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April 13 - Joshua 4 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Shaun here. It's Monday, the 13th of April.
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  And oh, it is so good to be with you at the start of this whole
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  new week as we are going to be spending this week and the weeks
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  to come reading through this incredible book of Joshua that
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  outlines God's people. Finally, finally after that
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  whole generation wandering through the desert, entering
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  into this promised land, their inheritance that has been part
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  of their story that they had been looking forward to for so
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  long. And this week is an epic week
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  because they finish crossing the Jordan River and then the
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  conquests begin and God just hands them these parts of their
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  land 1 by 1 as the people provide very little resistance
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  as God's people move through with this incredible blessing
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  and Providence that God's promised them.
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  Ah Lord, open up our hearts so that we can see you, that we can
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  understand more about who you are and your love for us as we
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  read this today. Alright friends, let's dive in.
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  Reading together Joshua chapter 4.
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  When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to
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  Joshua, now choose 12 men, one from each tribe.
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  Tell them, take 12 Stones from the very place where the priests
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  are standing in the middle of the Jordan.
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  Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp
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  tonight. Sir Joshua called together the
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  12 men he had chosen, one from each of the tribes of Israel.
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  He told them, go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the
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  ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick one stone
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  and carry it on your shoulder. 12 Stones in all, one for each
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  of the 12 tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to
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  build the memorial in the future.
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  Your children will ask you what do these stones mean?
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  Then you can tell them. They remind us that the Jordan
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  River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord's Covenant went
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  across. These stones will stand as a
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  memorial among the people of Israel forever.
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  So the men did as Joshua had commanded them.
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  They took 12 Stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one
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  for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua.
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  They carried them to the place where they camped for the night
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  and constructed a memorial there.
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  Joshua also set up another pile of 12 Stones in the middle of
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  the Jordan at the place where the priests who carried the Ark
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  of the Covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
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  The priests who were carrying the ark stood in the middle of
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  the river until all of the Lord's commands that Moses had
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  given to Joshua were carried out.
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  Meanwhile, the people hurried across the river bed, and when
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  everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over
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  with the ark of the Lord. As the people watched, the armed
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  warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe
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  of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan just as Moses
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  had directed. These armed men, about 40,000
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  strong, were ready for battle, and the Lord was with them as
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  they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.
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  That day the Lord made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all
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  the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as
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  much as they had revered Moses. The Lord said to Joshua, command
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  the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come up out of
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  the river bed. So Joshua gave the command.
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  As soon as the priests carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant
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  came up out of the river bed and the feet were on high ground,
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  the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as
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  before. The people crossed the Jordan on
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  the 10th day of the first month. Then they camped at Gilgal, just
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  east of Jericho. It was there at Gilgal that
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  Joshua piled up the 12 Stones taken from the Jordan River.
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  Then Joshua said to the Israelites, In the future your
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  children will ask, what do these stones mean?
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  Then you can tell them this is where the Israelites crossed the
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  Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up
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  the river right before your eyes, and He kept it dry until
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  you were all across, just as He did at the Red Sea when He dried
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  it up until we had all crossed over.
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  He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the
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  Lord's hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God
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  forever. Oh Lord, you truly are the God
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  of generations. You are not a God for then, or a
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  God for another time, or a God just for now.
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  But you reign eternally. You sit outside of time, and yet
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  you are here intimately with us in this moment.
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  Lord, our human minds just cannot quite fathom that.
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  But here in this story, we see you setting up your victory in
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  your provision for generations to be able to ask the questions
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  and hear the stories. Lord, I pray that we would also
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  be in the business of sharing stories about you, about your
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  provision, and about your love for us.
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  So Lord, inspire us. Create moments in which we can
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  share stories about you with each other and with generations
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  new and generations past. We love you and we're so
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  grateful for the way that you do.
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  Come and play an active role in our stories today.
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  In every generation. We love you and we praise you
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  and we pray all of this in that saving name of Jesus, Amen.