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Joshua 4:19–5:1
“That all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever” (Josh. 4:24).
The writer of Joshua scrupulously notes that Israel crosses the Jordan on “the tenth day of the first month” of the Jewish year. But this date is more than an interesting fact recorded for the benefit of Israelite history classes. The 10th of the first month is the day set aside for the Israelites to select their lambs for the Passover sacrifice that would follow four days later (Ex. 12:3–6). And the more immediate significance of the date is that it is exactly 40 years since the preparations began for the first Passover, the night Israel was released from bondage in Egypt. The years of the Israelites’desert wanderings are over and God has brought them to the Promised Land just in time to celebrate the event that set them free. God has providentially arranged for the people to remember their deliverance and celebrate the fulfillment of the promise of Canaan simultaneously.
However, the people’s first act upon entering Canaan is to make provision for remembering the crossing of the Jordan. Taking the 12 stones brought up from the riverbed by the men from the 12 tribes, Joshua builds a monument in the Israelites’ camp at Gilgal. As he had explained the monument’s purpose to the men who brought up the stones (4:6–7), he now tells the people: Their children will ask what the stones mean, and it will be up to them to explain that they were taken from the river’s bottom when God held back the waters of the Jordan, just as He had divided the waters of the Red Sea so many years before.
Interestingly, Joshua also posits two reasons why God has done such great works for Israel. One is that the Israelites “ ‘may fear the LORD your God forever.’ ” God wanted to impress something of His power and authority on His people, lest they waver in their faith in the coming war and fall away from His law. But He also acted so that “ ‘all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty.’ ” God also wanted all those outside the covenant to have a display of His strength so that they might respect Him and honor His people. And indeed, when the kings of the Amorites on the western side of the Jordan (those accounted mighty among men) hear of the blocking of the river, “their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer” (5:1). This demonstration of God’s might completely terrifies those who will oppose Israel’s conquest of the land.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Unbelievers have no fear of God; they pretend He has no power over them. But believers do fear Him, for they see He has power over all creation and eternity. This is the beginning of wisdom. Do you fear God? Spend time today reviewing His mighty acts in the wilderness on behalf of the Israelites. Ask His help to begin to fathom His might.
For Further Study
- Proverbs 1:7
- 2 Corinthians 7:1
- Ephesians 5:21
- Hebrews 12:28
- 1 Peter 2:17