Farewell Jan. 13th, 2011

God consistently prompted His people in Scripture to remember and commemorate His benefits, most often with the use of stones. They rested on the shoulder of the ephod, acknowledging the 12 tribes. Stones were the first host of the written law of God; stones formed altars, and they were even used to represent a covenant in Genesis 31:44-54. 

Genesis 31:44-64 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁴⁴ Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”

 ⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.^[a]

 ⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah,^[b] because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

 ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵²⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me.

   So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.

 ⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.^[c]

 ^{Monday we will pick up our conversation about "Stones of Remembrance" Have a good weekend. ~Judy}