BROADCASTS.com

b'

Dream Word \\u2013 CONSIDER

Joshua 4:4-7 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." NKJV

There is little that is more enduring than rock. Indeed, in my homeland, the famous Stonehenge and many other dancing rock circles still remain as intriguing testimonies to ancient communities long since wiped from the face of the earth. Yet, still, whilst they have long since gone, the testimony of these speaking rocks remains for there is little that is more enduring than rock.

My suspicion is, that God delights in rock more than He delights in any other non-sentient part of His creation. The fixed, protective immovability of rock is at the very least, that which He desires most for us, and in us. Yet, I think there may be also a secret and metaphysical side to rocks yet to be fully comprehended by us, for what other singing-sentinels stand so firm in the bearing of their living water-spewing testimonials than rocks? Yes, a rock followed Israel in the wilderness, and that rock was Christ. Yes, a rock was struck in the wilderness, and it spewed out its waters. Yes, Jesus said that if the children were to cease their praising of Him, that the very rocks would chorus out their praise as a response of the entrance of the king into His capital city on earth. Yes, there is little more enduring than rock, and there is a whole lot more to rock, I believe, than at the moment, we are aware of.

In any event, God wants us to remember, and as in so much of the Old Testament, for us to begin to \\u2018bookend\\u2019 the chapters of His redemptive story with rock-altars and rock-piles! In our text for tonight, it is from the middle of a presently dried up Jordan river, that twelve burly tribal representatives obey the command of God and remove the smooth stones from the middle of the river to dry Canaan land, to then stand as a generational testimony to what God has done for the Israelites. Yet tonight, it is not this rock pile which I am focused upon, but rather the \\u2018Joshua rock pile\\u2019 that is listed in verse nine:

And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. Joshua 4:8-9 NKJV

Now, maybe Joshua was following some other unrecorded explicit command of God right here in verse nine, or maybe Joshua did this off his own bat? Who knows? Still, tonight underneath the rolling Jordan, lay twelve, now very smooth stones, all huddled together in the wet and fishy darkness. Here is a hidden rock pile, an unseen testimony, yet a testimony known by one, and all who have been redeemed. Yes, the visible pile, up from the banks of Jordan, speaks of another pile of unseen rocks, brought from the wilderness maybe but now long since hidden, covered, all smoothed out, a long, long time ago. Well, so what? Well, how about considering these