Living Waters

Readings for today: Ezekiel 45-48

I love Ezekiel’s vision today. Water flowing from the Temple of God. Beginning as a trickle but becoming a mighty river, flowing southeast out of Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea. The region around the Sea is a wasteland. A desert. A void. A place where nothing grows. I’ve been there. It’s desolate. And yet, as the river reaches the sea, this amazing miracle takes place! Trees begin to grow on either side. Their fruit providing food and sustenance to all. Their leaves never wither or fade. The water itself teems with life. Fish of every kind find a home there. As the waters reach the Sea, they bring it from death to life. The saltwater turns fresh and it begins to produce a hundredfold. Yes, there are still reminders of the former days. Still reminders of the death that once reigned here. The marshes and swamps retain their salty character but those simply serve as witnesses to the miracle of resurrection that has taken place! 

For the Christian, we recognize the prophetic nature of Ezekiel’s vision. Many centuries later, the Apostle Peter will actually stand on the steps of the Temple and preach the gospel for the first time. The Holy Spirit moved powerfully through his words and 3000 gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Along the very stairs where Peter most likely preached are the ceremonial mikvehs where Jewish believers would wash before going into worship. You can see them today. The 3000 who were saved were probably baptized in those very waters! What began as a trickle soon became a mighty river as the Spirit moved in the hearts of those early believers. From 20,000 at the end of the 1st century to over 20 million some two hundred years later to over 3 billion today; the river of the gospel of Jesus Christ just gets deeper and wider as it flows! 

But even this is just a foretaste of what’s to come! In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John receives a vision that sounds eerily similar to what Ezekiel received. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations…The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation‬ ‭22:1-2, 17‬) Friends, God is still on the move! Even after all these centuries, the living waters are still flowing. Lives are still being changed by the gospel. God refuses to remain in His Temple. His grace moves out into the wastelands of our world. Into the darkest places where death reigns. And His grace brings life. Hope. Joy. Peace. Churches sprout up along its banks, bearing the fruit of the Spirit to sustain the nations. As they seek Christ themselves, they find their leaves never wither. The world itself is renewed. Restored. Redeemed. Where O Death is now thy sting? Where O Death is now thy victory? The Living Water that Christ offers us fills the void! It becomes a spring of water welling up continually in our souls. Healing our hurts. Easing our pain. Comforting our grief. Sustaining us until the day when Christ will come again to wipe away every tear and make all things new. 

Readings for tomorrow: Daniel 1-3

A New Temple

Readings for today: Ezekiel 41-44

Imagine you are God for a moment. Your people are living in exile. They are defeated. Discouraged. Depressed. They desperately need their hope restored. Because you love them with an everlasting love, you have a plan to restore them to the Promised Land and return them to Jerusalem. How would you best communicate your intentions to your people? You would show them a rebuilt Temple where your glory would once again reside. You would give them a vision of renewed worship with people, priests, and princes all playing their respective roles. You would let them know your plan to dwell with them forever.

This is exactly what Ezekiel sees. He sees a vision of a new Temple restored in Jerusalem. He sees his people and their priests and their prince all serving faithfully in their respective, God-ordained roles. He is given the exact measurements of this Temple and each of it’s sacred spaces. He sees the glory of God as it fills the Temple once again and he falls to the ground in worship.

Historically, this passage has been notoriously difficult to interpret. Some believe Ezekiel was given a vision of a 3rd Temple that will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Some take the opposite position and believe Ezekiel’s vision is purely symbolic, depicting an “ideal” Temple that will never be built. Some take the position - as I do - that Ezekiel sees a vision of a heavenly Temple that will one day descend to earth and actually finds it’s fulfillment in John’s vision of the heavenly city in the Book of Revelation. In fact, if one compares what Ezekiel sees with what John sees, there are a great number of similarities. The allusions to Eden. The river of God. The dimensions of the heavenly Temple and the heavenly city (both are perfectly square).

Of course, if one takes the eschatological view (whether you believe in a 3rd Temple being built on the Temple Mount or you believe in a heavenly Temple one day descending to earth in the New Jerusalem), you still are left to puzzle over why there would be an altar and sacrifices. After all, in John’s vision there are no such things because Christ Himself has become the perfect sacrifice. Surely, there will be no more need for a sacrificial system in heaven so why would God include these in the vision He gives to His prophet?

Here one has to remember that God’s revelation is progressive. He speaks to us in language and in terms we can understand. The people of Israel in Ezekiel’s day had no frame of reference that would include a crucified and resurrected Messiah. Their knowledge of the worship of the Living God was limited by what they knew of the Law and what they had experienced throughout their history. God therefore gave them a vision of worship that they could understand. However, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the people of God were ready for a new vision. A fresh vision. A fuller picture of what is to come and so John receives his revelation which acts as the fulfillment of the vision God first gave to Ezekiel. You and I are post-resurrection people. As such, we look forward to the day when our Messiah will return and commence His reign from His throne in the New Jerusalem. There will not be any need for a Temple or a sun or a moon for that matter for the Lord God will be our Temple and our Light. We will see Him face to face and walk with Him again in perfect relationship for all eternity.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 45-48

Live Again!

Readings for today: Ezekiel 37-40

The valley of dry bones is one of my favorite passages in all the Bible. I love how God uses Ezekiel to literally raise the dead to new life. In a sense, every time I get up to preach this is my prayer. I ask God to awaken hearts that may have become dry and stale and bring new life through the preaching of His Word and the movement of His Spirit. 

Of course, the power to raise the dead to new life doesn’t come from me. And this is of great comfort! Ezekiel was simply called to prophesy. To speak the words God gave him. This was his act of faith. To declare the goodness and glory of God to a valley full of scattered bones. We never know what season we will find ourselves in. Some are born into seasons of revival where the church is vibrant and growing and seeking the Lord with all its heart. Some are born into seasons where the church is dying and struggling and enslaved to fear and sin. Ezekiel was called to be a prophet in exile. At a time in Israel’s life where it seemed all hope had been lost. Their beautiful city had been destroyed. Their Temple razed to the ground. Their land conquered and occupied by foreign invaders. All the promises of God seemed to have come to an end. But in the midst of this national catastrophe, God brings a word of hope through His prophet. Ezekiel prophecies to the dry bones of Israel and a great “rattling” is heard. The scattered bones come together. Muscles and tissue and sinews form. The bodies rise. A great multitude as far as the eye could see. So Ezekiel prophecies again and the Spirit of God begins to blow. The dead bodies come alive! And why does God perform such a miracle? What is His primary aim and goal? Listen to what He tells Ezekiel. “I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭37‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬)

Now consider our own spiritual condition. The church in Europe and America is dying. For far too long, it has tolerated sin. Think of the scandals rocking the Roman Catholic Church or the number of influential Protestant pastors whose moral failings have been exposed. Think of the number of churches who have lost sight of their mission in their arguments over styles of church music or the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. Think of the number of churches who have exchanged the truth of the gospel for the lies of our culture. Think of the number of churches who are closing their doors every day in communities across our country. It is heartbreaking. It can seem hopeless. I close my eyes and it’s almost like I can picture the valley filling up with the bones of these formerly great congregations. 

