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YT 13 Joshua part 8 chapter 4:19, 20, 24

The Book of Joshua


Chapter 4:19, 20, 24

Recapping:

Two sets of stones are connected to the Jordan. The 1st set ~ are the stones
taken from the Jordan to the lodging place, later called Gilgal by the 12 men. The 2nd
set are the stones set up in the Jordan.

Both sets of stones: the ones collected and carried by the 12 sons of Israel to the
lodging place; and the stones set up in the midst of the Jordan were set and pitched by
Joshua. Both sets of stones are set up by Joshua because they present a picture.

Gilgal Stones

The 12 stones taken from the Jordan by the 12 men figuratively refer to
governmental perfection of the nation Israel (the ordinal 12) going into the Covenant
Land of Promise as a collective body.

The stones figuratively “display” the heart of the nation Israel to the other nations
~ declaring that these people, Israel, are the people of God. The stones of Gilgal
witnessed to the nations that “all the people of the earth might know the hand of the
LORD, that it is mighty.”

To the nations in the land, the stones set as a memorial in Gilgal were
figuratively like the “flag” of the nation Israel as a statement of possession and victory ~
much like the flag of the United Stated of America that claimed the moon.

Likewise, those stones set in Gilgal were to Israel a sign to remind them of the
fact of the event of the crossing, and to act as a memorial to give a measurement of
value to that which the LORD did.

So, when the children ask their fathers in time to come ~ “what is the meaning of
these stones,” the answer given was both uncompromising and precise. The Gilgal
stones are not only a memorial of the crossing but also tied in with the circumcision
seen in the next chapter.

Jordan Stones

The 12 stones Joshua set up where the priests’ feet stood in the Jordan were
going to be covered over once the waters returned to their place.

Those stones in the Jordan were neither a sign nor a memorial. The covering
over with water is the figurative pictorial. Those 12 stones in the Jordan represent the
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stony heart of the nation as completely cleansed never to be seen or remembered again
once the waters return to their place.

The generation of Israel in Joshua’s day is figurative of the last generation of


Israel ~ the future generation (the remnant) on the dawning of their new day as a nation
born in a day, cleansed by fire and baptized with the Holy Ghost. That last generation
will be completely cleansed with no remembrance of former things.

Setting and Pitching by Joshua

The setting ~ Joshua 4:9, and the pitching ~ 4:20 is the same Hebrew word. Both
are done by Joshua. Why? Because of Who Joshua figures, the Covenant Son, Christ
Jesus, the Conqueror.

Joshua sets the stones in the Jordan and pitched the stones in Gilgal. This is the
figurative witness of the ordinal 2 ~ the number that speaks of the testimony of a true
witness in the language of Scriptural numerology.

Thus, the witness of the true testimony of remembering not the former things,
and the springing forth of the new is on the basis of the Conqueror ~ The Covenant Son
~ the Seed of God ~ Jehovah is Salvation whom Joshua represents.

When Jehovah, Who is Salvation ~ the Conqueror appears on the dawning of the
new day for the remnant nation ~ their former things; their heart of rebellion and
rejection of their Messiah as a nation will be remembered no more and their entrance
into the land will be through their Conqueror.

Before we go further; when you look at Joshua chapters 3, 4, and 5, they are
basically 4 days. In Joshua 5:13 the picture of the remnant changes. In 5:13 Israel goes
in and begins to conquer. However, in the kingdom age, Israel doesn’t conquer the land.
Israel is given the land as a betrothal gift.

More Figurative Language ~ The Calendars of Glory

Joshua 4:19:

“And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and
encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.”

There is so much expressed in this one little verse. As Westerners and not
Easterners, and as Gentiles and not Jews, we give very little thought as to the mention
of months in Scriptures.

When we read the date of something we think of it as just general information ~


especially as the book of Joshua is after all a military record of events.

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What difference does it make as to the month and day? A lot actually. In God’s
economy the months are important because of the appointed times set in the Eternal
Covenant in the luminaries.

As has been discussed previously, the creation record of Genesis shows that the
created world is based on mathematical relationships. In God’s cosmos, numbers are
foundational powers. Even the days of the week are identified not with names, but
ordinals. God has preserved the records so that we might know Him.

Mathematical Synchronization

Genesis 1:14-19:

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the
day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth:
and it was so.”

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night: the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide
the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And evening and morning
were the fourth day.”

As the universe is ruled by mathematical equations that cannot change,


everything is synchronized in a prearranged order. God’s law of physics requires a year
for the earth to revolve around the sun. The rotation of the earth on its axis along with
the revolution of the planet around the greater light (sun) produces “the sun’s path.”

