Lest We Forget‬ ‭

Joshua 4:1-24 | Ben Potloff | Do you have something that brings up memories or starts conversations with others? Maybe a tattoo, a scar, or something hanging up in the house that stands out from what you’d normally see in someone’s house? We tend to put things out on display for ourselves but usually it catches the eyes of others and sometimes leads to discussions. For the Israelites, God had instructed twelve men, one from each tribe, to take up a stone from the riverbed of the Jordan and place it where they were to camp that night. Having witnessed a miraculous display of God’s complete control over nature, God instructed Joshua to display a monument to be seen and cause people to ask, “What do those stones mean to you?” These stones were just stones, yet, when the children and later generations would see them, they would ask what they mean. “What do these represent?”MAIN IDEARemember what the Lord has done.OUTLINEI. The Lord’s miracles reveal His might (vv. 23-24)II. The Lord’s miracles are to be memorialized (vv. 1-22)DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1. The stones that were used as a memorial for the twelve tribes were from the bottom of the river, eroded, altered and unique from the stones on the banks and on land. How can you live your life altered, changed and unique from the world?2. The memorial of the twelve stones was for following generations to look upon and ask their parents what they meant. For parents, how can we cultivate and raise a godly household? For those who are not parents, how can we prepare ourselves for when that time comes?3. Joshua tells the Israelites that when their children ask about the stones they are to remind them of how the hand of the Lord is mighty and that they are to fear the Lord. What does this text and the Bible teach us about the fear of God? How does this fear comfort us?4. Knowing the purpose and significance of the ark, does the order in the events of which the ark moves have any meaning? What does this tell us about God?5. Read Luke 24:1-12. The Israelites were instructed to point their children to the stones as a memorial for what God had done for them. Reflect on the empty tomb and discuss what memorial that means for us 2000 years later.