Joshua chapter 3-4 records the history of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River. No bridge, no boats, no animals to ride on… just a “repeat performance” by the Lord of making the water stand up on either side of a pathway of dry land to walk across on.

The Lord made it clear to Joshua that He would confirm his leadership by an equivalent miracle to the one He performed for Moses (parting the water). (Josh. 3:7) He understood why Joshua felt some trepidation about succeeding Moses in leadership, with such a “hard act to follow”. Plus, if over a million contentious Israelites had trouble submitting to Moses, Joshua must have wondered how they’d listen to him!

Then God gave Joshua instructions to pass along: “Tell the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’” (v.8) So he gathered the Israelites and repeated God’s promise to drive out all their enemies, told them to choose twelve men, one from each tribe, and assured them that as soon as the priests stepped into the Jordan, “its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” (v.9-13)

This sounded great in theory, but for the Israelites, especially the priests and twelve chosen men, trusting required a much greater step, and stand, of faith. They hadn’t heard directly from God and had to take their new, not-yet-proven, leader’s word for it. Thankfully the priests took that step and stand, and the Lord did exactly as He’d promised. They all crossed the Jordan on dry land (Josh. 3:14-17).

The folks in back had to exercise a bit more faith than the ones in front. Which made them stronger spiritually—more exercise, more muscle. But they had it easy compared to the priests—those guys had to just stand there and wait for everyone to make it safely across. Then, after everyone had crossed safely, the priests kept standing in the river! Why didn’t they just call it a win and catch up with the others? While everyone else got to go somewhere, they’d had to just stand and watch. Maybe they waved to their friends and families passing by—“Have a great trip! …Hope to see you soon!…Do stay in touch!…”

But remember those twelve chosen men, one from each tribe? The priests were waiting for them to come back to the middle of the river, where each had been instructed to pick up a “stone” from the bottom, and haul it back to camp. “Stone” here means heavy boulder (they had to carry them on their shoulders) (Josh.4:4-9).

The Lord accomplished three things by having these twelve retrieve the boulders (none of which involved building materials): First, as we saw, it confirmed and developed the faith and patience of the priests waiting for them.

Second, it tested, and developed the faith and faithfulness of the twelve men—they’d already entered a place of rest and had to give that up to do the hard job the Lord and their clans had commissioned them for. Yet they complied without complaint! Are we willing to do the same? We may never be called on to risk our lives, but what if a friend, neighbor, or even stranger needs us to give up our rest and comfort to do the hard things (babysit, take them to the doctor, take time to listen to their story, help them move, etc.)?

Third, these would serve as “stones of remembrance”. In future generations some skeptics would ask, “How do I know you’re not just telling tall tales, grandpa? Is this another one of those war stories where your grandpa saved 10 men, your dad said it was 100, and now you’re saying 1000?” And grandpa could point to those boulders as weighty evidence of the Lord’s miraculous intervention in the lives of His people.

Only after the twelve men had retrieved the boulders, the priests followed them out of the river bed to the camp, and the waters returned to their original state. (Josh.4:10-18) These priests literally stood on the promises of God and kept standing until His work was fully accomplished– could we have done that? Would we have done that? How do we get the kind of selflessness, patience and courage it takes to put others’ needs ahead of our own? Especially when it entails risk and self-sacrifice? Trust in God. The assurance that if we meet others’ needs, Someone can and will meet ours. The faith that says, “When I take care of God’s business, He takes care of mine.” (Mat. 6:33). These priests knew God was with them in the river—symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant they carried. It made all the difference.

Risk popularity. Risk physical well-being. Risk what matters. Stand in whatever river God calls us to, knowing He is with us. Trust Him to keep the current from crashing in, for the sake of others as well as ourselves. It’s the only way to see Him work miracles.