Memorial Stones, Rising Dust
"For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust." (Psalm 102:14)
A unique relationship exists between the Land and the People of Israel. No other piece of real estate is looked upon with such affection by the Jewish people as the Land of Israel. No other nation is more at home in the Land, than the people of Israel.
Today, the People and the Land are reunited, and the special relationship continues for all to observe. The State of Israel has blossomed and flourished. The Land has welcomed her people home and the People have returned to rebuild the ancient ruins and to cultivate the waste places.
"'I will bring back the captives of my people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,' says the LORD your God." (Amos 9:14-15)
The bond between the Land and the People is both ancient and spiritual. Every blade of grass, every plant and tree, every rock, every cave and gorge, even the stones and dust, in Israel, are more than what they appear; they are timeless symbols, pillars, memorials linking the past, present and future. Is it any wonder that the Jewish people " take pleasure in her stones and show favour to her dust" ?
When Jacob left home for Padan Aram he constructed a stone pillar at Beth El. The stone was a marker, symbolic of his encounter with God. Jacob had stayed overnight at Beth El. During the night he had a dream. In the dream, he saw a ladder reaching to heaven. Then God spoke to him. "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." (Genesis 28:13-15)
The significance of this awesome event was memorialized in stone. When Jacob awoke he erected a pillar using the stone upon which he slept.
"Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it." (Genesis 28:18)
The memorial in stone would point to the faithfulness of God's promises to Jacob and his descendants, and mark with certainty their destiny and calling.
Jacob was on his way to Haran. He was going into exile. But he would return home, and his descendants would possess the Land. " . . . the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants." (Genesis 28:13) In order to fulfil God's purpose for the nations, and to fulfil their Divine calling–to be a blessing to the nations–Jacob and his descendants would inherit and possess the Land.
Just as Jacob went into exile, so too, in the future would his descendants. "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 28:14)
" . . . as dust of the earth . . . " the children of Israel will move from place to place whether being driven by the strongest of storms or the most gentle of breezes. And like dust, the Jewish people will be trampled under foot, despised by the nations. Nevertheless, just as the resilience of stone remains in the smallest particle, dust, so too, the people of Israel will prove resilient, and God will cause them to increase. "Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number one-fourth of Israel?" (Numbers 23:10)
"...spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south . . . " the descendants of Jacob will be scattered throughout the nations; they will be as dust without a home or a place of refuge, yet they will survive and prosper.
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." (Genesis 28:15) God's promise is more solid than rock, more certain than if written in stone. For Jacob who was leaving home bound for a foreign land, not knowing for how long, or to where his journey would take him the promise gave him hope and secured his future. Despite the experiences, the dangers or the troubles he would encounter, God would be with him, and would keep him in the righteous path, and would bring him home again. Likewise, the Jewish people will retain their identity despite being scattered and trampled, and like their father, Jacob, they will return to the Land to fulfil their calling and purpose.
The stone pillar symbolized the faithfulness of God not only during Jacob's lifetime but also to future generations, "until I have done what I have spoken to you." God's steadfastness to His promises and His goodness toward Jacob and his descendants were memorialized in stone. Jacob would not fade into oblivion without children. Neither he nor his descendants would disappear into other nations. Wherever Jacob went, God would be with him, helping him, and would bring him home. Similarly, it mattered not where the people of Israel would go, God would be with them and would preserve them wherever they went. Jacob would return to the Promised Land as would his descendants in the future. They would inherit and possess the Land. Like the memorial in stone, Jacob and his descendants would endure. God's faithfulness and goodness would endure.
"And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you." (Genesis 28:22 )
The stone pillar was a rigid, upright witness to God's house–the house of blessing–which points to the blessings that would flow to the nations through Jacob and his descendants. " . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The stone pillar would bear testimony to God's goodness to Jacob and his descendants, and as recipients they would give God a tenth. Ten is the number for accountability. As custodians of the promises, Jacob and his descendants, Israel, would be accountable to God. By giving God a tenth, Israel would acknowledge their responsibility and dependence on God, and with reverence point to Him as the Architect and Builder– the King of the Kingdom, and Lord of the House of God.
The House of God is a house of righteousness where the righteous come and go. The stone speaks of the righteous person who stands erect, firm to the ways of God, while the wicked scheme and plan an alternative path. The righteous are steadfast and faithful to God's Word, while the wicked pursue their own path of destruction. In the end the wicked will perish but the righteous will prosper and remain.
The stone which Jacob made a pillar was the stone upon which he had dreamed. The dream symbolized the future hope and destiny of Jacob and his descendants, Israel. In the dream, Jacob saw angels ascending up to Heaven and descending down to Earth. The picture is that of a multitude of ministering angels protecting Jacob, and keeping him in the path and ways of God. The ministering angels would help Jacob return safely and successfully to the Land of Promise. Likewise, in the future Jacob's descendants, Israel, will return from exile with the help of ministering angels. The Land of Promise, the land of Israel is more than just a piece of real estate. This is where God would establish His kingdom, and it will be from here that the Kingdom blessings would go forth to all the nations. It is none other than the Gateway to Heaven.
Jacob saw beyond the present. He looked beyond the man-made structures and cities of his day. He saw a Kingdom built not by man, but by God, the God of Israel, the King of the Universe. He saw the Land of Promise as the place where his descendants would live in peace. They would be a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation, walking in righteousness. And they would bless the nations with the knowledge of God and of His Anointed. He saw the future House of God unto which all the nations shall come to worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The stone pillar which Jacob erected was symbolic of his dream, and all that it promised–the future hope and destiny of Israel, and the light for the nations.
Today, the reunion of the Land and the People of Israel is a crucial step toward the fulfilment of the promise, which Jacob memorialized in stone. And it is as if every stone and every dust particle in the Land is crying out for its fulfilment. The Day of Redemption is drawing near. The day is coming when the Messiah will establish His kingdom, and when Israel will say, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD!" For this reason, " . . . your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust."
May it speedily come!