giving direct, specific commands, just as Moses did. We learn from Jos 4:8 that they were from YHWH. This event is a major fulfillment of YHWH’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These stones will be a perpetual monument to YHWH’s faithfulness to His promises.
Jos 4:2; Jos 4:4 take for yourselves twelve men. . .the twelve men he had appointed Notice the balance between the selection by the tribal leaders and the official appointing (BDB 465, KB 464, Hiphil PERFECT) by Joshua.
Jos 4:6 let this be a sign among you, that when your children later ask The religious training of the children by the parents is a repeated theme of the writings of Moses (cf. Exo 12:26; Exo 13:14; Deu 4:9; Deu 6:20-25; Deu 11:19; Deu 32:46). YHWH’s covenant and the historical acts which confirm it are meant to be passed from generation to generation.
NASBlater
NKJV, NRSVin time to come
TEV, NJBin the future
This term (BDB 563) is used as an idiom for some future, unspecified time (cf. Exo 13:14 [similar phrase in Jos 4:8]; Deu 6:20; Jos 4:6; Jos 4:21; Jos 22:24; Jos 22:27-28).
Jos 4:7 forever This is the Hebrew word ‘olam. It can be translated forever or for a long period of time. The context determines which meaning is preferred. See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER (‘OLAM)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
were clean passed over = were finished passing over.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
spake. See note on Jos 1:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jos 4:1-24 That this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones? You 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 a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And so the children of Israel did as Joshua commanded ( Jos 4:6-8 ),
It is interesting to me that God is desiring that His power, and His truth is transmitted to our children. That they not forget what God has done for us. It is sad and it is tragic that very few revivals ever go into a second generation.
Now I don’t know if you know it or not, but we are experiencing here a marvelous revival. What God is doing in our midst is a spiritual phenomena that the whole world is looking at and talking about, because of God’s marvelous work in our midst. There is a real move of God’s Holy Spirit. God’s raising up a whole new element of people, you might say. There are now over a hundred and fifty formal fellowships that have sort of sprung out of Calvary Chapel, plus hundreds of other informal fellowships that are developing.
One sociologist that was studying this whole thing that is happening said, “If the Lord doesn’t come in the 1980s”, he said, “at the rate things are going I anticipate that there will be ten thousand Calvary Chapels across the United States.” God is working in a very beautiful way. We have had the excitement and the thrill of seeing God work. When you consider that we’re only fourteen years old, and you look at what God has done. We just stand in amazement and in awe. But unfortunately there have been other moves of the Spirit like this in the history of the church that are marvelous. The people are there, they enjoy it, but rarely do they ever carry into a second generation. Because you see as we grow, it will be necessary to more or less begin to formalize things. To establish sort of codes and rules, and the minute you start putting the fences around it, then you’re restricting that work that God wants to do.
When I die some fool will want to raise a memorial to Chuck Smith. We’ll have a Chuck Smith gymnasium or something, you know. Oh God forbid. This should remain a memorial to Jesus Christ for what He has done never a memorial to any man. God keep us from that memorial state. Nobody needs to remember me; we need to remember the work that God has done. The monument wasn’t built for Joshua, the monument was built so that the children would say, “Hey what’s that pile of stones daddy?
“Those stones were once on the bottom of the Jordan River, and when we walked through, we picked up these stones out of the river. That’s because God stopped the river so that we could come through. That’s the kind of a God we serve.” It was to remind them of the work of God.
Oh, that we will always keep that in the forefront of our minds, that the work that we see is not a work of man nor is it to the credit of any man. The work is to the glory of God. Let’s keep our memorials unto the Lord for the work that He has wrought.
Now God seeks, actually, that we would pass on to our children His truths, His glory, His power. His method for doing this is by creating questions in the minds of the children. You ever wonder why a child is so inquisitive? That’s been placed there by the Spirit. The purpose of that inquisitive mind of the child is that he may learn, teach him. Let your memorials be memorials that will allow you the opportunity to share the work of God, and the power of God. It is marvelous that we remember what God has done, but it is also important that we relate to our children who did not have the privilege of seeing that work that we saw, the work that God has wrought by His Holy Spirit.
So these stones were to create questions in the minds of the children, to give them the opportunity to share with their children the glorious power of God.
So Joshua [verse nine] set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the covenant stood: they’re there to this day ( Jos 4:9 ).
Now it’d be fun-They set up two memorials. They took stones and set them in a pile in the Jordan River, and then they also set a pile up on a bank. It’d be fun to get some scuba gear, since they were there to that day, to see if the stones are still there in the Jordan River that Joshua set up.
Now the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, till every one was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. And so it came to pass, when the people were clean passed over, the ark of the Lord passed over the priests, in the presence of the people. All the children of Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, about forty thousand of those two tribes prepared for war. On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. And the Lord spoke unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that they bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. And when they were come up from the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and overflowed their banks, as they did before. And the people came out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, they encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. [So it is actually just four days prior to the Feast of Passover.] And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, Joshua pitched in Gilgal. And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children will ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean? Then let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land ( Jos 4:10-22 ).
So the memorial by which they could share with their children the work of God.
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Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
The commands of God required haste in obedience. Haste, however, never means neglect of religious observance. The very fact of their need for the divine guidance made it of supreme importance that the people should take time for worship and the recognition of their relationship with God. Safely over Jordan, with the conflict waiting, the hosts must pause while stones were gathered out of the river bed and erected in a memorial pile on the land to which they now had come.
