No more briers — Ezekiel 25-28

Posted on October 26, 2011 by parklinscomb

I’m biting off a little more than my usual 3 chapters today, because the context really didn’t end until the end of Ezekiel 28. Even so, the judgments on the nations around Israel continues on through to chapter 32. But I think you’ll find these four chapters worthy reading and interesting in a number of ways…

No more briers

The LORD specifically lists the destruction of these nations as a sort of weeding out the thorns and briers in the sides of His people Israel. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Tyre had all been long-standing, sworn enemies of Israel. Now God was going to eliminate them. Although it is doubtful that enemies of God’s people, the church, will sit up and take notice of God’s judgments, God’s people themselves should notice something: God will take care of those who wish us harm and evil. When people do persecute, scorn, and treat us with contempt, it is hard not to want to fight fire with fire — get our revenge. But God has, of course, forbidden that we do this; instead, He insists that we wait for his vengeance. In Revelation we are assured that the LORD will let nothing and no one who is sinful into Heaven — all of His and our enemies will have been “weeded”, no more thorns and briers. Just like this passage talks about for Israel.

Satan’s origins?

Ezekiel 28 is often cited as a possible telling of the origin of Satan. The passage is, of course, talking about the king of Tyre specifically; but those who see Satan’s origins here see the context as a sort of metaphor or parable to explain Satan. The fact that he is called a “cherub who covers” (referring to the angels overshadowing the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant) is cited in proof.

There might be some merit to this proposal, although just a little reasoning would probably bring the Bible student to the same conclusion about Satan’s origin. God wouldn’t create a purely evil being (James 1:16,17), but we know that He did create both angels and men with free will to choose good or evil. Some angels fell (Genesis 2:6; Jude 1:6), referring clearly to a evil choice they made, just like men often fall. Satan appears to be one of them.

Beware of rejoicing over God’s people

Ammon, Moab, and Edom were singled out specifically as peoples who would be overtaken and completely “possessed” by others, because they rejoiced over the hard times and destruction of Israel, God’s people. It was especially offensive because all three were blood relatives of Israel — Ammon and Moab were “cousins” of Israel (sons of Lot, nephew of Abraham) and Edom was a “brother” (descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau). The lesson here to us is to be careful not to rejoice over the demise of enemies. It may be very tempting to dance on the grave of an enemy, but God considers it “poor form” — wrong. We can be grateful for relief, but rejoicing is excluded as Christian behavior. God Himself doesn’t rejoice over punishment of His creation; we shouldn’t either.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Spiritual lewdness — Ezekiel 22-24

Posted on October 25, 2011 by parklinscomb

Today’s reading includes a chapter that is sometimes called the Bible’s pornographic chapter, the parable of Oholah and Oholobah. But the general theme of the section is about Israel’s abominations, Israel’s spiritual lewdness, and consequent wrath of God toward Israel. After reading so much judgment from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, I catch myself getting a bit weary of it and longing for more positive messages. I say “catch myself”, because I then remember that Israel was acting like an obstinate child being corrected by a parent, and I remember that sometimes we’re all a little deaf to judgment of God on sins that we like. Telling us about the real spiritual consequences of things that we do may not be pleasant, but they save our souls. The criticism, remember, is coming from Someone who loves us.

Contrary to her interest (22:3)

Whose interest is best served by obeying God’s commands? We may be tempted to think God’s interests, right? That’s Satan whispering in your ear, just like he whispered in the ear of poor Eve. Remember? “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:4, 5, NAS95) But he lied. It was really in the best interest Eve and Adam and their children to the present generation and beyond! Satan wants us to believe that God is the cosmic bully of the universe who wants everything His way — so resist, show Him that it’s not all about Him, stand up to “the man”! Ahem, that’s a lot like accusing the doctor that taking your medicine or submitting to surgery is all about him — OK, stand up to “the man” and die. Disobedience to God is not all about God, it’s about choosing death over life. God is pointing to life, and it’s in our best interest to follow.

