The Role of Testimony
Now when the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firmly, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the encampment where you will spend the night.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
Joshua 4:1-7
It’s important to remember what the Lord has done.
Today we get to pause and remember what the Lord has done in the Vineyard. We are going to watch this clip of John Wimber as he shares about what happened on Mother’s Day in 1980.
6 This shall be a sign among you; when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
In this scripture God directs Joshua and Israel to build a monument for the place where they will camp for the night.
This is not the place where they will live, but this is a place they will continue to pass by.
God builds altars of remembrance for us to revisit when we most need it
He also builds altars of remembrance for our kids and as a testimony to others around us.
24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
The Lord reminds for the sake of the world to see the hand of the Lord. He also reminds us so that we continue to fear Him.
