NASHVILLE (BP) – This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, Lifeway publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum.
Bible Passages: Joshua 3:14-4:9
Discussion Questions:
- What moments in your life deserve a monument because of God’s presence and work?
- How can previous experiences with God strengthen a person’s faith?
- How can we pass on our faith stories to future generations?
Food for thought:
Archaeologists have found that ancient cultures erected statues and monuments to memorialize significant people and events. These memorials helped future generations understand their identity.
In the Bible, God often instructed His people to erect memorials. He did this so they would never forget Him or that they belonged to Him. God always wants His people to remember that they can trust Him in the present and for the future.
Joshua 3:1-13 highlights the ark of the covenant. Israel had built this sacred box in the wilderness following God’s blueprints. Now, Joshua told the priests to carry it “ahead of the people” (v. 14) as they began crossing the Jordan River. God was commanding His people to cross a flooded river. Usually, the Jordan was anywhere from 3- to 10-feet deep and 90- to9 100-feet wide. At flood stage, though, the water was significantly deeper and wider.
When the priest’s feet touched the water’s edge, the river’s flow stopped. The waters parted just like the Red Sea parted in Exodus 14. As a result, the entire nation crossed into the promised land on dry ground. No one was left behind.
Everything that the biblical writer recorded in Joshua 4 has to be understood in the light of Joshua 3. God’s miracle at the Jordan River sets the tone for what followed. God had commanded Joshua to enlist a man from each of Israel’s 12 tribes to take a stone from the dry riverbed. Now, Joshua fulfilled God’s directive. The stones would be a memorial of what God had done that day. On the surface, this might seem unremarkable, but it continues to highlight the obedience of Joshua and all 12 tribes of Israel.
The obedience of this generation of Israelites stands in stark contrast to that of their parents. The Israelites’ obedience to Joshua demonstrates how God kept His promise of exalting Joshua in the sight of all Israel so they would know God was with Joshua (3:7). Their obedience also demonstrates that the people recognized Joshua’s commands came from God. Though Joshua is never called a prophet, he would be God’s servant and spokesman to Israel.
Verse 8 indicates the men set the stones in the camp. Based on verse 9, some scholars think Joshua set 12 more stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests stood. However, most commentators indicate this was likely a reference to the same 12 stones carried to the west side of the Jordan. Regardless, generations to come would have the opportunity to learn the meaning of the 12 stones. The writer of Joshua indicated that the stones still stood as a memorial at the time the book was written.
This passage holds important encouragement for believers today. We can be sure that God
sees us in our time of need. We can recognize and mark the ways God has worked on our behalf. And we can remember and testify to what He has done.
Explore the Bible
Explore the Bible is an ongoing Bible study curriculum that helps groups dig into the key truths of each Bible book, while keeping the group on pace to study through the Bible books in a systematic way. More information can be found at Lifeway.com/ExploreTheBible.
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