Mere Stones/Reminders-6 Series

MERE STONES/Reminders-VI—Joshua 4:1-24

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

Attention:

Local 5-7-day weather forecasts—They have animations of rain, thunderstorms, wind, waves, sun, etc.

On Valentine’s Day there is a beating heart &/or cupids to remind watchers that Valentine’s Day is approaching. We are reminded to pay special attention to those we love the most.

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. COMPLETION/End(:10-11)

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

OPPORTUNITY(:10b)

Explanation:(:10b)Trust

:10b—“And the people hurried & crossed;...”

God’s people, Israel, had open opportunity to be His people in the land He had promised & is now giving them.

The people “hurried” to cross the Jordan. Were they afraid of being the last ones in the path of the returning water? They may have been anxious to enter the next phase of their journey with God.

Whether they were eager to serve God or themselves is not stated. My suspicion is that it was a little of both, given that at the end of the Conquest(24:14-15), Joshua called the people to choose whom they would serve—either gods(foreign/empty/powerless) or YHWH(known/overflowing/powerful).

Christians are Positive Opportunists...To share as they are given opportunity.

Anxiety can come with Completion(:10-11) of any task. It means that another anticipated but sometimes unanticipated phase is about to be entered. And that next phase requires change! It requires your looking at that change as an Opportunity.

We must go where & when God wants us...courageously & gladly....Bearing the Good News in Jesus both in the church & to every place on the planet.

We have to trust the One holding the water back. Yet NOT trust that He will ‘hold the water back’ specifically FOR US(our desire—that we might want it held back for our agenda)!

Ps. 31:15—“My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.”

Rev. 19:4-5—“And the twenty-four elders & the four living creatures fell down & worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants & those who fear Him, both small & great!”

Revelation details the 7-yr. period of man’s final rule.

We can follow the crowd who is trusting...

...the crowd ‘can’ be an example of ‘rightly placed’ trust, BUT they can also be examples of ‘misplaced’ trust. Therefore ‘following the crowd’ is always secondary to personal trust.

We must always individually follow the Holy Spirit’s leading!

We must take advantage of opportunities God affords us.

“Hurried”—rhm maw-har’—Piel Imperfect—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).

Argumentation:

Lk. 4:13—“Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him[Jesus] until an opportune time-(kairov--suitable time/season)-.”

As with the devil, so it CAN be for you & me(but doesn’t have to be). I can silently or verbally bide my time. While taking on the countenance/manner of a concerned Christian(speaking the words of & outwardly behaving like Christ & Christians) your heart can seethe & churn in bitterness, & hatred, & in plotting the demise of your brother or sister in Christ! Waiting for the time...your time.

Lk. 22:2-6—“And the chief priests & the scribes sought how they might kill Him[Jesus], for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way & conferred with the chief priests & captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, & agreed to give him money. So he promised & sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.”

Rom. 7:7-9, 11—“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity-(aformh)- by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived & I died.”.....“For sin, taking occasion-(aformh)- by the commandment, deceived me, & by it killed me.”