Joshua 4:9
“Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.”
What does Joshua 4:9 mean?
When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, Joshua arranged for twelve stones to be placed right where the priests had stood with the ark of God's covenant. These weren't random markers, but intentional reminders of what God had done, placed in the river itself as a sign that would endure. The phrase "to this day" suggests the original audience could still see or know of these stones, making God's faithfulness tangible and real rather than just a distant story. In a culture where written records were precious and memory was everything, monuments like these served as powerful teaching tools. When children asked "what do these stones mean," parents could retell how God parted the waters and brought their ancestors safely across, just as he had promised. It's a beautiful picture of how God's work stays with us and becomes woven into our identity and history.