Now let’s make it personal. As a pastor, I meet so many Christians who are struggling. Suffering. Dying spiritually. Their connection to God is tenuous at best. They’ve made choices and those choices have taken them far from God. They no longer spend time in His Word. No longer spend time with Him in prayer. No longer gather to worship with His people. Their everyday lives are filled with sinful pursuits they don’t even recognize because they do not give God a second thought. Their hearts are not broken by the things that break God’s heart. Instead, they spend their lives chasing their own happiness. Fulfilling their own wants and desires. They jump from church to church, never really putting down roots. Never really building authentic community because to do so would require them to die to themselves. It would require them to forgive past hurts. Look past the sins of others. Endure the heartache and pain that is part and parcel of the journey of building deep friendships. The end result of all this is spiritual death. This way of life ends in a valley of dry bones. But thankfully, even there, there is hope! For God can meet us in our valleys just as surely as He met Ezekiel! God can raise us to new life in these valleys just as surely as He did the people of Israel! With God, hope is never completely lost! 

Readings for tomorrow: None

The Pastoral Calling

Readings for today: Ezekiel 33-36

What does it mean to be a watchman? To be given God’s Word to speak to a specific people in a specific place and time? To be able to look out on the culture at large and see the coming judgment? To speak to it not in anger or outrage but in tenderness and compassion and love? To lay aside any natural prophetic zeal and instead kneel in sackcloth and ashes and weep over the sins of God’s people? To plead with them to return to the Lord with their whole hearts?

Ezekiel was a faithful prophet. He understood his call from the Lord clearly. He was to speak God’s Word to God’s people. Only God’s Word. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. He was to speak God’s Word as boldly and clearly and compassionately as possible. He was to speak with full conviction and hold nothing back. In so doing, he is creating the conditions whereby God’s people might respond in repentance and humility. It’s important to note that the watchman is not responsible for the results. They are only responsible for the warning they provide. So Ezekiel’s success or failure in ministry doesn’t ride on how the people respond. Those who listen to his words will be saved. Those who reject his words will be destroyed. Ezekiel will only be held responsible to speak. Truthfully. Honestly. Openly. Transparently. “You, son of man, are the watchman. I’ve made you a watchman for Israel. The minute you hear a message from me, warn them. If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked man, wicked woman, you’re on the fast track to death!’ and you don’t speak up and warn the wicked to change their ways, the wicked will die unwarned in their sins and I’ll hold you responsible for their bloodshed. But if you warn the wicked to change their ways and they don’t do it, they’ll die in their sins well-warned and at least you will have saved your own life.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭33‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

At the same time, I imagine Ezekiel loves his people. All good pastors do. We live and die with the decisions we watch people make. We grieve when they fail to turn from sin. We rejoice when we see true life change. We get discouraged when we see spiritual complacency. We get excited when we see someone finally hit rock bottom and turn to Jesus. So the burden of the watchman is a heavy one. I imagine Ezekiel felt this weight keenly. Especially as he watches God’s people respond to the Word of God preached. Some rest in their own self-righteousness. Others turn from their wickedness. The ups and downs of ministry are reflected in these words from Ezekiel 33, “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, though I say to the wicked, “There’s more, son of man. Tell your people, “A good person’s good life won’t save him when he decides to rebel, and a bad person’s bad life won’t prevent him from repenting of his rebellion. A good person who sins can’t expect to live when he chooses to sin.” It’s true that I tell good people, “Live! Be alive!” But if they trust in their good deeds and turn to evil, that good life won’t amount to a hill of beans. They’ll die for their evil life. On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, “You’ll die for your wicked life,” and he repents of his sin and starts living a righteous and just life—being generous to the down-and-out, restoring what he had stolen, cultivating life-nourishing ways that don’t hurt others—he’ll live. He won’t die. None of his sins will be kept on the books. He’s doing what’s right, living a good life. He’ll live. Your people say, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” But it’s the way they’re living that isn’t fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they’ll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he’ll come alive. Still, you keep on saying, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” We’ll see, Israel. I’ll decide on each of you exactly according to how you live.” (‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭33‬:‭12‬-‭20‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬)

There is nothing worse than seeing God’s people choose their own way over God’s Way. Nothing more disheartening God’s people choosing the path of pride and arrogance and selfishness and greed over the path of humility and surrender and selflessness and generosity. Nothing more discouraging than watching God’s people “live their truth” rather than embrace God’s Truth. It never ends well. God will not be mocked. He will not bless sin nor will He let us escape the consequences of our actions.

I think about all I see happening in our world today. There is such a lack of compassion and empathy and love towards those who are different than us. The differences may be ethnic. The differences may be economic. The differences may be political. The differences may be social. No matter where the differences lie, we seem to have so little tolerance for one another. Our hearts are extremely hard. And if we let our hearts continue to harden, we will end up expressing only anger and hate both of which are poison to the soul. We must renew our commitment to one another. We must recover our calling to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper. We must embrace the command God has given us to be watchmen and watchwomen for our families, neighbors, friends, and communities, always speaking His truth in love.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 37-40

Retributive vs. Redemptive Justice

Readings for today: Ezekiel 29-32

Many years ago, I had a long discussion with a dear friend. Someone I loved and respected. A fellow clergy person, though he was a Muslim and I was a Christian. For months we debated the nature of God’s justice. We probed the differences between Islam and Christianity. We wrestled over the problem of evil in the world and why God allows it. It was a wonderful discussion that challenged both of us. At the end of the day, I am not sure we moved the needle much for each other but we definitely came to a more clear understanding of how each of our faith’s define the justice of God.

I found myself thinking of my friend as I read these passages from Ezekiel. He would have appreciated them. For him, they describe God’s retributive justice perfectly. God deals with evil by sending it to hell. He deals with those who commit great evil by punishing them and sending them to the underworld. All those who attacked God’s people get their due. All the pagan nations finally meet their fate. God gives none of them a pass. He refuses to relent until he has utterly broken them. There’s something deep in all of us that can appreciate what God does here especially when we consider some of the horrific crimes committed against humanity throughout history.

