The Day Ezekiel Met God

 

Monday, May 2, 2022

On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.  This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity.  (The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand of the Lord take hold of him.)  As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light.  There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber.  From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings.  Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze.  Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings.  The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it.  Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.  Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back.  Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body.  They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.  The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them.  And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning.

As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels touching the ground beside them, one wheel belonging to each.  The wheels sparkled as if made of beryl. All four wheels looked alike and were made the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it.  The beings could move in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved.  The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes all around.  When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too.  The spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.  So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings also went.  When the beings moved, the wheels moved.  When the beings stopped, the wheels stopped.  When the beings flew upward, the wheels rose up, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.  Spread out above them was a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal.  Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others’ wings, and each had two wings covering its body.  As they flew, their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore or like the voice of the Almighty or like the shouting of a mighty army.  When they stopped, they let down their wings.  As they stood with wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them.  

Ezekiel 1:1-25

I will resist any kind of attempt to interpret or explain the meaning of Ezekiel’s vision.  It is enough to drink-in the overwhelming image of God entering the sky, like one of Stephen Spielberg’s productions.  Independence Day, a movie about alien ships arriving in thunderclouds of smoke and fire, had alien beings in those ships that were a frightening presence.  But they cannot begin to approach the majesty and vastness of powerful command this vision presents of God’s stormy arrival to speak with Ezekiel.  God certainly knows how to make an entrance!

The meaning of human and otherly creatures, wheels within wheels, wings, eyes, and moving at the speed of thought…are the subject of many debates and cross-referenced Biblical themes.  It is enough to say…what a mighty God we serve!

For You Today

Read, study, and muse on these things.  In time God will make all things clear.  Just don’t forget to get yourself involved in the greater works of mercy and sharing the Gospel.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: BelieveTrust.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

What is God Like?

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2021

How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise, in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain!  It is high and magnificent; the whole earth rejoices to see it!  Mount Zion, the holy mountain, is the city of the great King!  God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers, revealing himself as its defender.  The kings of the earth joined forces and advanced against the city.  But when they saw it, they were stunned; they were terrified and ran away.  They were gripped with terror and writhed in pain like a woman in labor.  You destroyed them like the mighty ships of Tarshish shattered by a powerful east wind.  We had heard of the city’s glory, but now we have seen it ourselves—the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  It is the city of our God; he will make it safe forever.   Interlude
O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.  As your name deserves, O God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth.  Your strong right hand is filled with victory.  Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.  Let all the towns of Judah be glad because of your justice.  Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem.  Walk around and count the many towers.  Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations.  For that is what God is like.  He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.  Psalm 48:1-14

Throughout Scripture we find the principle of free will, the right God has placed within each soul to decide the course our life will take.  The desire for the exercise of this freedom is self-evident.  If you need a chapter and verse proof text, note what Joshua said to the Israelites on the eve of entering into the Promised Land:

…choose today whom you will serve.  Joshua 24:15b

The nation of former slaves was at least hundreds of thousands strong, perhaps, according to some scholars, several million.  Joshua offered that challenge of life’s most important question, what God will you serve? 

On a personal level, to find the answer within my heart and soul for that question, I had to ask another question, who is God (JHWH, Jesus)…what is he like? 

The answer to both questions is nestled into today’s text; you cannot see Him, but you can begin to understand what he is like.  God is like the towers and walls of the citadel, Jerusalem, God’s own city.  Those walls and towers are protection for the people within, and an impenetrable fortress to those who would even think to assail her.  But, before this metaphor of walls describing God is carried too far, leaving us to imagine God as an impassable monolith, just standing as another idol, lifeless, vast, but unthinking, move beyond the comparison and look at the evidence – personal evidence.  God entered time and space from above and outside time and space.  The Creator entered His own creation and became flesh, blood, and bone…and it was too much for us to live in His presence.  The creation crucified our Creator.  So he rose from the grave and offers us a second chance.

What is God like?  He is all the vast power of the universe and beyond.  As the genius of Michelangelo was more than his paintings or sculptures, the creation is always so much less than the Creator.  This is why the Psalmist began his musical ode to the God of Jerusalem’s towers with extolling the worthiness of God to receive praise and honor.

For You Today

Our Creator is beyond comprehension, but not beyond inviting us into His presence. Like Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites as they took the next step in their journey to choose today the God you will serve, that offer to come inside the walls of Mount Zion with our hearts, souls, and eternal lives still stands before each of us.  We recognize what God is like.  But with that understanding God leaves us choice of whether we will serve him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. 

In a few days we will celebrate our independence in America.  It is a sacred gift and responsibility.  We choose to live with and serve our fellow Americans.  But how much greater the other choice – to serve the God of all freedom.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!   

