When Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, he gathered twelve stones, one to represent each tribe of Israel, and used them to erect a memorial at Gilgal. The Bible says of this event, "And he said to the sons of Israel, 'When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?', then you shall inform your children, saying, "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever" (Joshua 4:21-24 NASB).
This memorial, erected at the commandment of the Lord, was important for three reasons.
First, there was a need for it. People have a tendency to forget. Even significant events are forgotten with the passing of a few years. I'm writing this article on Memorial Day in our country. It is a day that our nation has set aside to honor those who have died to protect our freedoms. While listening this morning to the car radio on the way to the office, I heard one veteran lament that Memorial Day had lost its significance. He mildly complained that people would be enjoying their holiday, many on our nation's waterways or in family gatherings, without so much as a passing thought as to why they had the day off work. Perhaps he is right. We do have a tendency to forget. God knew Israel and He knew they needed this memorial to help them remember.
Second, there was a purpose behind it. God wanted to remind Israel of how he had helped them cross the Jordan in a miraculous way. God knew that children would see the memorial and ask, "What are these stones?". It would be just one more opportunity for a father to pause to relate to his son the mighty deeds of God. It was a reminder that, though they had failed God repeatedly, God had never failed them.
Third, there was a force behind it. This memorial served as evidence of an event that was real. Few monuments are erected to fictitious events. Memorials exists to preserve in our consciousness things that actually happened. Crossing the Jordan River at the peak of flood season and on dry ground was a miracle. As much a miracle as crossing the Red Sea forty years earlier. These were actual historical events of God's intervention into the lives of His people. We're not talking about fairy tales. The fact that this was a lasting memorial, at least through the life of Joshua and beyond (Joshua 4:9), is evidence of the authenticity of these events.
Today, the New Testament does not instruct us to erect stone statues as monuments to Divine events. However, Jesus did leave a memorial for His people to observe. In Luke 22:19, in instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus said, "do this in remembrance of Me." The Lord's Supper meets a need by reminding the people who partake of the significance of Jesus' death on the cross. When my children ask, "Dad, why do we have the Lord's Supper?", it gives me another opportunity to explain the amazing grace of God that He demonstrated on a hill outside Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. Two thousand years is a long time. But the Lord's Supper has endured the passing of these centuries because it is of God and it is a monument to something that is real. To some, Calvary is but a fairy tale. But to those of us who believe it is the focal point of all history, the theme of the Bible, and the center of our lives. I am thankful that on each first day of the week I can partake of this memorial feast and remember. Thank you, Lord.
~In Gospel Power, Anderson, Alabama, 6/29/97.