In an area called Gilgal, somewhere near the border of Jericho, there are twelve ancient stones that were once taken from the middle of The Jordan River during the times of the flooding of the spring rains.
These stones were retrieved from the Jordan River by twelve appointed men from each tribe of Israel. This was at Joshua’s command from God as the tribes of Israel were first coming into the promises and entering the promised land.
The twelve appointed men took the stones from the place where the Priests of Israel were standing in the middle of the Jordan River as they held the Ark of the Covenant. On this day God held back the waters of the Jordan River so that the People of Israel could cross over to the other side of the Jordan on dry land. It was said that the water was mysteriously diverted at a city called Adam, which was up river from where the Israelites crossed over. This miracle of God allowed them to enter the land of Promise which they had sought to do for 40 long years.
DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD
Now this was a LOT of people. It must have taken forever for all of them to cross over, even under these ideal circumstances. There were at least 40,000 men in the army who crossed over who were already dressed and armed for battle. Behind them would have been their wives and children and livestock.
Can you imagine this many people on foot crossing the river with all of their possessions?
This crossing-over would have taken forever. Those priest holding the Ark had quite a job. Not only were they holding up sacred property, they had to hold it up very carefully for a very long time.
Just about the time that they thought it might be safe to move on out to the other side with the Ark, Joshua had a word from God to choose twelve men from each tribe that could go back to where the Ark was in the middle of the river. He instructed them all to pick up twelve stones and carry them back to the camp on the other side. Also, before the Ark left the river bed, Joshua piled twelve stones in the middle of the dry land of the riverbed.
So those priests had to hold up the Ark even longer!
They might have been tired and weary, but we don’t hear of any complaints in the scriptures. After the twelve men each retrieved a stone, God commanded Joshua that the Ark could come up out of the river.
Upon hearing Joshua’s instructions from God, and the priests took the Ark safely on to the other side of the river. The minute they stepped upon the shore the waters in the river broke down again and flooded the river.
WELCOME
Welcome to our study from The Book of Joshua. We conduct this bible study every week on Thursday’s. This is our eighth lesson on The Book of Joshua. It makes us so glad to know that you chose to join us today. Please keep following along with us by subscribing to the study by clicking the subscribe button above. It will allow you to give us permission to send you the study in an e-mail once a week.
So far we are approximately 121 people who are slowly walking through the scriptures of the bible together. Like those ancient Israelites moving to the Promised Land; we are on a journey with God. We are moving page-by-page through the whole bible. It is our desire to approach each passage of the scriptures with the heart of a child who wishes to know more about their adored Father’s ways of life. We are looking at each passage from a layman’s point of view, as if we had never heard any of these stories before. We want to know what God will show us next. It has been an amazing journey!
Today we are covering Joshua Chapter Four.
WHY SAVE THESE STONES?
Maybe some wondered why Joshua asked each tribal representative to go back to retrieve these twelve stones that they placed when they arrived in Gilgal.
Was this a type of prophesy of things to come?
Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 19:40? “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
God explained the reason to Joshua. Joshua informed the people. We can read that message in Joshua 4:21-24:
He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, “What do these stones mean?” tell them Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.“
These stones and the twelves that they represent are witnesses to how great God is.
THE NUMBER TWELVE IN THE REPRESENTATION OF THE STONES
The number twelve is very significant.
We instantly think of the twelve tribes who all had a representative moving the stones.
Also we can think into the future and realize there were twelve apostles.
If we think all the way to eternity and The Kingdom To Come; we realize there is the Tree of Life which contains twelve different fruits that come forth in their seasons. The fruit from these twelve fruits is for the healing of the nations. Each type of twelve represents witness to the greatness of God.
TWELVE FRUITS FROM THE TREE OF LIFE
I like the last option best.
My life changed when I started following God’s calendar. Through actually walking through the Hebraic Calendar I came to realize that each month of the Hebraic year contains messages and teachings about new ways to become fruitful for The Kingdom of God.
The best kept secret of the universe could be the fact that you don’t have to wait till eternity happens to receive these fruits from God’s Holy Spirit. They are the same as the fruits of the Spirit that we teach at Pentecost and read about in Galatians 5:22-26:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
The twelve fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control and chastity. Are these fruits from The Tree of Life growing in the garden of your life today? If not; ask God to teach you how to attain them.
Do you think it is highly possible that these twelve stones of our story today represented the fruits from The Tree of Life that would come forth from the new nation named Israel?
THE 12 STONES OF THE EPHOD
One also has to think of the stones from the High Priest’s breastplate that represented each of the twelve tribes of Israel. As we study these passages further; we will explore more of that possibility. In the meantime; the subject of the Ephod is a whole lesson unto itself. Here is a link to a former lesson where we discussed it previously. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/understanding-ephod/
All of these representations of twelve seem possible as we explore the past, present and future days of God’s people. More of these possibilities will be studied as we continue our stories in Joshua.
THE PLACE CALLED GILGAL
The very first place where the Children of Israel stepped into the Promised Land after crossing the Jordan River was called Gilgal. It is significant that this was the first place where they stepped into God’s promises.