We shall miss a very great deal of the beauty of this picture if we fail to notice the true reason of this pause and the erection of this pillar. That reason is revealed in verses six and twenty-one. “That this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, . . .” “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come. . . .” It will be remembered that the same principle held in connection with the establishment of the Passover feast. The ultimate purpose of God lies far out of sight. Ere it is reached, new generations will spring up. Therefore none of the lessons of the present must be lost. They must be perpetuated in memory throughout the coming days. In order that this may be so, Jehovah deliberately arranged for such things as would appeal to the natural curiosity of a child. What more natural than that in days to come children playing or walking near this heap of stones should ask their fathers what it meant. It was for this that the divine arrangement made provision and the people were commanded that when the children asked their questions, they were to be answered. So the story of divine deliverance was retold by fathers to children through all successive generations.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Memorial Stones
Jos 4:1-24
Twelve stones were brought up from the Jordan and erected in Gilgal. They gave fathers the opportunity of telling their children of the miraculous passage of the river. We, too, through our Lord, have passed through the waters of death on to resurrection-ground. Let the great deliverances of God wrought for our fatherland, as well as those wrought for us personally in Christ, be more frequent subjects of family-talk.
Twelve other stones were placed in the river-bed and would be visible when the waters were low. There was an ocular demonstration, therefore, that Israel was really once in these depths. We must not forget the Rock out of which we were hewn, Isa 51:1; 1Co 6:11. Let us never cease to magnify Gods grace, Psa 40:2.
The presence of the Ark alone restrained the piled-up waters. Thus Jesus stands between us and whatever would overwhelm us, especially sin and death, Heb 2:14. Do not, in rejecting Him, reject your only screen.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 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. Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 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? 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. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua com- manded, and took up twelve stones out o 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. 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.
Jos 4:1-9
It has been remarked that the Old Testament is Gods picture book. It teaches by type and illustration. We are told in 1Co 10:11 that All these things happened unto them for our en-samples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. There are a great many people who recognize the fact that some things written in the Old Testament were typical, but they hesitate to acknowledge that this is true of all. We need to learn the lesson of these words. Some will tell you that the books of the Old Testament, the so-called historical books, are largely made up of Hebrew myths and legends, and we cannot attach any credibility to them, but the Holy Spirit says, All these things happened. Therefore, he who believes God accepts these various experiences of Israel as actual history. In the second place, there are certain typical lessons which we learn from them. All these things happened unto them for types.
We have seen in the previous chapter how the ark going down into the waters of Jordan typified our Lord Jesus Christ going down into the waters of death when He could say, Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts: all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me (Psa 42:7). By His death on the Cross He has annulled him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Through Him the fear of death is gone, and Christians can say, God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal 6:14).
The believer is identified with the Lord Jesus in His death, burial, and Resurrection. This comes out very clearly, very beautifully in the present chapter. We are told that when the people were clean passed over Jordan, the Lord gave another command to Joshua. The priests bearing the ark of the covenant still stood in the river bed, but the people had passed over, when God said to Joshua,
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 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.
The twelve stones were to be a memorial of Israels deliverance. They were to take up these stones from the river bed and carry them to the other side, and they were to be piled up as a monument that genera- tions to come might look upon them and remember how God delivered His people.
Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 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? 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.
God wanted to preserve this as a testimony. May I say that similarly the two ordinances given to Christian people were intended by God to emphasize these truths. Take the ordinance of baptism, Christian baptism which is set forth as a memorial. As many of you as have been baptized unto Christ, were baptized unto His death. When a believer is baptized he is bearing testimony to the fact that Christ has died and that he takes his place in identification with Him in His death. God sees every believer dead, buried, and risen with Christ. I hesitate to participate in baptizing anyone if he does not really understand this. Baptism is not a means of salvation; baptism can only wash away the filth of the flesh, but in baptism a per- son is bearing witness to his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead through Jesus Christ. The intelligent person being baptized says, I deserve to die, but Christ died in my stead; therefore His death is my death, and I take my place now in identification with Him. I have died with Him; died to all that He died to as a Man. I have died to the world, to sin in the flesh; I have died to the law; I now stand on altogether different ground before God.
The other ordinance is that of the Lords Supper. As we gather about His table to partake of the broken bread and of the cup which represent the body and the precious blood of Christ, we remember that Christ died for us, and that He is living, and is coming again to take us to be forever with Himself. When your children ask you, What mean ye by these ordinances? we should be prepared to say, Our Saviour died, and we died with Him; He arose in triumph, and we have been quickened together with Him. Now we are dead to that to which He died, and are called upon to live unto God. We have this set forth in the twelve stones taken out of the midst of Jordan-our resurrection with Christ.
But there was more than that. We read in verse 9,
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. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua.
How that should remind us of that word that the Saviour uttered ere He departed to the Father! I say that word for in our translation we have three words, It is finished, but in the Greek there is only one word. What Jesus cried was tetelestai-completed, finished, consummated-the work of redemption was finished for all those who put their trust in Him.
The twelve stones were set up in the midst of Jordan, and when the priests, bearing the ark, came up out of the river the waters came down from above and covered up those twelve stones. The Word says, They are there unto this day. You may take that as meaning until the book of Joshua was written, but I think we dare go even further and declare, They are there unto this day. There is a lesson for us in this. We can see the infinite grace of God. Christ died for us and now we are dead to the world and all its sin.
