Sunday, September 19, 2010

NIPTO, Day 224

Whew!
Last night I watched Nannie Diaries with Mom and Dad and went to bed.
Got up this morning, got ready, went to church (did music, had Sunday School, went to church church.) Came home, ate lunch, watched the Browns game, went on a walk, played with play-doh, went to youth group, ate pizza, stuck q-tips in straws and blew them at people who were covered in masking tape.
Had a discussion about identity which was really interesting.

Annd I just printed off my homework for tomorrow... annnd am blogging. That's about it.

I just went outside and looked at Jupiter and its moons and at the moon. It's sweet. You could see a ring on Jupiter (and 4 of its moons).
So pretty. The craters on the moon are fantastic!

NIPTO? Yeah.
Joshua 4:1-24

1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."

A'ight. All of Israel is crossing the Jordan river at flood season. 
So everyone gets across and God tells Joshua to choose 1 guy from each of the twelve tribes, have each of them get a stone from where the priests were standing, and take them back to the campsite.



 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

Joshua got those 12 guys and told them what to do and why they were doing it. 
To serve as a sign in the future so that when their children ask what the stones mean they can tell them that the Jordan river got cut off so they could cross. That's pretty momentous. SO yeah. They were making a memorial to the people of Israel. Sweet.


 8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

Then the actually did it. After much talking about doing it. So they got the stones and Joshua set them up. And they stood for a very long time.


 10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.

The priests stayed there until everything was done. I wonder how long that was... probably a really long time.
Once everyone was  across and the stones had been gotten, the priests were able to cross the river as well. 2 and a half of the tribes went into war then.


 14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

God exalted Joshua. He raised him in rank among the people. And they revered him. Respected him. All of his life. Just like they did Moses. 
That had to be comforting to Joshua. Because Moses was pretty awesome. So to be respected like Moses was respected was pretty awesome.


 15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 "Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan."
 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
 18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.

Oh. They didn't get out of the riverbed earlier. They're just now getting out of the riverbed. So they did and the river went back to its normal flooded stage.


 19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.


Joshua then eventually set up the stones at the place where they were camping. Not a whole lot of hullabalu. But keep reading...




21 He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22 tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."


Joshua tells them why they put up the stones: So that when their children ask, they can tell them the amazing things that God did. He dried up the Jordan river so they could cross it, the same thing he did to the Red Sea. God did it so that everyone on earth would know that the Lord was powerful and that he could do wonderful and miraculous things...
That they would know and fear the LORD your God.

And now I must away to my bed because it is late late late and it's a school night. 

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