God, however, is not in the business of retributive justice, even for the enemies of His people. What God wants is redemptive justice. A justice that restores rather than destroys. A justice focused more on rehabilitation than on punishment. A justice that expiates the guilty rather than condemns them. This is where Christians part ways with our Muslim friends. Islam has no mechanism for redemptive justice. All justice is ultimately retributive unless Allah decides - arbitrarily - to show mercy. Christianity, on the other hand, offers Jesus as a substitute in our place. Jesus makes atonement for our sin by enduring the full measure of God’s righteous judgment on sin and evil. He suffers the just penalty for sin by dying the death we deserved.

In today’s reading, the seeds of redemptive justice are sown. Over and over again, throughout this section, we see the purpose behind God’s judgment. “Then they’ll realize I am God.” God wants the nations to acknowledge His Lordship. He wants them to set aside their idols and submit to His rule and reign. He wants them to bring an end to oppression and abuse and greed and exploitation and instead, walk in His ways. He wants the same for us as well.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 33-36

The Danger of Pride

Readings for today: Ezekiel 25-28

Pride is an ever-present danger. It is the root of all sin. It is a fundamental attitude that says, “I don’t need God” or “there is no God.” Pride elevates Self and places him/her on the throne. Pride suggests “I don’t need any help.” Pride believes “I am sufficient on my own.” Pride asserts, “I am the master of my fate, the captain of my destiny.” None of these things are true, of course, but pride makes us believe them anyway. Pride blinds us to the utter weakness of our condition. Pride makes us think we are immune to random chance. Pride gives us a false sense of confidence that we are in control.

In Ezekiel, Tyre is the very embodiment of pride. It’s why the prophet spends so much time talking about her fall. She was the queen of city-states in the ancient world. Master of trade. Her ships traveled all over the Mediterranean bringing her great wealth and power. She built up a strong military. No one dared mess with her. As a city, she enjoyed order and peace which, in turn, allowed businesses to thrive. She built up strong alliances all over the Middle East. She was at the pinnacle of her power when Nebuchadnezzar came with his armies and literally wiped her from the map. As such, she stands as an example to all of what happens to even the greatest of human civilizations. And it’s why the princes of the kingdoms around her weep over her fall. They see in her their own doom as well.

Pride is a false god. An idol of our own creation. It places us in a position we were never designed to hold. Human beings were created to live in humble reliance on God. We were created to live in intimate relationship with God. Trusting Him for all our needs, wants, and desires. We were created to give glory to God in all we think, do, or say. All we create. All we produce. All the resources we accumulate are intended to be tools in our hands to bring God even more honor and praise. When we live in right relationship with God, we are humble and self-effacing. We don’t think too highly of ourselves nor do we diminish ourselves. We simply think of ourselves less. Our hearts and minds become consumed with serving God and blessing others in His name.

Why is it so tempting to give into pride? To begin to believe in ourselves rather than trust God? To start reading our own headlines and believing our own hype? The reality is that we all want a taste of glory. We all want a share in what God has done. We all want some of the credit when it comes to our achievements and success. We all enjoy being the center of attention on some level. This is why social media is so addictive, by the way. And pushing back against this tide is hard. Swimming against this current is exhausting. Cutting against this grain requires intentionality and discipline and self-denial because everything in our world today is geared towards the elevation of self. Every message we get from the world seeks to glorify the self. It’s why spending time before God each day is so critical. We need to be regularly reminded of the distance between us and God and what God has done to close that gap for us. Daily reflection on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ keeps us on our knees before Him in humility and thankfulness.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 29-32

Seeking Justice

Readings for today: Ezekiel 21-24

I remember my first trip into the inner city of Trenton, NJ. My wife and I were going there to spend time with mentors and friends. When we arrived, we parked outside their row home and I watched as my mentor stood on his front stoop and made eye contact with several different people on the block. When we went inside, I asked him what he was doing. He told me he was letting the people he lived among know I was under his protection. He lived in an impoverished neighborhood plagued by drugs and gang violence. Trenton has one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Every weekday evening at 5PM, the city empties out as government employees flee to the suburbs and gangs run the streets. When we lived nearby in grad school, there were very few restaurants. No hotels. No night life to speak of. It was a city desperate for redevelopment but there can be no such thing without justice.

I was reminded of Trenton when I read our passage today from Ezekiel. As I’ve shared before, we struggle when we get to the prophetic books of the Bible because of the harsh judgment of God. But then you start cataloging all the sins Israel has committed over the years. All the suffering she has caused. All the violence and corruption and idolatry. Add it all up and it starts to make sense. Chapter 22 begins with a question from God to his prophet. Essentially, is Jerusalem worthy of judgment? God’s answer? Let me count the ways…

She is a “a city murderous to the core, just asking for punishment.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭22:3‬) Her leaders are corrupt. They are violent men who shed innocent blood. “Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime.” (Ezekiel 22:6) The commandments are ignored. Father and mother are not honored. The Sabbath is not kept. The worship of the Living God is impure. (Ezekiel 22:7-8) Furthermore, the immigrant and refugee are exploited. The poor and fatherless and widows are not cared for. Bribery and extortion are common. (Ezekiel 22:7, 12) Sexual immorality is rampant. (Ezekiel 22:9-11) The priests of God commit sacrilege and heresy. They no longer follow the ritual purity rites set up by God to govern worship. The prophets of God tell lies. They embrace deceit. They whitewash the sins of God’s people. The princes of God are greedy. Selfish. Power-hungry. Tyrants who only care about themselves. (Ezekiel 22: 26-28) And the people follow their lead.