That is what the twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan tell us. They say, I have died with Christ; I no longer belong to the world that crucified Him; I no longer come under its judgment but under grace. That does not mean that we can be careless in our behavior. As believers we should be more careful than ever as to our conduct. That is what the apostle stresses when he says, Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (Rom 6:14). Again he says, Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:11).
Those twelve stones on the other side in the land of Canaan speak of resurrection with Christ. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God (Col 3:1). May I try to make this very personal?
Have you taken your place in baptism as professedly in association with our Lord Jesus Christ in His death? Are you living it out? Let me ask you, some of you dear young people who have confessed your faith in Christ in baptism, what does that mean to you? Do you recognize the fact that God now claims you as His own? You should walk absolutely apart from the world and all its toys and idols. That is what God desires for you. When you talk to some people about coming out from the world they will say that they cannot see any harm in this thing and in that thing, and yet their own lives manifest their harmfulness. They are useless Christians; they do not count for God.
I remember a young woman whom I met when I was in Texas. She was a Christian; there was no question about that. She confessed her faith in baptism, but there was one form of worldly amusement that she enjoyed very much and that was dancing. Someone challenged her, telling her that she could not witness for Christ on a ballroom floor. She replied, I think I am as free to witness there for Christ as anywhere else.
The person who challenged her said, If what you say is true, I cannot tell you not to go.
One night she was dancing with a young man, and as she did so she said to herself, I ought to witness for Christ here. So she said to her dancing partner, I want to ask you a question.
All right, he replied, what is it?
She inquired, Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour?
He answered, No, do you?
Yes, she replied, I do indeed.
The young man exclaimed, Then what on earth are you doing here? Though a mere worldling he realized that there are certain standards that Christians should seek to live up to, and this woman wasnt living up to them. She said to me, That was the last dance I ever attended. To think I had to be rebuked like that by an unsaved young man!
Those twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, how they ought to speak to our hearts of the grace of Christ and of what He endured for us. Have you taken your place with Him so that you can say from the heart, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world?
But you say, That means giving up so many things. Yes, but you get so much more in their place.
Those twelve stones on the other side of Jordan speak of Christ in resurrection-the blessedness, the happiness, the gladness of heart that comes to the one who is consciously identified with the risen Christ.
You will not care for the poor, trivial things of this world if your heart is taken up with Him.
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. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: about forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
Typically, it speaks of Christ coming up out of death in resurrection life after He had completed the work of our redemption.
And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
Notice just an added word here, And the people came up out of the Jordan, on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal. That was their first camping place in Canaan, and there are many precious lessons connected with Gilgal which we shall notice when we come to it in our next chapter. Those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan were set up in Gilgal.
And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For 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: that 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.
It is precious indeed when one enters into the reality of all this. The hymn writer has expressed it beautifully in the following verses:
Jesus died and we died with Him,
Buried in His grave we lay;
One with Him in resurrection,
Soon with Him in heavens bright day.
Death and judgment are behind us,
Grace and glory are before;
All the billows rolled oer Jesus,
There exhausted all their power.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
4. The Memorial Stones
CHAPTER 4
1. The first memorial (Jos 4:1-8)
2. The second memorial (Jos 4:9)
3. The return of the priests with the ark (Jos 4:10-18)
4. The encampment at Gilgal (Jos 4:19-24)
Jehovah commanded that the great event should be remembered by a memorial. From the river-bed, where the priests feet stood firm, twelve men, one from each tribe, were to carry twelve stones and leave them at the first lodging place in the land, that is, at Gilgal. These memorial stones were to tell subsequent generations the story of Gods faithfulness and power in bringing His people through Jordan into the land. Another memorial of twelve stones was set up by Joshua in the midst of the river, where the priests stood with the ark. This whole record has been much questioned by the critics; it has been charged that there are two different accounts. Professor George Adam Smith states: For instance, in the story of the crossing of Jordan, as told in Joshua 3 and 4, there are two accounts of the monument set up to commemorate the passage. One of them builds it at Gilgal on the west bank with stones taken from the river-bed by the people; the other builds it in the bed of the river with twelve stones set there by Joshua. (The same view is held by Friedrich Bleek; no doubt Prof G.A. Smith has it from him.) Such criticism reveals the astonishing weakness of that entire school. Why should the ninth verse of the fourth chapter be looked upon as an interpolation, or as another account of one transaction? There is nothing in the text to warrant such a statement. The fact is there are two transactions. The one by the twelve men, who take the twelve stones and set them up at Gilgal. The other by Joshua, who puts twelve stones in the river-bed.
But if these critics but knew a little more of the spiritual and typical significance of all these events and transactions, they would soon learn better. What do these two memorials mean? They tell out the story what God has done for His people. In the midst of Jordan the children of Israel could see the pile of twelve stones Joshua had put there as a memorial. As they looked upon them and the waters rushing about them, they remembered that where these stones are, there the ark halted and the waters were cut off and His people passed over.
The typical application is not hard to make. The twelve stones in the river-bed tell out the story of the death of Christ and our death with Him. We are dead to sin and to the law as well as crucified unto the world. We must, therefore, reckon ourselves dead unto sin.
