Words on the Stones

Somewhere at Chimney Rock State Park in North Carolina, there's a random stone that is etched with these letters: "Tim + Tamara," and the year (I'm pretty sure this was while we were still dating, so likely '03). It was silly and fatuous and we knew it, but it was a special time -- it was Tim's first trip to my home to meet my family -- and we wanted to mark the occasion.

So, the occasion was marked, and in its wake, we left behind a memorial of what had been, and what was becoming. It was a time stamp, a symbol of something bigger than ourselves. Then, we were just: Tim... and Tamara... with separate paths that were slowly merging, separate histories that had barely impacted one another yet. 

The marker was simple, and it's quite likely that rain washed away the etchings not long after, but it was the beginning of something new.

That rock came to mind as I went back to Joshua today. Joshua 8 recounts the story of Take 2 on the Israelites' attempt to conquer the city of Ai. Because Ai is in close proximity to Bethel, the Israelites ended up taking that, as well. Which is significant to my point, and I'll get to that in a minute.

In summation, the Israelites had tried to take Ai immediately after their conquest of Jericho, but because an Israelite named Achan had sinned and taken what didn't belong to him, the Israelites lost their first attempt at conquering Ai, and God called out the perpetrator of sin within the ranks. Achan was killed as punishment, and the Israelites consecrated themselves for their next attack.

God gives Joshua instructions for this attack, which is also significant: Joshua wins over Jericho and Ai as he gets instructions from the Lord. We'll see how this differs from what he does in Joshua 9 tomorrow.

Anyway, according to those instructions, Joshua sets an ambush of men on the west side of Ai under cover of darkness. Then, when morning comes, Joshua takes the rest of his army to face Ai's northern front. The men of Ai see the Israelite army to the north, and they think: We beat 'em once, we can do it again.

So they all charge out of the city, along with their compatriots in the city of Bethel, and not a single man is left behind.

It plays out like a movie. Joshua sees the army of Ai screaming down the hill toward them, and he calls a retreat, and the whole Israelite army that's with him turns tail and runs. The men of Ai have to be thinking: Victory! They chase those scurvy Israelites toward the desert...

Until Joshua hears the Lord tell him: "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." 

You know, there's something about holding up a symbol, a monument, a testimony of the Lord's work in the face of the enemy. The Lord tells Moses to hold up his staff, the staff of the Lord, and the armies of Israel defeat the Amalekites. The Lord tells Moses to stretch out the staff over the Red Sea, and He parts the waters. And here, the Lord tells Joshua to lift up the javelin in his hand toward the place of struggle, and the Lord would win the battle for him.

What do we lift up in the presence of our enemies? Maybe we're not slaying soldiers outside of a walled city, but we are battling. This is the truth, and I'm going to climb onto a tiny little soapbox for a second: I've heard accusations that Christians aren't really fighting anything, so what's all the fuss about? Nobody's against you, etc. Let's get this straight right here: There is an age-old battle between God and Satan, and while God has the ultimate victory (we've already read the last page in the story), Satan continues to make as much trouble as he can for as long as he can. So "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). We are in a battle, we do fight an enemy, and anyone who says differently has been blinded by complacency.

So, again, what is the standard we lift up in the faces of our enemies? A javelin toward Ai? Or a white flag of surrender? We've got a choice. Which choice will we make?

Okay, that wasn't my point, but it was a good one. Moving on: Joshua lifts up his javelin and faces the city of Ai... and the tide of the battle turns. Instead of fleeing, the army with Joshua turns around and begins fighting. Simultaneously, the Israelite soldiers waiting in ambush who had hidden on the west side of Ai run into the now-defenseless city and set fire to it. 

From there, the battle is essentially won. The men of Ai and Bethel are surrounded and killed, and Joshua leads the Israelites in following the instructions Moses has set for them in Deuteronomy 27:1-8. "When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write on them all the words of this law... Set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool upon them. Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God... And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up."

I don't know why this struck me, but it did: The stones the Israelites use as an altar to the Lord to celebrate their entry into the land and their taking possession of it -- those stones are a.) uncut with any tools, and b.) testaments of what the Lord has done for them. All the words of the law are etched onto the plastered rocks, but the rocks themselves -- are not hewn or shaped or shaved or cut or remolded in any way, shape, or form.

The stones are unshaped by human hands, the Lord alone is the Rock. The Israelites do not carve out their own destinies, the Lord alone gives His people the victory.

I think it's pretty cool that this monument was set up at Mount Ebal as the Israelites have just taken Ai and Bethel, which city originated when Jacob, one of the Israelite patriarchs hundreds of years before this, had set up a stone pillar, an uncut, unshaped, unformed stone -- and poured oil on it as a testament of his meeting place with God during a night when he was a stranger in a strange land -- much the same as the Israelites are now under Joshua's leadership.

At some point, I've realized that it doesn't matter how much I try to form my own path or shape my own future -- the Lord does the shaping. The only thing He wants from us is our testimony of His work in us. So, etch, etch, etch away, but leave the shaping to Him. Whatever the words are that tell the story of His work in us, His victory over the enemy, let's write on them "very clearly all the words on these stones you have set up."

Testimony time: What are the words you're going to put on the stones the Lord has placed in your path?