No wonder God is angry! The people He called by His name and set apart for Himself to be a light to the Gentiles and a witness to the nations have now become an abomination. They commit sin with impunity. They have no shame. God has warned them over and over again and has been ignored. Now the sword of God’s judgment will come. Israel will reap what she has rightfully sown. She will suffer God’s judgment as He seeks to purify her once again. “Son of man, the people of Israel are slag to me, the useless byproduct of refined copper, tin, iron, and lead left at the smelter—a worthless slag heap. So tell them, ‘God, the Master, has spoken: Because you’ve all become worthless slag, you’re on notice: I’ll assemble you in Jerusalem. As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a furnace and blow fire on it to melt it down, so in my wrath I’ll gather you and melt you down. I’ll blow on you with the fire of my wrath to melt you down in the furnace. As silver is melted down, you’ll be melted down. That should get through to you. Then you’ll recognize that I, God, have let my wrath loose on you.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭22‬:‭17‬-‭22‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

The important thing to note here is that God’s judgment is not an end in itself. It is always the means to a greater end which is to separate the dross from the silver. To refine all the impurities out of God’s people. God places us in the “furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10) in order to make us pure as gold. I know this may be a new thought to some of you. You may not be used to hearing things like “God disciplines those He loves” but it’s true. I know when I look back at the hardest and most difficult times of my own life - growing up in an alcoholic home, losing my firstborn son, watching my career implode, almost losing my marriage, etc. - I can see how God used those times to expose some things that I needed to surrender to Him. He exposed my sin. He exposed my selfishness. He exposed my pride. He exposed my addictions. He brought all those things to the light of day so they could be dealt with once and for all at the cross. For it is at the cross of Christ where God’s judgment and God’s mercy meet. Surrender your will to Him, friends, so you may experience His mercy and grace today!

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 25-28

Personal Responsibility

Readings for today: Ezekiel 17-20

“Whoever told you life was fair?” I cannot tell you the number of times I heard this phrase growing up. I would get angry because of some perceived favoritism whether it was from my parents at home or a teacher at school or a boss at work and I would argue with them that “it wasn’t fair.” My brothers got a toy I didn’t get. A classmate achieved a higher grade that I felt I deserved. A fellow employee got a bonus and I did not. It wasn’t fair in my mind and it frustrated the heck out of me. Interestingly enough, Israel makes the same argument against God in our reading for today. In Ezekiel 18, they accuse God of not being fair. They accuse Him of punishing them for the guilt of their ancestors. They accuse Him of unjustly sending them into exile. But God makes it plain that He holds each person accountable for their own sin. He refuses to punish a child for a parent’s action nor does He punish a parent for a child’s behavior. He sees all and knows all and preserves the lives of those who act righteously while taking the lives of those who act unrighteously.

“Do I hear you saying, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair!’? “Listen, Israel. I’m not fair? You’re the ones who aren’t fair! If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he’ll die for it. He’ll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he’s committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won’t die…The upshot is this, Israel: I’ll judge each of you according to the way you live. So turn around! Turn your backs on your rebellious living so that sin won’t drag you down. Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel? I take no pleasure in anyone’s death. Decree of God, the Master. Make a clean break! Live!” (Ezekiel‬ ‭18‬:‭25‬-‭28‬, ‭30‬-‭32‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

I can already hear the protests. We all know evil people who live long lives and good people whose lives are cut short. We all know evil people who seemingly get ahead in the world and good people who struggle each and every day. We all know evil people often finish “first” because they are willing to do whatever it takes while good people often finish “last” because they are constrained by their goodness not justify unrighteous means to reach a righteous end. So is God lying here? No, He is not. We must remember God doesn’t operate on our timeline. He has eternity in view. All of us will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. All of us will have to give an account for the way we lived our lives. Not a single person will get a pass. Not a single person will escape this fate. Either we will have lived in such a way that we say “Thy will be done” to God or we will have lived in such a way that He will say “thy will be done” to us. No one will be in heaven who doesn’t want to be and no one will be in hell who hasn’t chosen it. This is what God is talking about when He refers to life and death. It’s about eternal life or eternal death. Which will we choose?

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 21-24

God’s Raw Emotion

Readings for today: Ezekiel 13-16

There is immediate tension when you start talking about the emotions of God. Some within the Christian tradition believe Him to be impassible and therefore “without emotions” on some level. Some want to protect His immutable (unchanging) nature and therefore don’t like to think of God expressing any emotions lest we give the sense that He is driven by them. Some believe the description of the emotions of God that appear throughout the Bible are “anthropomorphisms” or examples of humans “projecting” onto God in an effort to understand Him. I don’t buy any of it. I think God is deeply emotional. I think He’s the author of all emotions. I think all emotions find their perfection in Him. I do not think His emotions in any way threaten His unchanging nature and consistency. Quite the opposite, I think we can count on His emotions just like we count on His righteousness, goodness, etc. I expect God to express anger when confronted with sin. I expect God to express compassion when drawing near the broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. I expect God to approach every human being with love. I expect God to hurt when we hurt and laugh when we laugh. This is the essence of what it means to be in relationship with Him.

God’s heartbreak is palpable in passages like Ezekiel 16. Here He lays out the history of His relationship with His people and expresses His deep grief over what they have become. Read the words again and hear the pain and anguish of God’s feelings of betrayal…

“On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren’t bathed and cleaned up, you weren’t rubbed with salt, you weren’t wrapped in a baby blanket. No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways. You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed—a newborn nobody wanted. And then I came by. I saw you all miserable and bloody. Yes, I said to you, lying there helpless and filthy, “Live! Grow up like a plant in the field!” And you did. You grew up. You grew tall and matured as a woman, full-breasted, with flowing hair. But you were naked and vulnerable, fragile and exposed. I came by again and saw you, saw that you were ready for love and a lover. I took care of you, dressed you and protected you. I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, God, the Master, gave my word. You became mine. I gave you a good bath, washing off all that old blood, and anointed you with aromatic oils. I dressed you in a colorful gown and put leather sandals on your feet. I gave you linen blouses and a fashionable wardrobe of expensive clothing. I adorned you with jewelry: I placed bracelets on your wrists, fitted you out with a necklace, emerald rings, sapphire earrings, and a diamond tiara. You were provided with everything precious and beautiful: with exquisite clothes and elegant food, garnished with honey and oil. You were absolutely stunning. You were a queen! You became world-famous, a legendary beauty brought to perfection by my adornments. Decree of God, the Master. But your beauty went to your head and you became a common whore, grabbing anyone coming down the street and taking him into your bed. You took your fine dresses and made “tents” of them, using them as brothels in which you practiced your trade. This kind of thing should never happen, never.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭16‬:‭4‬-‭16‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

Do you hear the heartbreak of God? Do you feel His pain as He reflects on what Israel has become after all He’s done for her? Now think about your own life. Think about all God has done for you. Did God meet you at a time in your life when you were spiritually orphaned and abandoned? Did He not reach down and save you when you were helpless and afflicted? Did He not walk by your side as you grew in wisdom and stature before God? Did He not fill you with His Spirit? Where have you, like Israel, fallen into complacency? Where have you, like Israel, begun to take God for granted? Where have you, like Israel, perhaps given yourself to other gods? Played the spiritual harlot by worshipping idols in your own life? Do you not see how this breaks the heart of God? Again, this is what it means to be in a real relationship. It means God responds to everything we think, say, or do. He is not indifferent. He is not apathetic. He is not distant. He is engaged. He is involved. He is invested. And this lends eternal weight to the decisions we make on a daily basis.

