Exile, Exile In The Land Who’s The Fairest In The Band

Ezekiel 47-Daniel 1

Both these followers of God are exiles in Babylon.  Daniel was deported first and about 10 years later Ezekiel.  Both books record events of the day, future events and end time prophecy.  But there is a greater record that may not be so obvious.  Both lived out their relationship with God, which lead to opportunities to share their beliefs. 

This is true.  If we will live as Christ calls us to live it will not be necessary to seek others to evangelize and disciple.  They will seek us out.  A Renewed person is the most attractive person in any group.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good pleasing and perfect.”  Romans 12:2

Choose The Doxology

Ezekiel 43-46

This passage, in fact the entire Bible is about God creating ways to have relationship with humans.  How do you form a relationship with God?  If we stop long enough to consider this the implications are enormous.  Most relationships are built on a mutual sharing of selves.  What does God bring?  Sun, taste, love, food, stars, kissing, existence, trees, seeing…as the list grows I can have one of two thoughts,

1.     What could I possible bring to this relationship?

2.     I am so overwhelming grateful!!!

I’ll go with number two!

“Praise God from whom all blessing flow

Praise Him all creatures here below…”

Do They Recognize You?

Ezekiel 40-42

Ezekiel flies away in a vision by the hand of God to a mountaintop in Israel.  There a Holy Being tours him through a magnificent Holy Structure measuring it as He goes.  As we read one thing is very clear.  God has an exacting and clear sense of beauty, harmony and form, pillars of the aesthetic experience.  Somehow in the making and the beauty the structure is pronounced “Holy.”

That is an amazing concept.  A holy structure.  What does that mean?  Holy means to be recognized as sacred and dedicated or devoted to the service of God.  Have you ever encountered a “Holy” anything?

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 

1 Peter 2:9

I wondered if we’re recognized when encountered?

Shroud of Turin

Jim Croce Sings Ezekiel

Ezekiel 37-39

Two sets of bones, one being restored by God and one the result of God’s Holy anger against the enemies of His people.  The first set is a vision and are woven into His Holy children.  A work of performance art dramatizing God’s restorative will for His children.

The second set are real and are a result of a future battle between the powers of the north and east coming against a peaceful Israel.  This battle sees the armies of Gog, Magog, Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer and Beth-Togarmah completely destroyed by God.  It takes seven months for Israel to bury the bones.   

The moral of the story

“You don’t pull on Superman’s cape

You don’t spit into the wind

You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger

And you don’t mess around with Jim, Israel.”

The late Jim Croce

Not Guilty!!! Again And Again And Again...

Ezekiel 34-36

“…they will know that I am the Lord.”

This phrase is repeated over and over in Ezekiel.  How do you know that Christ is Lord?  It comes from a continual self-examination.  On any given day I can be petty, arrogant, stingy, prideful, selfish, lustful, greedy, mean, lazy, self centered, and worst of all, be ok with it.  Under sincere self-examination I see myself as I really am and know the helplessness of cleaning this mess up.  I can try harder to be better but I cannot absolve myself, cleanse myself of the guiltiness of being that way. 

“Moreover, I (God) will give you a new heart and put an new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues and you will be careful to observe My ordinances…so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”  36:26-28

The Lord, when asked, absolves us of our guilt and daily renews in us a desire for His Spirit to live more freely in and through us. 

“…diggin The Dancing Queen”

Ezekiel 31-33

This reading reveals how we often hear God’s word,

“And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your (Ezekiel) words, but they do not practice them.”

Many of us see our faith as a good thing, like a praise song that emotionally lifts us to the heights of simplistic feeling.   

Heresy!!!  The bible teaches that the world is in a cosmic war between the forces of good and evil, which all wars combined, pale in comparison.  Every human is involved and every life at stake!  Like any war the dead and maimed, the heroes and the villains are all at play. 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”   

                                             Ephesians 6:12

Many Christ followers are dancing like a queen at a Ball. 

FOOLS!!!

Rococo artist Fragonard's
The Swing.
Look closely and you may see the American Church

Hill Street Blues

Ezekiel 28-30

Tyre and Egypt are destroyed and in this passage a great mystery is developed.  The king Tyre is described as,

“You had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect

         in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden

         of God;

Every precious stone was your

         covering…”

You walked in the midst of the

         stones of fire…

By the multitude of your

iniquities…

You profaned your

         sanctuaries.

Therefore I (God) have brought

         fire from the midst of you;

It has consumed you,

And I have turned you to

         ashes on the earth…”

Satan the evil one began first as “blameless in your ways…”

“Until unrighteousness was found in you…”

His desire for you and all those you love?

