lderness in which they had
wandered forty years, Joshua bade the priests that bare the ark go down
into the river. And as soon as their feet were dipped in the water,
the river was divided, "The waters which came down from above stood and
rose up upon an heap; and those that came down towards the sea of the
plain failed, and were cut off, and the people passed over right
against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the
Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan."

Now when this had taken place, Joshua ordered twelve men, one out of
every tribe, to go down into the river, and each bring up a large stone
out of the bed of the river, from the place where the priests had
stood, and plant them in the earth, on the bank, at the place where
they lodged that night. But this was not all. They were to carry as
huge stones as they could manage down into the bed of the river, and
set them up also there, so big and strong as to stand above the surface
of the stream, and resist the force of the current. This seems a
curious proceeding, does it not? to take twelve stones out of the bed
of the river and plant them on the ground, and roll twelve great stones
off the bank into the river, and set them up there.

What was the purpose of this? Listen to what Joshua says: "This shall
be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time
to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer
them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan; and these stones
shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." In one
word, they were to be perpetual reminders to the Israelites to be
grateful to God for having brought them into the land promised to their
fathers, the land flowing with milk and honey.

Very well! how many times has God sent you great deliverances, and
brought great blessings upon you: has carried you through great
dangers: has brought you out of the depths of sickness? Over and over
again has He done this. He blesses you every day. Look around--you,
too, have got your tokens set up as a memorial unto you for ever. Look
at your houses, they are memorials to you of what God has brought you
into. Look at your children, every one of them is a little mark-stone
or memorial of Go