Readings for tomorrow: None

God With Us

Readings for today: Ezekiel 9-12

It is hard for us to fathom the national catastrophe that befell Israel. Harder still for us to understand the depth of their pain and suffering. Living as we do in the world’s most powerful nation, we cannot begin to grasp what it would be like to watch your entire way of life destroyed. However, all of that pales in comparison to the tragedy Ezekiel sees in his vision today. All the destruction. The loss of life. The famine and disease. And none of that would have even come close to touching the inconsolable grief he felt as he watched the Lord leave His Temple. 

From the moment God in-dwelt the Tabernacle in the wilderness, Israel had never been alone. They enjoyed His protection. They had enjoyed His provision. He had given them victory after victory. Established them in the Promised Land. Taken up residence in Jerusalem once they built the Temple. Over time, the Israelites began to take His Presence for granted. In fact, there was a sense in Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s time that the Lord was somehow “trapped” in the Temple. They believed they had the Lord caged. He had ceased to be their god and had now become a pagan totem. A magic talisman that kept them from evil. This is why they stubbornly refused to leave Jerusalem when Jeremiah called them to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. They falsely believed as long as they had the Lord locked down in His Temple that they could never be defeated.  

Imagine their shock when Ezekiel relates his vision of the Lord leaving the Temple. Departing from the east gate. Rising above the cherubim where He normally sat. Heading out of the city that bore His name. Imagine their fear as their one hope departs, leaving them alone for the first time since their days in Egypt. It’s difficult for us wrap our minds around simply because we believe God is everywhere all the time. We hold onto the promise that God is always with us. We trust He will never leave us or forsake us.  

But what if the Lord is leading us into exile? What if the Lord is leading us into a season of suffering? What if the Lord is seeking to refine us and sanctify us? Are we willing to go where He leads? The reality is we often take the Lord for granted as well. We too act as if He’s “trapped” in a relationship with us. As if God is “bound” by His unconditional love for us. We falsely believe our thoughts, attitudes, and actions don’t matter. We falsely believe we can reject holiness as a way of life. We falsely believe God’s primary goal is our personal happiness. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God does love us with an everlasting love. God does love us unconditionally. Nothing can snatch us out of His hand. Yes. Yes. And yes. But make no mistake, God is not “bound” to us. He is not “trapped” in this relationship. He is not co-dependent on us nor does He allow our whims, our feelings, our desires to shape His will for our lives. We sin at our own risk. We run ahead of God at our own peril. We stubbornly refuse to follow Him to our own detriment. 

Perhaps the best example of how God relates to us comes from the story Jesus tells of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The younger son comes to his father in the tale and asks for his inheritance. He wants nothing to do with his family any longer. He wants to be on his own. Live according to his own rules. Follow his own path. Find his own happiness. So he takes his money and leaves. The father lets him go. Many years pass. The son has spent all he has on sinful pursuits. He has abandoned all his father taught him. Now he’s desperate. Alone. Afraid. Ashamed. One day he plucks up the courage to go home. He has no hope his father will accept him back into the family but he thinks he might be able to catch on as a hired servant. But while he is far off, the father sees him. The father’s been waiting by the door. Watching out the window. Longing. Praying. Looking forward to the day when his son will come to his senses. The father runs to him. Embraces him. Gives him a robe to wear and places the signet ring back on his finger. He is home. He is one of the family again.  

It’s a powerful story. One that reminds us of the great love of God. It should also remind us of the consequences of our sin. The father never stopped loving the son just as God never stops loving us. But the father did let the son go. He did let the son make his own sinful decisions and then face the terrible consequences. The same was true for Israel. God did indeed come to dwell in His Temple. Like the father from the story, He loved His children unconditionally. Over and over He forgave them. But then there came a day when they finally said, “We don’t want you here anymore. We don’t want to be your children. We want to do our own thing. Live our own lives. Pursue our own happiness. Chase our own dreams. And they don’t include you.” So the Father did what they asked. He left His home in their hands. He removed His glorious presence. The result is pain. Suffering. Heartbreak. Such is always the case when we abandon God.

At the same time, Ezekiel sounds a note of hope. Presumably, God could have chosen to leave His Temple and head in any direction. However, He went east. East to where the exiles lived. East to Babylon. East to find His wayward children. East to be with them in captivity. East to comfort them in their diaspora. East to provide for them and make them prosper. East to join them so they never would be alone. 

Friends, God’s glory doesn’t need a Temple or a house made with human hands or a sanctuary covered in gold. The Bible declares that we are temples of the Holy Spirit! Our hearts have become the residence of God Himself! This is why Ezekiel declares, “True, I sent you to the far country and scattered you through other lands. All the same, I’ve provided you a temporary sanctuary in the countries where you’ve gone. I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you’ve been scattered and give you back the land of Israel. You’ll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I’ll give you a new heart. I’ll put a new spirit in you. I’ll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you’ll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!” (Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭16‬-‭20‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬) Furthermore, it’s why the Apostle Paul will later declare, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:16‬) Because God’s Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts, we ourselves are “being transformed into the Christ’s image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:18‬) This is amazing! The great news of the gospel is that God’s glory now lives in us!

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 13-16

Justice

Readings for today: Ezekiel 5-8

God is just. It’s a fundamental attribute of His divine character. He will not let the guilty go unpunished. He will not let evil escape judgment. He will not let those who commit crimes get off. He is fiercely committed to enforcing His Law. And, in the abstract, I think everyone expects God to be just. We want Him to judge the guilty. We want those who commit great evil to get their due. We just don’t ever want it to happen to us.

God’s justice is a common theme in the prophets. God’s people have been stockpiling sin for generations. God has graciously withheld His righteous judgment to give them ample opportunity to repent but eventually justice must have it’s day. Ezekiel lives in such a time. Israel is finally going to pay for her sins. She is going to pay for all the abuse of power, arrogance and pride, violence, oppression, exploitation, and idolatry she has committed. There is no question of her guilt. God sees all and knows all. Not a single crime escapes His notice. His ledger is full and detailed. As harsh as it may seem, they’ve earned all they’re going to get. The destruction of Jerusalem. The suffering and death of so many at the hands of the Babylonians. God refuses to relent until every last sin is paid for in full.

