Burunche’s Blog

Joshua 4:1 – 9 “When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So, Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

So, the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.”

The Jordan River starts on the slopes of Mount Hermon and carves a deep groove down to the Sea of Galilee. The rate of flow of the river is very rapid, smoothing huge rocks as they tumble along. Those men whom Joshua selected must have been very strong because the stones had to be carried all the way to Gilgal where the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan. Certainly, the Israelites would have wanted to get far enough away from the Jordan to avoid any flood waters. Although it is difficult to locate the site of ancient Gilgal, it is at least a kilometer or two away from the Jordan.

The erection of standing stones as memorials was quite common in Bible times. Jacob erected two different standing stones, one at Bethel, where he saw the vision of the angels ascending and descending, and the second when Jacob and his father – in – law Laban made a peace treaty after Jacob had left Laban to return to Canaan. Moses set up twelve standing stones on Mount Sinai to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Later the prophet Samuel set up a stone that he called “Ebenezer,” meaning “hitherto has the Lord helped us.” Now God is ordering Joshua to set up stones. Were these stones in a heap, or in an altar, or were they set up individually? We don’t know. Although archaeologists have searched diligently, nobody has ever identified the exact location of the camp at Gilgal or of those stones.

APPLICATION: In every family’s history, there are certain events that demand some kind of memorial. A few generations ago, it was quite common for couples to frame their marriage certificates and a wedding photo to display in their living rooms. Many people kept their baptismal certificates and their confirmation certificates in the family Bible. When I was a child, I was fascinated by the objects my grandmother kept on the coffee table in her living room. Along with a photo of my brothers and me, Grandma also had a picture of my dad when he graduated from college. But the most interesting object was not the photos, but a set of my father’s baby booties that had been dipped in bronze. In a day when children didn’t always live to adulthood, such mementos were highly prized.

There are some people who are so remarkable that they are living standing stones. My first – grade teacher, Katherine Stuckey, was a great example. Everybody should have a first – grade teacher like Katherine Stuckey! Mrs. Stuckey was kind, compassionate, resourceful, and imaginative. A talented artist, Mrs. Stuckey brought in white bed sheets and had each first – grade class decorate them with crayon drawings that she then made permanent by placing wax paper over the drawings and ironing them. In the days before such things as dyslexia were recognized, Mrs. Stuckey identified children with learning problems and carefully nurtured them. Who knows how many children were saved from being convinced that they were stupid by Mrs. Stuckey’s discernment?

When I was growing up, I had a number of Sunday School teachers who were standing stones. These men and women loved God and kindly shared that love with groups of unruly students Sunday after Sunday. These people were men and women of integrity, and their very memory is a blessing.

My medical education afforded me the opportunity to engage with a number of living standing stones. Sadly, I failed to appreciate the true worth of many of these people until later in life, but I remain grateful for their examples.

We have a retired pastor friend who began life as a Fulani cattle herder for a local chief. But one day, the chief’s son came home from Bible School and led our friend to the Lord. Our friend went to Bible School, where he had to learn to read and write and to speak English before he graduated. After marrying a Christian lady, our friend served a number of remote village churches faithfully for forty – four years before retiring. Even now, our friend is recognized as a man of deep wisdom and spirituality. Our friend is truly a living standing stone.

Why talk about standing stones? These stones are noticeable in an otherwise dreary landscape. God wants each of us to become a standing stone to our families and our neighbors. Many of us will never be famous; but to those around us, we may point them to God and encourage them so that they too will become standing stones to others.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You that You have sent people into our lives to guide us and to encourage us. Help us to become living standing stones, monuments to Your grace and people of faith who will point others to You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on February 9, 2022 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.