Companion: Deep Study
A condensed companion to the full study. For each section of the expanded outline: key insights, applications, and the application questions for discussion.
Section 1 — The LORD Commands a Memorial from the Riverbed (Joshua 4:1–3)
Key Insights
- The whole nation crossed without the loss of one person, fulfilling God’s promise to make Abraham a great nation (Genesis 12:2).
- The narrator places the LORD’s command first so that the memorial is seen as God’s institution, not Israel’s idea.
- Calvin observes that a sign God Himself raises binds the conscience, so it is impious to pass it carelessly by.
- The stones came “from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly” (v. 3), so their very origin testified to the miracle.
- Christ appointed the signs of His church from the place where He stood under judgment for His people (Luke 22:19).
Applications
- Remembering God’s works is a duty, not a mood, and busy seasons are when remembrance slips (Psalm 103:2).
- Take seriously the means of remembrance God has appointed: the Word preached, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
- Aids to memory are good, but no object is holy in itself, as the fate of the bronze serpent shows (2 Kings 18:4).
Application Questions
- When God has done something great for you, how quickly does it fade from your gratitude, and what have you done to keep it before your eyes?
- Do you treat the signs God Himself has appointed, His Word read and preached, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, with more or less seriousness than the customs and traditions you have made for yourself?
Section 2 — A Sign Among You and a Question for Tomorrow (Joshua 4:4–7)
Key Insights
- Every tribe carried a stone, because the work of witness belongs to the whole covenant people (1 Peter 2:9).
- The Hebrew ‘owth, sign, points beyond itself and was designed to provoke a child’s question in time to come.
- The appointed answer speaks of God’s act: “the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD” (v. 7).
- Calvin notes that the stones could not speak but gave parents material for speaking, so sign and word belong together.
- Christ gave His church a memorial meal with the command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
Applications
- Every believing household is a place of instruction, and children’s questions are open doors God anticipated (Deuteronomy 6:7).
- Tell children first what God has done in Christ before telling them what they must do.
- Faithful teaching is God’s ordinary means, but only the Spirit gives new birth (John 3:5).
Application Questions
- When a child, a new believer or a neighbor asks what your faith means, can you tell them clearly what God has done, or do you mostly talk about what you do?
- What habits and conversations in your home would prompt your children or guests to ask about the LORD, and which ones are missing?
Section 3 — Stones Carried to Camp and Stones Set in the Jordan (Joshua 4:8–9)
Key Insights
- Israel obeyed exactly, doing “just as the LORD told Joshua” (v. 8).
- Twelve men acted and the whole nation is said to have acted, illustrating the principle of representation (Romans 5:18).
- Joshua set up a second memorial of twelve stones in the riverbed at the place where the ark had stood (v. 9).
- Calvin argues that even hidden stones strengthened faith when the people spoke of them.
- Christ appointed twelve apostles as the foundation of His renewed Israel (Ephesians 2:20).
Applications
- God calls for exact, wholehearted obedience rather than selective obedience (John 14:15).
- Hidden faithfulness is not wasted, because the Father who sees in secret rewards (Matthew 6:6).
- Handle the typology of the twelve stones with restraint and build nothing on details Scripture does not interpret.
Application Questions
- Is your obedience to God “just as the LORD told Joshua” (v. 8), or do you tend to obey selectively, keeping the commands that suit you and quietly adjusting the rest?
- Are you content to serve faithfully in hidden places, where, like the stones in the riverbed, your work may never be seen by others?
Section 4 — The Ark Stands Firm, the People Cross, and Joshua Is Exalted (Joshua 4:10–14)
Key Insights
- The priests held their post in the riverbed until everything the LORD commanded was finished (v. 10).
- Matthew Henry says that faith does not hurry to anticipate God’s counsels but hurries to attend them.
- The eastern tribes crossed armed, keeping the promise they had made to Moses (Numbers 32:20).
- The LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, just as He had promised (Joshua 3:7).
- Christ stayed in the waters of judgment until His work was finished and was then highly exalted (Philippians 2:9).
Applications
- Stand patiently at a hard post until God releases you (Galatians 6:9).
- Keep your promises to your brothers and sisters even when it costs you (Psalm 15:4).
- Honor those God sets over you, but never treat any leader as beyond question.
Application Questions
- Where has God stationed you at a hard post, and are you willing to stand there patiently until He tells you to move?
- Have you kept the promises you made to your brothers and sisters in Christ, even when fulfilling them costs you comfort, as the eastern tribes did?
Section 5 — The Priests Come Up and the Waters Return (Joshua 4:15–18)
Key Insights
- The priests did not leave the river until the LORD commanded, and Calvin sees God’s fatherly kindness in directing every step.
- The ark is called “the ark of the testimony” (v. 16), because it held the tablets of the covenant.
- The waters returned the moment the priests’ feet left the riverbed, proving the crossing was the LORD’s act (v. 18).
- Calvin calls the dumb river the best of heralds, proclaiming that heaven and earth are subject to the God of Israel.
- Christ came up out of the same river at His baptism and later passed through the flood of judgment for His people (Mark 1:10).
Applications
- Wait for God’s word in Scripture before moving, rather than asking Him to bless plans already made (Psalm 27:14).
- No circumstance is beyond the command of the God who stops and starts rivers (Isaiah 43:2).
- The way through the river closed, and the gospel’s call is urgent today (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Application Questions
- Do you wait for God’s direction through His Word before you move, or do you act on your own reasoning and ask Him to bless it afterward?
- When you face a problem that feels as immovable as a river at flood, what does the way the Jordan obeyed the LORD teach you about His power over your circumstances?
Section 6 — Gilgal: The Memorial Explained to the Generations and the Nations (Joshua 4:19–24)
Key Insights
- Israel came up on the tenth day of the first month, the day the Passover lamb was set apart forty years before (Exodus 12:3).
- The answer to the children’s question is simple: “Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground” (v. 22).
- Joshua says the Red Sea was dried up for us, because the covenant people are one body across the generations.
- The memorial had two purposes: that the nations may know the LORD’s mighty hand and that Israel may fear Him forever (v. 24).
- Christ accomplished the true exodus through His death as our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Applications
- Own the history of redemption as your own story, from the exodus to the cross (Galatians 2:20).
- Set new mercies beside old ones so that gratitude deepens (Psalm 77:11).
- The goal of all instruction is the fear of the LORD, and God’s works are meant to be made known to the nations (Psalm 96:3).
- A warning: the memorial celebrates the LORD’s deed, not any nation’s greatness.
Application Questions
- When you speak of what God has done, from the exodus to the cross, do you speak of it as your own story, and does that shape your gratitude?
- Does your knowledge of God’s mighty works lead you to fear Him more, or has familiarity bred carelessness?
The LORD who cut off the Jordan for His people has in Christ passed through the flood of judgment for us, and He calls every generation to remember His mighty hand and fear Him forever.
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