Onion Skin Garden: 2013

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Consolation of Israel

I must admit the imagery in Ezekiel perplexes me at times and I struggle to piece it all together. For instance, why would the last ten chapters be describing a future God-ordained temple when the new covenant ushered in a new temple, not made with human hands, with Jesus being the sacrifice, once for all? Is not the old done away with, so why would it be repeated? I wondered if God was instead revealing to Ezekiel a complete picture of what Daniel touched on - and how perhaps the glory of the Lord to fill the temple is the revealing of the prince in Ezekiel's final chapters. My confusion pointing you reader once again to not take my word for it, but study yourself - I am offering thoughts, not doctrine, so be careful to take what I say lightly and search for yourself. One thing is certain, however, Ezekiel clearly points to Christ. One verse there prompts recollection of verses elsewhere in the Old and New Testaments, especially between Ezekiel, Isaiah and Luke. I will be using Isaiah Chapter 40:1- (in bold) as the Scriptural skeleton for my thoughts, all New Testament fulfillments in italics. I welcome your comments and challenges!

“‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,’ saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God…. vs.1-3

Malachi 3:1 affirms this voice: “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Isaiah 42:16: “I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.” Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” John the Baptist clarified in John 1:19-23 that he was not the Christ, nor the embodiment of the prophet Elijah, but rather the voice or messenger crying in the wilderness. In Matthew 11:13-14 Jesus seems to contradict John saying that, if we could receive it, John IS Elijah, but this in keeping with Jesus’ command that those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, thus John the Baptist spiritually IS Elijah, both of whom were to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous - to make ready a people prepared for the Lord [Luke 1:13-17]. Jesus further claimed that John the Baptist is greater than all born of women up to then, but least compared to those who’ve entered the Kingdom of Heaven - why? because all the prophets and the law prophesied UNTIL John. In other words, the King had arrived and John was the herald to commence His arrival - no longer was it a matter of prophecy, but of fulfillment. Jesus the King had arrived and his followers enter in to the kingdom.

“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, ‘Cry!’ And he said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the tower fadeth: because the SPIRIT of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. vs. 5-7

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:5-6.

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth away, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
O Zion, that bringest good tidings,… vs. 7-9a

Isaiah 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:3

“…get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings,… vs. 9a

“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.’” Luke 2:10

“…lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! vs. 9b

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9 “Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold you King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

So who is this King? Did, in fact, Israel receive her King in the form of a Savior? The comfort promised in Isaiah 40:1-2? Simeon, a devout and just Jew, said of Jesus He was the fulfillment of Isaiah 66:13, the consolation of Israel.

“Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, vs. 10a

Is. 50:2: “Is my hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?” Is. 59:1-2,8a: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is NOT shortened that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear…..they have made crooked paths.”

“and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. vs. 10b

Isaiah 52:10: “The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isaiah 53:1: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

Ezekiel 34:2: “Son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the Shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” Isaiah 41:27-28: "The first shall say to Zion, Behold, Behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no man: even among them, and there was no counselor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word." Rather than reconciliation, the law”yers” brought death. Rather than peace, the law”yers” brought division. Rather than feed the flock, the shepherds scattered it. This was true of Israel, and is true today of many church shepherds, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Ezekiel 34:10: “Thus says the Lord God; Behold I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more…” and this happened when in AD 70 the temple was destroyed, sacrifice ceased and no longer could the shepherds of Israel perform all that the Lord had commanded. Personally I can see no greater abomination than counting the sacrifice of our Lord - the vehicle of His grace - as “common” - thus the continuation of the sacrificial system AFTER the sacrifice of the Lamb of God surely caused desolation, culminating in one generation with the destruction of the temple. Ezekiel 36 shows a scattered Israel where God’s name is profaned among the heathens, yet this purposed so the heathens too might know Israel’s God and recognize the true Shepherd (vs. 36 then the heathen that are left round about you will know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it….) Ezekiel 34:11,23 sums up, “Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out….I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd….And I will make with them a covenant of peace."

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." vs. 11

John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep….I know My sheep and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” In him is the reconciliation of all his people. Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female - He is the door of the sheep (John 10:7).

