Mere Stones/Reminders-5 Series

MERE STONES/Reminders-V—Joshua 4:1-24

Reminder/Recall/Memorial/Symbol/Post-it notes/String on finger

*The Spirit absolutely moved in this sermon to FBCC. He took my focus to His level in the pulpit!

Attention:

I am constantly typing things into the calendar on my smartphone. I’m not being rude, I’m just making sure that I have made myself a reminder. And I tell people constantly, “If I its not on my calendar, then it probably won’t happen.” But what’s really bad is when I go to the trouble to mark my calendar—an event or a prayer request—but forget to look at it!

Seemingly insignificant Reminders can make all the difference in a person’s life!

And those reminders can make all the difference & bring about grand things in your Christian life too!

Joshua had twelve stones removed from the Jordan River as a memorial to the crossing.

Memorials or Spiritual Reminders hold a great deal of significance to God’s people.

What are some things that are significant about spiritual reminders?

The potential of spiritual reminders.

We’ve found previously that Mere Stones/Reminders can transport us to a Position of...

1. UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT(:1-3a, 5b)

2. BLESSING(:3)

3. IMMINENT DANGER(:4-5)

4. RESPONSIBILITY(:5)

5. INFLUENCE(:6)

6. REFLECTION(:7-9)

7—Mere Stones/Reminders can transport us To a Position of...

COMPLETION/End(:10-11)

Explanation:(10-11)Complete/Achieve/End

:10—“So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; & the people hurried & crossed over.”

The priests(& ark) stood in the middle of the Jordan until ‘all’ the aforementioned things took place...“until everything was finished.”

All these things were commanded of Joshua by the LORD.

These things were also what Moses had commanded Joshua to do.

Did Moses & Joshua have prior knowledge of the coming miracle?

I believe both Moses & Joshua were just being faithful, trusting God’s ability to fulfill His word in whatever way He chose. They believed & trusted & knew God would use them in some way to regardless of the impossibility of the task at hand! They KNEW the LORD would do something spectacular thru their faithfulness.

As the saying goes...‘Let go & let God.’

Anxiety can come with Completion of any task. It means that another sometimes unanticipated phase is about to be entered. And the next phase requires change.

“Everything”—rbd daw-bar'—Noun Masc.—1) Speech, word, speaking, thing—1a) Speech, 1b) Saying, utterance, 1c) Word, words, 1d) Business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner--by extension. Strong—from rbd[To arrange, speak, subdue]; A word; by implication--A matter(as spoken of) or thing; adverbially--A cause.

“Finished”—Mmt taw-mam'—Qal Infinitive—1) To be complete, be finished, be at an end. Strong—a primitive root; To complete, in a good or a bad sense, literal, or figurative, transitive or intransitive.

“Commanded”—hwu tsaw-vaw’—Piel(intensive/intentional/repeated/extended) Perfect—1) To command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order—1a) (Piel)--1a1) To lay charge upon, 1a2) To give charge to, give command to, 1a3) To give charge unto, 1a4) To give charge over, appoint, 1a5) To give charge, command, 1a6) To charge, command, 1a7) To charge, commission, 1a8) To command, appoint, ordain(of divine act), 1b) (Pual)--To be commanded. Strong—a primitive root; intensively--To constitute, enjoin.

“Hurried”—rhm maw-har’—Verb—1) (Qal)--To hasten—1a) (Niphal)--To be hurried, be anxious—1a) hasty, precipitate, impetuous, 1b) (Piel)--1b1) To hasten, make haste, 1b2) Hasten(used as adverb with another verb), 1b3) To hasten, prepare quickly, do quickly, bring quickly. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To be liquid or flow easily, i.e. (by implication); To hurry(in a good or a bad sense); often used (with another verb)adverbially--Promptly.

“Crossed over/Passed over”[See :5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 23]—rbe `aw-bar'—Qal Infinitive—1) To pass over or by or through, alienate, bring, carry, do away, take, take away, transgress. Strong—a primitive root; To cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically--To cover (in copulation).

:11—“Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the LORD & the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.”

The entire nation crossed over to further intimacy & revelation with God.

To go beyond the limitations of human possibility! But keep in mind that this crossing is merely the beginning of their call to conquer the land of Canaan & transform it into the land of the children of Israel.

God takes away the human dread/fear of the crossing...to approach the crossing with new excitement & vigor...Where we are no longer hesitant, no longer waver.

After the people had “completely crossed over,”(along with the collecting of the rocks & the placing of the other 12 stones by Joshua), then the priests carrying the ark crossed over. The ark was conspicuously the first to go in & the last to come out. YHWH is the One who brought about the miracle & is bringing about Israel’s existence as a nation.