Joshua Chapter 4

At a Glance

  • After the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, Joshua 4 recounts a pivotal, commemorative act that seals Israel’s first generation’s identity in the land.
  • This chapter also reinforces the sanctity of the ark and the priests’ role in mediating God’s presence.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Joshua continues the Deuteronomistic history’s arc of Israel’s entry into the land under the leadership of Joshua, following Moses.
  • The chapter fits squarely in the transitional moment after the miraculous crossing (4–5) and sets the stage for future acts of remembrance and covenant fidelity (6–9).

CHAPTER REFERENCE

Joshua 4

Chapter Overview

After the miraculous crossing of the Jordan, Joshua 4 recounts a pivotal, commemorative act that seals Israel’s first generation’s identity in the land. As the priests bearing the Ark stood firm in the middle of the Jordan until all Israel had crossed, God instructs Joshua to select twelve men—one from each tribe—to lift twelve stones from the riverbed and carry them to the place of lodging that night. The purpose is explicit: these stones will serve as a memorial so that future generations will ask, “What do these stones mean?” The answer will rehearse the extraordinary divine intervention: the waters of the Jordan were cut off “before the ark of the covenant of the LORD,” enabling the people to pass on dry ground. The act itself—taking stones from the very spot where the priests’ feet stood firm—rooted memory in geography, ritual, and story. Joshua then places twelve stones in the Jordan as a symbol of God’s faithfulness in the heart of the river, while another set remains in the camping site as a visible memorial.

This chapter also reinforces the sanctity of the ark and the priests’ role in mediating God’s presence. The people pass over “in clean” condition, and the ark remains in the river until all have crossed and the people have passed over. The stones will become a teaching tool for future generations, a lived theology that invites question, memory, and proclamation. The narrative moves from the miracle in the Jordan to a shared responsibility: remember, teach, and worship. In this moment, the community’s identity is formed not merely by a victory but by an act of remembrance that binds generations—the stones as enduring signposts of divine deliverance and faithfulness.

Historical & Literary Context

Joshua continues the Deuteronomistic history’s arc of Israel’s entry into the land under the leadership of Joshua, following Moses. The Jordan crossing immediately after the exodus sequence mirrors the Red Sea crossing, reemphasizing God’s saving acts and faithfulness to His promises. The chapter belongs to the prose narrative within Joshua, a book that blends conquest, covenant, and instruction. Its genre blends ancient historiography with theological reflection: a historical account designed to shape collective memory and identity around divine initiative and obedience.

The chapter fits squarely in the transitional moment after the miraculous crossing (4–5) and sets the stage for future acts of remembrance and covenant fidelity (6–9). It also underlines the theme that God’s people move forward from deliverance into a pedagogy of memory—concrete rituals that anchor faith in communal memory and future instruction.

Key Themes

- Memorial worship and communal memory: The stones symbolize teaching moments that anchor the next generation in God’s saving acts.

- God’s faithfulness across generations: The crossing and the memorial confirm that deliverance is not an isolated event but part of a continuing covenant.

- The ark as divine presence: The ark’s central place in the crossing reaffirms God’s presence with Israel as they advance.

- Rite and education: The act of asking future generations about the stones frames ongoing religious education through story and ritual.

- Obedience and intentional memory-making: The people are instructed in precise steps, underscoring that remembrance requires intentional practice.

Modern Application

This chapter invites contemporary readers to cultivate spiritual memory as a public, teachable practice. Churches and families can mirror the Israelite pattern by creating tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness—testimonies, landmarks, or annual rituals that recount how God moved in moments of transition. The “stones” become a pedagogy: not only to recall what God did but to interpret it as ongoing invitation to trust and obedience. In a culture bombarded with fast-paced change, the chapter challenges us to designate intentional spaces for remembrance—a way to connect the past with present faith and future hope.

Practically, communities could:

- Establish annual “memorials” tied to God’s acts in their own history (personal, family, or church-wide).

- Create simple rituals that ask, “What do these stones mean for us today?” to translate memory into living faith.

- Emphasize intergenerational teaching where elders recount God’s faithfulness to younger members, shaping identity and trust.

- Joshua 3 (crossing of the Jordan, divine provision)

- Joshua 5:9 (“The reproach of Egypt rolled away” / Gilgal and new identity)

- Exodus 12 (Recall of sacred memory and ritual instruction)

- Deuteronomy 6 (institution of teaching law within family life)

- Moses (for themes of leadership transition, covenant memory, and pedagogy)

- Ezra (for post-exilic memory-work and teaching future generations)

Chapter Text

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 you 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.

10

For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything 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.

11

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.

12

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:

13

About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

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.

15

And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

16

Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

17

Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

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.

19

And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

20

And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

21

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?

22

Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

23

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:

24

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.

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