Today’s Cup of Encouragement is a guest post by Tova Lewis Dad (my favorite daughter and Virtual Assistant).
“Ain’t no rock gonna cry in my place. As long as I’m alive, I’ll glorify His holy name.”
Those lyrics are the beginning of a song written by Lamarquis Jefferson in 1987.
I wasn’t born yet, but I often heard my dad singing them as I was growing up.
The inspiration for the song comes from a passage in the book of Luke, chapter 19, when Jesus was making his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on what many of use know as Palm Sunday.
The Contemporary English Version of the Bible translates the event in this way:
In the Tova Paraphrased Version of this encounter (if you know, you know), the scene would play out more like this:
‘The followers of the radical rabbi, Jesus, were making a huge deal out of his arrival in Jerusalem just before Passover. They were getting pretty out of hand, and started praising Jesus as “the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Pharisees considered this to be blasphemy, but they knew there was no way they were going to be able to shout the mob down, so they called on Jesus to get his people in order. But Jesus didn’t. He basically said that getting them to be quiet at that moment was as likely as the very stones under their feet shouting praises.’
Jesus’s statement was likely metaphorical. But there are many other times in the Bible where we can read that the elements of nature testify to God and man.
- The ground on which Cain spilled the blood of his brother Abel cried out about the murder.
- In Psalms, the mountains and hills are described as goats and lambs leaping about for joy.
- Isaiah says the mountains will sing and the trees will clap their hands.
- Elijah witnessed wind, earthquakes, and fire before hearing God in a gentle whisper.
Rocks and stones were also used, especially in the old testament, to signify the location of special spiritual or miraculous events.
- Moses named a stone altar “The Lord is my banner.”
- Jacob set up a stone marker where God had spoken to hm.
- Samuel named a stone marker “Ebenezer,” meaning “Thus far, the Lord has helped us.”
- After crossing the Jordan river, 12 stones were gathered, one for each tribe of Israel, to stand as a monument to the time that God finally brought his people to the Promised Land.
But here is the verse that started me down this rabbit hole of stones that had something to say:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.”
The heavens and the earth were made to praise the great Creator, Redeemer, and Counselor. They can’t help but declare it.
Even to the ends of the earth.
Now,
Stick with me down this rabbit hole, because it was what inspired all this digging.
On the Isle of Lewis (yes, relation) in the Scottish Hebrides, there is a standing circle of stones.
There are many such circles of stones in the British Isles, such as Stonehenge, that originated in times we know very little about. And while scholars have studied, theorized, ruminated, and guessed at their significance, we still don’t know for sure. And we may never know for sure.
But today, I was inspired to paint the silhouette of the Callanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis against the backdrop of the northern lights, that (yes, really) are visible in Scotland during the winter.
|
|
Since we don’t know for sure what purpose they served for the culture of people who raised them, lets allow some inspired imagination.
“The heavens declare the glory of God…” They can’t help it.
From early Biblical times on, stones were used to mark places of special significance to the people who raised them.
I can’t help but wonder how God revealed Himself to groups of people around the world who would never encounter his chosen people or the person of Jesus the Messiah in their lifetimes.
But standing over the painting I felt inspired to create, I couldn’t help but imagine the shamans, druids, priests, or however they thought of themselves, gathering their people to this place and saying, “Look at what the Creator has done here! We must praise, and set up monuments here so that long after we are gone, others will come here and praise as well.”
And today felt like a day to praise. I’ll let the rocks join in, and the mountains too.
I’m down for some seriously amazing praise.
