BOUNDARY STONE

“Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.”
Deuteronomy 19:14

Early settlers were known for marking their land with either stakes, stones, or some type of fence visible to others of where their property began and ended. The problem, though, was with property sometimes so expanded, the owner was unable to monitor his boundaries well. This allowed for his neighbor to sneak in and change the boundary by moving the partition. You could wake up one day and unknowingly have a few feet missing from your land. The concept, however, was not anything new. In fact we read in the Torah that there was a punishment for those who did move the boundaries, thus proving that it did happen. And in Deuteronomy 27:17, a curse was placed on the one who moved the original boundary.
Yet as I was reading this verse, I began to think of boundaries. It seems more so these days that boundaries do not keep us away, but rather stand as a challenge to us. What do I mean? When I see a sign that says, ‘keep off the grass,” my first inclination is to step on the grass. If I see a sign that reads, “beware of dog,” I fight the urge to taught the dog to see it he is as vicious as the sign leads one to believe. But I see this principle concerning marriage as well. It seems that a ring on person’s finger, which in a way is a boundary stone of the marriage commitment, no longer means, “don’t touch.” The rise in affairs for not honoring this boundary stone has become great.
In Hosea 5:10 it is spoken of Y’hudah that they are like men who move boundary stones. I pray this is no longer us. I pray that we are the ones who see the boundaries and instead of testing them, or crossing them, that we are those who honor them. And not just in keeping off the grass, watching out for the dog, or not giving in to an affair. I pray that we are the ones who no matter what the boundary is, honor Adonai by not moving the stones to our advantage. Hosea concludes this verse in saying that Adonai will pour out His fury on them like water. This makes me want to put my hands right back into my pockets, and touch no boundary stones at all.

Deuteronomy 19:14 – 20:9
Deuteronomy 20:10 – 21:9