CHAPTER 8 – GEM STONES – אב ניכזר

Zechariah 9:16: “And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.”

I have read reports of people who while intensely worshipping God opened their eyes to find that they had gem stones in their hands or they have a vision of gem stones. Well, I am not going to question someone’s subjective experience nor accuse them of sneaking them into a service so they could give a thrilling testimony and establish a platform. I am simply asking one question, is such a thing Biblical? I have searched through Scriptures and found no Biblical accounts of gem stones appearing, which doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t happen. I am sure there are many many miraculous events that have never been recorded in the Bible. But let’s give these recipients of jewels visions of jewels from God the benefit of the doubt for a moment. The person testifying to receiving actual physical gem stones went through great detail on how and when they appeared, he gave detail descriptions of the gem stones and even had them appraised. Yet, he never gave any purpose or reason why God would send gem stones to him.

I have heard of many different manifestations that have allegedly taken place during a worship service, everything from clouds appearing, pulpits exploding, appearance of angels, miraculous healings, and people leaving their bodies and traveling to China, India, Russia and coming back shouting praisealleuia. As I said it is not my place to question someone’s subjective experience, what I do question is their interpretation of the experience, the reason for that experience. It seems to all boil down to God loving them so much that He just wanted to give them a gift. Well, I guess I can jealously say in my three score and six years I have never been given such tangible gifts and I have been just as faithful as the old boy who received the gem stones, why is he blessed and not me?

Not that I really need gem stones, gold dust, a trip to heaven with a side visit to hell. I mean other than giving my books a big boost in sales by adding these adventures; I really have no desire for such things. Well, maybe when the worship leader keeps singing the same song over and over past the dinner hour, a little manna from heaven would be appreciated. Still, if such an occurrence would take place on my watch my first thought would be – what is the Biblical significance?

So if you happen upon some gem stones during your worship service or have a vision or dream of gem stones, let me give you some suggestions as to the possible Biblical message God might be sending to you. Perhaps it is an illustration of Zechariah 9:16 where God says that we will be as stones of a crown.

We need to note that the word for crown here in Hebrew is nezer which means to make unique, set apart or separate. It is also a word used for the gemstones in a crown or diadem. Gemstones are precious stones. Their uniqueness which separates them from other stones makes them special and gives them their value. Nezer is not so much a crown, but a diadem or, more specifically, the stones in a diadem. The various gemstones in a diadem were considered more than symbolic in ancient times, it was believed that these stones actually carried powers to protect, heal and bring about stability. Hence the ancient Egyptians wore these stones around various parts of their bodies to offer protection, healing or stability. Areas that needed protection were the wrists, neck, head, fingers, and ankles. Today we wear such gemstones for decoration purposes and no one, except some fringe elements, actually believe that these stones offer such powers.

The king’s diadem would have a white stone set among many other stones. The white stone had his name engraved on it. Note Revelations 2:17 “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” You see if the king were to remove that stone and give it to someone that would represent the ultimate authority a king could give to someone. Later the white stone took on new meanings. By the first century A.D. the white stone became an engagement stone. In modern times it took on the form of an engagement ring with the white stone being represented as a diamond. However, in the first century the groom would give his bride a white stone and engraved on the stone would be a special name, a pet name. This would be similar to what lovers do today by giving their beloved a name like “Sweetheart,” “Sugar Babe” or “Honey Boo.” Such names were often embarrassing and thus were kept secret between the two lovers and used only between themselves. Only one person in the world could call a woman by that special name, and that would be her husband, her beloved. So too, God gives us a special pet name and only He can call us by that name. By doing this He is declaring that we are very special to Him.

Another practice with the gemstones would be that the king would remove a stone from his diadem to give as a gift to a special servant. It could be a red stone, ruby which represents a certain amount of royal power being bestowed upon this servant, or it could be a green stone, an emerald representing his restoration, or a blue stone, a sapphire representing wealth or riches. When a subject received such a gemstone from the king’s diadem, it would represent the power inherent in that stone descending from the king to the subject to join that subject with the king in a common enterprise and the stone would be a tangible object of this bond which could be seen with the naked eye.

Not that I expect to wake up one morning and find a bunch of gem stones by my bedside, but I believe Revelation 2:17 is a metaphor showing us that if we overcome God will share the gem stones in his crown with us and give us a special pet name that only a beloved will share with us. It would be a sign that He wants us to join Him in some important enterprise.

If you should be worshipping God and suddenly discover a fist full of gem stones, or more likely you have a vision of gem stones or even a picture of gems in your mind’s eye while worshipping God recognize it as God bestowing upon you special favor for being a trusted and faithful servant.