Don't Move Those Rocks!

Don’t move those rocks!

Proverbs 22:28 July 24, 2016

River Bend Baptist Church

INTRO:

Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 22:28. While you are turning there; let’s start off a little differently today. I want to remind you of some wise saying of Solomon.

Proverbs 9:8

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and ey will love you.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 22:1

A good name is more desirable than riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpen iron, so one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

All or these are wise sayings from Solomon…but let me read one more which is the focus for the message this morning.

READ Proverbs 22:28

In ancient times boundary markers were made by either piling up a bunch of stones or standing up one large stone.

The intended purpose was the same – “This pile of rocks or this rock marks something important, so before you do anything here you better find out what this rock means.”

Anyone who moved boundary markers (the pile of rocks or a standing stone) was stealing land. That was serious in Israel way back then and still in Texas today.

Truth is… boundaries and boundary lines are important.

ILL: How would you like to come home and find your neighbor building a shed

in your back yard. You would care about boundary lines then.

We know this but why does Solomon sound so adamant in this proverb?

Well in Israel boundary lines were considered sacred. Remember it is God who gave the land to the Israelites; He is the One who divided it up. He is the One who established the boundary lines.

Joshua chapters 13 - 22 deal with the Promised Land being divided up and given to the Israelite tribes.

The last thing Joshua oversees before he leaves this world is to portion out the land which God had given.

-Judah – goes here

-Ephraim – over there

-Manasseh – was split into two huge portions of land because of the size of

the tribe.

-Simeon, Zebulon, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Benjamin

-all receive a place in the land.

-Ruben and Gad received their land before the nation crossed over the

Jordan River

-Special cites given to the Levites – they become the priest

-6 cites of refuge (for people seeking God’s mercy and justice)

Not only was moving the ancient boundary stones stealing, but it was essentially thumbing your nose at God and saying I don’t care what you have established.

TRANS: This proverb specifically talks about land rights but there is a

principle behind it which is much larger.

Truth for the day

There are foundational landmarks, truths and principles which God has established that should not be tampered with and they should not be removed.

(by individuals, governments or nations)

What kind of Foundational Landmarks, truths and principles am I talking about? Let me share a few with you this morning.

(I’m going to touch on the first few I mentioned rather quickly, but I’m going to spend a longer time on the third I mention.)

1. Freedom

This foundational principle which we find in the Bible is for both spiritual and personal freedom.

God created man to be free,

-free from the tyranny of other men

-free from the tyranny of corrupt governments

-free to pursue God

One of God’s first Foundational Landmarks is freedom.

In America we all benefit from the freedoms we have but there is a great temptation to not do the work it takes to keep these freedoms.

Freedoms won on the battle field must be maintained daily by the values of righteousness and justice.

Freedom is kept fresh and vibrant by people, judges, congressmen and legislators who do the right thing, the just thing. And do it with hearts and eyes focused on God.

When the heart of the nation is not right, then Freedoms which God intends for all people will not prevail and freedom will quickly fade away.

We all have the responsibility to keep Freedom alive.

How do we keep Freedom alive?

1. Live out your God given freedoms to the fullest.

2. Preserve the freedoms of others.

-When you see freedoms under attack then speak up.

3. Don’t let those who use their God given freedom to not live for Him intimidate

you to not speak about Him or live for Him.

4. Be bold in your faith, live for God in all areas of our society and teach your