LANGUAGE:
Five Lessons From A 12-Stone Memorial
(Judges 4:1-7)
As we are well aware, tomorrow is Memorial Day, traditionally the day that kicks of the summer season. Though initially designed to be a day of solemn remembrance of lives lost in service to our country, Memorial Day has turned into party times, unforgettable grill cookouts and long relaxing weekend.
From ‘just-thought-you-would-like-to-know’ column, our observance of Memorial Day goes way back to March 3, 1868, when General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the then Grand Army of the Republic, called for a national day of remembrance for those who died in the Civil War. He promoted May 30 as a special day to honor the graves of soldiers who were killed by decorating their graves.[i]
A century and a half has now passed since General Lee surrendered to General Grant,[ii] bringing an end to a national tragedy that filled over 625,000 graves with dead soldiers. Since then, other international calamities have ravaged the world and put more than 650,000 additional Americans into war graves around the world.[iii]
In 1971 Congress declared Memorial Day to be a time of remembering fallen soldiers in all American wars. Then in the year 2000 Congress signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act”. This law was meant to encourage everyone in these United States to pause for a moment of silence on Memorial Day at 3pm local time in remembrance of those who’ve died in service to our country.[iv]
Memorial Day was and is meant to be a time to remember, to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to provide the freedom that we enjoy. So on this weekend we remember the fallen, we pray for a lasting peace among nations, and we honor the guardians of our inalienable rights."[v]
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Memorial Day, a time to remember where we have come from. The path of remembrance forms the path of our future.
St Augustine, meditating on his ability to remember, wrote “O Lord, the power of the memory is great. It is awe-inspiring in its profound and incalculable complexity. It is the “great force of life in a living man” in which the mind can probe deeply without finding the end.[vi]
Let’s open our time in prayer: Heavenly Father, we want to honor our moms today on Mother’s Day. We commit ourselves to honoring, loving, and protecting mothers and women everywhere. We pray your blessing on them today and every day. Amen
Memorials are important to God. At least 230 times God tells us to remember the past. The point being, history has meaning. It not only traces national atrocities, it also traces victories, and for the follower of Christ, points of God’s interventions.
There all kind of memorials in Scripture—from animal skins to rainbows to dishes to candle holders to books to prayers to feasts to crowns to the cross; even God’s name is said to be a memorial.[ix] From God’s perspective memorials are meant to bring to mind His judgmental acts, or acts of faithfulness.[x] Romans 15:4 (NASB95) For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.[xi]
We tend to be forgetful people. For example, in Deuteronomy 6:12(NLT), before Israel crossed the Jordan river, Moses admonished the people of Israel, be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.[xii]
A good explanation of the significance of memorials comes in Joshua chap 4. This would be a good time to open your Bibles, paper or electronic to Joshua chap 4. Joshua was at the helm of leadership, and Israel has crossed the Jordan River. In the crossing of the Jordan God gives Israel two 12 stone memorials—one in the middle of the Jordan, and one on the banks of the Jordan. Following along as we pick up the story in v1
1When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2“Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’ ” 4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ … 7Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:1–7 (NLT)
According to these verses, twelve men, one from each tribe, were to go back into the Jordan river where the priest were still standing holding the ark.[xiii] Each man was to pick up a large stone from the middle of the Jordan and carry it out of the river bed, pile them up as memorial. In these verses Joshua gives five reasons for the 12 stone memorial.
First, the 12-stone-memorial was meant to stimulate questions that motivated a recall of the past works of God. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’[xiv]
In the context, there is more to the word children. By children Joshua is thinking in lines of one’s descendants, of whatever age they might be.
Think about these stones for a moment. They carried the marks of years of being polished from the flow of water, or scars from other boulders scraping. It would have been obvious that they didn’t belong piled as they were out of the reach of the Jordan river. This pile of stones was designed to trigger a memory, to prompt a teaching opportunity about the great things God had done so that the work of God would not be forgotten among the generations to follow. One commentator writes: Remembering the past plays a vital role in the identity of (any nation) ‘one’s walk with God’. Sociologists claim that a society aspiring to endure must become “a community of memory and hope.”[xv]
If you are taking notes, you might want to write this down: We often fail in our trust in God because we forget the things He has done and often the faith of our children is weak because they have never been given reason to ask us about God’s workings in our lives.
