Let There Be Light: The Bible, Gemstones and You

What is an emerald? A website I found says that this term describes "1. a rare variety of the mineral beryl that is green because of its chromium content and is valued as a gem. [or else] 2. [Any color that is a] clear, deep green."

One could get far more technical and lengthy, but this will do well enough. The website also has a fantastic shot of a beautiful emerald worth seeing here: http://www.emeralds.com/

Today's post is the most theological yet. It declares the goodness and glory of the Lord God Almighty just the way the Bible does. If you believe in the Lord Jesus with all your heart, then today's post is about you. This emphasizes the biblical descriptions of the righteous and the resurrection unto glory, often portrayed in the Bible as like precious gemstones.

Proverbs 20: 15 says --

There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

By precious jewel, the Bible means this: http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/sapphire.html

Proverbs 3 reads:

My son, forget not my law; but let thine eart keep my commandments: .... Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Thus, wisdom is more to be desired than [click here]: http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/ruby.html

The Book of Job (28:19) adds of wisdom: "The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold."

That means wisdom is better than .... http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/topaz.html

And the whole Church of the Lord Jesus (Revelation 21) looks like this:

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/amethyst.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/garnet.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/aquamarine.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/peridot.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/agate.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/pearl.html

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/jade.html

Well, you get the point, and can look up the other stones on the site with such fabulous photos given here.

My suggestion for homeschoolers today, is that you help each of your students pick a favorite gemstone, whichever he or she likes best -- this is half the fun -- and write a short report explaining both 5 characteristics of his or her favorite stone, and five reasons why God chose precious (expensive and beautiful) stones (gems) to stand for the righteous in the Bible. There are many more than 5 in each case, and this will require them to think about the world around them, about the beauty of color, the goodness of God, and the reasons that God uses for the choices He makes in the Bible. A first helpful hint to get you started has to do with light.

In other words, this is an exploratory way to learn to think God's thoughts after Him, and see the goodness of the One who gave Himself for His people -- up close. It has God's stamp of approval in advance, so explore away.

This is called "mineralogy," and forms a subset of the more general field of "geology." "Gemology" refers to the art and science of cutting precious and semi-precious stones to exact specifications, to make them as beautiful as possible. Gemstones, the Bible tells us, are "for glory and for beauty."

If you wish to shorten the time it takes to find a suitable stone for each of your students, younger ones respond well to a choice made for them which begins with the same letter as his or her name. For instance, if you have a student named "Christianna" who happens to be quite pretty, you might choose for her a "citrine" like this:

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/citrine.html

If it's "Danielle," then try a diamond perhaps, like this [which incidentally come in almost every color -- including pink and blue]. And, of course, they must because Danielle is such a beautiful name]:

http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/diamond.html

Here are some great links to get you started:

http://www.theimage.com/gemstone/tourmaline/tourm5.html

http://www.theimage.com/gemstone/tourmaline/tourm4.html

http://www.theimage.com/gemstone/sapphire/sapphire.html

http://www.theimage.com/gemstone/garnet/garnet.html

Here is a famous ruby at the Smithsonian:

http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/ruby/index.htm

NOVA has a really cool sapphire photo with some facts and figs [here] -- btw -- the only difference between a sapphire and a ruby is color; they are both made of corundum, and the red kind gets its own name -- ruby -- since these were especially prized for their beauty in the ancient world. But rubies and sapphires are siblings. Here is the dazzling CORundum photo I found:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/diamond/gp15sapphire.html

Here is the famous hope diamond: [This is a great research topic, and wikipedia has the goods on it]. To see it go here:

http://www.mccullagh.org/photo/1ds2-5/hope-diamond-3

To research it go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_diamond

Another great page for research, and all manner of gemstone pictures, is this one:

http://www.galleries.com/minerals/gemstone/class.htm

A few biblical places to start are:

The opening declaration of Genesis, "Let there be light," Noah's rainbow; Joseph's -- why a prophet's coat -- of many colors, the proverbs of Solomon concerning sayings of the wise (gemstones are -- quite curiously -- a pictorial form of self-reference in the proverbs), the pearl of great price, the glory of the Risen Christ, and the many descriptions of the church, the wise, the Word of God itself, and the righteous throughout the Bible (which use gemstone pictures), and Revelation 21 should draw special attention for its manifold reference to precious gems.

Have fun on your treasure hunt. May there be light there too.

P.S. feel free to ignore the obligatory evolutionary time scale inherent in all modern geological teachings, a subset of which is the study of precious and semi-precious stones. The earth is not nearly as old as they suppose (using uranium to date the planet at 4.51 billion years). I can blog on that at length another time, but suffice it for now to note that since the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species (1859), textbooks indicating the age of the earth have it doubling about every 15 years (to make room for the time needed to accomodate their philosophical prejudices). This isn't just crude cheating. It borders on pathetic.