I'm reading through the book of Joshua right now. There are seven times where Joshua sets up stones as a memorial of an event. Each one has it's own meaning, but they all serve the same purpose. "And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children know,..." (Joshua 4:21-22a) We do the same thing today. Washington DC is full of memorials so that when we take our children and they ask, "What does this one mean?", we can tell them about Abraham Lincoln or World War II or countless other events or leaders. My children ask me every time they see a flag at half mast, "What happened? What does this mean?" Memorials are a great way to remind future generations of past events.
Joshua's first memorial was placed after the nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River. (By the way, it's only after Israel crossed the Jordan that they are referred to as a 'nation' in the Bible.) The river was at flood stage, yet God provided a way for them to cross. He stopped the flow of the water so that they could safely enter the Promised Land - just as He had allowed their parents to cross the Red Sea a generation ago as He led them out of Egypt. Joshua wanted them to tell their children, "...Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever." (Joshua 4:22b-24)
Joshua wanted the memorial to teach the future generations that God was faithful. God kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God freed them from Egypt "with a mighty hand and outstretched arm". God led them through the wilderness, remaining faithful to them when they were faithless. And now God had brought them over into the land that He was giving them.
I don't think that it was coincidence that this memorial was set up before Israel fought their first battle. Memorials not only point us to the past, but give us hope for the future. As Israel went forward into battle, they were aware of what God had already done for them. And if God had led them safely to this point, then surely He would be faithful to the end. They had just seen for themselves what God was capable of doing and they had heard of the things that God had done in the past. All that remained was to see how God would fight for them in the future.
It goes beyond just ourselves and our children though. Joshua said, ". . . so that all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, . . . " They would hear what had been done, and know more about the one true God because of it. And through that, maybe they would want to worship this God, too.
At a ladies event one time, the speaker talked about this passage and setting up our own memorial stones. She suggested creating a rock garden with a new rock for each time God was so apparent that we had to give all the honor to Him. She said that you could even write on the rock to remember what it stood for. Or get a jar to fill with small rocks. The purpose of these was the same as Joshua's, so that when our children ask about it (or neighbors or family or friends) we could say, "Look what God has done! He is faithful!" I don't think it has to be rocks for that matter. Anything physical that can point to God's faithfulness would work: a collection, a journal, Bible notes, scrapbook, quilts - whatever you feel led to do.
When has God shown His faithfulness to you (perhaps even when you weren't being faithful to Him)? What have you done or can you do to remind yourself about that time? What can you do to make sure that others know about it?
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