The 12 Stones Of Joshua
The memorial set up by Joshua and the Israelites to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan River is described in Joshua 4. The narrative slows way down and becomes a bit repetitive, indicating how important this event was for the Israelites. So what can be said about the memorial itself? The text indicates that the memorial was composed of 12 stones.
They were to be carried from the place in. The number twelve is repeated five times in Joshua 4:1-8, emphasizing the unity of the tribes as one nation under Joshua's leadership. The twelve stones of remembrance would now serve as a perpetual sign and memorial.
Stones of Remembrance
Joshua piled them up in Gilgal, where the Israelites set up camp. The biblical account of Joshua's memorial at Gilgal, detailed in Joshua 4:19-24, leaves us with a compelling question: What happened to the twelve stones. Described 12 people from each tribe picked up stones and carried them on their shoulders to be placed as a monument for future generations to see and enquire.
The twelve stones in the river, it reads that Joshua placed where the priests with the ark stood during the crossing. 12 Stones The 12-stone memorial on the west bank of the Jordan symbolized being saved from the waters of judgment. God instructed twelve men (one from each tribe) to take a stone from the middle of the riverbed (Joshua 4:5), from the place of death-the miry bottom of the riverbed, beneath the waters of judgment.
12 Stones at Separation Canyon • GuidePosts
Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan - When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place. The Twelve Stones from the Jordan hold significant historical and spiritual importance in the biblical narrative, particularly in the context of the Israelites' journey into the Promised Land. This event is primarily recorded in the Book of Joshua, chapter 4, and serves as a memorial to God's miraculous intervention on behalf of His people.
Joshua 4:9 says, "Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day." Upon first glance of this sentence of Scripture, the aspect of the 12 stones is very interesting. The Twelve Stones (Hebrew: מצבות, romanized: maṣṣəwoṯ) are steles, a common form of marking a spectacular religious event in the days of Kingdom of Judah before the time of King Josiah (Deuteronomy 27:1-8).
Joshua’s Memorial at Gilgal – Crossroads Bible Church
[1]. Discover the significance of the twelve stones in Joshua 4 as a memorial of God's faithfulness and the Israelites' journey into the Promised Land.