Jesus Christ is the consolation of Israel, the light of the Gentiles. I find Isaiah 66:7-14 profound. Who would ever expect a child to come forth before the mother went in to labor? Yet verse 7 says that “before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing?” Clearly this child, born of the woman Israel, is the Lord Jesus of Revelation 12:5 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, brought forth before Israel’s travail, the destruction of its temple. The Savior King of not only Israel, but those outside the covenant, who the dragon wanted to devour, has tried to devour throughout history (Pharaoh, Herod), the promised child of Genesis 3:15. Isaiah 66:10 tells us we can “rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.” The glory of the Gentiles is Christ the Lord - the same glory of Israel in Luke 2:32 - Isaiah 66:12-14: “then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb…..(Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones?)

Isaiah 60 reads, “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee….. Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first (Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, interestingly enough was Saul of Tarsus)…. Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.”

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Luke 2:25-32

Simeon continued [vs. 34] by blessing Mary, Joseph and Jesus and said unto Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

This blessed Christmas I pray that His light might shine in your hearts, that repentance be granted you, and that you, like Simeon can find peace in the Consolation of Israel.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Turn Ye, Turn Ye, Turn Ye

Wherein then is hope?

First off, what I am seeing repeatedly throughout Ezekiel is God in control. That is hope. Look at the following verses from Ezekiel 33:

Ez. 33:2: “WHEN I BRING (the sword upon the land…then whosoever hears….)

Ez. 33:28 “I WILL LAY (the land most desolate…then shall they know that I am the Lord….”

Ez. 33:33 “WHEN THIS COMES TO PASS…(then shall they know a prophet has been among them.”

This same theme - God is in control - is promoted throughout the scriptures. Below is a mere sampling of verses that testify to this.

Isaiah 45:6-7 …there is none beside me; I am the Lord, and there is none other. I form the light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Psalm 22:28 For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Exodus 9:16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Isaiah 14:24 Jehovah of Hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall come to pass; and as I have purposed, it shall stand.

Acts 2:23 This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (Explore Gen. 3:15, Is. 50:6, 52:13-14, 53, 59:2, Ps. 22:14-17)

Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Acts 13:48 And hearing, the nations rejoiced and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

….And hearing. The word, the sword, the S+word, the warning, the trumpet blown throughout the land.

Secondly, the warning’s purpose in Ezekiel is designed to save. Yes, save. Usually a warning is given to enable you to take action that avoids impending peril. If you don't heed a warning like that, then you are foolish indeed. Those of us in hurricane regions sure appreciate hurricane warnings. That is hope. God expressly says in Ezekiel 33:11 “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O House of Israel?”

The warning given through John the Baptist is designed to save. In Matthew 3:2 John urges “Repent ye: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He was saying today. Now. This is the acceptable time [2 Cor. 6:2] about which Jesus further proclaimed [Luke 4:18-19] in the temple: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to…preach the acceptable year of the Lord!” closing the book of Isaiah mid-sentence, focused only on the "warning". Why is that important? Because we are between the WHEN and THEN of God’s purpose. We are in the wonderful day of salvation before the wrath of God falls upon those remaining where they stand in unbelief. John saw the sword upon the land and spoke out!

The warning given in Jesus’ first words of ministry echoed John’s: “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” [Matthew 4:17], Mark 1:15 clarifying first, “The time is fulfilled.” Matthew 4 finds John imprisoned for his warnings.

The warning given in the apostles’ first preaching (Mark 6:12] was “repent.” Mark 6 finds John the Baptist beheaded for his message and Jesus being rejected by his immediate community.

The warning given the world in Christ’s commissioning of the twelve was repentance for the remission of sins. Interestingly enough, Luke 24:44 says it was Christ who opened their eyes to understand scripture, echoing God is in control (even of our understanding!). “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning me.” Luke 24 finds Christ has been crucified for His message.

The warning given through Peter in Acts 2:38, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, was “repent.…”

The warning given through Paul and explained to King Agrippa in Acts 26 was “repent….” and Acts 26 finds many of the early church martyred for their warnings….some through Paul himself.

