Sermon Tone Analysis

The easiest way to jump into today's passage is by turning to Joshua 3:7-13.

It begins with Yahweh's words to Joshua, right before He does the wonder He has planned for Israel.

Verse 7:

(7) And Yahweh said to Joshua,

"Today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel,

that they may know that just as I was with Moses, I will be with you,

(8) while you will command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, saying,

"As soon as you come up to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, in the Jordan you shall stand."

(9) And Joshua said to the sons of Israel,

"Draw near here,

and hear the words of Yahweh your God."

(10) And Joshua said,

"By this you shall know that the living God (El) [is] in your midst,

and he shall certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites."

(11) LOOK!

The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you in the Jordan,

(12) and so then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, a man from each tribe.

(13) And then, as soon as the sole of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh the Lord of all the world are immersed in the waters in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off-- the water coming down from above--

and they shall stand in one heap.

In these verses, Yahweh explains to Joshua why He is about to do this great wonder.

Yahweh wants to make Joshua great-- to exalt him in the sight of all Israel.

But when Joshua explains to the people why Yahweh is doing this wonder, he says that it's because Yahweh wants to prove that he is with them, and that he will certainly drive out the nations before them.

And right in the middle of this explanation, we get this puzzling note about choosing twelve men.

Let me reread verse 12:

(12) and so then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, a man from each tribe.

Why are these men chosen?

What's going on?

AJ doesn't explain it.

And so it just sits in the back of our minds, bugging us.

There must be an explanation.

We just have to keep reading to find out.

Here, in chapter 4, we finally get our answer.

This is the thread that AJ picks back up.

(1) And then, as soon as all the nation finished crossing the Jordan, Yahweh said to Joshua, saying,

(2) "Take for yourselves from the people twelve men-- one man from each tribe--

(3) and command them, saying,

"Take for yourselves from this/here, from the middle of the Jordan, from where the feet of the priests stand firm, 12 stones,

and carry them over with you,

and set them down in the place

that you are spending the night tonight."

So why are the 12 men chosen?

Their job is to grab 12 stones, and carry them across the river, and leave them wherever it is they are camping that night.

We find ourselves asking, again, why?

But we aren't told yet.

We have to keep reading.

There is something else going on here.

When God speaks in the OT, do you ever stop to think, what does this mean that God is speaking?

Where is Yahweh speaking from?

Sometimes, Yahweh speaks from a burning bush.

Sometimes, he speaks in dreams or visions.

Where is Yahweh speaking from in Joshua 4? Is he speaking audibly?

Or is this like an internal voice?

Let's read verse 3 again.

"Take for yourselves from here, from the middle of the Jordan, from where the feet of the priests stand firm, 12 stones."

Yahweh says, "take them from here."

So where is Yahweh?

Yahweh is in the middle of the river.

We can't see him, I don't think.

But we know Yahweh is enthroned on the ark.

And we know Israel consecrated itself last week (3:12) to prepare to meet Yahweh.

So it makes sense, that Yahweh is right here.

He's in the middle of the Jordan.

Verses 4-7:

(4) And Joshua called to the twelve men

who he had appointed from the sons of Israel-- a man from each tribe--

(5) and Joshua said to them,

"Cross over before the ark of Yahweh your God to the middle of the Jordan,

and take up for yourselves, each man, a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

(6) so that this will be a sign in your midst

when your sons ask in the future, saying,

"What are these stones for you?"

(7) And you will say to them

that the waters of the Jordan were cut off from before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh when it crossed over in the Jordan.

The waters of the Jordan were cut off,

and these stones will be a memorial for the sons of Israel forever.

In these verses, Joshua obeys Yahweh's command to call the twelve men to each grab of rock.

What's new, is that when Joshua commands the men, he tells them why they are doing this.

These twelve stones are going to be a memorial for the sons of Israel forever.

They will be a way to remember what Yahweh did for Israel on this day-- a way for parents to give their children one small proof of Yahweh's presence with his people, and his faithfulness to them.

You'd maybe think that a story like this would naturally be told, and remembered, from one generation to the next.

But people are naturally forgetful.

And I think we all know that when it comes to God, people are quick to forget what God has done for them.

We take God's wonders, his grace, and his faithfulness for granted.

We find ourselves looking at other gods, and wondering if they can offer something that God can't, or won't.

By telling Joshua to make a memorial here, Yahweh is helping ensure that Israel will remember what he has done for them.

He knows Israel is forgetful.

He knows Israel is hard-hearted.

And maybe, there's a chance, that this memorial will help them live faithfully.

Here, I also need to talk about the responsibility of parents to teach their children.

Not just the church's job.

Not the youth pastor's job.

Verse 8:

(8) And the sons of Israel did thus,

just as Joshua commanded,

and they carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan

just as Yahweh spoke to Joshua

according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

and they carried them with them to the lodging place

and they rested them there,

In verse 8 AJ describes the sons of Israel obeying Joshua.