Second, the stone memorial was meant to rekindle personal experiences of God’s displays of power. Notice the question in v6, What do these stones mean to you?
The 12-stone-memorial was to be a reminder to those who were present of their personal experience of how God stopped the flooded Jordan so they could cross over. It was to trigger a memory of what they personally saw, heard, and felt. The point is, this 12-stone-memorial was meant to keep a clear memory of what God had done for them. That is, to never lose their own sense of awe and wonder of what God had done in their life.” And so v7, ‘This is how you are to answer the question’, ‘The water of the Jordan River was cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the river stopped flowing. These stones are a permanent reminder for the people of Israel.’ ”
What that generation would remember and pass on to the next generation was the awesomeness and wonder of the mighty power of God. A reminder that they did not cross the flooded Jordan by their own ability, their own scheming, their own expertise, but because of God. As you look at your God journey, I encourage you to take time to think through some of those memorable moments, let them draw you closer to God by reminding you of His faithfulness.
Interestingly, in this chapter Joshua reminds Israel twice of their responsibility of instructing their children and grandchildren of God’s covenantal relationship.
Think about this for a moment. The memorials were to constantly rekindle a fresh sense of awe, wonder and a reminder of the faithfulness of God in their minds. And as long as Joshua lived, and the generation after, the people passed on the memories of the Jordan crossing. The memorial stones help to keep the memories alive.[xvi] But according to Judges 2:10 for some reason the passing on of those memories ceased. V10 (ESV) There arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. The awe and the wonder and the faithfulness of God faded away. A new social environment came that smothered out the memories with a different value system.[xvii]
In application, if we follow the spiritual footpath of the nation of Israel, we’re just two generations away from following their demise. V12 of Judges 2(ESV) they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And provoked the Lord to anger.
In my notes I jotted down 1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB95) The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, (now don’t miss this) paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 10:20 Paul tells us that the pagans of his day were actually sacrificing to demons. [xviii]
Why is important we know this? Evil practices never go away, they simply evolve. I am persuaded that the ancient demonic gods are re-imaging themselves in our century. From a biblical perspective the evil we are watching today is demonically driven. Revelation 16:14 is a case in point: demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world. If we don’t exercise extreme discernment, we will find ourselves following in their footsteps.[xix]
Recently Jonathan Cahn published a book entitled The Return of the Gods. In the book he raises the question--have the demonic gods of the ancient world returned?
Deuteronomy 6:12–15 (GW) 12be careful that you don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 13You must fear the Lord your God, serve him, and take your oaths only in his name. 14Never worship any of the gods worshiped by the people around you. 15If you do, the Lord your God will become very angry with you and will wipe you off the face of the earth, because the Lord your God, who is with you, is a God who does not tolerate rivals.
Vs23–24 (GW) 23The Lord your God dried up the Jordan ahead of you until you had crossed, as he did to the Red Sea until we had crossed. 24The Lord did this so that everyone in the world would know his mighty power and that you would fear the Lord your God every day of your life.”
Realize it or not, we are defined by our choices. We need to choose what we invest in; this will reveal our priorities and where our heart really is. Memorials help to remind us to choose well, recalibrating our lives, to focus on God.
Joshua tells us that memorials are meant to remind us to fear the Lord. We do not want to coast through life, forgetting to live with intentionality. Letting life pass us by is not honoring to God. Memorials are meant to help us to keep fresh what He has done in the past and trust in His promises for the future, to live out our present moments with the intention of glorifying Him.
Vs19–20 (GW) 19On the tenth day of the first month, the people came out of the Jordan River. They made their camp at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. 20At Gilgal Joshua set up the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan.