Every single act of salvation begins with that understanding: we must repent. It is a message hard to swallow for the pride that is in us, but nonetheless true. Many say there is no God, therefore, there is no sin, yet God tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” [1 John 1:8]. Isaiah 66 tells us God will choose their delusions, and bring their fears upon them; BECAUSE, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not hear; but they did evil before my eyes.” It is a message for which John the Baptist, Jesus and the church (then and now) have died. Repent.

Repentance turns us. Repentance points us in a new direction for it is sin that separates us from God, but Jesus Christ died for the remission of those sins and the reconciliation of you, me, to our maker. To repent is to turn from death unto life. Repentance is hope. Today if you hear that warning, be assured God is granting you repentance. Turn. Turn. Turn ye and live. And that is good news as we live in the days of reconciliation, for there is a day coming where Jesus will finish the one negative line he left out when quoting Isaiah 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim….the day of vengeance of our God.”

As Christmas approaches, listen closely. Hear the angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” Or listen to the Byrds.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Blow the Trumpet in Zion Pt. 2

How shall we then live?

Paul simplifies that perplexing question. "For me to live is Christ," [Phil. 1:21] and "...if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." [Rom. 8:11]. The word made flesh who dwelt among us. Emmanuel. The perfect Lamb of God who was righteous, our High Priest who became sin, entered in to the Holy of Holies, making sacrifice once for all. The "S"word that has come upon the land.

We have seen that Ezekiel and John the Baptist were to blow the horn of warning, yet for the warned, hearing is not enough. Ezekiel 33:5 "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul." Hearing demands action. Hebrews 11:7, "By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Incidentally, I'm anxious to see how Hollywood handles Noah in the new Russell Crowe movie - see the you tube video at bottom of post.) James 1:21-22 admonishes, "...receive with meekness the implanted WORD, which is able to save your souls. BUT be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

What deceives us? Pride, and it seems to me all sin has its root in pride, springing up from love of self: Certainly that doesn’t apply to me! I’m a good person! I let Jesus into my heart years ago! I don’t need anyone, let alone God! We are all God’s children! I’ve been baptized! Look at all the good things I do! I deserve it! I’m too intelligent to accept “blind” faith! Eve finally succumbed to a bite of the apple when her ears were tickled by pride. Pride's deadly pattern not only afflicted the nations, but God’s people who continually need to guard against it. Ezekiel 33:24 reveals the Hebrews’ haughty attitude over the fall - though warned of their rebellion’s outcome in earlier chapters (see Ezekiel 2, 5 and 6 for instance): “Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance!” God’s response? “Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor’s wife: and shall ye possess the land?….I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease….Than shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.”

Lest the church think we are not like that, read the Lord’s messages to the churches in Revelation. Ephesus was warned to return to their first love (or else I will come to thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place), Pergamos against the doctrine of the Nicolaitans - essentially compromise with the world (or else I will come to thee quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth!) - Thyatira against tolerating fornication and spiritual idolatry (or else I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation), Sardis against their dead works (or else I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee), and Laodicea against lukewarmness (or else I will spew thee from my mouth). Only the churches at Smyrna, faithful unto death, and Philadelphia, the church “of little strength” who kept His word and did not deny His name, escaped rebuke. They were faithful unto death (Hebrews 11:13), or persevered.

Ezekiel's continued message [33:31-32] to Israel could easily apply to our churches today, as the people continued their charade: "Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as MY PEOPLE, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not." Is this not the same admonishment Jesus gave in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments”?

Hence, whether it is Ezekiel, John the Baptist, or Jesus calling the nations, individuals, or the church to repent, the warning has gone out. The question is, do you see your need to repent; will you be the one who heeds the warning as did Noah, or the one that says it’s all hogwash?

Wherein is hope for me? I want some good news - how about you?

Monday, December 9, 2013

Blow the Trumpet in Zion, Pt. 1

Today is the day of salvation.

