Stand Up

I was introduced to standing stones during one of my classes. Although we're all fairly familiar with what they are (think Stonehenge) I hadn't considered it beyond that context. Standing stones are found everywhere, including in the United States. Standing Stone State Park, in Tennessee, is the site of a rustic park noted for its scenery, wildflowers, and fossils. It takes its name from an 8 foot rock standing upright which was supposedly used as a boundary line between two separate Indian nations. In the ancient world, the practice of standing up very large stones to commemorate events was fairly common, and it is fairly common in the Bible as well.

In the Old Testament, Jacob set up stone pillars at Bethel in order to remember his powerful dream, in which God reaffirmed his covenant with him (Gen. 28:18—21, 35:14—15). Moses built twelve standing stones at the foot of Mount Sinai, after receiving the Ten Commandments and other laws (Ex. 24:2—4). The Israelites erected standing stones to remember their miraculous crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 4:2—3, 8—9). Joshua built another standing stone when the covenant was renewed at Shechem (Josh. 24:27).

In the New Testament, Peter builds on the standing stone imagery when he describes believers as "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5). Although this passage goes on to compare believers to stones that are shaped and cut by builders, Peter probably wanted his readers to think of themselves as living standing stones as well. Peter's words challenge us to be living, not silent, standing stones. We can and should testify to the amazing things God has done for us.

Today, although the standing stones at Tel Gezer still look tall and impressive, their meaning is lost. The stones cannot speak for themselves, obviously, and there are no living witnesses to explain what happened there in ancient days. God placed the children of Israel at the crossroads of the world for a reason. He wanted his people to influence their culture, and he wanted them to become living standing stones, a testimony of his love and power to the pagan world. If we faithfully obey God we will be like standing stones, and non-believers will notice that our lives are different; But if we fail to explain why we're different we become ineffective, like the silent stones of Gezer. God still wants his children to stand at the crossroads of life. He wants us to live so publicly that we shape and control the areas of life that impact our world. God has placed each of us in a sphere of influence, and no matter how large or small that influence may be, we can act in a way that shows others "the Lord is God".