“only to steal, kill and destroy.”  Gospel of John 10:10

He’s here, he’s real and he has a plan for you and yours.

“Let’s be careful out there!!!”

America Rules, Meanness Drools

Ezekiel 24-27

“He’s got the whole world in His hands

         He’s got the whole world in His hands…”

Remember that song.  The Bible and today’s reading teach that as true.  What are the affects of that?  All good. 

I once heard Condoleezza Rice speak.  In her speech she made a comment concerning Americas dominant role in the world that I will never forget.  She said that the world was blessed that the kindest country on earth was also the most powerful.  That is so true.  Can you imagine if China was in charge?

We should all be so thankful, believer or not, that the richest, strongest, most powerful God is also the most loving.  

Love Produced Utter Anguish

Ezekiel 21-24

How much mayhem does it take to draw out of man a confession of, the Lord He is God?  These chapters are terribly difficult to read because God uses such profane language to describe the state of His children.  The sadness is that it’s the acts of the children that are profane not the words of The Lord. 

What if every believer in America daily stopped and sincerely pondered the state of our union?  It is utterly anguishing!

But we are not without hope.  Why?  Why is my hope in God and God alone?  Because He produced a love for others in my heart that I am consciously aware of was not there before.  That is why I am at this moment feeling utter anguish.

Hieronymus Bosch

The Aching Heart of Loveliness

Ezekiel 18-20

Sometimes the beauty of scripture is so great that it causes your heart to ache with adoration for The King God who holds all souls in love.  To know more fully the Being who loves you with an everlasting love, who can create roses and galaxies with the same sense of intricate loveliness.  Who can know your whole heart, your whole you and still adore you with the adulation of a Father for a new born child.  Such is the reading today.

“Behold all souls are Mine (God’s)…For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God, “Therefore repent and live.”…That they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them…As a soothing aroma I shall accept you…”

Drunk On Naiveté

Ezekiel 15-17

Harlots and idols, bloody baby castaways and well-adorned whores…all these make up today’s tough read.  There is reason for us to skim by these books and pages of judgment naively believing that the children of Israel are the subjects and recipients of all these consequences.  Reasons until we read passages like this:

‘Thus says the Lord God, “I shall also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I shall pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I shall plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the high mountain of Israel I shall plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit, and become a stately cedar.  And birds of every kind will nest under it; they will nest in the shade of its branches.’”  17:22-23

Then in Romans 11, we see that all believers are grafted into God’s ‘chosen people tree’.  So naturally, we can suppose that God’s judgment on His people will include us. 

That should sober us up!!! 

Pacino di Bonaguida’s, showing Christ as
"The Tree of Life"

Can You Hear The Tiny Scream?

Ezekiel 10-14

Judgment and terrible destruction soak these chapters with sorrow and the pages reek with death.  How bad can it get?  As bad as it can get!!!  What are we to learn?

Since 1973 there have been fifty four million five hundred and fifty nine thousand six hundred and fifteen aborted babies disposed of in America.  How bad can it get?  As bad as it can get!!!

“Even so, there will be survivors left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out.  Indeed, they will come out to you, and you will observe their conduct and actions…They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions…” 14:22-23

Edvard Munch's
The Scream

God Ain’t Playing

Ezekiel 6-9

What if it were all true, the Bible, God, Jesus, everything? 

What if President Obama and Governor Romney, the democrats and the republicans were all wrong?  What if greed, self-affluence, promiscuity, GLBT, abortion, the seven churches and all the rest were wrong?  What if right was wrong and wrong was right?  What if reality was, in many ways, the opposite of what we Americans have created?

Remember when Jesus cleared the tables, dumped them on the floor and whipped the humans out of town?

What if it were all true?  Would you be the hair sewn into the garment fold or the hair scattered away?

God’s not kidding around!!!

Jan van Eyck's
Last Judgment

He's Got The Whole World In His/Your Hands

Ezekiel 1-5

I sit less than five feet from a young Asian women preparing breakfast for her family.  I am in a hostel high in the Alps in a country full of humans going about their morning.  I will drive to Paris today, board a plane for America tomorrow and take my daughter to college the next day.

“Son of man I have made you a watchman over the house of______________” 4:17

Who has God made me a watchman over?  Who watches over me?  What about you?

‘So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.  We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”’  2 Corinthians 5:20

Hold On Boy

Lamentations 3-5

Sometimes all we have is faith.  Reading these last three chapters of Lamentations you realize that the author is in a hopeless and dire situation with no hope of redemption.  At times it will seem that God just doesn’t show up, that He’s an illusion, that Carl Sagan was right, “there’s only the cosmos!” the cold, empty cosmos.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1

Sometimes all we will have is faith.

