Early in our life, my wife and I lived in Springfield, Oregon. When my wife and I lived there, we lived in an undesirable location. We were young, in college, and couldn’t afford any better. The apartments we lived in certainly did not house the upper echelon of society. Drugs, foul language, fights, crime, and yes, even shootings were characteristic of the area. Despite the chaos surrounding us, we created two little 5×8 strips of lawn next to our back patio. We tried to make lemonade out of lemons. Years after having moved, we would drive by where we once lived. Amazingly enough, things became filthier, rougher, and more run down. The return trips we made each time served as memorial stones to us. They were reminders of how God had blessed us and delivered us away from those former times. Man observes many memorials, even marking their own graves with memorial stones. The practice of memorializing an event or entity does not correspond only to modern day observances. The Bible records many memorials.
Israel had not yet separated itself as a nation when God called Moses to deliver them from Egypt. When Moses addressed Israel he was to declare he was sent by “The God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”. This moniker stands as a memorial stone to all generations (Exodus 3:15). It represents the loving kindness of God and those who would be faithful to Him. He offered Israel salvation from Egypt if they would obey His Words and follow Him. The name of God memorializes the fulfillment of God’s promises and the rescue from despair. There are a number of items in the lives of the Israelites that served as memorials. Feasts such as the feast of Passover and feast of Unleavened Bread, stones in the high priest’s ephod, sacrifices, offerings, written testimony, altars, these are a few of the memorials that Israel kept.
In the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, there exists a great border from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. That border is the Jordan River. When the children of Israel came out of the Wilderness of Sinai to the Jordan River they were not able to cross by their own efforts. In Joshua 3-4, God commanded Joshua to direct the Levite Priests to carry the Ark of God to the Jordan. When their feet touched the waters, the river piled back in a heap. This enabled the children of Israel to cross to the other side as they did when leaving Egypt by the Red Sea. They crossed from a wilderness of loss to a promised land of plenty. In memorial of this event, God decreed that the people set up two sets of twelve memorial stones. The first set was placed in the midst of the Jordan and the second set in the city Gilgal. When future generations would ask what the stones memorialized, they were to be told of the mighty deeds of God in that place. The purpose of the memorial stones was that all men of the earth would know of God and revere Him. God blessed and delivered his people.
The evening of His betrayal, Jesus sat with his disciples. He knew he would not be able to partake of the Passover with them. With knowledge of this, He partook of a Passover meal with them at that time (Luke 22). During this time, he gave them unleavened bread which they were to partake in memory of Him. This memorial serves as an ordinance for the Christian of Christ’s life. The apostles partook of it (Acts 20:7) and commanded Churches to keep it (I Corinthians 11:23ff). During the time Christ gave the apostles unleavened bread, he also gave them grape juice which signified His blood which would be shed. To this day, the faithful of God keep this memorial each first day of the week. Christians understand Christ’s sacrifice as God’s offer of salvation to those who would obey His Words and follow him. The memorial of the Lord’s Supper causes people to remember the deliverance provided by Christ from the captivity of sin and death. Through this memorial, men of the earth know of God and revere him. Christ is not just a memorial stone, but he is the cornerstone and foundation of Christianity (Ephesians 2:20, I Corinthians 3:11).
While there are many memorial stones in our lives and examples of such within the Bible, have you ever considered yourself to be a memorial stone?
1 Peter 2:1 -6 – Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation; if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious: unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Because it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.
Every Christian is a living stone in the temple of God (I Corinthians 3:12-16). Each Christian stone stands as a memorial of the life that is given in Christ (Galatians 2:20). Christian stones imitate the strength of the cornerstone which stands strong, good, and true (3 John 1:11). Following the example of Christ, as living memorial stones, Christians cause the world to know God and revere Him (John 13:15, I Peter 2:21-25). They demonstrate the blessing of God in their lives. What an amazing responsibility and honor it is to be memorial stones of God!