“So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day … he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the LORD, saying, ‘This stone shall be our witness, for it has heard all the words which the LORD spoke to us. It shall be a witness against you, should you wish to deny your God.'” Joshua 24:25-27

Observe General Joshua’s “last will and testimony” as he makes a covenant — like a contract — with God’s people. He places a large stone under an oak tree as a witness against the people should they choose to deny their God. He’s the one who famously charged, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”

I’m thinking that God’s people might have felt overconfident after that. They could choose to live out the rest of their lives knowing that they were “good to go” so long as they didn’t deny God. The rock would act as a divine hall monitor: always listening, sort of like Jesus.

A study of rocks in the Bible would be well worth our time. Hear what Jesus says about Simon Peter’s confession in Matthew 16, “… upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Of course Jesus is the rock that the builders rejected, a stumbling block, who became the chief cornerstone. The general gave more than an object lesson that day, he was on to something big: confessing Jesus before others launches a great stone straight through the gates of hell!

Jesus, Let my profession reflect my foundation, my confession be my covenant. Let my confidence be in Christ alone, the solid Rock on which I stand, as all other ground is sinking sand. Amen.