The other memorial was erected at Gilgal. As they looked upon these stones and their children asked them, What mean these stones? they could point to them and say, as these stones were taken out of Jordan on the dry land, so had they been brought out of Jordan into this land of promise. This memorial is the type of the fact that we are alive unto God in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus, the old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. It is the memorial which tells us, that we are raised up and seated in Christ in the heavenly places. These two great truths seen in this double memorial must ever be remembered by Gods people, as Israel was charged to remember the passing over Jordan and the bringing into the land.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
were clean passed: Jos 3:17, Deu 27:2
Reciprocal: Deu 12:10 – But when
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
When everyone had crossed the river, Joshua commanded the priests bearing the ark to finish their crossing. Once the feet of the priests were again firmly planted on dry ground, God caused the river to return to its engorged rush toward the Dead Sea ( Jos 4:1-18 ).
The people encamped that night at Gilgal where Joshua set up a memorial with the twelve stones taken from the river. When children of later times would ask what the twelve stones represented, they could be told how God worked a miracle so Israel could cross the flooded Jordan. It should be noted that there was one stone for each tribe so that it would be plain God helped all twelve tribes and not just certain ones. Such mighty works should cause children of every generation to realize how great God is and appreciate his ability to deliver his people ( Jos 4:19-24 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Jos 4:1. The Lord spake unto Joshua This was commanded before, (Jos 3:12,) and is here repeated with enlargement, as being now to be put in execution. It is the pious conjecture of the learned Bishop Patrick, that Joshua was gone into some place of retirement, to return thanks immediately for this wonderful mercy; and then God met him and spake thus to him. Or, perhaps, it was by Eleazar the priest that God gave these and other instructions to Joshua; for though he is not mentioned here, yet, when Joshua was ordained by the imposition of hands to this great trust, God appointed that Eleazar should ask counsel for him, after the judgment of Urim; and at his word Joshua and all the children of Israel were to go out and come in, Num 27:21.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jos 4:2. Take you twelve men; out of every tribe a man of great strength to be the witnesses in their respective tribes, while the twelve stones spake with silent voice on the western shore of the Jordan. Oh glorious miracle, leaving unbelief without excuse.
Jos 4:9. Joshua set up twelve stones. Most critics contend, that these were huge stones placed on one side the bed of the river, but within the flood- banks, to mark the identical spot where the ark rested. They stood within the boundaries of the camp in Gilgal, as is recorded Jos 4:20; consequently they remained there at the day he transcribed, towards the close of life, a fair copy of his wars and administration.
Jos 4:13. Forty thousand. The Reubenites were 43,700; the Gadites 40,500; the half of Manasseh 26,350; total 110,550: yet 40,000 were thought sufficient.
Jos 4:19. The tenth day of the first month; that is, Abib, or about the twenty fifth of April, according to the table. Exodus 12. This was the year in the Julian period, 3263.The tabernacle, and part of the host pitched that night in Gilgal, two miles from Jericho.
Jos 4:22. Let your children know. Fathers should recommend religion to their children by telling them how the Lord once raised them up from poverty to riches, from ignorance to knowledge, from sin to holiness, to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
REFLECTIONS.
The dividing of the Jordan, and at the moment when the river overflowed its banks, was a most signal monument of the divine favour to Israel. In one moment it removed all their fears, and filled them with transports of joy. They were all ready to leap into the bed of the river, but dared not to move till the signal was given by their leader. So Israel had now learned to obey, and to do all things in decency and order.
This most signal monument of the divine favour must be perpetuated by a pillar of twelve stones, erected in Gilgal for the instruction of future generations. And if all nations raised trophies, pillars, arches, and temples, in memory of victories and illustrious deeds, the erection of the rude pillar in Gilgal was not only congenial to the sentiments of national glory, but sacred as a religious memorial. This is a strong argument for the truth of all that Moses had said of the ages before he wrote; for oral tradition from the beginning corresponded with the monuments of antiquity, with which Moses had the best opportunities of being acquainted. Hence we learn that the sacred writings, containing the ancient works of God, should often be read by our children, that they may become largely acquainted with the power and glory of the Most High. For the same purpose baptism and the Lords supper have been instituted, that having the covenant seals always before our eyes, we might never forget the grace and glories of our redemption.
The ark of the covenant was the first in the brink of the river, and the last in ascending from the depth of its channel. The Lords presence went in front of his people, and was a rereward after them for safety and defence. So he has ever done to the christian church. The good shepherd has gone before his flock to lead it, and to encounter danger. Having died on Calvary he rose again, the firstfruits of them that slept; and he is our forerunner into the heavens. In his divine presence he still stays with his afflicted people in all the waters and troubles of life, which fly back, like Jordan, at his approach: nor will he remove his presence till all the saints, forgetting the toils of the desert, and trampling on death, shall ascend to meet him in the air. Truly he is faithful, keeping covenant and promise unto all generations. May our hearts never be so base as to distrust his power and love.
Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh by asking their lot on the left bank of the river had excited the jealousy of their brethren, and even of Moses; but by sending to the conquest as many of their chosen men as were asked, they fulfilled their engagements, and set a fine example of fidelity to their country, and to future generations. Nothing is more pleasing to God, or more happy in contributing to the peace of men and nations, than fidelity to engagements; and on the contrary, breach of covenant has ever been attended with the worst of consequences.
