The Israelites Crossed the Jordan River

Moses had died, and God told Joshua to be in charge of the Israelites. God said that it was time for them to enter the promised land. So Joshua got up early the next morning, and the Israelites traveled toward the Jordan River, which separated them from the promised land, the land of Canaan. They camped next to the river for three days. Then the officers told everyone that it was almost time to cross the river. They gave the people instructions. Set out when you see the priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Make yourselves clean. God is going to do great things tomorrow. God told Joshua to command the priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant to stand in the water at the edge of the Jordan River. Joshua told all of the Israelites to gather closely and listen. God is here with us, Joshua said. He will defeat our enemies for us. When the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stand in the river, the water will stop. The priests moved into the river, and the water stopped and stood in a heap on one side. All of the people crossed the Jordan on dry ground. After everyone had crossed, God told Joshua to choose one man from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each man was to take a stone from the middle of the river and set them down where the Israelites would spend the night. The stones were assigned so that when children asked them, what do these stones mean? The people could tell them what God had done for them, stopping the water so they could cross the river. Now the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant crossed the river. The water started to flow again. Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, In the future, when your children ask their fathers, 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. This is so 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. God told Joshua and the Israelites to set up memorial stones to remember what God had done to bring them into the Promised Land. On the night he died, Jesus told his disciples to remember the sacrifice he was going to make to save us from our sins. When Christians take the Lord's Supper, they remember God's plan to destroy sin through Jesus' death and resurrection.