Daniel 10-12: Behind the Scenes

Sometimes I feel like I'm Dorothy in the Land of Oz.  I'm trying  to get home, but there are all of these trials and temptations along the way that continue to hinder me and all the time I'm being manipulated by an unseen wizard. 

If we believe what Daniel saw and was told, this is true.  Only, it's not a wizard, it's princes and kings and daughters of kings behind the curtain. There are two forces, greater than anything we can imagine, their kingdoms are not worldly kingdoms, they are spiritual kingdoms, and they are waging a war far greater than what we can imagine as well.  The Apostle Paul says we see through a glass darkly, For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Cor. 13:12 KJV)  That's all we can handle now.  Not even Daniel could understand the enormity of what takes place in the other realm.
I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”
He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. - Dan. 12:8-10 NIV

All of the behind the scenes manipulating that is taking place by forces we cannot see or even comprehend will continue until the end.  The wicked will continue to be wicked, but many will be purified, made spotless and refined.  That's enough to know.  I don't need to see the wizard, I don't need to peer behind the curtain.  I just need to trust in the one who made me spotless and refined.

2010 Post - Daniel 10-12:  The End of Days

Daniel 9: Daniel's Cry for Mercy

“Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. - Dan 9:15-18 NIV

This fervent cry for God's mercy was from Daniel.  One of the more righteous men of the Old Testament.  This is Daniel, the one who would not bow, the one to whom God had given dreams and the ability to see and interpret dreams of others.  This is Daniel whom the lions could not consume.  Yet, this same Daniel is consumed by grief at what he sees happening around him.  It is this same Daniel who falls on his knees to plead with God for forgiveness, for mercy.  Are there any Daniels today?  Are there any that are worthy of crying out for God's mercy?  If not, what anger and wrath do we face?

2010 Post - Daniel 9:  Lord You Are Righteous

Daniel 6-8: Ultimate Authority

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. - Dan. 6:4 NIV

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. - Dan. 7:13-14 NIV

There's wisdom and power to govern here on this earth and there's the ultimate wisdom and power.  Daniel was able to be a wise administrator because he recognized the difference between the two.  Anything we do, no matter how good, trustworthy, and true we are, pales in comparison to the one with ultimate authority, glory, and sovereign power. 

We live in a time of great knowledge and of going to and fro, but we can't yet see the future that Daniel saw.  We have to rely on what God revealed to others like Daniel and the Apostle John, and our own interpretation, which is limited by the differences of centuries and languages.  The truth is that there is one, the son of man, who will be able to do what no one else, no other king or prince.or president or prime minister has been able to do.  He will approach the Ancient of Days, he will be led into his presence and given authority, glory and sovereign power over all peoples and nations.  He will rule over an everlasting kingdom, one that will never be destroyed. 

2010 Post - Daniel 5-6:  The Best and Worst of Times

Daniel 7-8:  Yes. Forever and Ever

Daniel 3-5: The Eye of God

“This is the inscription that was written:
  MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
 “This is what these words mean:
  Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
  Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
  Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” -Dan 5:25-28 NIV

What frightening words to be heard:  You have been weighed and found wanting.  Whatever you have done has not been enough.  You have come up short.  All you have done, all you have surrounded yourself with will come to nothing. 

It was not as if Belshazzar didn't know better.  His father, Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way who the God of Heaven really was.  All of the dreams that he had, throwing the three men into the fiery furnace, none of that had any impact on Nebuchadnezzar, he had to go mad and roam wild in the fields for years until he recognized God's power.  His son should have paid attention, but he was caught up in his own extravagant life style and the lessons of history meant little to him.  It's so easy for the powerful to get caught up in their own realm that they fail to notice what is going on around them.  Beltshazzar was on top of the world, he was the ruling authority, he had it all under control.  That is until a mighty finger came out of nowhere and wrote on his wall, 'weighed and found wanting.'

The eye of God that is attached to the finger of fate is still there.  Behind all we do and say, behind all we think we have accomplished or accumulated, the eye of God weighs every generation.  It's not a fickle finger that determines our fate, it's the eye of God.