I recently came across a thread on social media from a well-known, very progressive rabbi. He spends a lot of time harshly critiquing the Christian faith. One of his main critiques is the lack of justice in our faith. He simply believes a God who forgives is unjust. He is not worthy of worship. Yes, he knows atonement theology. He knows we believe Jesus became our substitute and took God’s judgment on Himself. He just simply cannot bring himself to believe it. In fact, he gets angry when anyone presses him on it. He believes such an act makes God unrighteous. How could a just God punish the innocent in place of the guilty? What he misses, of course, or simply cannot accept, is the fact that Jesus is God Incarnate. God Himself taking on human flesh and becoming one of us in order that He might stand in our place. God didn’t just choose some random person to pay for the sins of the world. He didn’t sacrifice a prophet or good, moral teacher in our place. He laid down His own life to satisfy the demands of divine justice so that He, in turn, might show us mercy. That’s what the gospel is all about and it continues to be a “stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

I know it’s not easy to read through passages like the one we read today. The blood and violence and righteous anger of God is disturbing. And yet, it should remind us yet again of the unbelievable sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. It should fill our hearts with gratitude for all Jesus has done for us. Jesus took my place. Jesus stood in my stead. Jesus paid the price I had earned. He endured the punishment I deserved. He did this so that I might be washed clean, set free, and live with Him for all eternity.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 9-12

The Glory of God

Readings for today: Ezekiel 1-4

How many times have I prayed over the years to see the glory of God? But am I prepared for God to answer that prayer? Reading through the opening words of Ezekiel is a bit frightening. Ezekiel’s vision of God’s glory is simply overwhelming. Angels in flight. Faces constantly shifting and changing. Wheels spinning. Fire and lightning flashing. It levels the prophet. “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭1:28‬) Such is always the case when we come face to face with God’s glory. Moses could only bear to see it in passing. Isaiah cried out in fear because he was a man of unclean lips. Ezekiel falls on his face. Even the disciples fall down prostrate before the Lord when He reveals Himself in power and exercises His divine authority.

Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us on our faces. He is not interested in making us grovel before Him. He has no need to prove Himself to us or demonstrate His power over us. Instead, He lifts us up. He invites us to become part of what He’s doing in the world. He encourages us and strengthens us. Listen to what He says to Ezekiel, “Son of man, stand up. I have something to say to you.” The moment I heard the voice, the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. As he spoke to me, I listened.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭MSG‬‬) God has a plan for Ezekiel’s life. He will use Ezekiel to speak His Word to His people. There will be words of comfort and confrontation. Blessed words of hope and strong words of warning. It’s an open question as to whether or not they will receive God’s Word, but no matter what, they will know a prophet has been among them. A man full of the Spirit of the Living God.

The Word Ezekiel is called to preach is not easy. The Spirit of God will make his face like flint. His forehead like emery. His words will fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. Most likely, Ezekiel will be an outcast. Isolated and lonely. Perpetually misunderstood. Many will believe he is insane. Still the call remains. This makes Ezekiel bitter on some level. He must feel trapped. Torn between the overwhelming glory of God on one hand and the hard hearts of his own people on the other. “Then the Spirit picked me up. Behind me I heard a great commotion—“Blessed be the Glory of God in his Sanctuary!”—the wings of the living creatures beating against each other, the whirling wheels, the rumble of a great earthquake. The Spirit lifted me and took me away. I went bitterly and angrily. I didn’t want to go. But God had me in his grip. I arrived among the exiles who lived near the Kebar River at Tel Aviv. I came to where they were living and sat there for seven days, appalled.” (Ezekiel‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

Only the Spirit of God can sustain such a call. Only the Spirit of God can hold him together as he faces the challenges of the years ahead and fulfills God’s call on his life. Standing as a watchman. Lying on each side for over a year. Eating unclean food cooked over human waste. It’s brutal. And yet the Spirit is there with him to sustain him miraculously. Every time Ezekiel falls, the Spirit lifts him up. Every time Ezekiel finds himself at a loss for words, the Spirit is there to give him the words to speak. Every time Ezekiel feels alone and afraid, he feels the Lord’s hand upon him. “God grabbed me by the shoulder and said, “Get up. Go out on the plain. I want to talk with you.” So I got up and went out on the plain. I couldn’t believe my eyes: the Glory of God! Right there! It was like the Glory I had seen at the Kebar River. I fell to the ground, prostrate. Then the Spirit entered me and put me on my feet. He said, “Go home and shut the door behind you.” And then something odd: “Son of man: They’ll tie you hand and foot with ropes so you can’t leave the house. I’ll make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so you won’t be able to talk and tell the people what they’re doing wrong, even though they are a bunch of rebels. But then when the time is ripe, I’ll free your tongue and you’ll say, ‘This is what God, the Master, says:. . .’ From then on it’s up to them. They can listen or not listen, whichever they like. They are a bunch of rebels!” (‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭27‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

We live in challenging times ourselves. It’s easy to become discouraged when we see what’s happening all around us. When we encounter the hardened hearts of so many people. When people refuse to listen to the Lord and return to Him. It’s easy to become bitter and disillusioned when we see so much pain. So much suffering. So much heartbreak. Much of it self-inflicted. This is especially true for those of us who have seen God’s glory revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ. Once we come to know Him, we can’t imagine life without Him. His Spirit comes to live inside us, lifting us up out of the dust and ashes. He strengthens us and encourages us. He confronts us and convicts us. He heals us and restores us. He sustains us through every trial and wipes away every tear. No matter what challenges you may face, know God is with you today!

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 5-8

Processing our Pain

Readings for today: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

What comes after lament? That’s a question I often deal with as a pastor. I walk with people through crisis. I sit with people in their grief. I do my best to comfort them as they mourn. I help them process their pain. After making space for all of the heartache, what comes next? After walking through the valley of the shadow of death together, what happens when one gets to the other side? Honestly, in my experience, this is where the hard work really begins.

I think of a woman I once knew who was married for decades. On the outside, things in their family looked good. He was very successful in his business. They were able to travel the world together. Pursue whatever their hearts desired. But after he passed and the funeral was over, the real truth began to emerge. Alcoholism. Abuse. A life of torment and fear. As the widow and I met to process what she was feeling, we talked about her need for healing. Her need to recover. Her need to be patient and give herself time to work through all the emotions she was experiencing. We also talked about what life would look like on the other side. Her desire to be married again. Her desire to pursue some of the dreams her husband had denied her. Her desire to reconnect with their estranged children and recover some of the years they had lost. This would require a lot of introspection and self-reflection. Owning what she needed to own and disowning what she needed to disown. Thankfully, she had the courage to walk the road faithfully before the Lord. She took up hobbies like horseback riding and cooking. She renewed her relationship with her son. She began dating a good man who treated her with the love and respect she deserved. It was beautiful to watch.