Leacherous women (23:1-49)

We’re not used to hearing the term “leacherous” used as a descriptor of women, but it’s really the best description of the women Oholah and Oholobah — Israel and Judah. The four-letter word beginning with “s” in our vocabulary usually refers to a woman who will promiscuously engage in sex with any man, but usually for some monetary or prestige gain. Oholah and Oholobah were beyond that — they simply lusted for the “men” of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Ezekiel describes their passion to engage in adultery (usually a term reserved for idolatry) as being like a passionate sexual urge.

How foolish, we might think. We can’t image people doing things like that — but wait, don’t we sometimes throw ourselves at worldly activities with a similar passion? Fashion, sports, TV, movies, entertainment, hobbies, drugs, drink, parties, etc.? So what if we skip church to do them? So what if we allow it to consume our time and our lives that should be used for better reasons? So what if they lead farther and farther away from God? So what? A lot, that’s what. It matters.

And by the way, just in case you ever wondered, did you notice how God views “going to 2nd base”? “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled.” Ezekiel 23:2, 3, NAS95. God labeled it harlotry. Yes, there’s more to sexual immorality than technical sexual penetration.

The death of Ezekiel’s wife

Sometimes the death of a loved one can have a meaning beyond the mere harsh reality of death. I rather doubt that God just decided to take her life to make a point to the exiles (although God is God and can do as He desires — we’ll let God tell us about that later in Heaven). Perhaps she had been ill for a while. But the time of her death gave the LORD a chance to make a point. I’ve known the deaths of friends of mine to have made a powerful statement to those who knew and loved them — not that God deliberately caused them to die to make His point to others, but the occasion of their death, the lives they lived, the reflection upon the meaning of life, and even (as in Ezekiel’s case) how loved ones may be dealing with it is often more powerful than 100 sermons.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Grace and the end of grace — Ezekiel 19-21

Posted on October 24, 2011 by parklinscomb

OK, you could be wondering about the “end of grace”. How could that be? you might be thinking. I need to be clear, this is not about any sort of new salvation by works theology. It is about the truth that part of God’s grace to Israel (and to us) has been His great patience, bearing with Israel (and us) under the great and inflaming weight of their (and our) sin, neglect, and rebellion. And it is also about the truth that God’s patience isn’t unending. You’ll see what I mean in a moment.

A lamentation

It’s possibly too easy, after reading page after page of a prophet of doom, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel mostly are, to get the misimpression that that these prophets were little more than “Negative Nellies”. But this lamentation and the Lamentations of Jeremiah should help us understand that these prophets weren’t happy about these things — these prophets would have given their right arms to have told different news. But the painful truth is that the truth is sometimes painful, and ignoring it or neglecting it doesn’t make it go away or cease being real. It is said that the famous Steve Jobs tried to ignore the necessity of surgery to deal with his cancer diagnosis for 9 months. According to his biographer he regretted that neglect, because it would have extended his life considerably. Those with serious drinking problems often attempt to escape their painful reality in their drunkenness; but as anyone who has ever known such a person knows, it never, ever makes the problem go away. So also with spiritual, moral things: Israel wanted to believe that things would be alright and they closed their ears to the words of the prophets. The words of the prophets came to pass, while those who ignored the prophets simply passed away — often with sword or other punishments. The prophets didn’t like declaring Israel’s diagnosis and prognosis than any doctor likes giving a cancer patient their diagnosis and prognosis. It was an unpleasant and tearful experience that they repeated more often than they wanted in hopes that some would hear and heed.

“For the sake of My name”

Here’s a phrase that comes up a lot in Ezekiel 20 as the prophet recounts the history of Israel — “But I acted for the sake of My name.” Again and again Israel had been unfaithful and God had wanted to punish, “But I acted for the sake of My name.” He offered grace in the form of patience. God didn’t want the world around to think that God was unservable and harsh — and His name “not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out.” But there did come a time when the patience of God had finally come to an end, when He absolutely needed to act for the sake of His name. Don’t be fooled into thinking God’s patience in your own life is unending. If we continue to live in sin, if we continue to be unrepentant, there does come a time when the patience ends.

A sign between Israel and God

Although some Christian religious groups preach and practice the observance of the Sabbath, the passage here in Ezekiel (20:12) really clarifies that it was to be a sign between Israel and the LORD. New Testament passages tell us that Christians are no longer required to observe it: “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” Colossians 2:16-19, NAS95.