2010 Post - Daniel 3:  But If Not
Daniel 4:  Exalt the King of Heaven

Daniel 1-2: Voices in the Night

The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” - Dan. 2:47 NIV

It's one thing to be able to intrepret dreams.  People do that today, they even write books and blogs about the meaning of dreams.  But, only those who have the ear of God, who trully hear from him in the night, can tell a person of the dream that is bothering them and give them the message from God that it represents.  In the Old Testament, in cases of those like Joseph and Daniel to whom God gave the ability to intrepret dreams, that gift came with a price, captivity.  Even though they were totally subjected to another ruler, their hearts were ruled only by God.  They knew the source of dreams and the source of what lies in the future.  As Daniel prayed:

 “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
   wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
   he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
   and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
   he knows what lies in darkness,
   and light dwells with him. - Dan. 2:20-22 NIV

Can God's voice only be heard when one is no longer surrounded by prosperity or any other situation where the noise and hubris of our lives would silence anything he would have to say. Do we have to be in captivity to hear God's voice in the night?

2010 Post - Daniel 1-2:  The God Who Reveals Mysteries

Ezekiel 47-48; Nothing Can Stop It From Coming to Pass

“And the name of the city from that time on will be:
   THE LORD IS THERE.” - Ezek. 48:35 NIV

It really doesn't matter how the nations of the world feel, it doesn't matter how the United Nations votes.  God set apart Israel and the Land of Israel for his people.  It has always been there, it always will be there.  There is nothing that man can do to take away the promise.  There is nothing that Satan can do to keep what God has promised from coming about.  Someday, and it may be soon, there will be a great city where the children of Israel and the aliens who have settled among them will be safe.  From the temple in it's midst, the trickle of a stream will begin to flow which will becoma a river with such force that it will turn the Dead Sea to a living thing.  I don't know if this is metaphorical or not, but I know it will come about.  God is making a place for himself and the name of that city from time one will be, 'The Lord is There.'  Nothing can stop it from coming to pass.
 -

2010 Post - Ezekiel 47-48:  The Lord is There

Ezekiel 44-46: Falling Face Down

Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the LORD, and I fell facedown. - Ezek. 44:4 NIV

A funny thing happens when people encounter the gory of the Lord.  They all fall face down.  It happened to Isaiah, it happened to Ezekiel.  "Woe is me" anyone who has seen God's glory cries, "Woe is me."  Are we asking for too much when we try to call down God's fire from heaven.  Do we really know what we're asking for?  It's not some warm fuzzy feeling.  The glory of the Lord is a formidable thing.  It is something most of us could not face, we would turn our backs and run as fast as we can.  God is that big.  He is that mighty.  His glory is that powerful.  It's the power that moves mountains and causes manbuilt towers to shake and fall down.  If inanimate objects cannot stand in God's presence, neither can we.  And, I'm afraid, until we find ourselves face down in the dirt, on the carpet, or whererver we are when we see God's true glory, we're going to persist in the notion that we can call for his glory to fall.  God doesn't share his glory with just anyone. 

2010 Post - Ezekiel 44-46:  Ezekiel's Temple

Ezekiel 40-43: The Glory of God's Presence

Then the man brought me to the gate facing east,  and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.  The vision I saw was like the vision I had seen when he came to destroy the city and like the visions I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown. The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east - Ezek. 43:1-3 NIV

Is it possible that we can be inhabited by that same glory of the Lord, the glory that Ezekiel and other Old Testament prophets saw, the glory that caused them to fall on their faces?  If God's spirit dwells in us, then it just possible that the world could see God through us, that we would have the power to convict people of their sins, not because of our words or even our deeds, but because the Spirit of God dwells within.  I know I'm not anywhere close to being so transparent that God's holiness shines through, but I think if we call ourselves God's people, that should be our goal and nothing else:  that others could not be around us without being aware of the glory of God's presence. 