We catch Jeremiah at a much earlier, much darker place in the journey. He is still very much processing his pain. The heartache is real. The emotions are visceral. Though the reading is hard, it is good to know we can be raw and real before God. At the same time, we see the stirrings of a new season begin to emerge as well. Jeremiah calling for the people of Israel to think about what comes next after lament. Once they’ve fully grieved, they will need to take some time to reflect and repent and renew their faith and trust in God. “Who do you think “spoke and it happened”? It’s the Master who gives such orders. Doesn’t the High God speak everything, good things and hard things alike, into being? And why would anyone gifted with life complain when punished for sin? Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under God. Let’s lift our hearts and hands at one and the same time, praying to God in heaven…” (Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭37‬-‭42‬ ‭MSG‬‬) Jeremiah knows what comes next. He knows the people of God must return to Him if they are to experience the healing and restoration their hearts so desperately long for.

Anyone who has ever walked with grief knows the journey well. It begins in deep darkness where it’s hard to see any light at all. Momentum begins to pick up as we take our initial steps and the darkness doesn’t seem as deep. As we continue walking the road, a light does appear at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, as we keep doing the work, we emerge into the bright sunshine of a new day. God is faithful! He will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death and as we turn to Him - lifting up our hearts and hands in worship - He promises to cast out all our fear and bring us to green pastures and still waters, to places where we will find our souls restored.

Readings for tomorrow: Ezekiel 1-4

Dealing with Despair

Readings for today: Lamentations 1:1-3:36

Reading Lamentations is hard work. It’s hard to enter into the pain and heartbreak Jeremiah feels as he watches his nation be razed to the ground. All he holds dear vanishes in a moment. His friends are struck down by the enemy. Those who are left face mass starvation and forced deportation. They are beset on every side. There is nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. There is no peace. No security. Everything they once counted on is now gone. We can’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like. Thankfully, we’ve never had to face such things in America. But I’ve spent time with those who have. I’ve visited camps where internally displaced people live who’ve lost everything due to war and conflict and violence. The conditions they live in are brutal. The challenges they face everyday are overwhelming. The pain they go through is unbearable. Their suffering is immense. I have wept with them. Prayed with them. Done what little I can to help them. Mostly, I’ve been completely at a loss to know what to do.

Despair is hard to handle. It overwhelms the senses. It fills us with anxiety and fear. It paralyzes us. We can’t see a way forward. We can’t think straight. It leaves us feeling helpless and hopeless and utterly lost and alone. Jeremiah is expressing all these feelings and more as he writes his lament for Jerusalem and his people. He is not writing as an impartial observer. He is not concerned with being objective. He is feeling everything they are feeling. He is experiencing everything they are experiencing. His struggle with despair is just as real. But Jeremiah has one thing many of his people do not. He has faith. He trusts in the Lord. He takes his despair at all he sees and experiences to God and lays it as His feet. Listen again as he describes it in his own words…

“I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won’t ever walk out and fail to return. If he works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense. He takes no pleasure in making life hard, in throwing roadblocks in the way.” (Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭33‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

What a powerful testimony and what a great reminder. On some level, I imagine all of us know what it’s like to hit rock bottom. All of us have faced trouble in our lives. All of us have tasted the ashes. Swallowed the poison. Felt utterly lost and alone on some level. What I’ve discovered in my own life is that’s where God does His best work. When I came to the end of myself in 2009, I found God waiting for me there. When things were at their darkest and I had nothing left and nowhere to turn, God was with me. His loyal love did not run out. His merciful love never dried up. His faithfulness was great and transcended my broken condition. In my despair, I surrendered to Him. I entered the silence. I bowed my head in prayer. I stopped striving and trying so hard. I learned to wait. And to face my fears head on. What I discovered is the worst is never the worst because God is faithful. He will deliver those who turn to Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

False Gods

Readings for today: Jeremiah 51, Psalm 137

The human race is haunted by the primordial memory of a relationship with God. It’s coded into our DNA. It’s like a hole in our souls. We simply cannot deny it nor can we dismiss it or ignore it. It’s arguably what makes Homo Sapiens unique among all other animal species. And it’s why we crave transcendence. It’s why we engage in worship. It’s why we feel the way we do when we see a beautiful sunrise or breathe the air on the summit of a mountain or feel the power as we swim in the depths of the ocean. There is a sense of awe and wonder embedded deep within all of our hearts. This is why we are so adept at making our own gods. We have a desperate need to connect with the divine. We make them out of wood, stone, and precious metals. We give them all kinds of names. We associate them with all sorts of activities. Some of them are very human-like. Others are quite other-worldly. Some of them even represent a combination of species. All of them represent power and control to us on some level which is why we seek to appease them. But they are false. They are not real. They carry no weight. They have no authority. They are empty and lifeless which is why God, the True God, hates them so very much.

As Christians, we worship the True God. How do I know? I know because He has revealed Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. He actually entered human history and became one of us. His suffering and death is a matter of historical record as is His resurrection. The tomb was empty and hundreds of eye-witnesses saw Him face to face. They touched Him. They ate with Him. They spoke with Him. In Christ, God made Himself known. No other religion can make this kind of claim. No other god or goddess has revealed him/herself in this way. This is what sets us apart. It’s what gives us confidence that when we pray and when we obey and when we place our faith in God, we are not just engaging in wishful thinking. Our hopes are not blind. Our faith is not just a wild guess. We believe in the One True and Living God who created all things, redeemed all things, and one day will make all things new. I love how Jeremiah describes it in today’s reading…

“By his power he made earth. His wisdom gave shape to the world. He crafted the cosmos. He thunders and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches the wind from his warehouse. Stick-god worshipers look mighty foolish! god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds, dead sticks— deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. They’re nothing but stale smoke. When the smoke clears, they’re gone. But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing; he put the whole universe together, With special attention to Israel. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!” (Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭15‬-‭19‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

Why does our God hate false gods so much? It’s because they are frauds. They are nothing but smoke and hot air. They offer nothing because they have no power or authority. Those who place their trust in false gods end up bitterly disappointed. They end up wounded and in pain. They receive no strength to overcome their challenges, no wisdom to help address the complex issues life often throws our way, and no power to help us endure any suffering. They are left alone and it’s not good for human beings to be alone! I think of a conversation I had with one of my kids several years ago. She had a friend who was suffering from all kinds of mental, emotional, and physical health issues. She had no one to talk to. No support from her family. No friends to speak of besides my daughter. No trust in her teachers at school. She felt very much alone. Not only that but she had placed her faith in false gods. Spirit animals who were not real and so had no spiritual resources to draw on to help her make it through. I encouraged my daughter to share Christ with her. To help her connect with a God who is real and alive and active in our world. A God who loved her with an everlasting love and who promised to be there for her no matter what challenges she might be going through. A God who is with us in good times and bad. A God who is faithful to walk us through every dark valley. This is why what we believe matters, friends! If we are counting on false gods to get us through life, we will be let down. We will live lives of fear and anxiety and quiet desperation. But if we place our faith in the true God, we will never be forsaken.