A reason to groan

Ezekiel 21 is full of prophecy about the unsheathed sword of the LORD. Part of what Ezekiel was commanded to do was to groan aloud, so that people would hear him and ask him why.

““And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ declares the Lord GOD.”” Ezekiel 21:7, NAS95.

When the LORD does finally decide to punish, it isn’t pleasant. With regard to them or us or the enemies of God.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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God’s unrequited love — Ezekiel 16-18

Posted on October 23, 2011 by parklinscomb

There are few songs sadder than those of unrequited love. Most all of us have been there — had a crush on someone who either didn’t know that we existed or loved someone else. A couple of times in the Scripture God shares with us His great pain at mankind’s unfaithfulness in parables of unrequited love. Today’s reading is one of them.

A disgrace so deep it makes sinful folks look righteous!

Let me clarify something that may cause some confusion. In Ezekiel’s allegory of shameful Jerusalem he says that she is the daughter of Amorites and Hittites (16:3). Ezekiel is not confused, nor were the Jewish people Ezekiel living in denial about their pedigree, what Ezekiel is trying to do is point to a spiritual heritage, not a physical heritage. The Jews and Jerusalem as the capital of Israel were children of Abraham and Sarah, but the Jews of that day were acting like they were born of Canaanites!

What a powerful story! The family of Abraham were nobodies. Had it not been for God, the world would have kicked them to the curb like the parable suggests — born but completely uncared for. But God takes them, nourishes them, and protects them; and when the time was right, He enters into a marriage covenant with them and lavishes them with beauty and riches; He treats them well indeed. But instead of acting faithfully and gratefully, Israel began playing the harlot — and worse than a harlot, instead of getting paid, she was paying her lovers! Can you feel God’s pain? And this is the point of the parable: to get Israel to feel how betrayed, how wounded, how outraged, how jealous, and how angry God is at Israel’s conduct.

Is there a point for us? How good has God been to you? How have you repaid His goodness?

Zedekiah’s folly

Ezekiel 17 is another parable that Ezekiel explains, just in case there were some who were not getting it. The upshot of the parable is that Zedekiah had been very foolish to make a covenant with Babylon and then renege on it by seeking help from Egypt to rebel. God had brought the punishment of the Babylonians on Jerusalem and trying get out from under the punishment was a little like children trying to run away from a parent bent on discipline. My mother tells a story of being about 7 or 8 years old and disobeying her father. Grandpa got out the razor strop as was customary in that day and mom decided that she could outrun him. And she did for a while. Grandpa just wisely said, “You’ll get hungry soon enough.” And she did, and she got her well deserved discipline.

Sometimes we still try to dodge God’s discipline. Zedekiah discovered just how foolish it was; his punishment was to see his own young children put to death before his eyes and then be blinded before he was taken to Babylon and made a prisoner for life.

Fathers who eat sour grapes will have their own teeth set on edge

The last chapter in our reading today, Ezekiel 18, should lay to rest any lingering belief in what is usually referred to as “original sin”. “Original sin” as a doctrine says that the guilt of Adam’s and Eve’s original sin has been passed down to every human being and that therefore everyone — EVERYONE — is guilty of sin. The origin of this doctrine comes from a false notion that there is something dirty or sinful in the sexual act and that it was the sexual act which was really the original sin — I wish I had a nickel for every former Catholic parochial school student who told me that that’s what the nuns were telling them. And since procreation (the making of children) can’t be done without the act of sex (apart, of course, from Jesus’ virgin birth) the guilt of sin gets passed down to each succeeding generation. The problem with this theology is that God Himself commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply — that is to say that sex (within marital parameters) was God’s idea from the start. The original sin was what the Bible says it was, taking and eating of the forbidden fruit.

All that to say that the doctrine of “original sin” is flawed from the “get-g0” and Ezekiel puts a whole box of nails in its coffin with this chapter. Sons cannot inherit the sins of their father; nor can fathers be held accountable for the sins of their sons. Each sinner will be held accountable for their own sins — pure and simple.

