Standing Stones

What do you stand for? In this post let's explore the ancient idea of standing stones and how it relates to our modern world.

When I think of Israel the color of the land comes to mind. It is so different than the bucolic farmland where I live. Because I studied in Israel one summer I will always think of it as the color of a bone, a dried bone. Bleached by the sun and exposed. Beautiful in its own way.

Standing at Abraham’s well in Beersheba (Be’er Sheva) overlooking a vast expanse of buff-colored landscape with the thin rope of the King’s Highway winding through it could almost take your breath away. Ancient and impressive and monochromatic.  

In Israel, one is either going up or down. It is not, for the most part, a flat country. Lots and lots of mountains and hills and valleys and boulders and rocks. They are all bleached by the hot summer sun.

Israel sits on the riff of two tectonic plates in the area where the African and Asian plates heave and butt against each other making the land push in upon itself like an accordion. So there are mountains and hills and valleys and rocks and boulders.

Israel is a country of rocks and boulders.  

One of the amazing things I have learned about my God from this trip to Israel is that He is a Great Communicator.    

He would often communicate with the ancients by using what was around them. Because there are lots and lots of rocks in Israel, He even used the rocks. And used them in the most beautiful way!

When God freed the nation Israel from the bondage of slavery to Egypt and the Israelites finally were about to enter the land God had given them as an eternal possession, God had them enter the promised land across the Jordan river from its east side.  

He instructed Joshua to have the priests take the Ark Of The Covenant and go before all the people crossing the Jordan river first, on foot!  

When the priests, who carried the Ark Of The Covenant hoisted up on long poles, put their feet into the river Jordan they stood on dry land!  

“AND IT SHALL COME ABOUT WHEN THE SOLES OF THE FEET OF THE PRIESTS WHO CARRY THE ARK OF THE LORD, THE LORD OF ALL THE EARTH, SHALL REST IN THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN, THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN SHALL BE CUT OFF, AND THE WATERS WHICH ARE FLOWING DOWN FROM ABOVE SHALL STAND IN ONE HEAP.”  Joshua 3:13

All the nation Israel passed over the dry river bed of the Jordan river into the land that God had given them.      

“IT CAME ABOUT THAT WHEN THE NATION HAD FINISHED CROSSING THE JORDAN, THAT THE LORD SPOKE TO JOSHUA, SAYING, TAKE FOR YOURSELVES TWELVE MEN FROM THE PEOPLE, ONE FROM EACH TRIBE, AND COMMAND THEM, SAYING , TAKE UP FOR YOURSELVES TWELVE STONES FROM HERE OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE JORDAN, FROM THE PLACE WHERE THE PRIESTS’ FEET ARE STANDING FIRM, AND CARRY THEM OVER WITH YOU, AND LAY THEM DOWN IN THE LODGING PLACE WHERE YOU WILL LODGE TONIGHT.”   Joshua 4:2-3    

These stones, or as I would say, big boulders are called STANDING STONES.

 

“LET THIS BE A SIGN AMONG YOU, SO THAT WHEN YOUR CHILDREN ASK LATER, SAYING, ‘WHAT DO THESE STONES MEAN TO YOU?’ THEN YOU SHALL SAY TO THEM, ‘BECAUSE THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN WERE CUT OFF BEFORE THE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD; WHEN IT CROSSED THE JORDAN, THE WATERS OF THE JORDAN WERE CUT OFF.’ SO THESE STONES SHALL BECOME A MEMORIAL TO THE SONS OF ISRAEL FOREVER.” Joshua 4:6-7  

Standing stones were a memorial.  

They said, “Hey, something great has happened here”!    

Sort of like the Washington Monument or a statue in a town square.

They were a sign. They pointed to something important!!! It was a way for the people to remember something special.  

God used the ordinary things around the ancients to keep them ever mindful of the wonderful things He had done for them.  

I can just imagine all the conversations between generations of Jewish fathers and their children as they told the story of how God brought the nation Israel across the Jordan river on dry land. I can picture the children touching the stones in wonder, sealing the story into their memory so they would someday tell their children!  