The division of light from the darkness occurs on the first evening and morning.
Light and darkness and day and night are not synonymous. When God places the light
holders in the heavens, the nighttime enters His creation ~ the division of day and night.
Before the fourth day, the Word who was called forth on the first day supplied the light.
After the fourth day, light is from the luminaries.
Thus, as a result of separating day from night we understand the astronomical
bodies measure time of “days and years.”

With the lights in the heaven ~the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the
lesser light (the moon) to rule the night, God created the dimension of time.

Prior to sun, earth, moon rotations, and orbits, upon which we base our seconds,
hours, days, months, seasons, and years, there was no definable time as we know it
today, only eternity.

The sun, which “rules” the day, and the moon and stars that “govern” the night,
do so by their passage through the twelve signs of the Eternal Covenant in the
luminaries.

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The light holders literally shine to the four corners of the earth figuratively for
signs and for seasons, and for days and years. God uses these light holders, the 12 star
luminaries with their signs of the heavens, for a prophetic revelation ~ a greater light to
rule over the day of salvation. The whole picture of the eternal covenant in the
luminaries says “this is the salvation of God.”
The Scriptures say that God created the stars and named them for that purpose
(Psalm 8:3; 147:4; Isaiah 40:25-26). The Hebrew word “signs” in the text of Genesis
1:14 has the meaning “a mark.” A sign is a mark of something other than itself.
Hence the stars with their signs, mark out something other than the twinkle of
light. The “words” (psalm 19) of their line gone out through all the earth declare the glory
of God in His Covenant Son. Unfortunately, there is little teaching of the eternal
covenant in the luminaries. But you can see that from the very beginning God has
designed creation in a certain order for a purpose.
The Greater Light, the Sun and Star Signs

The greater light the sun ~ is figurative of the Greater Light, the SON. The Son of
the Eternal Covenant seen in the figurative message of each sign gives the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God as seen in the face of the Son of the Covenant as He
runs His course of regeneration of making all created things new.

The month of the sign in which the sun is tabernacling is determined by the
natural law of God. In His creation of the heavens and the earth God set the tabernacle
for the sun.

God designed the earth to rotate on its axis and revolve around the sun,
determining in which sign the sun would tabernacle on the month of His choosing.

There is order to the figures declaring the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God. As God’s natural laws are unalterable, there is only one path the sun takes, the
same glory is seen in the Scriptures.

The Lesser Light ~ the Moon

As the sun is figurative of the Son, the lesser light the moon is figurative of the
nation Israel.

The word “seasons” in the Hebrew (Genesis 1:14) connected to the heavenly
luminaries of the sun, moon and stars does not refer to the annual seasons but instead
communicates the idea of an appointed time ~ a determined time or place.

The appointed time speaks of the prophetic revelation of the Son of the Covenant
and are associated with the festival Feasts of Jehovah (Leviticus 23).

The seasons ~ the appointed time of the festival Feasts of Jehovah are
according to the new moon calendar. Psalm 104:19 declares that “God [He] appointed
the moon for seasons”. The sun, the moon, and the feasts give us a calendar.
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Thus, the nation’s planting and harvesting schedule are connected to the
(Exodus 12:2; 13:4) the lunar calendar of months as the seasons of the lesser light
speak of an appointed time of the Seed Christ. Israel’s New Year begins in the spring ~
it pictures life. If you were a son of Israel and from a youth were taught these figures,
with the offerings, there would be so much more understanding in Joshua.

The Festivals of Jehovah

There are seven Festival Feasts of Jehovah but only three of these feasts will be
celebrated in the kingdom. All the feasts were instituted by God and given at a point in
history right after God had delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt.

The Appointed Time

Time divided into months would necessitate a calendar of months. As the sun
would make a circuit through 12 signs, the calendar must have 12 months. A day must
be determined for the first of each month. The lesser light, the moon, would be used to
give the light of this knowledge of months and days.

The new moon calendar, with 12 equal months of approximately 30 days each, is
the lesser light to rule over the darkened understanding of the heart of God’s creation of
man, to give light of the knowledge of the Sovereignty of the Creator Redeemer over
His universe.

Light that is designed to be shined into the darkened understanding of man’s


ignorance of spiritual realities. The moon is a symbol of coming from darkness to light
and waning again to darkness.

The new moon, with its first horns of light, would signal the first day of the new
month and the power of light to make known that the sun had passed into the next sign.
Again ~ as the natural law of the sun’s path cannot be changed, so the natural law of
the moon’s renewal cannot be changed. God sets the creation in order, so that man
cannot change what can be known about God.

Names of the Months

The names of the months were not identified by name in Scripture until after the
exodus from Egypt with Moses.