It was significant that this happened on the tenth day of the first month, because that was exactly forty years to the day, since Israel marched out of Egypt. Leaving the edge of the river, the Israelites went to a place called Gilgal to make their camp. Gilgal means “the reproach has been rolled away.”[xxii]
Forty years of spiritual defeat and failure were rolled away. It was the dawn of a great new beginning in a new land. The days of selfish refusal to respond to God under Moses were gone, complaining was ended, hopeless wandering in the wilderness was behind them. They were now a people with a powerful new sense of purpose, determined to take new territory with God. The stone memorials represented a major change for the nation of Israel. Wilderness wanderings were over. No longer would Israel be fed with manna provided by the hand of God.[xxiii]
God sent the ark ahead of the people into the overflowing waters to encourage their faith. The Ark represented the presence of God, His very self, going before them and opening the way for them in their new walk of faith. Seeing the stone memorial was meant to keep fresh in their minds God’s miraculous awesomeness and presence, giving them the courage to take the new territory fraught with conflict and enemies. The pile of twelve stones reminded Israel of what God had done for them, that He cared for His people, kept His promises, and went before them in victory to conquer the land of their inheritance. This is the message the 12 stones declared to Israel, and this is what they say to us today.
As followers of Jesus we are a ‘memorial people’ because the whole of our faith depends on our ability to remember. Those who persevere in faith are those who remember the wonder of the past. Let me close with three applications.
Remembering God’s past is necessary to fuel our faith in God’s future for us. They are meant to remind us that unless we step out in faith and get our feet wet as the priests did, we’ll never fully experience the new life of faith and freedom that Christ has opened up for us as our inheritance in Him. This makes memory one of God’s most profound, mysterious, and merciful gifts granted to us. He designed memorials as a means of rekindling in our minds His works in our lives. We neglect those remembering moments to our own peril. So 1 Corinthians 10:6–11 (NASB95) 6Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” 8Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Interestingly, in 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to dedicate our lives to Christ as Lord in our hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.
The immediate context of Peter’s admonition is persecution and suffering. What Peter is telling us is, when unbelievers see us facing persecution and suffering with great hope, they generally want to know the reason.[xxiv] The way we live out our lives becomes a memorial to our communities, causing people to ask, what is it about this faith of yours?
We should never lose that sense of awe and wonder of what God had done in our lives. We need to be prepared to share the reason for our hope, so that those who speak maliciously against our good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:16). As Solomon pointed out in 1 Kings 8:56, Not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. God’s faithfulness is meant to be front center of our minds.
So as we commemorate Memorial Day, as followers of Christ, let us do it with profound gratitude for the extraordinary common grace given to us when men and women laid their lives down for the sake of America’s survival. And let us remember the past evils that we may not repeat them in the future.
Third, I came across a story of a young executive named Josh driving on a Chicago street. He owned a sleek black 12-cylinder Jaguar. Only 2 months old, he was zipping along at a good clip, while at the same time watching for kids that might dart out from between parked cars. Suddenly a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! – smashed into the side door of his nice new 12-cylinder Jaguar. He hit the brakes, slammed into reverse, tires spinning, and backed up to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid who had thrown the brick, and slammed him up against a parked car, shouting, “Who are you? And what the heck are you doing? That’s my new Jag, and the brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”
The young boy pleaded, “Please, mister, please…I’m sorry! With tears running down his face he said, I didn’t know what else to do! I threw the brick because no one would stop.” Then he pointed to the curb saying, “my brother rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy pled, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.’
The young executive suddenly found himself in an emotional whirlwind. He went to the young man lying in the street, with much effort he lifted him back into the wheelchair. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, and checked to see that everything else was okay. He then walked with them back home. Once there, he headed back to his sleek, black, shining 12-cylinder Jaguar; it was a long and slow walk.
As the story was told, Josh never did fix that door. He kept the dent to remind him about the day a little boy cried for help. [xxv]
And as Christians, let us make every day, as long as it is called today, a memorial day by remembering Jesus Christ, lest [we] forget the Lord”. If you’re here without Jesus Christ as your Savior, why not make today a memorial day, a day of remembering the grace of our Lord. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:2 (GW) Listen, now is God’s acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!
Let’s close in prayer:
Father, today we pause to reflect on the sacrifice made by those who paid the ultimate price on behalf of our nation. We pray that their sacrifices are never forgotten, nor is the pain of their families. We acknowledge that freedom comes at a cost and pray that we can pursue peace. We hope that, someday, we'll celebrate Memorial Day as just a memory of the time before we started living the peaceful existence You intended for us since the beginning of creation.