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

Prophet With a Broken Heart

 

Friday, June 25, 2021

The Lord in his anger has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.  The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust, thrown down from the heights of heaven.  In his day of great anger, the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.  Without mercy the Lord has destroyed every home in Israel.  In his anger he has broken down the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.  He has brought them to the ground, dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.  All the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger.  The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks.  He consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire.  He bends his bow against his people, as though he were their enemy.  His strength is used against them to kill their finest youth.  His fury is poured out like fire on beautiful Jerusalem.  Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel like an enemy.  He has destroyed her palaces and demolished her fortresses.  He has brought unending sorrow and tears upon beautiful Jerusalem.  He has broken down his Temple as though it were merely a garden shelter.  The Lord has blotted out all memory of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.  Kings and priests fall together before his fierce anger.  The Lord has rejected his own altar; he despises his own sanctuary.  He has given Jerusalem’s palaces to her enemies.  They shout in the Lord’s Temple as though it were a day of celebration.  The Lord was determined to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem.  He made careful plans for their destruction, then did what he had planned.  Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before him.  Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground.  He has smashed their locks and bars.  Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands; her law has ceased to exist.  Her prophets receive no more visions from the Lord.  The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence.  They are clothed in burlap and throw dust on their heads.  The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame.  I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken.  My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people.  Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets.  They cry out to their mothers, “We need food and drink!”
Their lives ebb away in the streets like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.
They gasp for life as they collapse in their mothers’ arms.  Lamentations 2:1-12

The fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC was unimaginable to its citizens.  Israel was the greatest nation on earth, and the Holy City the prized jewel of David’s crown.  That any king could conquer her, or would even try, was unthinkable. 

Yet, it happened.  Ten years prior, the city had been taken by Babylon’s forces, and a straw man king (Zedekiah) installed.  Jeremiah could see the writing on the wall (so to speak), and prophesied the total destruction of Jerusalem, along with the heart-wrenching scenes of starvation and pain as the spirit and pride is gutted from Israel’s national heart.  When it came to pass, it was as Jeremiah’s lamenting broken heart predicted.  The great city lay in ruins, including the great Temple of Solomon.

And it was all done with God’s permission.

What?

The short story on the WHY of Jerusalem’s destruction at JHWH’s direction is no different than the opening of Scripture in Genesis.  The city of God (like the Eden God had created for Adam and Eve) was inhabited by people who enjoyed God’s blessing, and promptly forgot how they got there.  The city rulers (as the Garden dwellers) reached for that which didn’t belong to them.  In national arrogance and pride they deemed themselves in charge, usurping a position to which they had no claim.

For You Today

July 4^th is not far away.  We celebrate independence on that day.  Certainly, we focus on independence from an English dynasty’s tyranny.  But, could it be, that we are not much different in Washington (and every other American city) than the first citizens, or Jerusalem’s kings?  History’s lesson is that those who are  most vulnerable are those who think themselves invincible.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!   

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

God Bless America

 ^[1]

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

 Then this message came to me from the Lord:  “Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land.  We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’  So tell these people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent.  Do you really think the land should be yours?  Murderers!  Idolaters!  Adulterers!  Should the land belong to you?’     Ezekiel 33:23-26^(NLT)

This message was delivered by Ezekiel almost immediately after he was informed that Jerusalem had fallen; the city of David lay in ruins and the people were looking for some comfort that JHVH had not abandoned them.

But Ezekiel’s words didn’t sound like much comfort!

We have just celebrated Independence Day in America; flag waving and heart-stirring patriotism was in no short supply.  The joyful and poetic reverberations of God Bless America rang throughout the day; the strength, power and robustness of U.S. freedom were proclaimed by politicians throughout the land.

And yet, I have a foreboding sense that the emperor is skinny-dipping again.

I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.  However, when I read Ezekiel’s words, murder, idolatry, adultery, I cannot help but shudder on behalf of this country. 

To Israel, God’s beloved and special covenant people, the Lord asked:  Do you really think the land should be yours?  Murderers!  Idolaters!  Adulterers!

If this isn’t a wakeup call to the land of free and home of the brave, I don’t know if we, as a nation, would ever regard anything God has said. 

We are deaf to His voice, it seems.

We maintain, even take for granted, that this land is our birthright, our hard-fought homeland.  And the murder toll rises like a tsunami; the idolatrous worship of money, fame and possessions roll like a tidal wave; our lifestyle adulterous fascination with sexual perversity overwhelms our culture like a sewer-unleashed.

Do we really think this land should be ours?

I believe deeply that, without a sweeping tidal wave of repentance, a national fresh wind of revival, this land cannot remain.

Call me the prophet of doom if you must, but I still believe in the judgment of Holy God, and that we are headed for it as certainly as my next breath belongs to Him.

It may be that the strains of God Bless America will be bringing the kind of blessing we didn’t expect – a trip to the woodshed with the Father.

Lord, in your mercy…

For You Today

Like me, you cannot force anyone to repent and turn back to God.

But you can pray for yourself and your neighbor.

You can be Christ’s witness for righteousness!

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[1] Title image: By David Shankbone, via Wikimedia Commons

Independence Day

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1

We did our traditional Fourth of July – popcorn and watching Independence Day.  I love the speech the President gives near the end of the movie to encourage the pilots as they’re about to face the aliens in the battle that will determine humankind’s fate.  “We’re going to live on; we WILL survive.”

About that time the fireworks went off (not in the movie…in our neighborhood).  Gracie the Wonderdog immediately began shaking like an 8.5 earthquake.  It seems the sounds of freedom are a little too scary for our dog.

And that’s true of spiritual freedom as well.  The human tendency is that it’s easier to have someone else in charge of making decisions.  Why else do we elect charismatic leaders, strong leaders who will make us feel safe and prosperous?

Paul’s statement to the Galatian believers was “stand firm”.  Well, you can do that together with others, but it can’t be done for you.

In the storms of life, both political and spiritual and personal, stand firm in the faith God placed within you.