Building our Altar

This is one of my favorite passages, and I think it’s fitting for us this week, as we look back at 2017, and look forward to what God has for us in 2018:

Joshua 4:1-9     New International Version (NIV)

4 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 are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and 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.”

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^[a] 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.

The Israelites had been wandering around in the desert for 40 years, waiting to cross over in to the promised land. Moses died, Joshua took over, and then they were finally on their way. They stepped in to the Jordan River, it stopped flowing, and they (along with the Ark of the Covenant) were able to safely cross over to the promised land that God had given them, that was to be their home.

However, before they left the banks of the Jordan, God instructed them to build an altar. A member of each tribe went back in to the Jordan River, and grabbed a large stone, using it to construct a reminder of what God had done for His people. As they set up their camp that night, they used that altar in worship.

My favorite part of this Scripture is verses 6-7. They are instructed to tell their children, when they ask (as children always do) about the large pile of rocks, randomly piled along the banks of the river, of God’s goodness. Of how God kept His promises. Of how they waited for God to deliver them, and He did.

I think it’s important for us to do the same thing. The end of the year is a great time to build our altars. To look back on what God has given us, on what He has delivered us from, and for the things that He has promised us for this upcoming year.

I encourage you to take time this week to build your altar. Take a minute to name some of those blessings, some of those amazing things that God did for you this year, or maybe even some difficulties that He brought you through, and then find time to share with those around you!

Discussion Questions:

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  What “stones” can you put on the altar for this year?

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What are you looking forward to in 2018?