Joshua, we lastly find, looked by faith beyond the glories and joys of the present day. He assured the people that the waters of Jordan were not dried up merely to give them a passage; but also for the conversion of the people in most distant parts of the earth. He seemed to behold the glorious high throne of God in Israel, and proselytes and worshippers coming from all places with gifts and offerings to the Lord, having heard of his fame and glorious works.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jos 3:1 to Jos 5:1. The Crossing of Jordan.Here we begin to meet with more serious difficulties. The old tradition was that after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan, they commemorated the event by the erection of twelve stones. But this simple narrative existed in two recensions, which differed as to the destination of these memorial stones. According to one account, they were to be placed in the midst of the river; according to the other, they were to be set up on the W. side of the Jordan in the place where the army encamped for the night. Deuteronomic additions have been made to these narratives, i.e. additions of a religious colouring as in Jos 3:7, And Yahweh 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. In spite of this, ch. 3 on the whole presents an intelligible narrative if the first clause of Jos 3:4, which speaks of the distance to be maintained between the Ark and the people, is made a parenthesis. It is probably an insertion in the spirit of the priestly writers, emphasizing the sacred character of the Ark in accordance with Num 4:15 ff. As the text stands, we must take Jos 3:5 as spoken the day before Jos 3:6, and in Jos 4:6 insert some such phrase as and on the morrow. We must also delete Jos 3:12, which has no connexion with what precedes or follows. With these alterations, the narrative is straightforward. In ch. 4, however, we get into hopeless confusion. In Jos 4:1 the people have completely passed over Jordan. Then twelve men are commanded to go back and fetch twelve stones from the bed of the river. But in Jos 4:4 f. the twelve men are ordered to pass over before the Ark, and the narrative of the crossing which we have already had at the end of ch. 3 is repeated down to Jos 4:19.
Moreover, instead of the two accounts of the stones which we expect in the two narratives, there are, practically, three. One tells us quite plainly that twelve stones were taken out of the midst of the river, and the second just as plainly says that twelve stones were set up in the midst of the river; while the account we should naturally expect, that twelve stones were taken across the river from one side to another, only appears if we take the last half of Jos 3:3 by itself; viz. the words, And carry them over with you and put them in the lodging place where ye shall lodge to-night. These words, taken alone, certainly seem to speak of the transference of stones from one side of the river to the other. Further, the four words previous to those just quoted can be translated as follows: Prepare (hkin) twelve stones (and carry them over, etc.), a command which fits in with the rest of the verse. But by the words in the first part of Jos 3:3, which speak of taking stones out of the river, the purport of this command is entirely altered. It is here maintained that all the references to stones being taken out of the bed of the river are insertions which arose from a misunderstanding of Jos 3:5. But it will be askedDoes not Jos 3:5 speak of taking up stones from the river? At first sight it does; but the command, Cross over before the ark into Jordan and take every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, is given to the men who are already on the bank of the river where the stones are in readiness, so that the taking up of the stones would be the first thing to be done. But as the words lift up the stones came after the words cross over before the ark, it was thought that the action corresponded with this order; that the stones were lifted up after the men had marched into the bed of the river; hence arose the erroneous idea that stones were taken up out of the bed of the river, after the twelve men had marched into position before the Ark. This led first to the insertion of the words, out of the midst of Jordan in Jos 3:8, and afterwards to another insertion at the beginning of Jos 3:3.
When the text has been cleared in this way, ch. 4 gives a second account of the crossing, with the usual additions of the Deuteronomist. Jos 4:9 is out of place unless it is explained, as the Greek translation does, by the insertion of the word other before the words twelve stones.
Jos 4:3. The statement that twelve stones were to be set up in the lodging place is doubtless an endeavour to account for a sacred stone circle which existed from prehistoric times at Gilgal. Large stones, or rather pillars (Heb. mazzeboth, pp. 98f.), formed part of every holy place even in the time of Hosea. They were, however, forbidden in Dt. For an excellent photograph of such stones at Gezer, see Driver, Schweich Lec., p. 63.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
STONES OF MEMORIAL
(vs.1-24)
Only when all were passed over did Joshua, at God’s command, instruct that each of the twelve chosen men should carry a stone out of the midst of Jordan, from the place where the priests had stood, and take them to the place where they would encamp that night (vs.4-5). This was to be a sign for Israel when their children would ask the meaning of the stones set as they were (v.6). The spiritual significance is quite simple. The stones taken out of the water (the place of death) are typical of Israel being taken through death into resurrection life. All the tribes are represented, just as all believers today are seen by God as “risen with Christ” (Col 3:1).
The crossing of the Jordan certainly reminds us of the passage of the Red Sea. But the emphasis in the case of the Red Sea was Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt; while the crossing of Jordan emphasizes Israel’s entrance into the land of promise. This is the positive side of Israel’s blessing and reminds us of God’s words concerning the saints of God today, “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”(Eph 1:3). Thus, the death and resurrection of Christ not only separates us from a hostile world, but it invests us with wealth beyond all imagination in a place of pure joy and eternal glory. Canaan is of course only a faint picture of this.
The children of the Israelites then were to be instructed as to the meaning of the stones, just as children of believers should be instructed as to the death and resurrection of Christ being the basis of all blessing for His people. We today have a memorial of this great work of God in the Lord’s supper, for believers are told, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luk 22:19). Our children too should be taught diligently as to the significance of this memorial.
As well as the stones set up in the land, Joshua (not the twelve men) set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan (v.9). They would be soon covered with water, therefore unseen. This is a picture, not of our having resurrection life in Christ, but of our having died with Christ, our past therefore, as it were, blotted out. It is Christ’s death that has done this: we had no part in that work. So it was Joshua who set up these stones. But believers are privileged to enter into and enjoy the resurrection life we have now in Christ, as seen in the stones set up by the twelve men.
Though historically the death of Christ came before His resurrection, yet the resurrection side (the stones in the land) is mentioned first because it is the positive side of the truth, and the blessing of the new life is to be emphasized in the book of Joshua.
