Ecclesiastes 3:5 A time to cast away stones…..
This is probably one of the few lines in the text that might not be as easy to decipher. But there is good context to this. If we go back into the Old Testament, after Israelites conquered towns, they would destroy them and cast rocks into the fields causing them to lose their crops. You read more of this in 2 Kings 3:25. So to put it in simpler terms, we should be casting stones, possibly metaphorically, in areas of our lives we do not want to grow. Areas in our lives where evil and unGodliness dwells. We need to cover areas that the enemy uses for their substance and not allow them to grow. Likewise, we should be doing the same with people around us. Casting stones, spiritually to make sure our relationships are not festering in enemy ground. We all probably have those who we know bring out the worst in us and we let them. We need to choke the ground and foundation of the relationships.
Casting away stone can also mean tearing down. We know in Joshua 6, God destroyed the walls of Jericho, to allow the Israelites to conquer the city. Many of us have built walls for many reasons that probably need to come down. We have these security blankets that might be keeping us from experiencing the wholeness and fullness of God.
Deuteronomy 28:52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
Joshua 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
One way to tear down our own walls keeping us from God is to humble ourselves. We need to expose ourselves to the Lord without any barriers. We need to start breaking down these walls and scattering the stones to allow God to come and fill us.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
We can say there are many things we can do to grow with God. Casting stones will help to deter unGodliness from rooting up in our lives or tear down walls to expose ourselves more to God. We are all living a process and the process has seasons. We need to be very attentive to figure which season we are going through to help us understand more.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 06/13/2024 05:00 PM ]
Stones. Rocks.The Bible has different meanings for what they were used for. Used in battle: 2 Chronicles 26:11-15 King Uzziah had his soldiers hurl stones at their enemy. 1 Samuel 17: 49-50 David used a stone and slingshot to kill the Philistine giant. Used as punishment: Deut 22:24, Acts 7:58. And we all remember when Jesus asked the crowd if any of them were without sin to cast the first stone. (No one did.) John 8:7 *Interesting fact, as of May 2024 there are 2 countries still use stoning as a form of the death penalty. Sudan and Nigeria. Used as punishment for adultery and homosexuality. Used as a sturdy foundation: Isa 28:16, Acts 4:11 1 Kings 5:17 Used for building: temples, monuments, alters, tombs, etc... Mark 13:1, Matt 16:18, Matt 27:60, Matt 15:46, Ex 20:25, 1 Sam 7:12 *** I can't list them all or the list would go on and on! *** Stone is mentioned 367 times in the Bible. Rock is mentioned 128 times. In Gen 28:18 it is worthy to mention they say Jacob used a rock as a pillow. It caused him to have a wonderful dream and he built upon that rock. Sounds like a strange thing to mention huh? In Joshua 4 they were told to take 12 stones into the river. Rocks were significant at times. To cast away or scatter stones can be described as disassembling, loosening or getting rid of. I think the tearing down (casting away the stones) and rebuilding could be a sign of wickedness in the church, and rebuilding it more Christ-like. Scattering stones can mean people and communities. lt is also a sign of tearing down the old, and start anew. What about casting stones of judgement? Casting away stones of sin? Casting stones can be about getting rid of the stumbling blocks(stones) in our faith and life. Things that trip us up in this journey of life that makes us stumble off the path of righteousness. We all have been tripped up by those pesky stones on the path. Mike mentions about how these stones we cast away can remove the barriers we put up against our relationship with God. We need to make sure we aren't stacking those stones in front of our path. We already have enough things in the world to keep us distracted from our relationship with God. Don't stack more and more rocks on the path. Rocks won't move without us removing and scattering them. Jesus is the only rock we need. An assured solid foundation for our trust and faith. The rest of them, we need to cast them away, far away! Here's a few verses about God and Jesus being the rock and solid foundation in our faith. Psalm 18:2 and v 46 , Isa 62:2, and v 6, Deut 32:4, 1 Cor 3:10-11, Matt 16:18, Matt 7:24.