Now, this is not to say that children don’t inherit the consequences of their parents’ sins. We, for example, live in a fallen world full of death, sickness and sorrow, because of what Adam and Eve did — but we don’t inherit the guilt. The children of mothers who do drugs, drink, smoke, who “take up” with really poor father-figures, etc. often inherit the consequences of their mother’s poor choices with birth defects, abuse, and neglect — but they don’t inherit their mother’s guilt.

As a result, the baptism of children is completely unnecessary. They have no sin to forgive, no guilt to expunge.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Self-inspired prophets — Ezekiel 13-15

Posted on October 22, 2011 by parklinscomb

As a minister of the Gospel I am often asked rather difficult questions. I don’t say that they are difficult because they depend on a knowledge of the original language or ancient backgrounds or even some complicated theology; no, these are difficult questions because they have clear and simple answers that I know are likely to be taken hard. For example, “Are you telling me that my grandmother is in Hell?” or “Are you telling me that my children are lost, because of the church they’ve decided to attend?” and others like it. At such times, because of empathy, temptation can certainly come my way to sugar-coat things, avoid telling the unvarnished truth, and give them comfort. I think such temptations are common, because few people really want to cause others pain; but the minister’s job — just like the job of the prophets of old — is to tell God’s truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), seasoned as it were with salt (Colossians 4:6). I bring this up, because of the reading today in Ezekiel which addresses false prophets. Sometimes, when the term false prophet is brought up, we conjure up a picture in our heads of some greedy lackey who’ll tell you anything you want to hear. But today’s reading may give you a different picture — and offer a warning that could strike close to home.

Those who prophesy from their own inspiration

What a serious warning to anyone who would teach (prophesy) God’s word is before us here in Ezekiel 13:1-16! What is taught must not be from one’s own “inspiration” (v. 2 — the original word is actually “heart”), nor from following one’s own spirit (v. 3 — it needs to be God’s Spirit), nor from one’s own hopes (see v. 6). Ezekiel compared such prophets to those who might try to build a wall without mortar and cover up the weakness of such a wall with mere whitewash (water and lime). Such walls might look OK for a while, but when the storm came (and God had prepared quite the storm in the destruction of Jerusalem), the wall would collapse to its foundations!

Too often modern claimants to being spokesmen for God suffer from all the same old deceptions. They get inspiration from their own hearts (thoughts and theologies), they follow their own spirits (not the Spirit inspired Scriptures), and they preach their own hopes. I’ll assume the best of them and say that they are often motivated by a desire to console and comfort, but hedging on the truth to gain a little comfort for someone is a short gain strategy for a longer term calamity.

Calamity that was intended to be corrective, not punitive

A proof of how truth (spoken in love and seasoned as it were with salt) is better than a compassionate lie is found in Ezekiel 14:22,23. This calamity that God was bring on Israel would have its intended effect — God is saying to Ezekiel that “the proof would be in the pudding” of Israel’s conduct and actions after they come out of the fire. And certainly it is incontrovertible that the Israel that came out of exile was a different Israel than went intothe exile. The Hebrew writer of the New Testament said it well, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Hebrews 12:11, NAS95.

What could have been?

Ezekiel 15 makes a number of interesting points about the uselessness of Israel at that point in history, but one that really struck me was the implication that God had other plans for Israel which were thwarted by Israel’s unfaithfulness and obstinacy. Their destruction and exile was going to render them even less useful than they had been in their faithlessness. One wonders what a light to the whole region Israel should have become. Her neighbors might have adopted Israel’s ways instead of Israel adopting theirs. Perhaps the Messiah would have been introduced to the world sooner and the world better saved and served. What history would have been and should have been is speculation for “Back to the Future” fiction. But what should be and could be in the here and now regarding our lives is highly relevant! So will  you be faithful or faithless?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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God’s glory leaves the Temple — Ezekiel 10-12

Posted on October 21, 2011 by parklinscomb

Is God on your side? We’d all like to think so or hope so.