The priests who carried the ark remained in the midst of Jordan as a guarantee that there was no danger to the people, till all this was finished and all the people had passed over, then they too crossed over with the ark.
It is good to see that about 40,000 of the men of Reuben and Gad and of the half tribe of Manasseh kept their word to cross over Jordan, all prepared for war, with the rest of Israel, though their families and possessions remained on the eastern side (vs.12,13).
This marvelous event of the crossing of the Jordan on dry ground could not but deeply impress all Israel, and God used it to exalt Joshua in their eyes (v.14). Similarly, the more marvelous miracle of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from among the dead surely exalts Him in our eyes. From this time forth Israel would have full reason to respect and honor the leadership of Joshua.
At the Lord’s command Joshua told the priests bearing the ark to come up out of Jordan (vs.15-17), and as soon as they reached the ground not affected by the overflowing waters, the waters returned to the same flood stage as before (v.18). Thus no one would be able to follow Israel on dry ground. Only true believers can know what it means to have died with Christ and to be raised with Christ.
Verse 19 tells us the date of this event, the tenth day of the first month. Would they not remember that this was the date they were told in Egypt to take a young lamb and keep it for four days until the Passover? (Exo 12:2-3) This signified a new beginning for Israel. Now they also face a new beginning, but in how different circumstances! But the twelve stones taken by the twelve men out of Jordan were set up by Joshua as a memorial in Gilgal (v.20). Then Joshua repeated to Israel what he had said in verses 6-7, reminding them to answer their children’s questions in the future by giving them the full truth of their crossing the Jordan on dry ground when the Lord dried up the waters for them (vs.21-23). Why should this be insisted upon? Because it is a natural tendency for us to forget even such great miracles of God’s power and to slip into a lax, careless condition. The children too, who had not seen this great miracle, would not be so impressed by hearing of it unless their parents impressed them as having a great appreciation of this work of God. Moreover, this was intended to affect all the peoples of the earth (v.24), as well as instilling the fear of God in all Israel.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
The memorial of the crossing ch. 4
The main point in the story of the crossing recorded in this chapter is the removal of the stones from the riverbed. They served as a memorial of this event for generations to come (Jos 4:6-7). [Note: For a discussion of the supposed contradictions in chapters 3 and 4 and a solution based on literary analysis, see Brian Peckham, "The Composition of Joshua 3-4," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46:3 (July 1984):413-31.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Piling up stones was often a covenant ritual in the ancient Near East. [Note: G. Herbert Livingston, The Pentateuch in its Cultural Environment, p. 157.] It was a common method of preserving the memory of important events (cf. Gen 8:20; Gen 12:7; Gen 35:7; et al.).
There were apparently two piles of 12 stones each, one at Gilgal (Jos 4:3-8; Jos 4:20) and one in the Jordan River bed (Jos 4:9). Some scholars believe there was only one pile of stones, which the NIV translation also suggests. [Note: E.g., Hess, p. 109.] The Israelites probably constructed two memorials because the crossing was so miraculous that God wanted to be sure their children and the Canaanites believed it really happened. The monument at Gilgal probably consisted of large stones that people could not normally remove from the riverbed. Building a monument in the river was impossible under normal circumstances due to the volume and current of the water there. Thus the Israelite children and the Canaanites had a double proof, two witnesses, of God’s faithfulness and power. God specified 12 stones for each monument to represent the 12 tribes.
"No certain identification exists for the site of ’the Gilgal’. It is not necessary or even likely that all the occurrences of Gilgal in the Bible refer to the same location. The name means ’circle’, and is a good description for a fortified camp such as must have been present in Joshua’s time." [Note: Ibid., p. 115.]
"It is doubtful whether there was either city or town in that place before the arrival of the Israelites." [Note: Bush, p. 52.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER IX.
JORDAN DIVIDED.
Joshua Ch. 3-4.
AT Joshua’s command the priests carrying the ark are again in motion. Bearing the sacred vessel on their shoulders, they make straight for the bank of the river. “The exact spot is unknown; it certainly cannot be that which the Greek tradition has fixed, where the eastern banks are sheer precipices of ten or fifteen feet high. Probably it was either immediately above or below, where the cliffs break away; above at the fords, or below where the river assumes a tamer character on its way to the Dead Sea.”* Following the priests, at the interval of a full half-mile, was the host of Israel. “There was the mailed warrior with sword and shield, and the aged patriarch, trembling on his staff. Anxious mothers and timid maidens were there, and helpless infants of a day old; and there, too, were flocks and herds and all the possessions of a great nation migrating westward in search of a home. Before them lay their promised inheritance,
‘While Jordan rolled between,’
full to the brim, and overflowing all its banks. Nevertheless, through it lies their road, and God commands the march. The priests take up the sacred ark and bear it boldly down to the brink; when lo! ‘the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon a heap very far from the city Adam, that is before Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.’ And thus, too, has all-conquering faith carried the thousand times ten thousand of God’s people in triumph through the Jordan of death to the Canaan of eternal rest.”**
*Stanley’s ” Sinai and Palestine,” p. 303.
