CIRCLE OF STONES by BILL BURNS
Samuel went from year to year to Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah.
Bethel (House of God) connected to Heaven (Jacob’s ladder).
Genesis 28: 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth,
and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it.
I believe we are a Bethel where Christ (the anointed Stone) has connected us to
heaven’s revelation. Messengers ascending and descending to bring God’s message
to His people.
So, Bethel (the first phase of the journey) is established, but if we are to
receive the promises we must go to Gilgal.
The second requirement is most important. If we don’t have victory at Gilgal
(Circle of Stones) the promises will not be ours.
Gilgal represents the re-establishment of the covenant promises.
1 Samuel 11: 14 Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let us go to Gilgal and
renew the kingdom there."
We know that we have a covenant in Christ, the Anointed Stone, but if we have
suffered reproach, we may have lost our faith concerning God’s covenant
promises.
The Promises:
Salvation – eternal life
Fellowship – guidance, wisdom, gifts
Victory over Satan – protection, deliverance
Healing – body, soul, spirit
Provision – on all levels
What happens?
Reproach happens! Shame because of failure – failure to receive the promises
because of? Reproach: to be taunted by the enemy (mocked).
Sin consciousness, failure to resist temptation. The result of reproach is
condemnation, and condemnation kills faith.
So, for victory to come, the reproach has to be rolled away and the kingdom
promises renewed.
Gilgal’s Promise
Restore the Kingdom – the covenant promises by rolling away the reproach.
Joshua 5:
7 Then Joshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they
were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they
stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of
Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.
Egypt represents bondage as a result of reproach. Egypt is a place we go when
things aren’t going well. It is a place of flesh comfort because of the hardship
of the journey to the promise!
Consider Israel’s journey to the Promised Land.
Numbers 11: 1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the
LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among
them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the
fire was quenched.
3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had
burned among them.
4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the
children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?
5 "We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons,
the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
6 "but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this
manna before our eyes!"
They had forgotten that they were on a journey into the promise, and they wanted
to go back to Egypt.
Numbers 14: 4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to
Egypt."
Let’s go back into bondage because we don’t have courage for the victory!
Famine
Genesis 12: 10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt
to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Spiritually speaking famine is a lack of feeding on the Word of God.
Israel (Jacob) and sons went to Joseph in Egypt because there was a famine in
the land.
Egypt is always the place we go back to when we are not feeding on manna. We go
back to a form of religion, but we deny the power of God to bring us into the
promise.
2 Timothy 3:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self–control, brutal, despisers of
good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn
away!
Complacency, apathy, lukewarmness all keep us in Egypt.
The Answer:
Gilgal, a Circle of Stones, where the flesh is cut off, the covenant is renewed,
and the promises embraced by faith. Then, the reproach of Egypt (bondage) will
be rolled away by the 12 stones from Jordan (divine government).
To renew the covenant spiritually is to circumcise one’s heart (dedicate it to
the Lord) and believe in God’s goodness and trust Him to bring you into all of
the promises.
Romans 2:
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is
outward in the flesh;
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart,
in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Let us go to Gilgal and have the reproach rolled away – whom the Son sets free!