I'm not quite sure where to begin this study today and I surely welcome your comments as I humbly try to connect some dots. The weaving of the gospel message through the entire Old and New Testaments astounds me. I know there are some that count the Bible as uninspired, mere books written by mere, uninspired men, certainly not divine; but I daresay those are they who have never given more than a glance to selected passages, or use the Bible as a fortune cookie, breaking open to a verse for their day. Of course, I stand guilty of all that as well! But 2 Tim. 2:15 urges us to study 1) to show ourselves approved unto God (our appetites are bent toward God) 2) a workmen who needs not be ashamed, and 3) rightly dividing the word of truth. As I approached several chapters of Ezekiel for my reading, I thought of Daniel beseeching God to give him understanding of Jeremiah. I want to be like Daniel, continually feasting on divine food.

One message stood out as a warning, "pride, or trusting in your own strength, is destructive." Chapter upon chapter spoke of the judgments against nations...Tyrus, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, rebellious Israel, Egypt, who trusted in their own strength. In Ezekiel 33 God speaks to Israel through the prophet, "When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If, when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet and takes not warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning...But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul."

I couldn't help but think that every time the word of God is proclaimed, it is a warning, after all, Ephesians 6:17 tells us "take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which IS the word of God!" (My mom always says, S+word, or Spirit+word). Matthew 10:34 quotes Jesus saying, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword!" This verse is somewhat contrary to the loving Jesus so often heard preached from our pulpits, and may seem contradictory to His birth where the angels proclaimed "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14). But is it? Not if you consider his word is the two-edge nature of the "S"word. 1 Cor. 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." Hebrews 4:12 says, "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart...." this, a reminder that we must be diligent to enter into His rest (vs. 11) and come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, vs. 7 quoting David, "today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

It is upon hearing the "S"word that so often our foolish response is, "don't understand you!" "don't have time now!" "can't hear you!" "I like my life just the way it is!" "I'm good enough!" Like the nations mentioned above, who boasted of their own wealth and strength, the church of Laodicea said the same regarding the faith, "I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing." Jesus called it being lukewarm and His response was, "know you not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in fire; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see.... If any man hears my voice...." He brings the "S"word. He divides the thoughts and intents of the heart. Pride brings destruction.

Ezekiel was a watchman. He saw the sword come upon the land. He blew the horn. How? He SPOKE the word of God. Interestingly enough, the word horn itself is synonymous with "strength" - perhaps this is where "blowing your own horn" came to be linked with pride. And even more interesting is the messenger God used: Ezekiel, whose name means, "May God strengthen him."

John the Baptist, coming in the spirit of Elijah, [Mal. 4:5, Luke 1:13-17], could also be likened to Ezekiel the watchman - John 1:23 "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord." He saw the "S"word come (Jesus) upon the land and as the herald, blew the warning, "Repent!"

Israel, blessed with the law, still needed continual sacrifice to cleanse them, though the requirement of the law was to keep it in their own strength! As Ezekiel continues, "The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness: neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins." The same argument gets heard today: "I sin one little time and it negates all the good I've done? Yet someone who sins all the time, by repenting, can be saved?"

Israel responds with, "The way of the Lord is not fair!" Their reaction is much like the older brother of the Prodigal son, "All these years I've slaved for you!"; or Cain's surprise that the sacrifice of his own strength was not acceptable; or the Jews to the Gentiles' righteousness through faith (Romans 3). It leads us to proclaim, "If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?"

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Stronger Than the Chains That Bind

12 Years a Slave, adapted for the screen by John Ridley, follows the abduction of Solomon Northrup, a freed Northern Black man, into slavery in the 19th century South. Lured away from his wife and children by the promise of easy money, he is sold on the slave block, savagely beaten, betrayed and tormented for the next 12 years, prompting the filmgoing audience to react much the way I've heard Abe Lincoln reacted upon witnessing the ripping apart of Black families on the port auction blocks. I've heard Lincoln gripped his fists so tightly, he drew blood. I'm quite certain the audience in the theater may have as well. Uncertain why this actual historical account was not reading material when I was in high school, I'm delighted the book is now making that cut. Steve McQueen did a superb job of visually impacting us with the horror of man's inhumanity to man, but he reached beyond this horror to confront each of us with the horror of our own enslavement to fear. He builds the outrage from the general to the specific. Through Solomon Northrup's eyes, we hate the institution of slavery, we disdain the master that holds us, we witness the betrayal of friends until we face the fear that silences our self. Fear strong enough to not only prompt us to turn a blind eye to the atrocities, but forces us to join in the atrocity itself. Stronger than the chains that bind is the fear that enslaves us.

