Musings From A Rolling Eyed Turtle

A pile of rocks to help you remember?  Really! Well, these were big stones, the ones you had to carry on your shoulder.  Perhaps that would make it more memorable.  And there were 12 of them, one for each tribe.  That might help even more in going down memory lane! God had commanded that these stones be set up as a memorial to help Israel remember what He had done.  Here’s how the passage reads: When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan . Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder,

“Remove your sandals from your feet!” In many Asian and Middle Easter countries, it is considered a mark of respect if guests remove their shoes when they enter someone’s home.  Aside from that mark of respect, removing your shoes before entering a home is an easy and courteous way to keep from tracking in mud and dirt.  This helps keeps the floors clean, especially carpeted areas of the home. In the Bible, Moses and Joshua were both told to remove their sandals: “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  (Ex 3:5)   The commander of the Lord ’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Josh 5:15) In both cases, they did exactly what they were told to do, they removed their sandals.    And while we can likely eliminate the possibility that it was done to keep the carpets cle