2010 Post - Ezekiel 40-43:  The Glory Returns

Ezekiel 38-39:

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD.”  - Ezek. 39:25-29 NIV

It isn't going to be any UN Assembly that decides the fate of Israel.  Throughout history, contrary to what outsiders may have thought, God has been the one that decided the fate of Israel.  It always was that way, it will always be that way.  No other governing body, no matter how great has any hold over the future of Israel.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 38-39:  It Will Surely Take Place

Ezekiel 35-37: God's FInal Promise

 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.  I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.  I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!   - Ezek. 36:24-32 NIV

Visiting Israel was never on my bucket list.  There were too many other places I wanted to see, many other things I wanted to do before making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  But once I was there, things changed.  We have been there three times now in the last two years and hope to go again next spring.  What keeps drawing us back?  One it is God's land and the Jews are God's people, but I never expected, that even among the most secular of Jews,  there would be a greater historical perspective and acknowledgement of God's place in their life than exists in most of the Christian communities of which I have been a part. 

God is doing something in Israel.  It is undeniable.  God is preparing the Jews and that land for something more.  They may not realize it, but they are fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and of the Son of God.  Israel is not prospering and living in relative calm because of any power of their own, it is not for their own sake.  It is for God's sake, all part of his infinite, unalterable plan.  Who knows how the next few weeks, months and years will unfold?  Some, like Ezekiel, have seen glimpses of the dry bones being brought back to life.  If we really look, we can also see the dry bones connecting themselves together.  A new heart and spirit is being breathed into God's people.  It's exciting to be among God's chosen and in his promised land as the final promise comes to pass.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 35-37:  Promise to the Dry Bones

Ezekiel 33-34: Only One Good Shepherd

“‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.  I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. - Ezek. 34: 11-16 NIV

What would we do if we didn't have a good shepherd?   One that searches until he finds us and looks after us as we cannot look after ourselves.  What would we do if we didn't have such a shepherd?  The world tries to shepherd us, tries to tell us what is good for us and promises to care for us, but all of those promises always turn out to be empty.  There is only one way to dwell in green pastures and that is to be willing to be led by the good shepherd.  There is only one shepherd that will bind our wounds and strengthen the weak and that is to be willingly led by the good shepherd who will lead us to the heights if we will follow.  There is only one.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 33-34:  The Good Shepherd and His Unruly Flock

Ezekiel 29-32: It Happened to Egypt

Therefore no other trees by the waters are ever to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops above the thick foliage. No other trees so well-watered are ever to reach such a height; they are all destined for death, for the earth below, among mortal men, with those who go down to the pit.- Ezek. 31:14 NIV

These words from God, through the prophet Ezekiel, are spoken about Egypt, but they apply to anyone and anything that rises to the heights and exalts in the work of their own hands, as the Pharaoh's of Egypt did.

   “‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
   you great monster lying among your streams.
   You say, “The Nile is mine;
   I made it for myself.” - Ezek. 29:3 NIV

I've been bombarded by this reminder since yesterday.  First there was a front page article in the Kansas City Star about one of the mega churches in the area, going in to bankruptcy.  Then I watched a television program on the rise and fall of Enron.  How the mighty have fallen.  It isn't just the unrighteous and corrupt who meet such an ignominious end.  Anyone who builds something, even if it starts out with good intentions, that becomes a source of pride can fall prey to the same downfall.  Nothing, no matter how good, not even our families or our relationships, nothing that is enviable is the result of the work of our own hands.  It is God that giveth and God that taketh.  Pride goes before any great fall.  It happened to Egypt, it can happen to us.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 29-32:  Doom for the Nations

Ezekiel 26-28: God Will Show Himself Holy

  “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.’”  - Ezek. 18:25-27: NIV

If I sometimes doubt God's promises to me, I have to confess that I doubt his word even more when it comes to Israel.  Especially now, when it seems that all of the nations are abandoning any semblance of goodwill towards Israel; when it looks like all of the turmoil and torment in the mid-east will result in Israel being besieged as never before.

