We’ll read through chapter 4 one more time, but a couple of notes before we do.

This narrative about the stones should be understood as connected with the reference to the same activity in chapter 3. There are some problems putting things together in precise order, but it seems clear that the priests stood in the middle of the river while the Israelites crossed. Once that had happened 12 men, one from each tribe, came back into the river, each picking up a stone. These stones were stacked to form a monument, a memorial to this important event. Were the 12 men chosen by the people or by Joshua? The answer is probably yes…that is, both. Whether that means Joshua gave the instruction to the people, or he selected from a group of individuals, or…we don’t know. And it isn’t really significant.

The clear point of emphasis in this narrative is the collection and placing of the stones.
How many times in chapter 3 and 4 is this covered? If you add up the repetition of the instructions and the actual activity, how many times, total?

Any time you come across repetition in the Bible, pay attention! Something is important.
If you were a preacher and wanted to make a contemporary application of this narrative re. the memorial stones, what would you do with it?
If thinking like a preacher doesn’t come naturally (it’s OK; we’re weird), ask the question, Does God want us to remember times when he delivered us through special circumstances?
Can you identify a time or event in your life when God’s deliverance was unmistakeable? How could you memorialize that deliverance so that you and those who follow you will always remember God’s grace on your behalf?

Now go read chapter 4 again. This time as you read think in terms of that experience from your life and listen to God speak about remembering that deliverance.

Your first reading of chapter four should, once again, be a quick reading. The first time through is always about seeing the forest, not individual trees. Your primary goal is to get a feel for the flow of the narrative, the major characters, any key events, etc.

There are two parts to this section of the narrative - the portion involving the memorial stones and the crossing itself, and then a brief section about what happened immediately after the crossing. So as you read quickly through this chapter draw a horizontal line between the verses that mark that shift.

How big do you picture these stones as being? Keep in mind that they are each carried by one man. Do you picture them as bigger than a basketball? A bushel basket?

We’ll come back to explore some of the interesting details of this chapter, but for now, just read.

Once we understand that “the Ark of the Covenant” is another way of saying “Jehovah” we realize this chapter is ALL about God. He is the central player in this narrative. The story of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan is the story of Jehovah’s actions in and for the nation of Israel.
Did you circle every reference to the Ark? How many were there?

You may not be aware that God specified the order in which Israel was to move through the wilderness. For the last 40 years, every time they decamped, they proceeded in a very precise order with the same six tribes moving out first, in the same sequence. Then came the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle structure (it was modular). Then came the last six tribes, again, in the same order every time.

In chapter 3 Joshua instructs them to do things very differently from what they’ve done for the last 40 years. Now the command is that the Ark, carried the the priests, lead the procession. It (He) moves into the river and remains there until everyone is across. Then, after the 12 stones have been collected, the Ark (Jehovah) comes up out of the river.

Read this chapter one more time. This time, whenever you come to one of your circled references to the Ark, instead of reading the word “ark” say “Jehovah.” Again, read the passage fast enough to get a good feel for the flow. Now take your pencil again. But this time write down five things this passage teaches us about God - who he is and how he works. That is, if you were writing a sermon from this chapter, what lessons would you want people to learn about God?

Work with me on this one. Do things in the following order:

• Read chapter 3 again. Just skim it. Your goal is to identify all the people - individuals or groups - mentioned in this narrative.

Go do that now. Do NOT peek at what comes next.
I’m watching!
You’re done? OK, now a bit of info that may alter your results. The Ark of the Covenant (think Raiders of the Lost Ark) went inside the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. Above it, between the solid gold representation of the two angels, dwelt Jehovah. He lived in their midst. So when you read the words “Ark of the Covenant” you probably think of an object. But any Jew in OT times, when he heard those words thought naturally and instantly of Jehovah - a Who, not a what.

• So now, go back and skim chapter 3 once more. This time circle every reference to the Ark.Now answer the question, “Who is the focal point of this narrative?”

Chapter 3 records Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River. They’ve been camped, all 2-3 million of them, seven miles east of the river for awhile, but now it’s time to cross.
Read this chapter through lightly, just to get a feel for the basics of the narrative. You’ll notice some repetition. Rather than skim over those (“I already know what this is going to say”) take special note of what words or features are repeated. You might find it helpful to mark with a pencil those repeated portions.
Anything repeated is important and points us to the spiritual lesson God wants us to get from the narrative. But we’ll work on that later. For now, just enjoy the story.

