Joshua 24.27 27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This
stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has
said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
(NIV)
On the week before His crucifixion Jesus came into
Jerusalem and was hailed by many (loudly) as the King of the Jews. The
Pharisees were indignant and told Jesus to tell His followers to: shut up. In
Luke 19.40 it says that Jesus replied: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the
stones will cry out.” If the stones will cry out, then the stones have heard the
truth. I thought about this as I read Joshua 24 this morning.
A few years ago I went to a conference where the speaker
addressed the issue of how sound is a huge part of creation and the very
elements around us hear the truth and remember. I thought: What phooey is
this!? And this morning I’ve backed off on phooey because Joshua said, speaking of a rock, “…It has
heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you
if you are untrue to your God.” I thought, hmmm, it has heard. Do rocks hear? And if they do, what difference does
it make?
In Romans 8 Paul said: For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to
be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom
and glory of the children of God. (Vv. 19-21) Creation hears and sees and,
yes, hopes. Creation is alive and we dare not forget it for creation finds its
purpose and being in God and God is not dead.
All of creation is God’s and all of creation is watching
with eager expectation for God’s grand experiment to succeed through the
freedom and glory of the children of God. Friends, it is much bigger than we
know – the whole of creation hears and sees and hopes because the whole of
creation has been subjected to frustration in hope (real expectation) that what
God has wrought in us will free it to be all that He created it to be.
So when Joshua says, “This stone will be a witness
against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a
witness against you if you are untrue to your God.” It has a vested interest in
God’s marvelous plan for the redemption not of just mankind, but all of
creation! That’s big! So, what does it matter? It matters a lot!
Creation is watching. God is watching and principalities
and powers in heavenly places are watching (some opposing) how this is all
going to pan out. And the rocks and hills and trees and seas listen because
they have heard and they know and they hope that you and I, piddley little
pukes most of the time, will hear what they hear and hope as they hope. It’s
that Big!
Father, may my life honor You today and the creation You
have formed. The creation waits for its caretakers with eager expectation of
what You intend for us to be forever: free and glorious. Lord, the rocks and
stones do cry out: how long O Lord until they get it!? And get it we will if we
true to You. Help me God to be wise and not get fooled. May I be true to You
through Jesus Christ, Amen.
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