Greetings – Thanks – 3 goals for my GNA podcasts: Bible; God’s story in our History and contemporary application.
A man named David lived in the early 1800’s and studied to be a preacher. When he gave his first sermon, he stood only to say that he had forgotten all he had prepared to say. Following the advice of a friend, he became a doctor.
He was so determined to serve Christ, he became a medical missionary to Africa. He cured the sick, taught sanitation techniques, established schools, explored and mapped many areas, preached at every opportunity, and began many churches. He survived much illness and lost his wife to a jungle fever. He refused to leave Africa when many wanted him to come home, saying, “I have so much work to do!”
There in Africa, he died of old age. The natives who had grown to love him began the longest funeral procession in history across 600 miles to the western coast where they would send his body back to his homeland in England. Before they began this journey, they removed his heart and buried it in the African soil because they knew that his heart was in Africa.
Britain’s national cartoonist, Mr. Punch, did not draw a cartoon the day of his funeral. Instead he wrote these words in tribute: “Let marble crumble, this is Living Stone.” You have probably heard of him, David Livingstone.
I. Use of Stones in the Bible:
A. To Commemorate Events. The question that is associated with this type of stone is, “What do these stones mean?”
1. Tel Gezer – Standing Stones
“Why are these stones here?” Those who did it or knew it told the story.
Custom – when something significant happened regarding God (or a god) – you would raise up a stone to draw attention to the event – No one would write on the stone. It was a silent testimony of the event. When people walked by the stones they would ask why they were there; those who knew gave testimony as to what God did.
2. Two kinds of stones:
• Some stones were set by pagans to give attention to their false gods. These were to be dismantled by the Hebrews, and not tolerated. Too often we have tolerated the presence of evil and allowed it to grow, as did the Hebrews.
The dismantling of pagan stones was practiced long before Jesus. Note 2 Kings 23 (Josiah) and 2 Chronicles 30 (Hezekiah) – both chapters are descriptions of the kings going through the nation tearing down pagan idols and altars; burning high places; knocking down their standing stones; even digging up bones of Baal priests and burning them with fire on altar. The entire nation was searched for signs of disobedience. This was a removal of “national leaven.” When it was finished, they had Passover followed by rejoicing (2 Chronicles 30).
• Stones God chose to use included: Jacob, running for his life, had a dream and set up a stone to remember his dream; Elders at Mt. Sinai; Joshua at Jordan (seven times Joshua set up stones in Joshua to have children/neighbors ask what the stones signified).
3. As God’s stones today, we have an application for 1 Peter 2:4-5 (ESV):
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are not to be just stones built into the house of God. Rather, we are living stones and boundary markers. Our lives are to constantly draw attention so others ask, “What is it about you?” Then, we point people to God, just like Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 (ESV):
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
There is a key implication for us. God calls us to be silent stones bearing witness to something greater than ourselves and our accomplishments. That is, we are bearing witness to an active God in history, America’s as well as the world’s.
A standing stone with no witness is useless. It is not enough to be like our Rabbi. We must tell God’s story when others ask. It’s not, “let me tell you about me,” but, “let me tell you about my God.”
B. Landmark Stones were for marking the land. They were boundary stones and also identification stones
1. These stones designated Personal property – Deuteronomy 19:14 (ESV):
14 “You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
Proverbs 22:28 (ESV):
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
2. When we move the landmarks/boundaries we increase our own private property at the expense of someone else. This is tantamount to the coveting and stealing that Moses mentions in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20.
II. Stones and the Men of Old
President Trump spent a lot of time, energy, and our money to build a wall at the Mexican-US Border. That wall was to be a landmark. It was to set America apart from Mexico and give us security from illegal immigrant entry. Yet, look what has happened since Biden came into office. The border is in crisis because the landmark was metaphorically moved, or at least has remained open and unfinished.