God’s presence is conditional

Israel was used to the idea of God being on their side. False prophets in the days Jeremiah’s ministry (contemporary with some of Ezekiel’s ministry) were prophesying essentially that Jerusalem would be unconquerable on the basis of “the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD” (Jer. 7:4). But God with them, the glory of the LORD in the Temple, the protection that all of that offered them was conditional. Israel had completely violated the conditions of God’s presence, glory, and protection, and in chapter 10 the glory of the LORD was officially vacating the premises of the Temple. How tragic; Israel had come a long way — the wrong way — from the heady days of Solomon’s building the Temple, when the LORD filled it with His glory. And there are important reminders here for us, too. Paul calls upon the Corinthians to keep themselves from sexual immorality, because as a vessel of the Holy Spirit, we would not want to join the Spirit with a prostitute. David cries out to God in His plea for forgiveness not to take His Holy Spirit from him (Psa. 51:11). You see, God will not be with us, if we decided to leave Him. There’s many a church that claims God’s presence and seal of approval — sometimes on the basis of historical links, or who they used to be. But as the saying goes: “that was then, this is now”. There’s many a person who claims God’s presence on the basis of what they used to do or what they used to be, but “that was then and this is now”. Live in such a way that God’s real presence never leaves you.

A heart of flesh must replace the heart of stone

God’s constant obstacle in getting through to Israel was their hardheartedness. Some of this hardheartedness had to do with being physically born into the covenant — no choice, whether you wanted to be in the covenant or not. Under the new covenant, a child of the covenant would be a child because of a choice they made of their own volition. This was intended to create a people with a “heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19,20). Young people who grow up in the church are faced with a similar choice as they leave home and can make their own choices. What choices are you making? Is yours a heart of stone or a heart of flesh?

God’s patience is often misunderstood to be failed prophecy

Some folks were misinterpreting God’s patience as a failed prophecy. Peter (2 Peter 3) tells us that there would be some in the Christian era, toward the last days, who would say the same thing — Jesus isn’t coming back, it’s been thousands of years, give it up! But Peter also tells us that we need to simply understand the extended wait as God’s patience, not as a failure to come as promised. Don’t get fooled.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Bad times are about to get worse — Ezekiel 7-9

Posted on October 20, 2011 by parklinscomb

You know, in reading through the prophets you can begin to get weighed down with the negativity, destruction, doom, and condemnation of it all. But don’t. It’s not that God is simply a God of “No”, but Israel had been and were continuing to be unfaithful, idolatrous, self-willed, and stubborn. Their hearts had become so hard that it had become necessary to use the harshest terms and the most painful of punishments — a sledge hammer, as it were — get them to pay attention. And even so, there were still many who would not be dissuaded from their ungodly paths. But to us it might almost seem like overkill — unless you carefully consider our own times, which are full of similar examples of willfulness, an inclination to listen to anyone who’ll tell them that they’re OK, and false religion (both error-laden forms of Christianity and also out-and-out paganism). Let’s face it, given man’s creativity in godlessness (yesterday and today), there’s still a lot to say, “No,” to.

Money won’t rescue

As Solomon speaks of the wisdom of this world (contrasted to the wisdom of God), he says, (Ecclesiastes 10:19) “Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything.” But money is not the answer to everything. In Ezekiel 7:19, the prophet notes that in the day of their destruction in Jerusalem “They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.” Part of the reason that men strive so hard for money is that there is this pervasive persuasion that money really is the answer for everything, but there will always be things — supremely important things — that money cannot buy. Some of these very valuable things are in the material world (e.g., love, loyalty, life), and none of the things in the life after this material life are buy-able. So, before you opt for that extra overtime and skip church or take the job with the great pay that will take you away from your family — count the cost.

God sees the secret things

In chapter 8 Ezekiel is taken to Judah and Jerusalem to see things that men thought were secret — worship of other gods. Ezekiel 8:12 “Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”” When men fail to understand God for who He really is and begin to fashion their own gods after their own likenesses, they begin losing track of God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. They begin thinking that God doesn’t notice the things they do in private. They think that God respects closed doors, lights out, shuttered windows, and closed shades. Think again. God knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts — the most private place in the world, our own heads! “Double midnight in a jug” is just like daylight to Him.