I walked out wondering, "why didn't the blacks revolt?" "how does one man become lord over another?" "why did most of society turn a blind eye?" and came to the conclusion, we truly worship the creation more than its Creator, therefore, we fear man rather than God and I understood then why Jesus came in a time of Roman enslavement to drive home that we are truly slaves to sin, for it is God only that we should fear. Those questions led me to ask, "what would I have done? what would have been my duty?" I knew. I knew because I am silent now.

Slavery's roots reach way back to the beginning of time, watered by the very first sin in the Garden where Eve sold us on the slave block of sin, and God clenched His fists and drew blood. And remember Joseph, the last of Jacob's 12 sons sold into slavery way back in the 19th century BC? Or how about the Hebrews sold into slavery in Egypt? Or the captives brought to Babylon? Or the serfdom of Sparta? And while we all agree slavery was the darkest chapter in America's history, the atrocity of the 18th and 19th centuries, most of us probably believe we would have been the fearful hero of the story, Brad Pitt. Civilizations have always enslaved others to dominate, to build, to grow rich - not just in the pre-industrial or labor-intensive agricultural arenas, but in every age - why I dare say, it's even taking place today. Think the sex traffic market. Think sweat shops. Think abortion.

Yes, abortion. The ugly evil that has now killed over 55,000,000 babies in America alone since the law condoned it and society has turned a blind eye - that, my friend, is 51 million more dead babies than the 1860 census counted people into slavery. "Why, I would never have an abortion, you say, but I certainly think a woman should have the right to one." Like Steve McQueen's narrowing down of societal guilt to personal, a municipal election held yesterday (Nov. 19th) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, brought the abortion issue the closest it can get to "personal" with the city voting its assent to late-term abortions. I just don't get how we can consider the brutality of whippings and the immoral advocacy of slavery more a crime than the ripping apart of little babies for the sake of convenience. You might say "a woman has a right to choose what to do with her own body" like one Albuquerque voter, but a baby is not her body and her choice was prior to conception and how is that different from, "a man has a right to do what he chooses with his property (i.e. slaves)?" Is it egregious only because we "see" the slave? or acceptable because it's the law? Perhaps it will take a gutsy filmmaker to capture the visual image of real babies being torn apart limb by limb and an audience that reacts in horror. Or you might say "I don't want the government interfering with my medical decisions," but that would be the same as saying the government should not have interfered with the institution of slavery. Delegate John Rutledge of South Carolina inferred just that at the Constitutional Convention of 1787: "Religion and humanity have nothing to do with the questions" [of whether the Constitution should protect slavery -- it was simply a question of property rights]. Think about that when you see 12 Years a Slave. As much as we'd like to fool ourselves to appease our conscience, a baby is not her mother's body as surely as a slave was not his master's property and our society has agreed we will defend the rights of individuals to life. We do so because our form of government is based on that right being from our Creator and that right (amongst others) being inalienable. At least a slave could defend himself. Not so the baby in the combat zone.

Fear drives us, but it is misplaced fear that enslaves us. If a man says there is no Creator, then truly man is the measure of all things and can do as he pleases. But if a man holds there is a Creator, as our own Constitution declares, then should we not fear Him who is the measure of all things? What is our duty? Jesus, responding to a lawyer testing Him, answered that the greatest commandment of the Law is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Proverbs 24:11-14 effectively shocks and elicits action in much the same way as the movie - "Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say, 'See, we did not know this,' Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste; know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off."

Or like William Wilberforce, that great abolitionist of England, accused, "You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say you did not know." Wilberforce would speak in Parliament, draped in chains, and was hated for the truth.

Psalm 111:10 says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments." Proverbs 9:10 adds..."and the knowledge of the Holy One IS understanding."

And to quote Frederick Douglass, "Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." I would add that sin is the greatest taskmaster. So what shall we do about sin?

Psalm 25:14
"The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know of His covenant."

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."

"Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves." George Gordon Byron

Friday, November 15, 2013

The Cyrus Cylinder

THE TEN MOST LONG-LIVED EMPIRES

Portuguese 1415-1999 (584 yrs)

Ottoman   1299-1922 (623 yrs)

Khmer 802-1432 (630 yrs)

Ethiopian 1270-1935 (665 yrs)

Kanem 700-1376 (676 yrs)

Holy Roman 962-1806 (844 yrs)

Silla 57 BC-AD 935 (991 yrs)

Venetian   697-1797 (1,100 yrs)

Kush   1070 BC-AD 350 (1,419 yrs)

Roman 27 BC-AD 1453 (1,480 yrs)

_______________________________________________

There was a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came her date of her birth
And spoke the following date with tears
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

Excerpt from "The Dash" by Linda Ellis

What is true about an individual is also true about an empire, though its life and death might instead be referred to as the Rise and Fall Of. A few days ago, I had the serendipitous privilege of visiting a special exhibit at the Getty Villa displaying The Cyrus Cylinder. Admittedly, I did not know what the Cyrus Cylinder really was, nor the script upon it, nor the importance of The Cylinder, but knew that it was Cyrus who issued the decree that the Jews taken captive in Babylon could return to Jerusalem and rebuild its Temple and worship their God. Therefore, I was curious.

Again, it amazes me how God works to teach us in our lives: an exhibit arouses my curiosity, then both my reading location in the Chronological Bible [Jeremiah 31-38] and a Bible Study [Esther: Its Tough Being a Woman] I attended days later begins to fill in the blanks. But the cylinder brought to life my learning.

First, my reading followed the Babylonian captivity of Judah during the days of Jeremiah the prophet. The Babylonians (think: Iraq) wrested power from the Assyrians (who had conquered Egypt and Israel, the Northern Kingdom, approximately 100 years prior). The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II captured the Southern Kingdom of Judah, bringing Jewish exiles - mostly of the upper ruling class and skilled craftspeople - to Babylon, amongst them the surrendering King Jehoiachin and a young lad named Daniel. The unskilled, poorer Jewish population remained in Jerusalem under the rule of King Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle) who promised loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar. The captive Jews of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were assimilated into the land of the Assyrians virtually losing their Jewish identity, contrary to the captive Jews of Judah into Babylon who were allowed to form their own communities, encouraging their Jewish identity. Zedekiah solicited the king of Egypt to join him in throwing off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah was given the difficult task of being the naysayer in a day when the people and King Zedekiah only wanted to hear positive affirmations (sounds a bit like today, right?). Jeremiah repeatedly called the people to repentance, reminding them that all this was come upon them because of the sins of Manasseh and the innocent blood that he shed [Jer. 24:3-4]. Zedekiah, seeking a positive prophetic word, received instead Jeremiah's sharp rebuke: "Deceive not yourselves, saying, the Chaldeans (Babylonians) shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart...they shall rise up every man in his tent and burn this city." [Jer. 37:9-10]. The people thought the King of Egypt would scare Nebuchadnezzar, and for a moment it looked like Jeremiah was the fool and the people were right. Jeremiah left Jerusalem to separate himself from the people. The princes accused Jeremiah of deserting - being on the side of the Babylonians - and cast him into a dungeon, only to be pulled out many days later by King Zedekiah for a "secret" word from the Lord. Jeremiah repeated "thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." The king threw him back in prison. The princes further demanded Jeremiah's death when he stated, "he that remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goes forth to Babylon shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live." [Jer. 38:2] The princes cried, "let this man be put to death: for thus he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt." [Jer. 38:4] Again, he is cast into the dungeon filled with mud. When a brave Ethiopian begs for mercy on Jeremiah, the king has Jeremiah lifted out of the dungeon and brought to him for yet another word from the Lord. This time, the king even begs, "hide nothing from me!" Like the scene from A Few Good Men where Tom Cruise begs the truth from Jack Nicholson who fervently counters, "You can't handle the truth!", Zedekiah begs the truth from Jeremiah.

Jeremiah responds with, "If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death?"