We could move on to chapter 3, but we shouldn’t.
Another very helpful strategy when reading narrative portions of Scripture is to pay particular attention to pronouns. The center section of chapter 2 (vv. 8-13) illustrates this well.
By now you should be familiar with the flow of this story and, as a result of your last reading, understand where (on whom) the focus lies. So read with special attention the words of Rahab in vv. 8-13, noting when she uses the first person plural (we, us, etc.) and when she uses the first person singular (I, me, my, etc.)
Sometimes you’ll have to infer the pronoun. That is, you’ll have to sense when she is talking for the people of Jericho and when she’s speaking only for herself and her own thoughts.
Underline any statements she makes for herself, describing how she sees things as opposed to the others in the city.
Notice anything?
One more little detail. Look up in a concordance Rahab’s name to see where else in the Bible she shows up. If you don’t have a concordance in the back of your Bible (or if it doesn’t list Rahab) you can find one online. Just do a Google search for “concordance” and then type in her name.

Our motto: Slow down. So read through this chapter again, but this time looking for still deeper truths. We want to see this chapter as not just a story, but a lesson. We want to get the truth God knew we needed when he chose to include this narrative in Scripture.
If you circled names as we suggested in the last post you quickly noticed only one name appears in the whole chapter - that of Rahab the prostitute. Everyone else is referred using pronouns or terms like “spies.” That’s like a big, flashing neon arrow pointing to that lesson.
As you read this time, ask yourself, “What made Rahab different from the rest of Jericho’s citizens?” It was obviously not her occupation that made her worthy of protection. Was it her decision to hide and protect the spies? Or did that decision flow from something deeper and more significant - something internal that led to her protective actions?
One other thing as you read chapter two this time: using your pencil again, draw brackets around the verse you think is the thematic center, the punch line of this lesson.

This time read all of chapter two to get the flow of the entire narrative. The question: who or what is the central focus of this story? Is it primarily about an event or a person? Which event or which person.
The reason for identifying that focus? It points us to the lesson God wants us to get from the narrative. It’s sometimes too easy to get distracted by relatively unimportant features of the story and miss what really matters.
The way to go about identifying the focal point? As you read look to see if most of the sentences are about action or about what’s said. Then, if conversation is the majority of the content, who does most of the talking? Whose name appears most often.
Use a pencil and circle every occurrence of a person’s name in this chapter. Count them. What was your total for each person?
What does God want us to concentrate on in this story?

Today read the second half of chapter 2 (vv. 15-24) to finish out this narrative. It’s short, so read it two or three times. Here are a couple of factoids to help you picture what’s going on.

1. The hill country (v. 16) was west of Jericho. The spies came from across the river to the east. But men have been sent out to catch them (based on Rahab’s story that she sent the spies away) and they would be looking for them to return that direction. So by sending the spies into the hills to the west for a few days they’re safe from the pursuers.
2. There’s no significance to the color red, except that it would be easily seen by the Israelites when they come to attack the city.
3. In v. 24 we read what the spies reported to Joshua when they returned three days later. But don’t think that’s all they said. They certainly told him about Rahab, her protection and the promise they made to her. The point of recording these words is to put the focus of the narrative where it belongs. God will deliver the Land to Israel as he promised, and they’ve already seen evidence of that.

In keeping with, “Slow down!” your reading for today is Joshua 2:1-14. This is the first half of the narrative about Rahab. As you did with the first chapter, just read this section for content. Your only goal is to learn the narrative. A couple of historical details will help you visualize what you’re reading.
1. Jericho was the biggest and most fortified city in Canaan at the time, with a huge wall surrounding it. In fact, it was what they call a casemate wall - an outer and inner wall 10 to 15 feet apart with the space in between filled with dirt and rubble. This created a very thick wall at less expense than a solid fortification. The rubble in between also acted as a shock absorber against battering rams.
2. The poorest people - and outcasts like prostitutes - had homes built over this span, “on top” of the walls. This real estate was the most vulnerable if the city was ever attacked.
3. The residents of Jericho all knew about Israel. It’s pretty hard to miss 2-3 million people camped 14 miles away. But note that they’d also heard about Israel’s miraculous crossing of the Red Sea 40 years earlier.
OK, read the passage and enjoy the story. We’ll certainly be coming back again and again, “chewing the cud” to get more out of it.