At the height of the BLM movement, radicals were busy tearing down statues and past memorials. Targets ranged from Columbus to Confederate memorials to even Founding Fathers of the Revolutionary era. One might ask why these monuments mean anything, let alone why anyone would care enough to tear them down. But the very act of attacking them points to a truth that statues and memorials are in fact great reminders of where we came from and to whom we belong.
Stones That Tell a Story
20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21 And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:20-24 ESV
Memorials Taken From the Public Square
Other memorials have already been taken out of the public square. In the early 2000s there was a fight in the courts to remove the Ten Commandments from every government and public place in America. As a result, some states have passed new laws to require the Ten Commandments in schools and other places. The fight continues because the Ten Commandments are a great memorial of what God expects of a civil society.
Those who hate God want to remove anything related to God from the public square because they don’t want anyone to remember. The goal of tearing down monuments is to purge the memory from the next generation.
A Generation That Started Strong
The generation of Joshua’s time started out strong. They made this memorial to remind them how God allowed them to cross the Jordan River on dry ground just as Moses had crossed the Red Sea. They went forth and took the promised land to live and dwell.
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 ESV
When the Stones No Longer Speak
Joshua at the end of his life calls together the people who were young when they built a stone memorial to God. They were starting to forget what had been done. We know they were starting to forget because Judges 2:10 says another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. Joshua tries to rally them one last time. Choose who you will serve!
The memorial in Gilgal where they had placed the 12 stones is in a valley 30 or 40 miles east of where they gather in Shechem. But the memorial stones might as well be 300 or 400 miles away or already torn down, because the reminder was not remembered at all.
Do Not Forget What God Has Done
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:5-9 ESV
Joshua wanted the people to choose God to serve, but eventually they chose to serve the little selfish gods of this life. Peter elaborates on what is needed so we do not forget what God has done. Faith needs to be tended with the knowledge of God, and one must be steadfast with that knowledge. Without them a man becomes blind to what is real.
Our Stone Memorial
Let us not forget what Jesus has done on the cross for us. We must make God a priority through reading, prayer, and fellowship. The monument can be a reminder, but we must not stop thinking and talking about what the monument represents.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ESV
Jesus, in one of his last acts as the man made flesh, asks us to remember him through the Lord’s Supper. Do this in remembrance of me. This is our stone memorial so that we will never forget his broken body for our sins.
