Every Stone Speaks

Stones that speak · Lessons in real photos

Stones in the Bible

This website is named for something Jesus said: if people stayed quiet, the stones would cry out. The Bible is full of stones that tell a story. Here are five of them, in real photos.

“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

Luke 19:40 (BSB)

Look at each photo, read the verse and ask what that stone says about God. Every one of them points to Jesus in the end.

  1. Stones to remember
  2. Five smooth stones
  3. Water from the rock
  4. The stone rolled away
  5. Living stones

All photo lessons

A pile of river stones set up to remember a day in history, in Ontario, Canada.
A pile of river stones set up to remember a day in history, in Ontario, Canada. Photo: Yoho2001, CC BY-SA 3.0

Stones to remember

to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

Joshua 4:6-7 (BSB)

When God stopped the Jordan River so His people could cross, Joshua had twelve men each carry a stone from the riverbed. They piled the stones up so that children would ask, “What do these stones mean?” Then their parents would tell them what God had done.

Talk about itWhat has God done for your family that you want to remember? How could you help yourself remember it?

The Valley of Elah in Israel today. First Samuel 17 says this is where David met Goliath.
The Valley of Elah in Israel today. First Samuel 17 says this is where David met Goliath. Photo: Davidbena, CC0

Five smooth stones

And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:40 (BSB)

Everyone was afraid of the giant Goliath. But young David trusted God. He picked five smooth stones from the brook and went out with just a sling, because he knew the battle belonged to the Lord. Jesus is the greater King, who beat our biggest enemies: sin and death.

Talk about itWhat is something that feels like a giant to you? How can you trust God with it?

Water runs out of the rock at Ein Avdat, a spring in the desert in southern Israel.
Water runs out of the rock at Ein Avdat, a spring in the desert in southern Israel. Photo: OmerOvdat, CC BY-SA 4.0

Water from the rock

Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 17:6 (BSB)

and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:4 (BSB)

In the desert, God’s people were thirsty and grumbling. God told Moses to strike a rock, and water poured out for everyone. Paul wrote that this rock was a picture of Christ. Jesus gives living water that never runs out.

Talk about itWhen have you felt “thirsty” for something, like help, a friend or peace? How does Jesus give us what we need?

A tomb cut into the rock, with a round stone that rolls across the door. It was rebuilt at Nazareth Village to show what tombs in Jesus’ time looked like.
A tomb cut into the rock, with a round stone that rolls across the door. It was rebuilt at Nazareth Village to show what tombs in Jesus’ time looked like. Photo: Ian Scott, CC BY-SA 2.0

The stone rolled away

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.

Mark 16:4 (BSB)

After Jesus died, His body was laid in a tomb like this, and a huge stone was rolled across the door. Early on Sunday morning, some women came and found the stone rolled away. The tomb was empty, because Jesus had risen from the dead!

Talk about itHow do you think the women felt when they saw the stone rolled away? Why is the empty tomb good news for us?

Big cut stones fitted together into a strong wall, built more than three thousand years ago at Mycenae in Greece.
Big cut stones fitted together into a strong wall, built more than three thousand years ago at Mycenae in Greece. Photo: MM, public domain

Living stones

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

1 Peter 2:4-6 (BSB)

Peter calls Jesus the living stone. People rejected Him, but God made Him the cornerstone that holds everything together. Everyone who comes to Jesus becomes a living stone too, built with other believers into one house where God lives.

Talk about itIn a wall, every stone matters. What is one way you can help your church family this week?

Before you go

What does your stone say?

Stones can’t really talk. But when God does something great, even the stones seem to tell about it. You are a living stone, so your life can tell about Jesus too.

Talk about itIf you could set up a stone to remember something God has done, what would you write on it?

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