Saturday, August 2, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Joshua 4-5
Key Verse
Joshua 4:20 — “And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.”
Devotional Thought
The people of Israel stand at the threshold of promise. After forty years of wilderness wandering, the Jordan River lies behind them, and Jericho waits ahead. The LORD commands Joshua to take twelve men, one from each tribe, and have them carry twelve stones from the dry riverbed to the place where they will lodge that night. These stones are not decorative souvenirs. They are a memorial, a sign for generations yet unborn. When children ask, “What mean ye by these stones?” fathers will tell the story: the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant. God Himself made a way where there was no way.
Notice the layered memorial. Joshua sets twelve stones in the midst of Jordan where the priests’ feet stood, and he pitches twelve stones in Gilgal where the people camp. One memorial hidden in the river, one visible on the shore. The hidden stones speak of the private work of God, the unseen faithfulness that carries us through. The visible stones speak of the public testimony, the story we tell our children. Both matter. Both are holy. The priests who bore the ark stood firm in the middle of the riverbed until everything was finished, and only then did the waters return to their place. God’s timing is precise, His presence unwavering.
At Gilgal, the LORD rolls away the reproach of Egypt. The new generation is circumcised, the Passover is kept, and the manna ceases. After years of miraculous provision in the wilderness, the people now eat the old corn of the land. The wilderness season ends. The land season begins. God’s mercies are new every morning, but they also change form. What sustained them in the desert is not what sustains them in Canaan. Both are grace. Both come from the same hand.
Then Joshua lifts his eyes and sees a man with a drawn sword. “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?” The answer startles: “Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” Joshua falls on his face. The battle for Jericho does not begin with strategy or strength. It begins with worship. The ground is holy because God is present. Before the walls fall, before the conquest begins, Joshua must loose his shoe and bow. The Captain of the LORD’s host has come, and that changes everything.
Reflection
- What “stones of memorial” has God placed in your life—moments of His faithfulness you can point to and tell your children about? Are you telling the story?
- When you face your own Jericho, do you first fall on your face in worship, or do you rush to strategize? Have you recognized the Captain of the LORD’s host standing before you?
Prayer
Lord God of hosts, we bow before You as Joshua did. You are the Captain of the LORD’s host, and the ground where You stand is holy. Thank You for the memorials of Your faithfulness—for dry riverbeds, for manna in the wilderness, for the rolling away of reproach. Help us to remember and to tell the next generation what You have done. When we face our Jericho, let us not rush ahead in our own strength. Teach us to worship first, to loose our shoes, and to wait for Your command. In the name of Jesus, who leads us in triumph, Amen.