THE INVIOLABLE BOUNDARY STONE

Proverbs 22.28
THE INVIOLABLE BOUNDARY STONE
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers."

TOUR GUIDES OFTEN TAKE VISITORS TO historical sites. But unless they prepare the tourists for what they will see, some of them are apt to walk away, sorely disappointed, saying, "It's nothing but a pile of stones!" Obviously, they have little interest in history and are dumb-founded that people should come all the way to look at ruins.

There is, however, one ancient stone that deserves our attention. It is the boundary stone. As early as in Deut 19.14, God has commanded, "Do not move your neighbour'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." Such a stone marks the boundary line of one's inheritance. In a society where livelihood depends on the land, these stones were also the guarantees of survival.

Despite God's prohibition, unscrupulous men were moving these stones to increase their share of the land. It must have been a common practice, considering the frequent references to it. "Men move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen." "Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones" (Job 24.2; Hos 5.10). Common as the practice might be, it was abominable in God's sight. Such criminal encroachment was often perpetrated against helpless widows and orphans. God will surely come to their aid "for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you." Indeed, "he keeps the widow's boundaries intact" (23.10-11; 15.25).

We may not live with boundary stones today, but there are certain lines which God has drawn for us beyond which we should not go. The first is what God gives us as our possession and property. Any manipulation, in particular by illegal means, to own more than what belongs to us, is moving boundary stones. Tax evasion, false declaration, and a host of questionable business practices are today's equivalents of the shifting of stones. Property developers who exploit others to line their own pockets surely violate God's command here.

The second kind of boundary stones is figurative in nature. God has set certain "givens" in the world. These are laws which are inviolable. We overstep the lines to our detriment. We have parameters set out in the Ten Commandments. As our society becomes more and more secular, traditional stones are moved backwards in the name of progress and freedom. The family is dismantled. Adultery becomes accepted — even fashionable. Coveting is encouraged. But we cross God's lines, only to fall over the cliff.
Have I moved any boundary stone?