Joshua 3:4 (ESV) - …for you have not passed this way before.

Do you ever find yourself in an unfamiliar place in life?

Joshua 3:9–10 (ESV) - And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

God was demonstrating two things:
1. Complete power over the gods of Canaan.

God was demonstrating two things:
2. He had the rightful claim over the land.

Joshua 3:15–16 (ESV) - …and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.

Joshua 3:17 (ESV) - Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Joshua 4:1–3 (ESV) - When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

Joshua 4:6–7 (ESV) - …that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Joshua 4:9 (ESV) - And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

Joshua 4:18 (ESV) - And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.

Joshua 4:21–24 (ESV) - And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”

Giving thanks and remembering God’s faithfulness in the past is a primary way of trusting him in the present and in the future.

Discussion Questions
(Have the group take turns as you read all of chapters 3-4 together)

1. Review together what the Ark of the Covenant is and then discuss what part did the ark play in the crossing of the Jordan?

2. In light of what the ark represented, what was God stating to Israel and the Canaanites through this experience?

3. How do we know the Lord is among us since we have no tangible symbol like the ark?

4. What were the purposes of the miracle at the Jordan (look up 3:7, 3:9-11, 4:14, and 4:24)?

5. If you were to erect memorials at places where God worked in unusual ways in your life where would you erect them? Have you told your children/grandchildren about these times?

6. What is one truth this story communicates about God and how will that truth encourage you to closely follow Him each day?