You can’t find Gilgal on any map. It wasn’t actually a town or a city. It was just a place that people knew about. If you translate the Hebrew meaning for Gilgal you will find that it actually reads “the gilgal.” This brings whole new meanings to mind. It is sort of like saying today; I think I will go to “the store.”
From this we know that Gilgal wasn’t the name of a city but a name of a certain type of place. It could have been a certain type of place that was present in MANY locations. If we go to “the store” we might go to the store in many different locations. That makes finding the actual location of the area called Gilgal referred to in the book of Joshua a bit difficult for scholars.
Gilgal is a very interesting place. It helps to know the history. For now I will tell you it is the place where the Gibeonites met Joshua and made a treaty with Israel. Later we know that Samuel spent time in Gilgal each year as he served as a Judge in Israel. King Saul was made a King there, the very first King to rule over Israel. The people of Judah met King David at Gilgal. They took him over the Jordan River after Absalom’s death. We also know that Elijah and Elisha were on their way to Gilgal when Elijah was taken up to Heaven.
Some bad things happened later in Gilgal’s history that caused a few prophets of God to speak up. Hosea and Amos condemned the Israelites for wickedness and corrupt worship at Gilgal. Micah, the last prophet before 400 years of silence of the prophets, reminded the people of God’s care for them over the years at Gilgal.
FOOT SHAPED STONE ENCLOSURES
All of these things make us note that Gilgal was a place of new beginnings, a military base, and a sacred site which later became corrupted. This place called gilgal spoke so much of the history of the nation.
It is interesting to note that certain foot-shaped stone sites have been found by archeologists studying the areas around the Jordan River and Jericho. In ancient times one way of asserting ownership was to set one’s foot on the land and walk around the borders of a particular area of land. It was also said of one who had defeated their enemies that they “put their feet on the necks of their enemies.”
Most of these foot or sandal shaped arrangements of stone had smaller circular arrangements of stone within them that were probably used for sacrifices and other ceremonial rituals. The word “gilgal” could be referring to these types of places. Each such place seemed to speak of military conquests and new beginnings.
Knowledge today of the meaning of the word “gilgal” presents us with the possibility that Joshua’s army could have been the ones who built the various foot-shaped stone enclosures that have been discovered in and around Palestine by recent archeologists. These “gilgals” could be proof that the conquest of the Holy Land actually took place by the Israelites. This evidence would prove to all of the secular scholars that these facts are not just cultural myths.
OPERATIONS CENTER FOR ISRAEL’S ARMIES
The Hebrew word gilgal is related to the Hebrew word galal which means “to roll.” This word is often used in relation to the expressions used to roll wheels, or something circular. Gilgal actually translates to mean a “wheel” or a “circle.” Often it appears to refer to a circle of stones or a circular altar.
As for our current study of the story in Joshua, God is about to greatly increase the significance of this place for the first time in Israel’s history. It is hard not to give away the next lesson at this point; but I’ll try to explain more about Gilgal anyway.
This location and this particular gilgal became the operations center for the Israelites as they prepared to do battle for God in order to attain their rightful inheritance from the pagans who had moved into their lands.
JOSHUA IS EXALTED AT GILGAL
After they crossed over, the Israelites camped at Gilgal where they placed the twelve stones as a memorial of the miracles of the day. Gilgal became their first place within the land of promise. They gathered there to wait on further instructions. Joshua had warned them to be ready for war. This happened on the tenth day of the first month.
It is mentioned that this was the day when God exalted Joshua as the leader of the Israelites. We can read the words in Joshua 4:14:
That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.
Did you catch the significance of what happened there? Joshua is symbolic of Jesus in this passage. He is symbolic of the leadership our Messiah will bring with Him when He returns to earth to lead His people in victory. He will be known then as The King of Kings. This too will be a great battle; but our Great Leader will be exalted and God will be with us.
THE TENTH DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH
Stepping into the location at Gilgal happened on the tenth day of the first month.
Remember what else happened on the tenth day of the first month of the Hebraic calendar?
This was the designated day the people went to pick out the lamb that would provide the sacrifice for Passover. With the sacrifice of The Passover Lamb and the blood on the doorposts of their homes; the people were freed from slavery and bondage.
So too are we!
On this day the Israelites first left Egypt. God changed the order of their calendar months to begin on Nissan. This was symbolic of a fresh new beginning for a Nation ruled by God.
Later; on the anniversary of this new day almost 40 years later; they crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They were first located at the gilgal.
SETTING UP THE STONES
Joshua had them to set up the stones as a “reminder” to teach their children about God and God’s ways (the Ten Commandments contained in the Ark that held back the Jordan River when they crossed.)
There was also a monument placed in the river bed itself as well as in Gilgal where they first camped in the land of their inheritance.
1,000 years after this date when they camped in Gilgal and placed the memorial stones, on the tenth day of the first month, Jesus came into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.
It was as if those stones cried out their message when Jesus noticed how no one was paying attention to God’s ways or following His commandments.
He threw over the money changers and then he cursed the fig tree. (Zechariah 9:9-10.)