January 23

Joshua 3:12–14

12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

Biblical Insight

The selection of the twelve men seems to be in preparation for the memorial of stones that would be erected in Joshua 4:1–9. These stones would be erected in the middle of the Jordan as a testimony of God’s provision to the children of Israel forever. Interestingly, these men were selected prior to the miraculous occurrence; the Lord already had begun planning arrangements for the memorial and testimony because, from His perspective, the miracle was a sure thing. The language of the waters standing in a heap evokes even more Red Sea imagery; Moses famously sang that those waters also stood up in a heap (Exodus 15:8).

Daily Devotion

God has always known the future since the beginning of time. He knew that Adam and Eve would fall. He understood that sin would always be part of humanity, even when He walked blamelessly toward Calvary. He also knew there would be a whole lot of good to be brought about by His people. He knew the outcome of the men in this passage, and what victories they would see. They may not even have understood the brevity of their calling and assignment, but their God, our God did. He was already making plans for their triumph before they ever even thought about a battle.

Maybe you are in the middle of a trial and have lost hope of ever seeing a victory, but God has already gone ahead of you and has started to build a memorial and testimony to your steadfastness. He has begun to prepare a place for you. Jesus is going to help you cross the finish line. He always knew you’d finish strong.

The process of building memorials is so valuable. In the same way memorials helped the Israelites teach the next generation about God’s faithfulness from the past, remembering God’s faithfulness in our lives today helps build our faith (Joshua 4:21– 24). Use the space below to journal about a miracle God has done for you in the past that strengthens your faith in difficult times.