Hold on!!!

Living Under Personal Lamenting

Jeremiah 53-Lamentations 2

“Is there any pain like mine,

which was dealt out to me,

which the Lord

         made me suffer

on the day of His burning anger?

He sent fire from on high

         into my bones:…

My transgressions

         have been formed

         into a yoke,

Fastened together by His hand;

They have been placed

         on my neck,

And the Lord has broken

         my strength.”  Lamentations 1: 12-14

Countries or humans, it doesn’t matter, on occasion God becomes tired of our rebellious acts of unbelief and acts accordingly.  How can we bear up under Him? 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, either height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

Was The Little Boy Lost?

Jeremiah 51-52

Babylon is destroyed and tossed into the landfill of history.  This book is filled with the destruction of one great culture after another.  Sad but so what!!! 

I sat in a park last night in the world’s greatest city of culture and fashion and watched a homeless man go through the trash bins foraging for food.  When he had gathered enough for his evening meal he sat down beside me and ate.  I wondered what had happened to the little boy full of fun that had grown into this broken old man?  The loss of a human!!!

Why am I thinking of cultures and humans?  Because I am thinking of this verse,

“Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.’”  Luke 15:5-6, my favorite chapter in the Bible

God will destroy countries and cultures but He is not willing that any human should perish!!!

What Do Your Church Bells Say?

Jeremiah 49-50

Chapter after chapter of God standing judge and jury over the nations of earth.  No one likes be judged especially if we’re guilty,

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  Romans 3:23

But regardless we will,

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face the judgment.”  Hebrews 9:27

We don’t stand a chance,

“This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”  1 John 4:10

The church bells of Paris sure ring in good news!!!

My Leaving Prayer, PLEASE LISTEN TO THE BELLS

Jeremiah 46-48

In this great city church bells begin at 7 a.m. and ring every quarter hour.  We visited several churches yesterday.  Primordial and dark, holy air, sacred and quiet that only ancient stones can bear.  Hallowed spaces carving out a sacred thread of continued holiness through the ages to Eden and beyond to God Himself.  Empty churches filled only with the Spirit of the Ages because all of us, “like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.”   Isaiah 53:6

Today’s reading says, “My (God) heart moans like flutes....” for the nations that sit under His destructive judgment for turning from Him. 

Oh if these bells had voices!!!  

Church Bells vs. Bling

Jeremiah 41-45

Murder, slaughter and arrogant disobedience fill these chapters and in the middle is a sorrowing account of human’s hearts.  The children of God cry out to Jeremiah ‘In God we trust’ but in the end they declared,

“As for the word you (Jeremiah) spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you.”  44:16

I am in one of the great cities of the world listening to church bells ring beautifully every quarter hour, ringing out into ever home and hamlet.  Next-door is a quaint little building, old as the city with architecture to match.  It houses Gucci, Eve Saint Loren, Christian Dior, Cartier and others. 

I wonder who hears the bells.

Jeff Koon's Gift Heart

Neck Deep In Mud

Jeremiah 37-40

You better count the cost!!!  That is always good advise for anyone seeking to do anything.  I wonder if neck deep in mud was part of the cost Jeremiah counted?

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”  Jesus, Luke 14:28-30

If you think you’re ready to follow Jesus you may want to read what He said just before and after this.  Better now than when you’re neck deep in mud!!! 

Where Is Your Bible?

Jeremiah 33-36

Where is your Bible?  Pick it up and feel it.  Doesn’t it make you feel something inside?  Can you sense Eden and Noah?  Can you feel the warmth of the Psalms and sorrow of the Temple’s destruction?  Does not the love of God flow through the weight of it and knowledge of Absolute Truth cause you to feel your own heart?  The Bible is one of the most powerful living forces for Good in this universe.  But as with forces of Good there are also forces of evil that stalk the ages seeking to destroy all that is Good.  Such is revealed in today’s readings as Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, burned the scroll God had dictated to Jeremiah.  You know what happened?  God just dictated another one.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”… Isaiah 40:8

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”  Jesus, Matthew 24:35

Every Bible in your home and on this earth is stained with the toil of the ages and soaked in the blood of saints who died preserving it for us.  No force will ever destroy it.  Not the warming fire in a king’s palace nor the combined power of the entire universe. 

Now that’s Living!!! 

The Biggest Word In The Bible

Jeremiah 31-32

Covenants!  That is what this passage is all about.  A covenant is a binding agreement, but it’s more than that.  It is an agreement made with all your heart and soul.  It is the basis of marriage, the covenant between a man and women to be faithful in all areas “until death you do part.” 