No quarter

When God’s patience is spent — and yes, His patience does have an end — it isn’t a good thing for transgressors. We may find ourselves shocked when we read (Ezekiel 9:5), “But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.” We only fool ourselves to think that God will be infinitely patient and gracious in giving us more time to repent; and it is all the more reason get serious about heeding what He has said in becoming a Christian and in our daily discipleship.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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An iron plate — Ezekiel 4-6

Posted on October 19, 2011 by parklinscomb

There were exiles in Ezekiel’s day who, despite the judgment that had come their way, were still making believe that their sins didn’t really matter, and that things were all going to turn out just fine — sin and all. But their sin certainly did matter and it created an iron barrier between them and the LORD.

An iron plate

Much of Ezekiel’s teaching come in the form of metaphors or parables. In chapter 4 God commands Ezekiel to set up a sort of sandbox metaphor about Jerusalem: a brick representing Jerusalem, piled up sand like siege works, and most importantly in this visual aid, himself as God with an iron plate set up between Ezekiel and the brick that represented Jerusalem. The point was crystal clear, the sins of the nation had set up a strong barrier between the LORD and the people. Sin does this every time — puts a wall between us and God. God and His people were not OK. They had sinned and were continuing to sin; as it might be put in modern vernacular, they just weren’t that into God. How “into God” are you really? Or is God just a hobby?

A few hairs in the hem of Ezekiel’s robe

The next visual aid / parable is Ezekiel shaving the hair of his head with, not a barber’s razor, but a sword. A third of the hair was to be burned, a third was to be further cut with a sword, and the last third was to be scattered to the winds. Ezekiel’s hair represented Israel herself and God’s judgment on them. But even amidst all the judgment a few hairs were to be saved and put into the hem of Ezekiel’s robe, symbolic of God’s safe keeping of a remnant (Ezek. 5:3). God would not forget His promise to the remnant; they would not be swept away with the rest who had lived disobediently. What comfort to know that God won’t forget those who are His today or tomorrow, either!

Remember how much God had been hurt

Because God is the supreme being, we sometimes don’t think about God as having feelings. He’s tough, nothing that I could do to Him would really hurt Him. Sometimes as a father or husband or someone who’s just big (I’ve been all three) rather harsh things can be said or done without conscience, because you’re tough and you can take it. But believe me when I say that words and deeds still hurt. Yes, our ingratitude hurts Him, our disobedience hurts Him, our sins, our complaints, our lack of faith in Him hurts; our spiritual adulteries hurt (Ezek. 6:9). Ezekiel was saying that a time was coming in which the remnant would look at the wreckage of their sins and loathe themselves over the hurt they had caused the LORD. God is not an impersonal “force”, as in “May the force be with you.” He is a personal being, whose personality is defined in many ways like ours: love, anger, joy, sadness, jealousy, and hurt. It would do us only good to own the hurt that we’ve inflicted on the Lord who loves us, and renew our commitment to being sources of joy rather than pain.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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A prophet to the exiles — Ezekiel 1-3

Posted on October 18, 2011 by parklinscomb

Well today we start reading Ezekiel. Ezekiel was among the second group of exiles taken by the Babylonians — Daniel and his friends had been taken to Babylon about 9 years earlier. We’re told he was settled in Telabib (or Tel Aviv) on the Chebar River (one of the canals of the Euphrates), though it is uncertain exactly where this was located. His ministry, therefore, was to the exiles in Mesopotamia — while Jeremiah was in Palestine and Daniel was in the palace.

Having said that let’s give a little thought to some of the ideas found in the first three chapters…

The Glory of the LORD

Given Ezekiel’s ministry to a rebellious house, he was going to need an awe-inspiring vision to keep him motivated; and God granted him a grand one. There are a lot of parallels in Ezekiel’s vision with the apostle John’s many centuries later. In both cases they are brought into God’s throne room, as it were, seeing visions of cherubim and of God. Though it was only a vision, it served as a long term reminder to Ezekiel of the importance of his message, of the responsibility he had to speak the message, and of the divine source of the message. We’d do well ourselves, wouldn’t we, to remember the source of things like the “Great Commission”, the expectations of morality, and the precious truths of Christian doctrine. They aren’t man-made rules; they are commands from the mouth of the high and holy LORD.