So Jeremiah speaks a word from the Lord paraphrased, "if you go before Babylon's princes, you shall live and Jerusalem shall not be burned....but if you don't go, they shall burn the city with fire and you won't escape." [Jer. 38:17-18]

Finally, Zedekiah speaks the truth - not that he believes Jeremiah's word from the Lord - but the truth about himself: "I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans (Babylonians), lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me!" Boy, those words convict me! Jeremiah beseeches Zedekiah to obey and Zedekiah asks Jeremiah NOT to tell the princes what happened between them, but to rather say, "I begged Zedekiah for my life!" An obligation Jeremiah keeps, but Zedekiah does not.

Zedekiah does not harken to the word of the Lord and Jer. 39:5-7 shows fulfillment of God's word to Jeremiah - the Babylonians capture Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, slay his sons before his eyes, put out Zedekiah's eyes, burn the city, break down its walls. Thus, Babylon captures Jerusalem and destroys the first temple.

Secondly, the bible study in Esther follows the rise of Medo-Persian Empire (think: Iran), wresting power from the Babylonians. You all know this historical conquest by the use of our phrase "the writing's on the wall." Belshazzar, grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, ruling over Babylon, threw a huge party using the spoils of Solomon's temple as the drinking vessels, toasting the "gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood and stone," when the finger of God wrote "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" upon the wall, leaving Belshazzar physically and mentally tormented. Enter the young lad, now older by some years, Daniel. He interprets the writing on the wall:

Mene: God has numbered thy kingdom and finished it.
Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Peres: Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

That night Belshazzar is slain and Darius the Mede takes over.

Yet Darius is not alone in his conquest. The Medes are in cooperation with the Persians and Cyrus rules the Persians.

Immediately, Cyrus issues the decree spoken of in Ezra 1 - and witnessed by The Cylinder.

"Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth: and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem...."

The Cyrus Cylinder - photographed at the Getty Villa

During this time, many Jews left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem, but many, now comfortable in their assimilated lives remained in Babylon under the Medes and Persians, whose kingdoms were intertwined by marriages - Darius married Cyrus' daughter Atossa, their son Xerxes or Ahasuerus married Belshazzar's (grandson of Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar) daughter Vashti. Interestingly enough, Cyrus wrote that Belshazzar was a coward - yet Belshazzar's daughter was given to Cyrus' grandson Ahasuerus.

I'm starting to understand why, at times, I get so lost when it comes to history.....

Knowing Vashti's heritage gave me some insight as to why she refused her husband's command to show her beauty to his guests. Her husband, the mighty King Ahasuerus, held a feast for 180 days to specifically show off the riches of his kingdom and majesty to his princes and servants. Then for the next seven days held a feast to show off in the palace, summoning Vashti to come before the people and show off her beauty [Esther 1]. She refused. More than just insulted that she was an object of Ahasuerus' possessions, she was an object of conquest and I believe Vashti possibly remembered the "flaunting" banquet of her grandfather Belshazzar when the kingdom was taken from him. Ahasuerus had to harken to his seven princes who advised Vashti be sent away and another queen be found lest all the conquered peoples lose respect for him.

The queen found, of course, would be Esther. Esther, the adopted child of her uncle, Mordecai the Jew. The Jew who had remained in Babylon rather than return to Jerusalem. For such a time as this.

My visiting the Cyrus Cylinder was for such a time as this. To spark my interest in and love of the Scriptures that fill in the history. To ignite my passion for knowing God. Like Paul expounds in 2 Tim. 4:7, I'd like my dash to simply bear witness that, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Cyrus, after his Babylonian conquest, had his scribes write this of his life:

"All the people of Tintir (Babylon), of all Sumer and Akkad, nobles and governors, bowed down before him and kissed his feet, rejoicing over his kingship, and their faces shone.
The lord through whose help all were rescued from death and who saved them all from distress and hardship, they blessed him sweetly and praised his name.
'I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world,
son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, descendenat of Teispes, the great king, king of the city of Anshan,
the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel (Marduk) and Nabu love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern themselves.' "

I listed at the beginning of this post, the Ten Most Long-Lived Empires, yet the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires are not amongst them.

Cyrus' testament to his monument tells quite another, perhaps more modest, story. "O man - I am Cyrus, son of Cambyses, who founded the Persian Empire and ruled Asia. So do not begrudge me this monument."