DEATH!!!  Death is the nullifier to all covenants; all but one and that “new covenant” is promised in today’s reading.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant…” 31:31

So let’s see what this “new covenant” is.

“In the same way, after the supper he (Jesus) took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”  Luke 22:20

But an all-important question still lingers: with whom is Christ making this new covenant in His blood?

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16

Whosoever is a big word!!!  But it has to be; it includes every human being.  I guess that makes it the biggest word in the Bible!  Don’t you love Jesus!!!

Rembrandt's Women Taken In Adultry

A “Whooooping” From God

Jeremiah 28-30

Dueling prophets and protracted exile comprise these chapters.  There are multiple reasons why bad things happen to believers and here’s an important one to remember underscored by this reading;

“Only I (God) will not destroy you completely.  But I will chasten you justly.”   30:11b

If you didn’t get that let’s put it another way;

“For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and punishes each one he accepts as his child.”   Hebrews 12:6

“For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”   Proverbs 3:12

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest, and repent.”  Revelation 3:19

I’ve been on the backside of many a “Whooooping” from God!!! 

Sometimes it’s just darn hard to remember;

“Jesus loves me this I know…”

The Bold Italics Underline

The Bold Italics Underline

Jeremiah 21-23

Jeremiah’s lamenting bathes all of history in the tragedy of rejecting God but the most yearning lament belongs to God Himself as He continually longs for us.

‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death…”  “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness…” 21:8; 22:13

And then like a Gentle Loving Father who knows the weaknesses of His beloved children He provides righteousness for us;

“Behold, the days are

coming,” declares the Lord,

“When I shall raise up for

David a righteous

Branch;

And He will reign as king

and act wisely

And do justice and

righteousness in the

land…

And this is His name by which

He will be called,

‘The Lord our

righteousness.”     23:5-6

Have you given yourself to the Bold, Italics, Underline?

There’s A Doosy Brewing

Jeremiah 24-27

Jeremiah is arrested, accused and tried for treason.  Why?  Because he prophesied the doom of the nations under the conquering armies of Babylon.

Do you realize how much we rely on prophets and prophesy today?  We call them Forecasters or prognosticators.  We have economic forecasters, geopolitical and civil unrest prognosticators, weather forecasters and others all who are educated and paid to predict the future. 

That’s one reason to believe or at least investigate the claims of God and Christ because no other book, in the history of mankind, has proved so accurate in its predictions of the future than the Bible.   Time, place, people and event, time after time, the Bible’s record speaks for itself. 

If it continues in its unblemished forecasting record there’s a doosy brewing.  We may want to read the Bible before we decide what we believe.  

Ai Weiwei Subs For Jeremiah

Jeremiah 17-20

“Then you are to break the jar…”  19:11

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist whose work confronts the atrocities of the Chinese government.  One of his most famous works is three photographs of him dropping a Han dynasty vase and it smashing on the floor.  It was his way of showing that the old, evil ways of his country are wrong, that they need to be destroyed and that he is willing to be a part of that destruction.  Last year the Chinese government arrested him and demolished his brand new home and studio with heavy equipment.  The world is still unsure of his whereabouts or condition.  

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the people and some of the senior priests…and proclaim…the words I shall tell you…  Behold I (God) am about to bring a calamity upon this place… Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you and say to them… Thus says the Lord of hosts,  ‘Just so shall I break this people…’ ” 19:1-11

We can learn a lot from the Bible, but if we won’t listen then a Chinese Dissident Artist can show us.

Post Script: Ai Weiwei designed the Birds Nest Stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ai Weiwei's piece breaking the Han Dynasty Vase

Who Give’s “Feels So Good”?

Jeremiah 13-16

God is mad!  Why?  Because His people have forgotten Him.  Forgotten is the wrong idea.  It is the same “wrong idea” that Nietzsche committed when he said, “God is dead.”  He didn’t mean God had passed away, he meant that God never was.  That is the truer truth of the problem; we act as if God doesn’t exist. 

A friend called me last night from Colorado.  She had been camping and had swum in an ice-cold mountain stream.  She said she came out and laid on a rock and the sun “felt so good.”  THERE, RIGHT THERE is the crossroads of all humanity.  Who will you give credit for that sun?  Time and chance or God?

She knows!!!

Before It’s Too Late

Jeremiah 9-12

“But if they will not listen, then I (God) will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.  12:17

How do we listen to God?  He made it easy.  He wrote it all down.

“But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

Believing American’s may want to read their Bibles

“But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

We may want to read our Bibles before it’s to late!!!