The Lord, wanting to help the brother of Jared stretch and grow, asked him to come up with a solution for how they’d be able to see inside their dark, windowless barges. The brother of Jared’s idea was for each boat to have two stones that lit up.
A great solution! But where did he get the idea? “Stones that light up” weren’t exactly common in those days (or in these days, for that matter).
Here is one possibility.
The Lord told a certain other ship-building prophet to give his ark a “window” (Genesis 6:16). But the Hebrew word translated as “window” in that verse, tsohar, is translated as “noon” or “noonday” elsewhere in the Old Testament. It’s not the usual Hebrew word for “window.” Some rabbis and scholars believe that the “window” in this verse was—wait for it—a precious stone that lit up.
In other words, the brother of Jared might have gotten his idea from the scriptures! It may have been his knowledge of how God had helped people in the past that gave him the solution for his current problem.
It’s another reminder to use the resources the Lord has given us to find answers to our questions!
Personal Predicaments
Note: This is part of a weekly series exploring the “Come, Follow Me” lessons. You can find the full lessons here.