God's word is true, God's promises will come to pass and will come to pass in circumstances that make it clear that it is only God and his hand on his people that have brought it about.  God will show himself holy among the nations.  His people will live in safety and punishment will be inflicted on those who malign God's chosen.  We may not see it in our lifetime, but God's promise will stand if only for one reason.:  that the whole world will know that God is the Lord God of Israel.  Even at this moment, for any that would see, he is showing himself holy among them in the sight of the nations. 

2010 Post - Ezekiel 26-28:  Woe to Tyre

Ezekiel 23-25: Bearing the Consequences

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”  - Ezek. 23:35 NIV

Most of the time we get it all wrong.  We see all of the sin around us and think that sin is the problem.  But the root cause is separation, separation from God.  If we were as close to God as he created us to be, we would see sin in a different light.  We would be much more forgiving of the sinner and less forgiving of ourselves.  It was always the separation that influenced God's actions against his people.  Sin was just the by-product. 

When  we see those around us struggling with sin, we should encourage and enable them, point the path toward God rather than point out their sin.  Once they start walking toward God with all of their heart, the sin will disappear.  If it happened in my life, it can happen for everyone else.

2010 Post: - Ezekiel 23-25- Who You Gonna Run to Now?

Ezekiel 21-22: Will He Be Found?

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezel. 22:30-31 NIV

Is God looking for that man again today?  The one who would build up the wall.  The one who would go before God and plead for his mercy on behalf of a rebellious and ignorant people.  One who would speak our against all the injustice around him.  One whose heart would break for the orphans, widows and aliens who have been trampled by God's people in their quest to get what they want.   One who would speak out against what God's people have whitewashed in order to maintain a godly appearing front. One who would call sin a sin.  If God was looking for that man today, would he be found?

I need someone to stand in the gap for me, because I am guilty; guilty of all the sins that have been cataloged and many others.  I am guilty.  Where is the one who will stand between me and God?  I looked, and there he was.  The only one who could rightly say he was without sin.  The only one who could protect me from the wrath of God.  God himself, in the form of his son, comes to stand beside me and tells me it is all right.  My sins will not be counted against me.  They've been erased, covered by his own blood.  There is no other man who can represent me, no other one who can be found blameless.  There is only one.  Will he be found?

2010 Post - Ezekiel 21-22:  Who Will Stand in the Gap

Ezekiel 18-20: Not a Covenant Breaking God

There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”  - Ezek. 20: 43-44 NIV

Poor Israel.  They were hampered by an everlasting covenant that had been struck between God and their forefathers.  God was never going to forget them and he was never going to let them forget him.  They were and still are his.  No matter their conduct, no matter how far they strayed, they were still his.  All their sins, and they were many and grievous, all their sins would do was make life miserable for them.  Their sins could not break the covenant.  Their sins would take them away from their promised land into captivity, but they would not cause God to let go of them completely.  What God promised was set in stone.  He would not break his side of the covenant.

The same is true today for those of us who have entered into covenant through the blood of God's son.  That covenant cannot be broken either.  All our sins will do is lead us into captivity and away from the promise.  If we try to ignore what we have committed to, we will suffer the consequences.  Our life will become miserable, but we will not be abandoned or forgotten.  In fact, it would be better if we had been forgotten.  God will chase us down, the good Shepherd going after the lost sheep.  God will deal with us and our sins, but he will not forget his people, those he has chosen and those that have chosen him.  He is not a covenant breaking God.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 18-20:  Repent and Live

Ezekiel 15-17: Therein Lies the Answer

It should have been difficult for Israel to have their sins catalogued by God, to be told that their sins were worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah.  It should have caught their attention, but they were so wrapped up in self-preservation that they missed the message.  And even if they really heard the message, did they want to give up all that had been built around them, the cushy life, living in the grand city of Jerusalem as opposed to being nomads wandering through the desert dependent on God for their food every day.  Go back to that?  It was inconceivable.

I wonder, if God told us that there was no escape, that our sins were too great, that we had provoked him for the last time, would we change?  If he told us that there was going to be utter destruction of the lifestyle around us that we have become accustomed to and the only escape was to leave everything behind, could we do so? 