Let us turn to You, Lord, in our grief and in our remembrance of the fallen. Guide us toward a harmonious existence as we honor those who were willing to give up their lives that we may gather here today freely. On this Memorial Day, we pray for peace and for those who gave all. Lead us toward a world where no one must give their lives in pursuit of freedom. May we be receptive to Your guidance, and may we never forget the fallen. Amen.
[i] Scott Harris, The Importance of Memorials,
https://www.gracebibleny.org/the_importance_of_memorials. The selection of May 30th is attributed to a Virginian of French descent, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, who may have selected this date because it was “The Day of Ashes” in France – the day that Napoleon’s remains were returned to France from St. Helena. There is some debate as to the location and date of the first observance of Memorial Day is in dispute. Some claim the custom of honoring war dead began in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. Others claim the custom was originated by some Southern women who placed flowers on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. One writer states the first Memorial Day service took place on May 30, 1866, on Belle Isle, a burial ground for Union soldiers in the St. James River, at Richmond, Virginia. The school superintendent and the mayor planned the program of hymns and speeches and had the burial ground decorated with flowers. The Federal Government got into the debate and in 1966 proclaimed that Waterloo, New York, was the birthplace of Memorial Day since on May 5, 1865, the people of Waterloo had honored soldiers who had died in the Civil War. See General John Logan, Memorial Day Founder,
https://armyhistory.org/general-john-a-logan-memorial-day-founder/#:~:text=On%203%20March%201868%2C%20Logan,both%20the% 20House%20and%20Senate. Following the Civil War, Logan was instrumental in the founding of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a veterans group comprised of former Union Army soldiers, and served as the GAR’s second elected national commander; General Stephen Hurlburt was the first commander in chief of the GAR. On 3 March 1868, Logan issued General Order No. 11, which called for a national day of remembrance for Civil War dead. This order served as the basis for what became the national holiday of Memorial Day. See also Memorial Day, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Memorial-Day
[ii] Battle of Appomattox Court House, https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Appomattox-Court-House. On April 9, 1865, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House. Grant agreed to let Lee choose the meeting place at which they would discuss terms, so his aide chose the home of Wilmer McLean, a retired Virginia militia officer. With McLean’s consent, Lee arrived at 1:00 PM. Grant is said to have arrived a half hour later. Under the terms of surrender, Grant would not charge any member of the Army of Northern Virginia with treason, instead placing them on parole after the confiscation of their weapons. Lee agreed to these terms and departed the McLean residence at 4:00 PM. While Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House marked the end of the war in Virginia, it was not the end of the Civil War as a whole. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee was still being chased by Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Smaller Confederate armies continued to fight throughout the Deep South and west of the Mississippi River. The war would not be officially declared won for the Union until August 20, 1866.
[iii] Jon Bloom, Remember, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/remember
[iv] Sarah Lemire, When is Memorial Day in 2023? What to know ahead of the holiday, https://www.today.com/life/holidays/when-is-memorial-day-rcna81451
[v] Donald Trump, The Meaning of Memorial Day: Why Do We Celebrate the May Holiday? https://www.newsweek.com/memorial-day-facts-history-meaning-616476
[vi] St. Augustine: “The Power of the Memory is Great, O Lord” https://www.ncregister.com/blog/st-augustine-the-power-of-the-memory-is-great-o-lord
[vii] Genesis 3:6–8 (NASB95) 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
[viii] Genesis 9:12–15 (NASB95) 12God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14“It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
[ix] https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Memorial-Memory 1. Meaning. Azakarah, tr. “memorial,” is a sacrificial term describing the act “which brings the offerer into remembrance before God, or which brings God into honorable remembrance with the offerer” (cf. Num 5:26). The verb form is zakhar, “to prick,” “pierce,” “penetrate”; hence, of impressing on the memory (Deut 8:2); to keep in mind (Jer 2:2); remember (44:21); to offer a memorial sacrifice (Isa 66:3). The noun forms zekher and zikkeron refer to memorials of “his holy name” (Ps 30:4); of stones (Josh 4:7); offerings (Num 5:15); record or account (Exod 17:14); book of remembrance (Mal 3:16); book of chronicles (Esth 6:1); memorial sayings (Job 13:12); and a celebration (Lev 23:24). The Gr. has similar meanings, plus “tomb,” “monument,” and “sepulcher.” The object of memorials is to preserve and perpetuate the most valuable in persons and incidents (see Exod 13:8). Solomon said, “The memory of the righteous is a blessing” (Prov 10:7). Contrarily for the wicked, “His memory perishes from the earth” (Job 18:17; cf. Pss 9:6; 109:15; Eccl 9:5; Neh 2:20).
