CAST THOSE STONES!
Nature teaches us that there are four seasons while Ecclesiastes 3 gives us twenty-eight seasons. Two of the least understood of those 28 seasons are found in verse five, “a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.” Modern readers of this portion of scripture are hard pressed to explain what the writer is referencing in this “casting and gathering” of stones, as the cultural and religious significance has become shrouded in a fog of time.
To grasp the “back story” of Ecclesiastes 3:5, I invite you to travel back in time with me - to an era and age of a nomadic lifestyle that the Children of Israel lived as they traversed wilderness and desert for forty years after coming out of Egypt.
Led by God, via a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day, the Israelites, not knowing when or to where God might next lead them, had to remain vigilant - ready to pack on short notice to follow God’s lead. As the presence of the Almighty would come to rest over a new location, before family tents were pitched, cattle tethered or wells dug, thirteen stone altars would be erected. One altar would be strategically placed in the center of each of the twelve encampments of each tribe with a thirteenth and larger altar positioned where the Tabernacle of Moses would be erected.
The twelve tribal altars would serve as gathering places for prayer, conversation, counsel, singing and the resolution of disputes. The grander altar situated in Moses’ Tabernacle served as the focal point of corporate sacrifice and repentance. These thirteen altars, more than any other structures in the camp would serve as the focal point of God’s connection with His people until such a time that He determined that the journey to the Promised Land must continue.
When God begin moving, sentries whose only responsibility was to watch the fire or cloud, would at the first hint of movement, cry, “God is arising!” to which the people would respond, “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered!” (Psalm 68:1-6.) Excitement would sweep the camp as the people, with no idea as where or how God would lead them, nevertheless celebrated the occasion because God moving signaled “we are one step closer to the Promised Land.”
After the alarm was raised by the sentries, Moses’ Tabernacle would be carefully folded, family tents struck, meager possessions packed and livestock herded and just before that first step in a new direction was taken, there was one last chore … respective elders from each tribe and tabernacle attendants would reverently approach the thirteen altars and begin taking them apart, intentionally carrying and casting the stones great distances.
Why would the Israelites cast the stones of the altars?
Two reasons:
They did not want these Altars Unto the Lord, where they had prayed, repented and worshipped to be defiled by unbelievers who might happen along. In Old Testament times, one of the practices of rival nations and religions was to defile the altars of your enemies, thereby signaling that your god or gods were greater.
By destroying their own altars, the Israelites were saying, “We’re headed somewhere greater and as wonderful as this place and these altars might have been, we’ll never return here.” Casting the stones of the altars is one of the ways the Israelites kept themselves looking forward!
May I encourage you that in your search for personal renewal and revival, don’t look to old altars for a new encounter. Don’t be afraid to cast aside the stones of your old altars while being encouraged that God has wonderful plans for your future. Declare in you spirit: “My best days are before, not behind me!” Treasure the memories of your past victories while anticipating with excitement your future journey!