The answer to those questions is also the answer to whether or not we have run after and been caught up in a life of prostitution as the Israelites were. 

2010 Post - Ezekiel 15-17:  A Time to Tear Down

Ezekiel 12-15: His Word Is

The word of the LORD came to me:  “Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’
  “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” - Ezek. 12:26-28 NIV

I am not a prophet, but I know some things are true.  I know when God speaks it can never be doubted.  When there is nothing else in this world that is lasting or can be counted on, God's word is still standing.  I believe the time has come when we should be hearing these words of God, as if they were spoken today,  "None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD."

What God says is true.  His word is eternal.  It is the beginning and the end.  It has never been late, it has never been premature.  There is no way around it.  We can ignore it, we can translate it, we can avoid it, we can accept all, or part, or none if it, but that changes nothing.  His Word will come to pass, here in the immediate future and in the eternity to come.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  What God has spoken will be. His word is.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 12-15:  Only The Righteous Would Be Saved

Ezekiel 10-11: An Undivided Heart

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. - Ezek. 11:19-20 NIV

What Ezekiel heard the Lord say, remains God's desire for us to this day.  That we would cry out, "Take this heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh."   That was the cry of the Psalmist,  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Ps. 51:10) and has been the cry that God is listening for down through the centuries.  Cleanse us, Lord God.  We cannot cleanse ourselves.  Heal us, Lord God, we cannot heal ourselves.  And if we cannot cleanse or heal ourselves, we cannot cleanse or heal our land.  These matters of the heart are not something we can will.  They are something we can long for, cry out for, but we cannot will a clean heart or a right spirit on our own.  Only the overpowering, merciful, forgiving love of God can change our heart.  That needs to be the cry for today.  Before we cry for God to heal our land, we need to cry for God to heal our heart.  To take away the part of our heart that clings to the things of this world and give us a heart that is true.  Only then can we ask God to cleanse and heal our land.

2010 Post - Ezekiel 10-11:  The Glory Leaves the Temple

Ezekiel 8-9: We Need to Grieve and Lament

Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side  and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”  - Ez 9:3-4 NIV
 
It's one thing for us to say with a clear conscience 'Well, things may be bad, but I haven't done any of those things that God deems detestable" and another for our hearts to break over the sins of the nation.  For my part, I have to confess I'm not there yet. Oh, I do grieve for all I see around me, I grieve for the future of this nation, for the future of our children, but I'm afraid it's still a pretty selfish kind of grief.  I know that we're surrounded by sins against God, but I'm more worried about the effect it may have on my safety and livelihood than I am on how the heart of God must be grieving over the conduct of his people, his creation and all the nations.  And, he sees more of what's taking place than we do.  Just as in Ezekiel's time, there is more going on behind closed doors than we can even imagine.  If even a fraction of what Ezekiel saw, the worship of other gods and even the sun, is going on now, we should be falling flat on our faces, prostrating ourselves before God and begging him for mercy, but we're blind..  We need God to lift us up and open our eyes to  the sins in our own lives before we're pure enough to grieve and lament over the detestable things going on around us.
 

2010 Post - Ezekiel 8-9:  Judgment Begins In The House of God

Ezekiel 4-7: Will We Change?

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Disaster! An unheard-of disaster is coming. The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! Doom has come upon you—you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow. - Ez. 7:5-9 NIV
I read these words and I am frightened.  Frightened for our country, frightened for myself.  Frightened because of what I see around me and frightened because I'm not sure I can even recognize the gulf that separates what God desires or requires of me from what I truly am.  There is none righteous, no not one.  And, although I know my sins have been covered by the blood, that does not excuse my conduct or give me license to do as I please.  If we're really truthful, all of us, have become idolatrous and this nation has lead the whole world into idolatry.  We've made and made and made; consumed and consumed and consumed.  We have squandered our prosperity and it has brought us nothing but grief.  Sometimes, I pray for it to all be wiped away so I will have nothing to depend on, nothing to lean on the but Lord. 

