ESOCS Devotional 13 July 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean ye those stones? Then ye shall say… The waters of Jordan were cut off: and there stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:6-7
TEXT: JOSHUA 4:1-14 (KJV)
And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
The memory you fail to preserve will soon go into extinction and enter the oblivion state. Record keeping is a vital part of human existence; even God is a Master Record Keeper. It will not surprise you to know that from creation till the eternity that is yet to come, God has the record. Suffice us to say that the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation is a product of Record Keeping to serve as a memorial to the unborn generations.
God had commanded the children of Israel through Joshua to pick up twelve (12) stones from the spot of the Priest stood and carry them to their tribes for an everlasting memorial to their children. One would naturally be concerned with the implication behind such instructions, but the reasons are not farfetched:
Firstly, memorial serves as reminder of God’s faithfulness in the past. There are times you come to a cross road in life and it seems as if the whole world has come to an end, but by the time you remember how God saved you in the past, the conviction that He will be faithful again reawakens. This is what the Psalmist in 103:2 says “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”. Sometimes, when it looks as if your prayers have not been answered, reflect on the record of the ones He had answered. The Hymn Writer perfectly puts it this way in C & S Hymn 158: ‘When upon life billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.’ It is what you have on record that you can count, so record facilitates counting.
Secondly, memorial assures you of God’s ability to do it again. It builds confidence in God’s Almighty Power to save, deliver, heal and bless again. “David said moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine…” (1 Sam. 17:37). We pray that the God that gave you testimony yesterday will do it again in Jesus Name.
- Never take the great works of God in your life for granted.
- Father, thank you for your works, pardon our poor record keeping habit. Impact us with the right attitude and mentality towards building a lasting memorial in Jesus Name, Amen.
FURTHER READING: Daniel 5:13-end; Luke 5:1-11; Acts 16:25-end
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ESOCS Devotional 13 July 2023