God’s prophet to a rebellious house

Did you notice how many times “rebellious house” or some version of it is mentioned here (especially in chapter 2)? Do you get the impression that God’s opinion of them is rebellion? What’s God’s impression of you? What would His impression be of your church? Now be careful, don’t be knee-jerk about this and say, “Well, God’s impression of me and my church is clearly faithfulness!” Paul tells us, (2 Corinthians 13:5) “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you–unless indeed you fail the test?” Find the standard of individual discipleship and congregational faithfulness and maturity.

Being a watchman

God gives Ezekiel a metaphorical watchman’s job; and He gives it to him it view of the expected refusal, rebellion, and possibly even hostile reception Ezekiel was likely to be met with. Doubtlessly, Ezekiel was going to be greatly tempted to give up — “They’re not going to listen anyway!” He tells Ezekiel that He is appointing him a watchman because a watchman’s job is clear — you sound the alarm regardless of whether or not the townspeople were going to listen. A watchman who saw the approaching danger and decided not to sound the alarm would be clearly guilty of the slaughter of the whole town — they’d never had the chance to prepare, arm themselves, close the gates, or beat a hasty retreat. Now, if the alarm was sounded and people failed to heed it, the watchman would be innocent — he did his job, the people had failed to heed his alarm. It is not just Ezekiel who has been appointed a watchman, the watchman thing is a parable, a metaphor that applies to anyone who knows God’s word and is in the midst of those in danger of condemnation. We are all watchman with the message of the Gospel. There’s a hymn whose first line goes this way:

“When in the better land,
before the bar we stand,
how deeply grieved our souls will be,
if any lost one there
should cry in deep despair,
‘You never mentioned Him to me.'”

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Therefore I will hope — The book of Lamentations

Posted on October 16, 2011 by parklinscomb

Today will be a two-fur — a combined blog comment for both Sunday and Monday. Lamentations really is best read as a whole anyway.

A Summary of the book

Lamentations was written by a broken hearted Jeremiah. From the things that are written here, we can safely assume, I believe, that Jeremiah was writing this after the final destruction of the city and the Temple. The first two chapters are written as if it were the destroyed Jerusalem herself that is lamenting her destruction, her people’s destruction and exile, and the destruction and desecration of her Temple. The third chapter is clearly Jeremiah speaking, then, for himself — at first is deep grief, then in a glimmer of hope, and then in a cry to the LORD for justice against those who had so foolishly oppressed him for telling them the truth. Chapter four recounts the horrors of the siege — almost a post-traumatic-stress flashback to the stricken prophet. The fifth chapter then wraps it all up by asking for mercy — LORD, please give us some hope.

Getting fooled doesn’t make us innocent

How many in Jerusalem died believing that things would be alright? Lamentations 2:14 “Your prophets have seen for you False and foolish visions; And they have not exposed your iniquity So as to restore you from captivity, But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.” Being ignorant was no protection. Following deceived leaders didn’t help them evade the final outcome of death and destruction. Listening to and obeying God would have. That’s the reason that teachers and leaders are so accountable before God — they are the influencers and they can lead us to salvation or off a cliff. Of course, followers have responsibility — not to merely listen to what we’d like to believe, but to listen to God. That’s why Bible reading is so important. It’s a source of the truth that has proven itself unimpeachable over the ages.

It is new every morning

Lamentations 3:22-24 is the foundation of a great spiritual song, but maybe you’d never known the context of this uplifting song — profound grief and lamentation. Maybe that’s what makes it so uplifting — to know that no matter how bad things may be, the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Yes, they are new every morning; things could turn on a dime tomorrow, if God has a hand in it. Have hope!!!

Does anyone have the right to complain?

Jeremiah, of course, is full of messages that we really don’t want to hear, and here’s one more: Lamentations 3:39, 40 “Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.” All that bad stuff that happens to me, do I really have any ground to complain? It reminds me of what parents will sometimes say to their kids, when they find out that they punished them unjustly: “Well that was just for all that times I didn’t catch you and didn’t punish you.” Do bad things sometimes happen to us when we did do anything wrong? Did good things happen to us when we really deserved punishment?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

 

 

 

 

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