**”Land and Book,” vol. 2:, pp. 460-61.
The description of the parting of the waters is clear enough in the main, though somewhat obscure in detail. The obscurity arises from the meaningless expression in the Authorized Version, “very far from the city Adam, which is beside Zaretan.” The Revised rendering gives a much more natural meaning – “rose up in one heap, very far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan.” The names Adam and Zaretan occur nowhere else in Scripture, nor are they mentioned by Josephus; some think we have a relic of Adam in the first part of ed-Damieh, the name of a ford, and others, following the rendering of the Septuagint, which has consider the final “arim” to be equivalent to “adim ” or “adam,” the Hebrew letter “r” being almost the same as ”d.” What we are taught is, that the waters were cut off from the descending river a long way up, while down below the whole channel was laid bare as far as the Dead Sea. The miracle involved an accumulation of water in the upper reaches of the river, and as it was obviously undesirable that this should continue for a long time, enough of the channel was laid bare to enable the great host to cross rapidly in a broad belt, and without excitement or confusion. The sceptical objection is completely obviated that it was physically impossible for so vast a host to make the passage in a short time.
As soon as the waters began to retreat, after the feet of the priests were planted in them, the priests passed on to the middle of the channel, and stood there “firm, on dry ground,” until all the people were passed clean over. The vast host crossed at once, and drew up on the opposite bank. That no attempt was made by the men of Jericho, which was only about five miles off, to attack them and stop their passage, can be explained only on the supposition that they were stricken with panic. One inhabitant undoubtedly heard of the passage without surprise. Rahab could feel no astonishment that the arm of God should thus be made bare before the people whom He was pledged to protect and guide. As little could she wonder at the paralysis which had petrified her own people.
The priests passed on before the people, and stood firm in the midst of the river until the whole host had passed. It was both a becoming thing that they should go before, and that they should stand so firm. It is not always that either priests or Christian ministers have set the example of going before in any hazardous undertaking. They have not always moved so steadily in the van of great movements, nor stood so firmly in the midst of the river. What shall we say of those whose idea, whether of Hebrew priesthood or of Christian ministry, has been that of a mere office, that of men ordained to perform certain mechanical functions, in whom personal character and personal example signified little or nothing? Is it not infinitely nearer to the Bible view that the ministers of religion are the leaders of the people, and that they ought as such to be ever foremost in zeal, in holiness, in self-denial, in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil? And of all men ought they not to stand firm? Where are Mr. Byends, and Mr. Facing-Both-Ways, and Mr. Worldly- Wiseman more out of place than in the ministry? Where does even the world look more for consistency and devotion and fearless regard to the will of God? What should we think of an army where the officers counted it enough to see to the drill and discipline of the men, and in the hour of battle confined themselves to mere mechanical duties, and were outstripped in self-denial, in courage, in dash and daring by the commonest of their soldiers? Happy the Church where the officers are officers indeed! Feeling ever that their place is in the front rank of the battle and in the vanguard of every perilous enterprise, and that it is their part to set the men an example of unwavering firmness even when the missiles of death are whistling or bursting on every side!
Who shall try to picture the feelings of the people during that memorable crossing? The outstretched arm of God was even more visibly shown than in the crossing of the Red Sea, for in that case a natural cause, the strong east wind, contributed something to the effect, while in this case no secondary cause was employed, the drying up of the channel being due solely to miracle. Who among all that host could fail to feel that God was with them? And how solemn yet cheering must the thought have been alike to the men of war looking forward to scenes of danger and death, and to the women and children, and the aged and infirm, dreading otherwise lest they should be trampled down amid the tumult! But of all whose hearts were moved by the marvellous transaction, Joshua must have been pre-eminent. “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” At the dividing of the sea the leadership of Moses began, and they were all baptized unto him in the cloud and in the sea. And now, in like manner, the leadership of Joshua begins at the dividing of the river, and baptism unto Joshua takes the place of baptism unto Moses. A new chapter of an illustrious history begins as its predecessor had begun, but not to be marred and rendered abortive by unbelief and disobedience like the last. How true God has been to His word! What wonders He has done among the people! What honour He has put upon Joshua! How worthy He is to be praised! Will disloyalty to Him ever occur again, will this marvellous deed be forgotten, and the miserable gods of the heathen be preferred to Jehovah? Will any future prophet have cause to say, “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away”?
It is to be especially remarked that God took into His own hands the prescription of the method by which this great event was to be commemorated. It seems as if He could not trust the people to do it in a way that would be free from objection and from evil tendency. It was assumed that the event was worthy of special commemoration. True, indeed, there had been no special commemoration of the passage of the sea, but then the Passover was instituted so near to that event that it might serve as a memorial of it as well as of the protection of the Israelites when the firstborn of the Egyptians was slain. And generally the people had been taught, what their own hearts in some degree recognised, that great mercies should be specially commemorated. The Divine method of commemorating the drying up of the Jordan was a very simple one. In the first place, twelve men were selected, one from every tribe, to do the prescribed work. The democratic constitution of the nation was recognised – each tribe was to take part in it; and as it was a matter in which all were concerned, each person was to take part in the election of the representative of his tribe. Then each of these twelve representatives was to take from the bed of the river, from the place where the priests had stood with the ark, a stone, probably as large as he could carry. The twelve stones were to be carried to the place where the host lodged that night, and to be erected as a standing memorial of the miracle. It was a very simple memorial, but it was all that was needed. It was not like the proud temples or glorious pyramids of Egypt, reared as these were to give glory to man more than to God. It was like Jacob’s pillar before, or Samuel’s Ebenezer afterwards; void of every ornament or marking that could magnify man, and designed for one single purpose – to recall the goodness of God.