Both passages point out an important issue. The first part of Deuteronomy 19:14 (ESV) reads:
“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set,
The Proverbs 22:28 (ESV, emphasis added, PMG) makes a similar statement:
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
A. Think about the context for a moment.
The new generation of Hebrews is about to enter the Land of Promise. These are the adults who were born in and/or grew up in the wilderness. The doubting generation died after their forty year journey through it. So Moses gives his farewell address and reminds them of their history and their God as well as His commands. In essence he is saying to them, “When you get into the Land and God gives you your inheritance, leave it as is. Don’t move the landmarks or boundary stones that had been set by the men of old.”
B. Have you thought about who the “men of old” were?
He’s not talking about the pagans. He’s not talking about them. I believe he is talking about the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In Genesis 15:18-21 (ESV), God tells Abram of the land He was giving to his descendants. Note what God said:
18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
The promise of God is restated in Joshua 1:3-4 (ESV):
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.
Yet in a way, the Patriarchs had set up the nation’s boundaries in their travels. Wherever Abraham traveled he set up altars of stone. Four of these altars are mentioned in the book of Genesis. Altars are also mentioned for Isaac and Jacob.
C. The children of Israel were to honor the landmarks that God gave to Abram.
1. God made it clear that He was going to give Abram and his descendants a great amount of land. Genesis 13:14-17 (ESV) reads:
14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
2. They were not to move the stones or borders that Abraham, his son and grandson set up. However, in a sense they moved the landmarks because they never conquered the Land as far as God had told them to go. Instead they settled for less than what God provided them through the Patriarchs. The boundaries can be moved out further or brought back shorter than God intended.
3. An important lesson comes into play here. We really need to honor the people who have preceded us. The people of our past direct our future. In his book, 1984, George Orwell made this poignant statement:
"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."
4. I know most Americans are not enamored by the study of History. Most American Christians dislike it – even in a biblical context. I can’t tell you how many people criticized me when I used history to illustrate a biblical point in a sermon. I personally believe that our dislike for history has been done to us on purpose to get us to look away from our history and thus allow disreputable teachers to remold the hearts and minds of their students with rewritten history. But history is important.
If we know our past, we can know our future. If we forget our past we are without direction and lost. Nefarious leaders can take a history-less people anywhere they want because they have lost their foundation, their past.
The Hebrews probably knew the story of Abraham and all that God promised him. They knew what God had promised to Joshua. They dishonored their heritage by not going on and accepting the full land gift from God. They settled for less than God intended.
III. But wait! That sounds painfully familiar. It seems that modern Americans are settling for less than our “fathers,” our “men of old” established.
A. Think of the wealth of Bible-based freedom our forefathers fought for. Think of how they discovered and secured the unalienable (or, God-given) rights for themselves and their posterity (that would be us). Yet, too often we would act like Esau and sell our national birthright for a cheap meal or some other trinket.
B. We let the boundaries of our Forefathers go. We didn’t pay attention to what these wise men knew. They knew human nature. They knew our need for direction in our lives. They knew that we need the word of God as a foundation to our lives and taught it in our schools. Even the early primers and readers were Bible-based in instructing children. Let’s consider some of the landmarks we have moved.
1. America could have continued to be a spiritual powerhouse but we sold out. In the 1960’s we moved the landmarks of prayer and Bible study in public schools. Founding Father, Dr. Benjamin Rush made some wise statements about the role of the Bible in education.
"By removing the Bible from schools we would be wasting so much time and money in punishing criminals and so little pains to prevent crime. Take the Bible out of our schools and there would be an explosion in crime."
[T]he Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life....[It] should be read in our schools in preference to all other books from its containing the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public temporal happiness.
2. In 1980, we moved the boundary of displaying the Ten Commandments in schools and government buildings. Those leading this charge quoted a fictitious “separation of church and state” clause and we went right along with it. The Ten Commandments are the bases for our laws. The Supreme Court of the United States has the Ten Commandments either specifically engraved or displayed in a variety of ways. Yet, that same SCOTUS has removed those Commandments from schools and other places where they could be of influence. Again, we stood by and allowed it even though our “men of old” promoted their use.
