Diamond

Unlike certain other precious and semi-precious stones about which I have written, diamonds have always been beyond my financial reach, but I could afford a scoop of tiny diamonds which were sufficiently cheap for so modest a pocket. I can scarcely comment upon their beauty and sparkle, which are barely perceptible, but their hardness remains the same. Diamond scores 10 out of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale, indicating that it is the hardest natural material known to man (Lonsdaleite might be harder, but it is a type of diamond in any event). This hardness makes the claim of Jeremiah 17:1 all the more impressive:

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars…

This is impressive in its imagery, though terrifying in its gravity. Thank God for the Blood of Jesus Christ, an agent more powerful than iron and efficacious than diamond, which can cleanse a ruined sinner:

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Ps 51:2, 7)

It declares him righteousness before the great and awesome Judge who holds the iron pen dipped in diamond ink:

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28)

Our sin is great, His grace greater still; our verdict of condemnation is hard, but His gentle, tender mercy is more potent.

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