After the Babylonian captivity, which is long after Joshua’s time, a few names
were changed to figure the circumstances surrounding that particular time and place as
well as provide a figurative pictorial prophecy of that which shall be.

Hence both the figurative message of the stars with their signs and lunar
calendar are prophetic timetables in reference to the Person and Work of the Anointed
Covenant Son.

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Therefore, it is extremely important to have some grasp as to the months


declared within the scripture in order for there to be understanding of the prophetic
pictorial of the appointed time of the Covenant Son of the Eternal Covenant.

Because the appointed times set by God are on a lunar calendar ~ you have a
calendar that doesn’t change times. The phases of the moon are what they are. Which
is the very same reason that the days of the week are identified in the Scriptures not
with names, but ordinals. Numbers are what they are ~ a mathematical object used to
count, measure and label, which is a lot different than a name.

Although the name of the first month is not mentioned in Joshua, Nisan is the
first month of the religious calendar. The first month of the Jewish calendar is in the
spring and typically falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the Jewish
New Year begins in the spring ~ figurative of new life. Today Jews also go by the solar
calendar because it is designed for merchandising. Orthodox Jews still use the lunar
calendar.

Life is what is seen in the figure of Israel crossing over into the Promised Land of
milk and honey; new life for the nation. They came up out of the Jordan in the 1st month
on the 10th day.

The ordinal ten is one of the perfect numbers. Ten speaks of the ordinal of
perfection. The number ten expresses the perfection of Divine order, commencing an
altogether new series of numbers. Figured for Israel is a new year and new day ~ all is
new for Israel!

Israel entered the land on the 10th of the 1st month and they kept the Passover on
the 14th (Joshua 5:10). Therefore, we know that Israel took a lamb on the day that they
arrived in the land.

According to the law ~ the 10th of the 1st month was the day that every man was
to take a lamb according to the household of their father ~ a lamb for a house in
preparation for the celebration of Passover (Exodus 12:3).

Although not literally stated, we know that Israel took a lamb on the day they
entered the land because they celebrated Passover on the 14th. Because Passover is
not mentioned until chapter 5 we are going to wait until that chapter to look at Passover
in detail.

Gilgal

Joshua 4:20:

“And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in
Gilgal.”

The lodging place is named Gilgal ~ after the circumcising of all the people in
chapter 5 (Joshua 5:8-9). The reason the lodging place is identified by name as Gilgal in

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chapter 4:19 even though the circumcision had yet to take place is due to the figurative
pictorial for future generations of sons of Israel.

The naming of the site was to show not only the tactical location of the
bridgehead as being the ideal spot for the preparation of the battles to come but the
power (God) behind what was going to be accomplished at that site.

The definition of Gilgal is “rolling, a wheel.” What has been rolled off the sons of
Israel at the bridgehead, in the cutting off of the foreskin was the reproach of the forty
years previous ~ Egypt.

Egypt was the reason this generation of Israel in Joshua’s day had not been
circumcised. Their father’s obeyed not the voice of the LORD ~ they broke the LORD’S
covenant in their refusal to circumcise their sons (Genesis 17:14).

Israel’s victory over the “ite” nations would be the result of their obedience to
Jehovah in the cutting off of the flesh. Thus, if you said Israel encamped in the east
border of Jericho without naming the name Gilgal the pictorial in relation to the location
site would have been missed.

Circumcision, like Passover is discussed in chapter 5. In chapter 5 we will take


an in depth look at the figurative meaning of circumcision.

Amen

Joshua 4:24:

“That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is
mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”

With the conclusion of the chapter comes the Amen! The conclusion of the day
as it is presented in the book of Joshua ends as it began ~ with the Glory of the LORD!

What a glorious new day for Israel. Forgetting those things which lie behind, with
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passing before them leading the
way. Sanctified, disciplined and armed, Israel’s military operation went off without a
hitch.

You can understand why all the hearts of the kings melted and neither was there
spirit in them anymore! Israel has come under the banner of the mighty hand of the
LORD! The LORD would be given the credit for the defeat of the nations.

However before either of the events of the circumcision or celebration of the


Passover described in chapter 5 of Joshua, there was the establishing of the great
stones in Mount Ebal plastered with plaster and written with the words of the law set up
“on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD thy God
giveth thee” (Deuteronomy 27:2).

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Israel also had the building of an altar, the offering of burnt offerings, the peace
offerings and just as important ~ Israel rejoices. It’s as though Israel is celebrating the
end ~ the establishment of the Kingdom before the conquering.

This concludes the lesson. If you’d like to prepare for the next lesson please read
Deuteronomy 27

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