Joshua 1-4

Be Strong and Courageous

Link to full passage on Bible Gateway

I looked up a few commentaries for their take on the significance of the twelve stones mentioned in Chapter four.  Most of the commentaries I looked at spoke of two different accounts regarding twelve stones. In the first account, twelve stones are taken from the middle of the Jordan to be set up as a memorial to the children of Israel to remind them of their miraculous crossing. These twelve stones were carried out of the Jordan River by twelve men (each from a different tribe). In the other account of twelve stones, only Joshua set up these stones (not upon the dry land - but in the middle of the Jordan) where they were soon covered over by water.  The opinions of the commentaries differed in interesting ways. One commentary surmised that the first set of stones pictured those who receive their inheritance while the submerged stones picture those who reject the salvation of God. Another commentary thought that the first set of stones represented the circumcised, while the submerge stones represented the uncircumcised. And still another commentary believed that the first set of stones represented the resurrection of Y'shua, while the submerged stones represented the death of Y'shua. Different, yet similar in that ultimately, one set seems to represent life - and the other death. Scripture reveals that unless Y'shua Jesus was resurrected, we would not have life. The message I seem to get from this passage is that the stones that come out of the river represent the gift of life eternal while the stones submerged in the middle of the water represent judgment and death.  Dear Father, You have given mankind the freedom to choose life or death. Please remove me from beneath the waters that cover the river bed and bring me up onto the land of the living. Refine me and make me a living stone and place me in the house that you are building.