What Do These Stones Mean?
Sermon Notes
After Israel crosses the Jordan River on dry ground, God doesn't let them just move on. He tells them to stop and stack twelve stones as a memorial, one for each tribe. In Joshua 4, Josh Fortney unpacks why God commands His people to remember, how those visible reminders spark the conversations that pass faith to the next generation, and what happens when a community roots its identity in what God has done. Whether you've been following Jesus for decades or you're still figuring out what you believe, this message is an invitation to look back at what God has done and let it shape the way you move forward.
Key Takeaways
Remembering is a command, not a suggestion. God doesn't leave it up to feelings or chance. He directs Joshua and the twelve tribes to physically carry stones out of the riverbed because He knows our hearts are prone to forget.
The stones aren't the point. God is. The chiastic structure of Joshua 4 centers on God's presence and power, not the memorial itself. The stones exist to point people back to who He is and what He did.
Faith gets passed on through stories, not silence. When the children ask "What do these stones mean to you?" it creates an opening to tell them how God has changed your life. Faith must be explained and handed down, not assumed.
Obedience often comes before understanding. The people carried the stones before they fully understood why. Trusting God with your finances, relationships, and time doesn't always make sense in the moment, but obedience is how we see God's faithfulness revealed.
A remembering church is a bold church. When Israel remembered what God had done, it strengthened them for the battles ahead and testified to the surrounding nations. Remembering God's past faithfulness gives His people courage for present challenges.
Discussion Questions
What is something God has done in your life that you never want to forget, and how do you remind yourself of it?
Josh said we're quicker to remember our problems than God's miracles. Why do you think that's true, and where do you see it in your own life?
Is there an area right now where God is asking you to obey before you fully understand why?
When was the last time you shared your faith story with someone, and what made that easy or difficult?
How has remembering God's past faithfulness given you courage in a present challenge?
Josh pointed out that the question isn't just "what are these stones" but "what do they mean to you?" If someone asked you that about your faith, what would you say?
This Week's Challenge
Identify one specific thing God has done in your life and tell someone about it this week: a friend, a family member, or someone in your community group.
Transcript
Stones of Remembrance
Growing up in Plano, you see reminders of the past everywhere. Clark Stadium. Street names. Markers around town that most people walk right past. But if you know the story, they mean something. I've got my own version of that. My rings. Pine cones I've held onto. Little things that carry weight because of what they represent.
We all have reminders like that, and we need them more than we think. "Remember the Alamo" isn't just a slogan if you live in Texas. Holidays, memorials, anniversaries. We're wired to forget, and we need to be prompted to remember. I'm way more quick to remember my problems and forget God's miracles. So we need to cause ourselves to remember in visible ways.
Where We've Been in Joshua
We're continuing our series in Joshua called Formation. Joshua is in charge now. God is leading His people. They've just crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. And all along the way, God has been forming and equipping them through His Word, through community, through faith, and through the crossing itself.
Now comes the next step in that formation: remember. Joshua 4 shows us that remembrance is not optional. It's essential to faithfulness. God calls His people to intentionally remember who He is by remembering what He's done.
The Command to Remember
Joshua 4 opens with God giving Joshua a specific instruction. Take twelve men, one from each tribe, and have them carry twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan to the place where they'll camp that night. This isn't a sentimental gesture. It's a command. Take, command, pass on. God is being explicit about what His people are to do.
The command is communal. One man from each tribe means shared responsibility. God was uniting all His people in this act of remembrance. He's saved them like this before, and once again He gives them a memorial because His people were, and are, prone to forget. The stones are moved from the riverbed to the camp. Visible reminders of invisible grace. And the people obey before they fully understand why. That's faith. Trusting what God says before having all the answers.
Trusting God Before It Makes Sense
What would it look like for us to trust what God commands without having the full picture? With finances, God asks us to be generous in ways that don't always line up with our plans. With relationships, trusting God's design doesn't always feel intuitive. Practicing abstinence, ending a relationship that isn't honoring to God. It doesn't always make sense in the moment.
With our time, we want control. We want our schedules to be ours. But God calls us to invest in others, to step into uncomfortable conversations, to share our faith in our own neighborhoods. When we obey, we eventually see God's way. But obedience comes first.
The Cause of Remembering
The stones are set up to provoke questions. God says "when your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them." Not if your children ask. When. Kids ask about everything. What's that? Why do we have this? What does it mean to you?
And that last part matters. "To you" isn't an invitation for an individualistic reading of Scripture. It's an opportunity to share how your life was changed by God. My kids ask about my rings. I could say "they were gifts" and move on. But more than that, I can share my story. I can point to the fact that I'm not who I was. I remind them not of what I have done, but who I was and now who God made me to be. Are you telling your story, or keeping it private? Faith must be explained and passed on.
God's Presence at the Center
The chiastic structure of this passage puts verses 10 through 14 at the center. The ark of the covenant stands in the middle of the Jordan while all the people pass through. The memorial stones matter, but they are not the focus. God Himself is the focus. His presence, leading His people, His way, to fulfill His promises.
The people were supposed to follow the ark at a distance of half a mile. But here, God draws them near as they walk through the Jordan. And His presence stays until every last person has crossed. That reiterates not just His promised presence but His patient care for His people. Then the ark resumes its position, leading them forward.
God Doesn't Leave
The priests stood in the dry riverbed until the Lord told Joshua to call them out. They waited. They probably trusted, but they also had to be standing there wondering when the waters would come rushing back. And then God restored the river to its place, overflowing its banks as before.
So many times we feel like God has moved on. Like He doesn't see us in the middle of a trial. But God stayed. He held back the waters. His presence continued. God doesn't promise a life with no floods, but He does promise a life with His presence and His faithfulness. He promised and He fulfills His commitment to be present with us.
The Consequences of Remembering
Consequences aren't always negative. They're just results. And the results of remembering in Joshua 4 are remarkable. Remembering strengthens God's people. They're about to face enemies, but they carry the memory of God's power with them. The hand of the Lord is mighty.
Remembering testifies to the nations. "So that all the peoples of the earth may know." The kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites heard what God had done, and their hearts melted before any military encounter even took place. The wonder of the miracle is highlighted in even sharper detail by its impact on the surrounding nations.
From the Jordan to the Table
The goal is not a busy, impressive life but a transformed people who are fully alive in Christ and helping others come alive in Him. The miracle at the Jordan foreshadows something even greater. God made a way for us to cross from death to life. Hopeless to a people of hope. Lost to found. Helpless to held. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The cross and the empty tomb are reminders we need at the front of our minds at all times. Communion is our commanded remembrance. A visual reminder that doesn't just tell us what God did but shows us who God is. The stones at Gilgal pointed backward to the Jordan as the people moved forward into God's promised land. The table points us backward to the cross and forward to glory.
