7
Apr
2009
Significant Stones…
Have you noticed how significant stones are in the Bible? They were used to build important structures like; altars, temples, memorials, walls, and boundary stones. God used them to mark or define places and events where He did or said something significant in the life of the believer. And they were also essential elements used to maintain peace and to protect life. Stones were indispensable for relating with other people and with God.
Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him… –Gen. 35:14a NIV
But have you noticed that stones are hard and heavy? They are very tough things that must be handled correctly and appropriately placed. They are often difficult to move, awkward to manage, and challenging to position. And they can be painful too; toes can get smashed, fingers crushed, and blisters can quickly form. But they are also solid and durable, and when done right, the structures are lasting and significant.
There are times in our lives when God asks us to establish stones. Some are memorials where Christ marks significant events along the journey, places to look back and see divine crossings or happenings. Salvation and baptism experiences are common memorials, and are among other encounters unique to each of us in our pursuit of God. Constructing memorials often are exciting activities, but there are other stone projects that are not nearly as fun or pleasurable.
Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones… –Deut. 27:5a NIV
Altars are places where God requires sacrifice. Hard heavy stones laid upon hard heavy stones, until they are covered with blood, sweat and tears. They are places of surrender and death, but they’re also places of worship and renewed promise. Many times God will take us through difficult places where He helps us “let go” of the past, so that we can embrace the future. The patriarchs built these types of altar; Noah (Gen. 8:15-20), Abraham (Gen. 22:9-18), Isaac (Gen. 26:22-25) and Jacob (Gen. 35:7-9), but the story of Jacob has a few significant stones that we should notice here.
If you recall, Jacob was in difficult situation relationally with his brother Esau. And the Bible says that he found himself in a “certain place” a lonely place, stressed-out and tired. And it says that Jacob “took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed…” (Gen. 28:11). In that hard place, on that hard stone, God began to show him the movement of heaven; Jacob’s ladder was revealed and the promise of God was renewed. Then the Bible says that Jacob anointed that particular stone with oil and named the place “Bethel” the “house of God” and the “gate of heaven” because “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Gen. 28:16-17). God will take us to hard places and then un-expectantly reveal himself through the uncertainty.
But that’s not all, the story doesn’t end there. If you recall, Jacob finds himself in another difficult situation relationally, this time with his father-in-law Laban. The two men reconciled at a place called ‘the watch’ where they “gathered some stones” and “ate there by the heap” and then “offered a sacrifice there” as they reestablished a covenant of grace. (Gen. 31:43-54). The Lord was at work, but He still wasn’t finished. A short-time later we find Jacob still dealing with a rocky relationship with Esau, but the Bible says that the “angels of God” were in the camp and Jacob soon finds himself wrestling with God and being ‘blessed’ with a limp. But there, in that difficult place, he reunites with Esau in a tearful embrace. (Gen. 32:22-33:4). Afterward Jacob settles in ‘Bethel’ and built an altar there to God, and the Lord changed his name to Israel. (Gen. 35:1-9).
All of those places are where God used significant stones in Jacob’s life, transforming his heart and his relationships. When we walk through difficult relational places embracing hard and heavy issues, building altars in our lives, God will change us too and set us free to be the person we are destined to be; “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”. (Rom. 12:1).
So the next time you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, remember that it might just be a stone that God wants to use to shape something significant in your life –so worship Him there!