Category: creation

  • Thundereggs – Picture of God’s Hidden Work in Us

    A split McDermit Thunderegg showing the rough exterior and the polished interior

    Thundereggs (or thunder eggs) are one of God’s natural wonders. 

    They are rock nodules that form inside rhyolitic volcanic ash layers, kind of like a filled-in geode. Most are about baseball-sized, though they range from under an inch to over three feet across. On the outside, they just look like plain rocks, but inside they usually have a center of chalcedony, sometimes fractured and filled back in with agate, jasper, or opal. Quartz and gypsum crystals show up often too, along with other mineral growths.

    The real payoff comes when you cut one in half and polish it. What looks like nothing on the outside can reveal intricate patterns and colors inside. And like other agates, thundereggs from the same bed can still vary quite a bit from one to the next, even while keeping a kind of family resemblance. No two are identical.

    Today’s image is of the exterior of a thunderegg beside the cut and polished interior. It’s courtesy of North West Rockhounding. The inside looks far more dramatically beautiful than what we see from the outside.

    For me, they are a great visual reminder of the state of people. From the outside, even on our best days, we don’t seem very much like Christ; it’s even a less attractive picture for non-Christians.

    All people are created in the image of God (Imago Dei), but we are scarred and marred by sin. Believers get a makeover. We are born again and have the imputed righteousness of Jesus, but it takes time, effort and the loving work of the Holy Spirit to transform us.

    There will be a day, though, when all that we were created to be will show through. I can hardly wait.

    He will finish the work He has started in us.

    I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 ESV

    We come to Him rough, unfinished and unattractive, but He transforms us.

    As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV

    The beauty of being transformed into His image will be seen by all of His children. What a moment that will be.

    I can hardly wait to see the finished you and me. The world’s finest gems and thundereggs will pale in comparison.

    My God richly bless you.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I share how a thunderegg looks like nothing but a plain rock on the outside, yet holds dazzling color and pattern once it’s cut open and polished. It’s a picture of how we come to Christ rough and unfinished, but He is doing the patient work of transforming us into what we were created to be.

    TAKEAWAY

    Thundereggs form as rock nodules inside volcanic ash, appearing plain outside but often hiding chalcedony, agate, jasper, or opal within

    Believers are made in God’s image but scarred by sin; through Christ we receive imputed righteousness and undergo ongoing transformation by the 

    Holy Spirit

    Philippians 1:6 promises God will finish the good work He started in us, and one day that inner beauty will fully show through

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  • The Rainbow’s True Meaning

    God’s Covenant Promise

    A piece of rainbow obsidian

    This gorgeous stone is a piece of rainbow obsidian, a type of volcanic glass. It comes in a wide range of colors and patterns. I suspect it was a piece my father had in his lapidary stuff, but I don’t recall for sure. 

    If you are churched at all, you are familiar with the story of the flood during the days of Noah, as God’s righteous judgment on a sin-filled world. You will know the sign of His covenant.

    I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13 ESV

    We see the rainbow and remember God’s promise. Yet do we understand what the rainbow actually symbolizes and the depth of that promise?

    The Hebrew word for rainbow is קֶשֶׁת (Qeshet). This term also means a war bow, reflecting the connection between the rainbow and God’s promise after the flood.

    In ancient times, a covenant was typically a solemn agreement between two parties, with the consequences for breaking it clearly laid out. If one party made the covenant alone, the consequences were still laid out.

    In Genesis 15, God made a covenant with Abraham. It seems strange to us, with figures walking between the remains of bloody carcasses while Abraham slept. The people of the day would clearly have understood that God alone was making the covenant and was alone responsible for keeping it. If he failed, the consequences for Himself would have been grave.

    So it is with the Noahic Covenant. The rainbow, really a Qeshet, a war bow, is pointed, curved side up. The ancient Hebrews would have understood the symbolism of a bow with an arrow pointed straight up at the heart of God. If he broke the covenant, his very heart was to be pierced.

    Only God made the covenant and put up the symbol. Only God is responsible for keeping it. We can see the Qeshet bow and remember God’s promises.

    God is faithful to keep His promises. When He promises to redeem by faith and hold us fast against everything, it is better than money in the bank. He will not fail us.

    Hold fast to your faith no matter what comes. God has us in his hands.

    Be blessed today,

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I explore what the rainbow really meant to the ancient Hebrews, a Qeshet, a war bow pointed at the heart of God Himself, and how the Noahic Covenant shows that God alone is responsible for keeping His promises to us. God is faithful to keep His promises, so hold fast to your faith no matter what comes, knowing God has us in his hands.

     

    TAKEAWAY

    The Hebrew word for rainbow, Qeshet, also means “war bow,” tying the sign directly to God’s covenant after the flood. 

    Ancient covenants normally bound two parties, yet God made both the Abrahamic and Noahic covenants alone and bore the risk alone. 

    The bow’s upward curve symbolized that if God ever broke His promise, the consequences would fall on His own heart, not ours.

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