REMEMBER GOD’S ACIONS
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
JOSHUA 4:14-24
Key Verse
“When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land”.
Joshua 4:21b-22
INTRODUCTION.
There are some things that we would like to forget but there are other things that we’d like to remember. The nice things that happen to us are always things of joy that we would like to repeat such as getting gifts, being taken by school, family or parents to exciting places which create feelings of wonder for us.
These trips and getting these gifts are very nice but if we are wise we will remember the good things but as well some of the things that are not so good. When we remember those bad latter things it will give us the warnings necessary so that we will avoid them and so make a success of our lives.
The Lord God has time and time again showed us His power and His faithfulness to us. He has kept us through all kinds of difficulties as well as through all the times of joy and happiness. Many of these actions by God have benefited our parents and family and these benefits have come down to benefit us. Some of the situations that we face seem absolutely impossible but God has always come through to show us His love and His power.
This is what happened to the nation of Israel for now God had taken them out of Egypt from their bondage in a way that showed His great power and love for them,, kept them through the wilderness travels toward the land of Canaan and now had brought them right at the edge of that promised land. But the River Jordan was over overflowing its banks and nobody could cross that rushing and turbulent water. But God had a purpose and God’s purpose was to take the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. So God stopped the water upstream and told the priests to carry the Ark of the Covenant which contained the 10 Commandments and stand right in the middle of the river on dry ground. Then the people could pass on dry ground over to the bank on the other side of the Jordan River. This was amazing. This was not natural. Only God with His mighty power could have done that.
So in order to make the people remember what God had done. Joshua the leader of the nation told a strong man from each of the 12 tribes to take some large stones and place them in the middle of the river on dry ground. Then he told them to take 12 more very large stones to the town of Gilgal and put them there. The name of the town Gilgal meant their reproach had been taken away. This meant that the times of their trials and troubles were over. When the young children saw these stones or monuments they should ask their parents why the stones are there. Their parents would remember what God had done for them. God had taken them through all kinds of difficulties. God had miraculously stopped the flow of the waters and had allowed them to cross through the river bed of the Jordan on dry ground
Joshua told the people that it was very important to God to have them understood what God had done so that when their children asked them what those 12 stones at Gilgal meant, they would be able to tell the children that God had dried the river up and allowed them to cross from the wilderness journey into the beautiful land of Canaan that God had promised them.
So let us remember God’s promises to us. Let us remember God’s faithfulness to us. Let us make sure that we understood the great things that God has done for us and God’s great actions on our behalf. We need this to be at the forefront of our minds so that we can tell the children who ask us, What do these stones mean? that God is great and loving and is the greatest problem solver for us who love Him.
We can tell the children who are still too young to remember a lot of the past the great actions of God on behalf of those that He loves.
It is important that the younger people who might have not seen some of the great actions of God on our behalf to be told about them so that when they are in difficulty they too can without any hesitation call on God and ask Him for help to overcome the difficulties they are in.
So let us remember God’s actions, trust in God, be obedient to His directions.