2. Memorabilia. Every memorial commemorates something, otherwise it loses its significance and becomes worthless. That which qualifies for memorial is the worthily unusual—persons, incidents, or things, usually epoch-making. Memorials are direction markers in history, indicating trends in the course of events. When the Hebrews discovered that there was one living God who participated in human affairs, and with whom covenant could be made, His name became a memorial. An apocalyptic psalmist said, “O Lord, we wait for thee; thy memorial name is the desire of our soul” (Isa 26:8). Also, “the law of the Lord” (Exod 13:9) was to be memorialized. Great acts of God pertinent to man are preserved in memorials: the creation (20:11); the deliverance from Egyp. bondage (13:8); and Christ’s death on the cross (1 Cor 11:24-26). True worship and good deeds were objects of memorials: Israelite worship (Lev 2:2; Num 31:54); Mordecai’s “memorable deeds” (Esth 6:1f.); Mary’s anointing Jesus (Matt 26:6-13; John 12:1-3); and Cornelius’ worship and neighborly service (Acts 10:1-4). These and others are recalled by the various memorials that perpetuate them.
3. Memorials. Memorials are to aid man’s memory in preserving what he cherishes most. Maybe it is a subconscious sense of immortality that has always prompted man to try in some way to survive the grave. Prehistoric men drew pictures on their cave walls, and throughout history man has marked the graves of tombs of his loved ones. Stone is one of the oldest means of memorials. Rulers of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Hatti, Persia, Greece, and Rome, have left their memorials in pyramids, obelisks, cliffs, statues, slabs, and other stone forms. Moses had the names of the twelve sons of Israel engraved on two onyx stones, “as stones for remembrance” (Exod 28:9-12); and the Ten Commandments were put on stone (34:1). Later, Joshua “wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses” (Josh 8:32). Another medium was the book, whether of parchment, papyrus, or paper. It is a mark of inspired genius that Moses began the book which resulted in the Bible, a memorial of divine revelation and human response. The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book” (Exod 17:14); “and Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” (24:4). Eventually the Bible became the most durable, inclusive, and influential memorial in history. Other memorials were religious activities. Israelite priests presented cereal offerings, burned with frankincense, “as its memorial portion” (Lev 2:2). Gold offerings were made “as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord” (Num 31:54). The angel said to Cornelius, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God” (Acts 10:4). Memorial days, particularly those associated with worship and feasts, have been most meaningful. Two paramount memorial feasts of Bible record are the Passover and the Lord’s Su pper. Moses said, “this day (Nisan 15) shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord” (Exod 12:14). Instituting the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24). The fourth commandment is, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod 20:8).
[x] Emma Danzey, What Are the Stones of Remembrance in the Bible? https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/what-are-the-stones-of-remembrance-in-the-bible.html
[xi] Romans 4:23–24 (NASB95) 23Now not for ‘Abrahams’ sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 1 Corinthians 10:5–11 (NASB95) 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. 6Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” 8Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NASB95) 16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
[xii] Joshua 4:7 (NASB95) 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.”
[xiii] Who had been chosen earlier Joshua 3:12 (NASB95) 12“Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.
[xiv] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jos 4:6. Related passages:
[xv] Waltke, B. K., “Joshua,” New Bible Commentary: 21st-century Edition, ed. by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, p. 241).
[xvi] Judges 2:7 (NASB95) 7The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel.
