Joshua 4:20 - Meaning and Application

The twelve stones that were placed at Gilgal (Joshua 4:8) are now described as being set up, either stacked one on another in a way that still let each stone be counted, or arranged side by side in rows. Once they were fixed in place, they are no longer called a heap of stones, but simply these stones.

It is assumed here that later generations would ask what the stones meant, because they were meant to be a memorial: “Your children will ask their fathers,” since who else would they ask? Those who want wisdom when they are old must be curious when they are young. Our Lord Jesus, though he had full knowledge within himself, showed children and young people by his own example to listen and ask questions (Luke 2:46). Perhaps when John was baptizing in Jordan at Bethabara, the place of crossing, he pointed to these very stones when he said, “God is able from these stones”, the stones first set up by the twelve tribes, “to raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). The stones remembered the miracle, and the children’s question gave a chance to explain it. But Jesus said, “If the children were silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 10:40), because the Lord will be glorified in his mighty works one way or another.

The parents are then told how to answer this question (Joshua 4:22): they are to teach their children what they themselves learned from God’s written word and from their fathers. Parents have a duty to make God’s word and works known early to their children, so they can be brought up in the right path.

They were to tell their children that the Jordan was pushed back before Israel, and that the people crossed on dry ground at this very spot. The children could see how deep and strong the river was, yet God stopped it, even while it was overflowing its banks, and he did it for people living many years later. God’s mercies to our ancestors are mercies to us too, and we should take every chance to refresh the memory of the great things God did for our fathers long ago. This marked place would serve as a reminder to them, “Israel came over this Jordan.” A local memorial would help them remember what happened there. Not only the people who lived in the land, but also strangers and travelers, would look at these stones and learn from them. Many, on seeing the stones, would go to their Bibles and read the story of this great work. Some, perhaps, would later hear or read the story and then travel a long way just to see the stones.

They were also to use this moment to tell their children about the drying up of the Red Sea forty years earlier: “As the Lord your God did to the Red Sea.” This teaches us two things. First, later mercies are greatly honored when we compare them with earlier mercies, because the comparison shows that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Second, later mercies should bring earlier mercies back to mind and renew our thankfulness for them.

They were also to guide their children in how to use these mighty works, whose story had been carefully passed down to them (Joshua 4:24). First, God’s power was shown clearly. The whole world was, or could have been, convinced that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that nothing is too hard for God, and that even the powers of nature cannot block what he chooses to do. God’s deliverances of his people teach all people and warn them not to fight against the Almighty.

Second, God’s people were meant to be encouraged to keep serving him: “so that you might fear the Lord your God,” that is, reverence him, obey him, and do your duty to him, “forever,” or as long as they live, every day of their lives, and in their children after them. Remembering this great work should keep them from worshiping other gods and should urge them to remain faithful and grow in the service of their own God. In every lesson and instruction parents give their children, this should be their main goal, to teach them to fear God always. Serious godliness is the best education.