ANCIENT BOUNDARY STONES
By Cynthia Pawl 7/4/16; Update 7/28/19
When the Lord began to open the Word of God to me, in my 20’s, I read the entire Bible from beginning to end in about 6 months. Amazingly, as He revealed the understanding to me, I comprehended very clearly. The WORD of GOD had suddenly come alive for me, and I could not put it down. There was one phrase that kind of made me chuckle as I read it, even though its warning sounded very ominous. I was surprised at the number of times I came across it. I knew, that if God repeats something, that generally implies that it is very important and if he repeats it three or more times…you better pay attention. The phrase was “Be careful not to move the ancient boundary stones”. Proverbs 22:28, Proverbs 23:10, Deuteronomy 19:14 Each time I read that, I thought to myself, Whew, that is one I don’t have to worry about because I would not even know where to find them. I was picturing big, heavy rocks used to mark the boundary between one nation and another. I wondered who would want to move them anyway? So, I moved along in my studies.
One day, I believe it was the Spring of 2003, I found myself watching the War in Baghdad on CNN. Apparently, I fell asleep, and when I awoke, CNN was still on the television. The war was no longer on the air and I found myself tuned into an interview program. The host was interviewing two transvestites. Lying there, listening to these two lost souls, I just was amazed at the things that were coming out of their mouths. I found myself wondering out-loud, “LORD how does anyone get so messed up?” I was shocked to hear a response. “That is what happens when you move the ancient boundary stones. I am the God who sets your boundaries.” “WOW”… I replied, “So, you weren’t talking about ROCKS!! Oh, now I see. That is how they got so messed up…. How the world has become so messed up. We have ignored the boundaries you established. And the problem is, when we start moving the boundaries, how do we determine where they go?? Who gets to determine where they go? And we have certainly been moving them around, in every area of life.”
Suddenly, I realized, that that had been a problem in my own life. The relationships that I had been in, had failed because I did not have healthy boundaries. Right then and there I asked HIM to set the boundaries in my life. Because I knew, I was not able to determine them for myself. From that day until this, whenever I trust HIM, my life does much better. When I fail to stick to HIS boundaries, I make a mess. I have been learning to walk by FAITH, trusting HIM in everything. I know that HE loves me.
We have a WONDERFUL GOD/Creator/Heavenly FATHER. Here is how HE describes HIMSELF
Exodus 34:5-7 “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, YHVH.6And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The YaHovah, the YaHovah, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.’ Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
He declared that HIMSELF, and it is repeated three more times: Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Nehemiah 9:31, word for word. So, you know that God means for us to recognize that this is very important to remember. He does not want us to forget or fail to understand, that HE is first and foremost a God of compassion, that He is gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, that HE maintains love to the thousands, and forgives wickedness, rebellion, and sin. BUT, HE is also a JUST and Righteous GOD who does not leave the guilty unpunished. In fact, he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation! So, when you sin, remember, you are not only sinning for yourself! Your sin WILL affect your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
(Visit It’s in the Blood for more information on that.)
He set the boundaries for our protection. He is the one who set the boundaries for everything around us. Starting with the sky, HE divided the waters above from the waters below, He separated the waters and the dry land. For the sea, he established the shore and told the sea it could come this far and no more. He set the boundaries for the Sun, the Moon and the Stars, He established the seasons. He holds the storehouses of snow and hail, He sends the wind and the rain. He gave us HIS laws, not to control us or to limit us, but to protect us. He made and formed us, created everything about us. He knows the desires of our hearts. Palm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. When we follow HIS plan, all is well. It is when we fall into rebellion that we get into trouble.
Rebellion was the thing that got the angels thrown out of heaven. Rebellion comes from PRIDE and is the source of all evil.
Here is what God says about rebellion: 1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee …” Find a great article on this verse here: http://www.angelfire.com/me2/forgivenn/rebel.html
God really does not owe us anything. He is GOD and HE makes the rules. Yet, He has gone out of His way to do everything possible for us. He continues to work in and through us, every day. I don’t see how anyone can claim that he is an unjust or unloving GOD. I don’t see how anyone has a right to question HIM. He sees the whole story. We don’t. He knows everything about us and what has brought us to where we are, and where we are going. We only see a limited picture. We think we know what we want and/or need. But, He really knows. AND, HE really cares. He even took on flesh and walked among us, suffering everything that we have to suffer because HE knew that we would not believe He cares if we did not feel that HE had been through what we are going through. That is human nature. IF you try to comfort someone or give them advice when they are struggling through something you have never experienced you know they will not accept your advice.
I know, I have experienced this first hand. I had a mother in law who was raised in the south. She used to keep a jar on her stovetop where she would deposit all the bacon grease leftover from cooking. She let it sit up there and that was what she used to cook her food. I watched her one-time making biscuits. She filled a deep baking pan halfway up with that stuff and then dropped the dough into it to bake. Her husband was about 10 years older than her, he was on the heavy side and a smoker. I remarked to her once…” you must not love your husband much”. She asked why I made that remark and I proceeded to tell her that the way she was cooking was going to kill him. I advised her that they should eat more vegetables and stay away from fatty fried foods, etc. She did not listen. She continued to cook the way she always did. One day she called me from the hospital. Her husband had had a heart attack and major surgery. She proceeded to tell me about the woman she met, whose husband had also had a heart attack. She told me about all the advice she was getting from this lady. She rattled off all the same advice I had been giving her for years. I said. “Hmmm that sounds familiar, where have I heard that before?” She said, “I know, but she understands, ‘cause she’s been through it.” I laughed and said. And that is why Jesus came.
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” God now understands exactly how we feel, how the struggles we face affect us. He is always ready to offer us a way out, to empower us to overcome. All we have to do is call on HIM. Psalm 55:16 “As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me.“
58 Bible Verses about Calling upon God
http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Calling-Upon-God
God promises that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what He knows we can bear. Though sometimes it seems God has an awful lot more faith in me than I deserve. Still, he promises that when we are tempted he will provide a way out so that we will be able to endure it.
1st Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
He reinforces that promise again when he promises that His grace is sufficient for whatever we are going through. We need to come to understand, that when we allow Him to gird us up, we allow Him to show His strength through us. Like Paul, we should rejoice in our temporary trials and tribulations knowing that He will see us through and that this world is passing away. We will be face to face with our Father very soon, and there we will reap our reward. 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 “And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.“
So, do not be fooled into following Satan into rebellion against GOD. Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Trust Him to set your boundaries for you. Test it out and you will find that His way is always in YOUR best interest.