[xvii] See Patti Garibay, The Spiritual State Of America, https://www.christianpost.com/ voices/ the-spiritual-state-of-america.html. America’s spiritual future is at risk. Recent studies conducted by Pew Research Center have concluded that in 2020, 64% of Americans, including children, were Christian. People who are religiously unaffiliated, sometimes called religious “nones,” accounted for 30% of the US population. Other religions accounted for 6%. If this rate continues, it is projected that by the year 2070, Christians will shrink to just above one-third (35%) while “nones” would rise to between 34 and 52% of the population. What is happening to our country founded on Judeo-Christian values? Mission creep.
[xviii] 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. Revelation 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. Ephesians 2:2–3 (NASB95) 2in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
[xix] Hope Bolinger, Who Is Baal in the Bible? https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/who-is-baal-in-the-bible.html
[xx] https://www.learnreligions.com/asherah-in-the-bible-6824125, In the Bible, Asherah is both the Hebrew name of a pagan fertility goddess and the wooden cult object dedicated to her. Nearly all instances of “Asherah” in the Bible refer to a sacred pole constructed by human hands and erected in honor of the fertility goddess. Scripture also references carved images of Asherah (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 21:7).
[xxi] Jonathan Cahn, The Return of the Gods, https://books.google.com/books?id=rqVvEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_ r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Ba’al wages war in the realm of morality, spirituality, politics, and cuture. So in late twentieth-century America the return of Baal would bring about a cultural, civilizational, and spiritual collision. As America turned from God in the early 60s, other spirits and gods would usher in. Cf., Matthew 12:43–45 (NASB95) 43“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44“Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45“Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” CF., https://www.gotquestions.org/who-Baal.htmlBaal was the name of the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. The practice of Baal worship infiltrated Jewish religious life during the time of the Judges (Judges 3:7), became widespread in Israel during the reign of Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33) and also affected Judah (2 Chronicles 28:1-2). The word baal means “lord”; the plural is baalim. In general, Baal was a fertility god who was believed to enable the earth to produce crops and people to produce children. Different regions worshiped Baal in different ways, and Baal proved to be a highly adaptable god. Various locales emphasized one or another of his attributes and developed special “denominations” of Baalism. Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:3) and Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33) are two examples of such localized deities. According to Canaanite mythology, Baal was the son of El, the chief god, and Asherah, the goddess of the sea. Baal was considered the most powerful of all gods, eclipsing El, who was seen as rather weak and ineffective. In various battles Baal defeated Yamm, the god of the sea, and Mot, the god of death and the underworld. Baal’s sisters/consorts were Ashtoreth, a fertility goddess associated with the stars, and Anath, a goddess of love and war. The Canaanites worshiped Baal as the sun god and as the storm god—he is usually depicted holding a lightning bolt—who defeated enemies and produced crops. They also worshiped him as a fertility god who provided children. Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in the temples. At times, appeasing Baal required human sacrifice, usually the firstborn of the one making the sacrifice (Jeremiah 19:5). The priests of Baal appealed to their god in rites of wild abandon which included loud, ecstatic cries and self-inflicted injury (1 Kings 18:28).
[xxii] https://www.gotquestions.org/Gilgal-in-the-Bible.html Gilgal was a place of memorial. Gilgal is significant in the Bible as serving as a place of memorial for the Israelites, to remind them of what God had done. After miraculously crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the Israelites set up twelve stones taken from the river, representing the twelve tribes, to serve as a reminder to the children of Israel (Joshua 4:19–20). The stones at Gilgal would remind the Israelites and their descendants of the power of God and how He had dried up the Jordan River so they could walk through it, just as He had done to the Red Sea (Joshua 4:21–24). The stones at Gilgal would serve a teaching purpose to the younger generation, so that they too could remember what the Lord had done for them (Joshua 4:21–22).
[xxiii] Joshua 5:12 (NASB95) The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year. Exodus 3:8 (NASB95)8“So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
[xxiv] Matthew 5:16 (NASB95) “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
[xxv] Dennis McGowan, Building Memorials To Remember God, (Joshua 4:1-24), https://sermons.logos.com/sermons/89783-building-memorials-to-remember-god?sso=false