Monuments and Memorials

Joshua 4:20-24

Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, "When your children ask their fathers in the future, "What is the meaning of these stones?’ you should tell your children, "Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD’s hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God."

Isaiah 55:13

“Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the LORD as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.”

The common element here is that of a testimonial, a monument, a memorial. The stones placed at Gilgal were to be a memorial proclaiming to future generations what the Lord had done at the Jordan.

We need memorials—testimonials to the intervention, the provision of God in our lives. These monuments serve some specific and necessary purposes:

1. They serve to remind us of God's provision.
2. Consequently, they can be an impetus to our faith.
3. Since they point to God’s blessing they remind us to give glory to the One to whom all glory is due.
4. They are great object lessons for teaching our children and future generations of the sufficiency of our God.

Do you have any faith monuments in your life? Where are they now?