It would appear, from Jos 4:9, that two sets of stones were set up, Joshua, following the spirit of the Divine direction, having caused a second set to be erected in the middle of the river on the spot where the priests had stood. Some have supposed that that verse is an interpolation of later date; but, as it occurs in all the manuscripts, and as it is expressly stated in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions that this was a different transaction from the other, we must accept it as such. The one memorial stood on the spot where the ark had indicated the presence of God, the other where the first encampment of the host had shown God’s faithfulness to His word. Both seemed to proclaim the great truth afterwards brought out in the exquisite words of the psalm – ”God is our refuge and our strength; a very present help in time of trouble.” They might not be needed so much for the generation that experienced the deliverance; but in future generations they would excite the curiosity of the children, and thus afford an opportunity to the parents to rehearse the transactions of that day, and thrill their hearts with the sense of God’s mercy.
Among devout Israelites, that day was never forgotten. The crossing of the Jordan was coupled with the crossing of the sea, as the two crowning tokens of God’s mercy in the history of Israel, and the most remarkable exhibitions of that Divine power which had been so often shown among them. In that wailing song, the seventy-fourth psalm, where God’s wonderful works of old are contrasted in a very sad spirit with the unmitigated desolations that met the writer’s eye, almost in the same breath in which he extols the miracle of the sea, “Thou didst divide the sea by Thy strength,” he gives thanks for the miracle of the river, “Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: Thou driedst up mighty rivers.” And in a song, not of wailing, but of triumph, the hundred and fourteenth psalm, we have the same combination: –
“When Israel went forth out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion. The sea saw it, and fled; Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs.
What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest? Thou Jordan, that thou turnest back?
Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams;
Ye little hills like lambs?
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob;
Which turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.”
The point of this psalm lies in the first verse – in the reference to the time ”when Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language.” Israel on that occasion gave a signal proof of his trust in God. At God’s bidding, and with none but God to trust in, he turned his back on Egypt, and made for the wilderness. It was a delight to God to receive this mark of trust and obedience, and in recognition of it the mightiest masses and forces of nature were moved or arrested. The mountains and hills skipped like living creatures, and the sea saw it and fled. It seemed as if God could not do too much for His people. It was the same spirit that was shown when they followed Joshua to the river. They showed that they trusted God. They renounced the visible and the tangible for the invisible and the spiritual. They rose up at Joshua’s command, or rather at the command of God by Joshua; and, pleased with this mark of trust, God caused the waters of the Jordan to part asunder. Surely there is something pathetic in this; the Almighty is so pleased when His children trust Him, that to serve them the strongest forces are moved about as if they were but feathers.
In many ways the truth has been exemplified in later times. When a young convert, at home or abroad, takes up decided ground for Christ, coming out from the world and becoming separate, very blessed tokens of God’s nearness and of God’s interest are usually given him. And Churches that at the call of Christ surrender their worldly advantages, receive tokens of spiritual blessing that infinitely outweigh in sweetness and in spiritual value all that they lose. “Them that honour Me, I will honour.”
Occurrences of more recent times show clearly that God did well in taking into His own hands the prescription of the way in which the crossing of the Jordan was to be commemorated. Tradition has it that it was at the same place where Joshua crossed that Jesus was baptized by John. That may well be doubted, for the Bethabara where John was baptizing was probably at a higher point of the river. But it is quite possible that it was at this spot that Elijah’s mantle smote the river, and he and his servant passed over on dry ground. Holding that all these events occurred at the same place, tradition has called in the aid of superstition, and given a sacred character to the waters of the river at this spot. Many have seen, and every one has read of the pilgrimage to the Jordan, performed every spring, from which many hope to reap such advantage. ”In the mosaics of the earliest churches at Rome and Ravenna,” says Dean Stanley, “before Christian and pagan art were yet divided, the Jordan appears as a river god pouring his streams out of his urn. The first Christian emperor had always hoped to receive his long-deferred baptism in the Jordan, up to the moment when the hand of death struck him at Nicomedia. . . . Protestants, as well as Greeks and Latins, have delighted to carry off its waters for the same sacred purpose to the remotest regions of the West.”
No doubt the expectation of spiritual benefit from the waters of the Jordan is one cause of the annual pilgrimage thither, and of the strange scene that presents itself when the pilgrims are bathing. It seems impossible for man, except under the influence of the strongest spiritual views, to avoid the belief that somehow mechanical means may give rise to spiritual results. There is nothing from which he is naturally more averse than spiritual activity. Any amount of mechanical service he will often render to save him from spiritual exercise. Symbols without number he will willingly provide, if he thereby escape the necessity of going into the immediate presence of God, and worshipping Him who is a Spirit in spirit and in truth. But can mechanical service or material symbols be anything but an evil, if the would-be worshipper is thereby prevented from recognising the necessity of a heart-to-heart fellowship with the living God? Must we not be in living touch with God if the stream of Divine influence is to reach our hearts, and we are to be changed into His image? In the Psalms, which express the very essence of Hebrew devotion, spiritual contact with God is the only source of blessing. “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water. To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.”
Thus it was that by God’s prescription the twelve plain stones taken out of the Jordan were the only memorial of the great deliverance. There was no likeness on them of the Divine Being by whom the miracle had been performed. There was nothing to encourage acts of reverence or worship directed toward the memorial. Twelve rough stones, with no sculptured figures or symbols, not even dressed by hammer and chisel, but simply as they were taken out of the river, were the memorial. They were adapted for one purpose, and for one only: “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the 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: that 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.”