STANDING STONES were used by God many times throughout the Old Testament as a memorial of God’s blessing and greatness. So that when the ancients would pass a STANDING STONE they would ask. “What happened here?” And God’s work would be remembered and He would be praised!  

This oral retelling kept the history of the people and God alive in their memories.  

Now here is an amazing thing, God uses this same imagery for us today!  

In 1Peter: 2 God calls all those who believe in Jesus  

“LIVING STONES”  

We are living breathing STANDING STONES  like those big bone-colored boulders that would become memorials or monuments of what God has done.

We are living stones! Ordinary and everyday people that because of God’s grace in our lives become extraordinary reminders of His marvelous works!  

Our lives, like the STANDING STONES, should be memorials so that maybe someone would ask,  “What happened here”? “Why are you different”?  

And because we are “LIVING STONES” we can speak of the marvelous work of God and His saving grace in our lives.  

When I think of Israel I will forever think of the mountains and valleys and rocks and hills and boulders, all ancient and beautiful and bone-colored. And in my mind, they are all STANDING STONES!  

They remind me that I am a standing stone. A living stone connected to a long history of retelling God’s work and greatness. They remind me that I have a story too. That I am a memorial to a marvelous work God has done because He has done the great work in me!  

And oh, what a story I have to tell!  

I pray that my life will be a memorial. A reminder that God took a very ordinary, sinful person and changed her life. I hope that my generations will tell the story of God’s greatness, grace, and salvation in my life.  

I pray that my children and children’s children and so on and on will hear of my living stone experiences and the stories will be sealed into their minds and bring them to know  

The Cornerstone rejected by men (1 Peter: 2:7), Jesus Christ!

I want to be a living stone not only to my posterity but to all those whose life I touch!  

A beautiful verse to ponder…

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

   

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14 Comments

  1. A good message for how to live your life . Sadly most of us don’t have much of a platform to leave a legacy to our children and grands etc. with distances and estrangement within my family in particular, there is a limited possibility of a chance to be influential. We must still try. I love your Sunday posts.

  2. A lovely post. Sometimes I hesitate doing things for people because I feel that I might be interfering or intruding. I’m going to try to put that insecurity aside and let my actions show God’s goodness.

  3. Amen! Bless you on this Lord’s Day, and thank you for sharing.

  4. Rita Brantley says:

    Thank you for these Sunday posts, they alway speak to me.

  5. My parents were living stones in my love. They taught me so much about God and Jesus shone in their lives. I pray that my children will remember the living stones I shared with them about God. I love Steve Green’s song “May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful”. Our living stones have a story to tell.

  6. Laurey Mays says:

    Love these Sunday posts! They always speak to me. I also have to say how much I enjoy your other posts. I have learned so much about decorating from your information.

    Thank you!

    1. Thank you for this post, Yvonne! I do

      look forward to your Sunday posts, always

      such practical wisdom from the Lord to you and

      then from you to your readers!

      Love your decorating posts too!?

  7. Thank you for sharing your faith. I so enjoy reading your blog.

    Paula

  8. Wanted to share this wonderful Blessings of the Backpacks Prayer from church this morning:

    God of all knowledge and wisdom
    Bless all of the students

    Remind them they don’t just carry stuff with them,
    but they also carry your love and care into the world

    Help them to do their best, guide them to make right choices, and remind them that you are always with them.

    We know that you love them even more than we do.
    Protect them and reassure them each day.

    We ask your blessing on the teachers, administrators, custodians and coaches. Fill them with your strength, patience and compassion.

    We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus, Amen.

  9. Lori Woodworth says:

    I love the reminders of Gods faithfulness in my own life. It’s just like how God was continually having to remind the Israelites…I too need continual reminding. Looking back at the ‘standing stone moments’ in my own story encourages me forward to keep running the race even though the road is narrow and hard…HE remains faithful! Thank you for the encouragement!

  10. This article was absolutely beautiful.