I once had a friend who sold almost everything he had but a few clothes and books.  He kept his clothes in boxes and slept on the floor.  He was trying to follow the Lord and wanted nothing to be in the way.  I wonder, did he succeed, or did the materialism of the world overwhelm him in the end as well.  I guess the question now is, 'Will God look on us with pity or will he repay us for our conduct and detestable practices?'  Is it too late for us to change our ways?  Are we buried so deep in everything we think is necessary for life, that we can't crawl our way out to God's realm?  Even if it's not too late, can we, will we change?

2010 Post - Ezekiel 4-7:  The End Has Come

Ezekiel 1-3: What If It's Real

I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.  Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
   This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. - Ezek. 1:27-28 NIV

I have been thinking for days about the difference between mind and body, soul and spirit.  We have a tendency to lump them all together as one, usually with the mind and body ruling supreme.   But that is not truth, not here on earth and especially in the world to come.  As Jesus himself told the woman at the well, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24 KJV)

I believe that what Ezekiel saw was real, more real than anything we see around us today.  We have a tendency to take the prophetic descriptions in the Bible and turn them into something we know, usually something of a military nature: tanks, airplanes, helicopters.  But what if what the prophets saw and described is the real thing.  What if the spirit world where God resides is something more than our imagination can comprehend.?  What if there are real beings with real spirits inside the wheel that moves them to and fro?  What if it is real, more real than the table that I'm sitting at this morning? What if God's countenance is like glowing metal as if it is full of fire?   What if his radiance is more than anything we have ever witnessed here on earth?  If we saw him as Ezekiel did, would we fall face down and listen to his voice?

2010 Post - Ezekiel 1-3:  The Lord Speaks

Lamentations 3-5: Only For Our Good

He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
   he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help,
   he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
   he has made my paths crooked. - Lam. 3:7-9 NIV

For men are not cast off
   by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
   so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction
   or grief to the children of men. - Lam 3:31-33 NIV

You, O LORD, reign forever;
   your throne endures from generation to generation.
Why do you always forget us?
   Why do you forsake us so long?
Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return;
   renew our days as of old
unless you have utterly rejected us
   and are angry with us beyond measure. - Lam. 5:19-22 NIV

It's easy to think like the writer of Lamentations that we have been deserted by God, that he has forgotten and forsaken us.  But, that has never been the case.  It is always his people that have forgotten him.  His own people, those he has made a covenant with, those for whom he has always made a way.  It's one thing for those who don't know him to ignore him, but when his own people go astray, do they have any right to complain of the consequences?   I keep coming back to the same phrase, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way."  Why is it we'll try anything before we try God?  Fortunately, God is much more gracious to us than we would ever be.  Everything that happens to us, every event that God brings us through, is only for our own good, orchestrated by his unfailing love.

For men are not cast off
   by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
   so great is his unfailing love.
For he does not willingly bring affliction
   or grief to the children of men. - Lam 3:31-33 NIV

2010 Post - Lamentations 3-5:  It Is Good To Wait Quietly

Lamentations 1-2: Inside There Is Only Death

“See, O LORD, how distressed I am!
   I am in torment within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,
   for I have been most rebellious.
Outside, the sword bereaves;
   inside, there is only death. - Lam. 1:20 NIV 
There is no enemy greater than our internal torment.  Torment that is invisible to those on the outside, torment caused by our realization of just how far we have fallen short. I think today there is a lot of flailing and flogging at the wrong enemy  We accuse everyone on either side when it is we ourselves who are guilty.  It is we ourselves who have abandoned God and what he demanded of us.  We can point the finger elsewhere all we like, but it comes back to this.  We have wandered far, as Isaiah said, like sheep going astray.  We have all turned to our own way and it is a pitiful escape.  Now we're caught in our own trap and all we can do is accuse those on the outside of what we ourselves are guilty of.  As Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."  Outside the sword may bereave, but inside there is only death.