3. The Roe v. Wade decision by SCOTUS removed the landmark of life. In order to engage in the pursuit of happiness we have been guaranteed, we need liberty. To have liberty, we must have life. Yet, because of that particular ruling we moved the landmark of life, and not just life, but the life of the most helpless and defenseless, a baby in the womb. About 3000 babies are murdered every day in the US with the blessings of the Courts and the silence of most of the people.
I hear a lot about how hard-hearted our Founders were because they either owned slaves or allowed the owning of slaves. We judge them harshly in a world that we cannot understand. Yes, slavery is wrong. It should have been abolished before it was. But wait, if we are going to judge, we must be willing to be judged by the same standard we judge (Matthew 7:1-5). So if we judge them with harshness for their sins and complacency, how will future generations judge us for ours about abortion and other controversial topics?
4. In the 1960’s we removed the sanctity of the family. Marxists want to destroy the nuclear family and we have permitted it. The definition of family has certainly changed since the 1950’s and before. Now it is pretty much an anything goes institution.
5. For the sake of time, let me just mention some other biblical landmarks we have removed:
• Faith in Jesus to allow Fear to dominate Faith
• Sacrificial work for the Lord to accommodate Convenience
• Sovereignty of God in favor of immorality (heterosexual and homosexual activities); transgender issues; Race Issues such as CRT
• Contentment in Christ to permit greed and the love of money
• Patriotism for Marxism
• Unity of believers for individualism or diversity John 17:11, 21 (ESV):
11keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
• Love for one another – John 13:35 (ESV):
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
IV. Our Responsibilities to our Posterity.
A. The children will eventually become the “men of old.” They have an important responsibility to their posterity in keeping the landmarks they received in place. As the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses spoke of the landmarks or boundaries set by the patriarchs and soon by Joshua.
B. As these aged and they became the new “men of old,” how would they know what the landmarks were and how to maintain them? The simplest way would be to maintain a constant connection to God. They made their various offerings at the tabernacle (later, the temple). These included atonement, forgiveness, fellowship and other areas that developed their relationship with the LORD. They listened to the Torah readings and practiced prayer, then imparted the teachings of God to their world.
1. Some of those teachings were of great practical value. Latrines outside the camp helped with disease. Hand-washing hygiene cut down on disease. Eating proper foods aided in health. They set up a system of quarantine for the infectious so the healthy would stay healthy.
2. One of the most important landmarks that has been moved in biblical and modern times is that of our heartfelt worship and service of God. God never intended for His people to give Him empty ritual as worship. He called for the heart as well as the action.
3. Jesus pointed out the inconsistency of the Pharisees and Scribes in Matthew 15. He went on to point out their superstitious worship as He quoted Isaiah 29:13 (ESV):
8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
4. It is a challenge to worship and serve God consistently from the heart. It is much easier to go through the external actions and then brag about doing five acts of worship correctly than to worship from the heart. If we lack the spiritual side of worship we haven’t worshiped. There must be awe, love, respect for God as well as the physical actions of worship.
I want to make on more “men of old” application as we close today.
I have said before that Israel was the “chosen nation” of God and we are the “choosing nation” of God (see Isaiah 56:3-8 to see some choosing people). God chose Israel for the sake of Abraham and the patriarchs (men of old) as He stated in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 (ESV):
6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers,
America’s Founders and Framers chose to serve God and established our nation on Him. The Pilgrims came, “to advance Christian faith” as they stated in the Mayflower Compact. The Founders and Framers knew:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! Psalm 33:12 (ESV)
The Ten Commandments were the bases for the laws of our land, just as in Israel. James Madison made this noteworthy observation:
We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments of God.
Therefore, the Ten Commandments are landmarks of our “men of old” that should remain in place. They are proper and God-honoring. Why shouldn’t we keep them and the other biblical directives of God?
One day soon, we will be the “men and women of old” who will set up landmarks for our descendants. We will set good landmarks or bad ones, but we will set them. The only kind worth keeping in place are those based on scripture and our relationship with God. So, it is up to us to know God’s word and to know God as we serve Him in every arena of life. Succeeding generations can keep such landmarks in place – if they just will. This brings prosperity as well as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Keep the Light of God’s Standards Burning!
