There is, of course, a memorial to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We call it communion, Mass, the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, the breaking of bread. It is exemplified for us in Joshua chapter four and we should have been astonished if the chapter following the crossing of this Jordan had not mentioned the memorial thereof. Here it is, in fact, and we need only look at it briefly. Every believer who is baptized, who has come out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, should already be participating in that memorial service on a regular basis, else something is wrong in their lives somewhere. The commandment of God to Joshua is to take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command 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.” We lodge still in a world of darkness, and this memorial pertains only to this lodging place—“till He come.” Jesus gave the memorial of the supper to His disciples, the twelve living stones, for one was found to take the place of Judas Iscariot. It was these stones who constituted the memorial of this Jordan, in the first place, and since then it has passed from generation to generation as a memorial for ever. Thus each time we partake of the memorial service we do so in remembrance, we remember the Lord’s death, we do “show forth” this Jordan crossing, till He come.
“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.” Did not the Lord Jesus tell them plainly, “Ye have not chosen Me; I have chosen you.”? Now when we ourselves come to cross this Jordan we should be able to see for ourselves that that is still the position of the twelve stones—they are there to this day. The New Testament has undergone many new translations, but the position of the stones has not altered at all. Why? Because Jesus set them up Himself, in the place where the priests’ feet stood firm.
“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.” Joshua has now fully stepped into the role that Moses had, and as we saw Moses portray Christ, so we can begin to see Joshua portray Jesus, and thus we acknowledge Jesus to be Christ, and the Christ of God to be Jesus. And the day will come when all God’s people have passed over Jordan that our great Commander will command at last the priests to come up out of Jordan, and Jordan will again overflow all his banks as he did before. But until that day let the priests stand firm, let the memorial remain, and let all of God’s people hasten to enjoy the inheritance, “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.” Amen. This is one more reason why all of God’s people should seek to cross this Jordan now.
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Joshua Chapter 4
December 16, 2010 — RonThere is, of course, a memorial to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. We call it communion, Mass, the Lord’s Supper, Eucharist, the breaking of bread. It is exemplified for us in Joshua chapter four and we should have been astonished if the chapter following the crossing of this Jordan had not mentioned the memorial thereof. Here it is, in fact, and we need only look at it briefly. Every believer who is baptized, who has come out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, should already be participating in that memorial service on a regular basis, else something is wrong in their lives somewhere. The commandment of God to Joshua is to take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command 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.” We lodge still in a world of darkness, and this memorial pertains only to this lodging place—“till He come.” Jesus gave the memorial of the supper to His disciples, the twelve living stones, for one was found to take the place of Judas Iscariot. It was these stones who constituted the memorial of this Jordan, in the first place, and since then it has passed from generation to generation as a memorial for ever. Thus each time we partake of the memorial service we do so in remembrance, we remember the Lord’s death, we do “show forth” this Jordan crossing, till He come.
“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.” Did not the Lord Jesus tell them plainly, “Ye have not chosen Me; I have chosen you.”? Now when we ourselves come to cross this Jordan we should be able to see for ourselves that that is still the position of the twelve stones—they are there to this day. The New Testament has undergone many new translations, but the position of the stones has not altered at all. Why? Because Jesus set them up Himself, in the place where the priests’ feet stood firm.
“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.” Joshua has now fully stepped into the role that Moses had, and as we saw Moses portray Christ, so we can begin to see Joshua portray Jesus, and thus we acknowledge Jesus to be Christ, and the Christ of God to be Jesus. And the day will come when all God’s people have passed over Jordan that our great Commander will command at last the priests to come up out of Jordan, and Jordan will again overflow all his banks as he did before. But until that day let the priests stand firm, let the memorial remain, and let all of God’s people hasten to enjoy the inheritance, “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.” Amen. This is one more reason why all of God’s people should seek to cross this Jordan now.
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