2010 Post - Lamentations 1-2:  All Is Taken Away

Jeremiah 50-52: Wandering and Wondering

 “My people have been lost sheep;
   their shepherds have led them astray
   and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
   and forgot their own resting place. - Jeremiah 50:6 NIV

We have to be careful of the voices that we follow.  There are many voices, even some well-meaning ones, that would lead us astray.  They would lead us away from the peaceful pastures and the still waters that God provides for his people.  There is only one true shepherd, only one that cares only for our souls and not for their own well-being, power or position.  Only one.  If we follow any other, we will find ourselves wandering over mountain and hill, wandering and wandering.  Wandering and wondering why we have no peace.

2010 Post - Jeremiah 50-52:  Babylon Will Fall

Jeremiah 45-49: Total Destruction's a Good Thing

“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’” The LORD said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”  - Jer. 45:2-5 NIV

What follows these verses is catastrophe upon catastrophe for the nations surrounding Israel.  God promises to use Nebuchadnezzar and the hordes of Babylon to extract vengeance on all of the countries and kingdoms for their evil ways.  As has always been the case, God does what he promises.  This is not the time, God tells Baruch, to seek great things for yourself.  Great things will be of no value, great things will not protect anyone when God has disaster planned. 

For those worn out from groaning, those who can find no rest, like Baruch, God has a promise.  Not that they would be delivered, but that God will let them escape with their life.  Escape with one's life when all around is utter destruction, what kind of promise is that?  It's a good promise, it's an encouraging promise.  One that holds out hope, that once everything is taken away, once everything is totally destroyed, once there is nothing left but life itself, we would be in the position that God wanted us to be in in the first place.  Totally dependent on him and nothing else.



2010 Post - Jeremiah 45-49:  You Multiply Remedies in Vain

Jeremiah 41-44: Who You Gonna Trust?

Sometimes it difficult to hear the Lord's voice and know which way to go, but that was never the problem for Israel.  God spoke to them, over and over again through the prophets.  The only problem was, even when they sought the prophets like Jeremiah out, they really didn't want to hear what the Lord said.  The bottom line was they didn't trust in God.  They believed they fared much better under the heathen gods than under the one who had promised them abundant prosperity if they would obey him.  The heathen gods never asked for obedience:  a little incense, a few altars erected in high places, a few of their children as sacrifices perhaps, but obedience was optional.  As the men of Judah told Jeremiah when they had fled to Egypt to escape the wrath of the Babylonians:
"We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm." - Jer. 44:17 NIV

Ah, but it wasn't the Babylonians they had to fear.  Their own God, the one that they ignored so easily, was waiting in the wings.  He was the one controlling the fates of both the Babylonians and the Egyptians.  He was the one that would crush the Egyptians at the hands of the Babylonians and the one who would have saved Judah had they listened to him. 

Roosevelt was wrong when he said 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself."  We have nothing to fear but God.  All our other fears pale in comparison to what he is able to do and anything or anyone we trust in suffers the same fate.  There is nothing that can stand in God's way when he is determined to bring circumstances about and there is nothing that can protect us like the mighty hand of God.  Why trust in anything else.

2010 Post - Jeremiah 41-44:  A Fatal Mistake

Jeremiah 37-40: God Helps Those Who Trust

The Babylonians set fire to the royal palace and the houses of the people and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard carried into exile to Babylon the people who remained in the city, along with those who had gone over to him, and the rest of the people. But Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields. - Jer 38:8-10 NIV

What a contrast in these chapters between those in high positions of authority who would trust in anything but God and what God says through his prophets, and the poor in the land who had nothing to trust in but God.  The one group, those with everything to lose, lost it all.  In spite of disbelief at what God promised would happen, Zedekiah watched as his children were slain and then had his own eyes put out.  While the other group, the poor who owned nothing, with nothing to lose, was able to live in relative prosperity under the rule of the same enemy who carted those in power away. It isn't a case of 'God helps those who help themselves', God helps those who trust in him. 

2010 Post - Jeremiah 37-40:  The Right Right Way