Cyrus Monument in southern Iran, photo taken at Getty Villa

For further study:
TED Talk on the Cyrus
IHF America: The Significance of the Cyrus Cylinder
King Belshazzar and Darius the Mede
Zedekiah: the Last King of Israel

Note: Again, as always I urge you to study these things yourself, for I too, am just learning and don't claim to complete accuracy, try as I might! I always welcome your comments and corrections!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Being Made "Hallow"

"This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus."

Like Jesus. How can I ever be like Jesus? My sister and I had the privilege of sharing Christ with a man who sincerely claimed to be his follower. And a follower of Buddha. And a follower of Hinduism. And just about anything else that was "truth." When we told him scriptures, he'd get excited and say, "I know! I know!" We sat with this beautiful man for two hours - a divine appointment my mom would call it, unplanned by us, but uncannily arranged by God - as he told us of his 30 year search for truth, expounding on concepts so similar to the scriptures that one could easily be confused. And the basis of his truth was love. And who can argue against love? Once we knew how to "love", we would BE God, not just like him. That was the difference.

One of the marvels to me is how the Spirit of God leads and teaches us. It seems that suddenly I will hear a keyword repeated from a variety of sources and I just know that God is trying to teach me something. As I've wrestled with what it means to be "in Christ" (keyword) God has been driving home how this should affect me - how I should be "like Christ." To the man I mentioned above, being like Christ was to have his consciousness perfected in love (sounds good) and therefore become God (sounds like the foundational lie whispered in the Garden). It occurred to me that the more he described love, the more he portrayed love devoid of relationship. Empty. And suddenly I understood just one reason why perhaps God made me. you. a people.

Now the only way I can ever be like Jesus would seem first, that I have been justified by His atoning death - placed "in Him", and secondly, I am being sanctified as a result of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit within. The first is like the potter throwing a new lump of clay onto the wheel, purposing to fashion it, the second is his fashioning. Paul states, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness!" [Romans 6:17-18] To speak in plain language, Paul uses an example from everyday life in verse 19: "Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness (remember how a little leaven leavens the whole lump?), so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness." This infers a continuing sorrow over sin such that it drives us to repent when it ensnares us (and it does so easily). I love the way John Piper puts it: "...even though justifying faith does not produce perfection in this age, it always produces a new direction in this age. It dethrones sin, enthrones God, and makes war on sin in our own hearts and bodies." [Slaves to God, Sanctification, Eternal Life, Dec. 10, 2000].

C.S. Lewis says it this way in Mere Christianity, “When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.

“What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like gods’—could set up on their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.

"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

Or to paraphrase Kevin DeYoung: "while the church is not a 'museum for good people' but a 'hospital for the broken,' it is indeed the purpose of a hospital to help sick people get better."

Like Martin Luther, my heart has been pierced of late over this very issue, as tolerance becomes the keyword of this generation even in the church. But should the church tolerate overt sin in the name of love? Should an individual tolerate sin in his/her own life in the name of loving oneself? Is it love to tolerate sin that threatens your very soul? Should we rest in being in a 'right position' if our position isn't righting? 496 years ago when Martin Luther stood up against the atrocities in the Catholic Church - his first thesis was just this struggle: "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said, "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." Sin should bother us and motivate us to say, "help me, Lord!" Help me be like you. And we, as the Church, shouldn't be so quick to frown on our brothers who struggle with sin - we all do. We should be helping each other overcome! We should be part of that body that says, like Jesus: "In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." That is love. Like King Louie in The Jungle Book we might sing, "I wanna be like you, I wanna walk like you, talk like you, too!"

The steady hand of the potter is upon me. This, my friends, will be a lifelong process - this sanctification - and if I am to truly love, then let me truly love you, God, and love my neighbor as myself. Fashion me. Make me. Mold me. Let me be like Jesus.

If you google a list of the character traits of Jesus Christ, you can find plenty. In fact, here's a list from the Blue Letter bible:

He was Obedient

He was Meek, Lowly

He was Guileless

He was Tempted

He was Oppressed

He was Despised

He was Rejected