Readings for tomorrow: None

The Miracle of God’s Chosen People

Readings for today: Jeremiah 49-50

History is littered with the ruins of empires. Civilizations come and go. Kings rise and fall. Even the most powerful like Rome or Egypt or China or the Ottoman Empire eventually succumb to Father Time. He truly is undefeated with one notable, miraculous exception. For thousands of years, God has preserved a people for Himself. For centuries, God has protected His people, guided His people, and prevented their annihilation. Has there ever been a group more oppressed than the Jewish people? Has there ever been a group more targeted by more pagan empires than the people of God? Egypt tried to wipe them out. Assyria, Babylon, and eventually the Persian Empire tried to bring an end to the Jewish people. Those empires gave way to the pogroms of Europe, the Crusades and Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church, and eventually the Final Solution in Germany. Even in our time, there has been a marked rise in anti-semitism. Synagogues have been attacked. Jewish homes and businesses targeted. It is happening in America as well as across Europe and, of course, the Middle East. Many of the nations surrounding modern-day Israel still make her complete destruction the cornerstone of their foreign policy though, thankfully, there are signs that may be changing.

The reading from Jeremiah for today seems to highlight this reality. Jeremiah lists the number of nations who will rise and fall while Israel endures. Ammon. Edom. Damascus. Kedar. Elam. Even Babylon herself! The names may not mean much to us but these were the tribal and even global powers of their day. All of them thrown on the trash heap of history by God Himself. All of them consigned to the dustbin of history by the Lord. Their gods have been forgotten. Their cities lay in ruins. Their glory forgotten. Meanwhile, Israel endures. Though she has been consistently oppressed and persecuted. Though she has been beaten down and chased from seemingly every nation on earth. Though she has had to endure so much, she remains. She is still here. She still finds ways to not just survive but even to thrive. Surely, one can see the hand of the Lord in this?

Does this mean Israel is perfect? Absolutely not. Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets catalog her sins. What was true for ancient Israel holds true for modern day Israel as well. She continues to perpetuate the sins of her past in many ways. In many ways, she looks just like the ungodly nations around her. She acts just like the ungodly nations around her. The same is true for the church as well. Those of us who’ve been “grafted in” as part of the people of God as the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans 11. We too look far too much like the world. We’ve adopted the ways and means of the world to try and accomplish Kingdom ends and it never seems to work out well. Quite the opposite, in fact. Thankfully, God is faithful in the face of our unfaithfulness. God is loyal in the face of our betrayal. God is good in the face of our evil. God is righteous in the face our unrighteousness. He preserves and protects us even from ourselves. Though we are “lost sheep” and our “shepherds lead us astray.” Though we “wander aimless through the hills and lose track of home.” Though we “can’t remember where we came from and everyone tries to take advantage of us.” Though we “abandoned our True Pasture and the hope of our ancestors”, God will never let us go. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. He will make us lie down in green pastures. He will lead us beside still waters. He will restore our souls if we but turn to Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 51, Psalm 137

God’s Personal Attention

Readings for today: Jeremiah 45-48

Sometimes I wonder why God is interested in my life. Of all the billions of people who live or who have lived on this earth, why in the world would God take time for me? I’m not all that important. I’m not all that significant. My life is pretty mundane as a general rule. I get up. Brush my teeth. Take a shower. Go to work. Come home. Eat dinner. Spend time with my family. Watch a show or read a good book. God has a cosmos to run. He has a universe to rule. He’s got nations to raise up and take down. Why would He take an interest in me?

Then I read this Word today for Baruch in Jeremiah 45. In the middle of one of the major prophetic books of the Bible which details the future empires and nations, God takes time out to address Baruch. Jeremiah’s scribe. His secretary. A man who barely makes a blip on the radar screen. We don’t know much about Baruch other than he was devoted to Jeremiah. He served as his scribe. His disciple. His faithful friend. He sticks with Jeremiah through thick and thin. Through all the ups and downs. He must have loved Jeremiah very much to share in his sufferings. According to Josephus, an ancient Jewish historian, Baruch was a member of the Jewish aristocracy. A chamberlain in King Zedekiah’s court. He was clearly a courageous man as he often acted as Jeremiah’s messenger and mouthpiece. He risked all kinds of danger to make known the Word of God. And God recognized his efforts.

“These are the words of God, the God of Israel, to you, Baruch. You say, ‘These are bad times for me! It’s one thing after another. God is piling on the pain. I’m worn out and there’s no end in sight.’ “But God says, ‘Look around. What I’ve built I’m about to wreck, and what I’ve planted I’m about to rip up. And I’m doing it everywhere—all over the whole earth! So forget about making any big plans for yourself. Things are going to get worse before they get better. But don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive through the whole business.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭45‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭MSG‬‬) Baruch clearly went through times of depression. Times of deep discouragement. I am sure he despaired as he looked around at what was happening to his country. But God was faithful. He let Baruch know how and why these things would come to pass but also promised to preserve his life. No matter where Baruch went, God would be with him. He would protect him and provide for him. He would be blessed. (By the way, Baruch literally means “blessed” in Hebrew.)

What about you? How are you feeling as you survey the landscape of our nation today? What emotions rise up in your heart as you watch the news or scroll through social media? How have the issues of the past few years impacted you? Have you found yourself - like Baruch - crying out to God saying, “These are bad times for me! It’s one thing after another. God is piling on the pain. I’m worn out and there’s no end in sight.” I know my own feelings of despair as I consider the mountain of gospel work that must be done in my church family, in my community, in our nation, and around the world. It is daunting to say the least! I believe God is breaking down what He has built and plucking up what He has planted in order to draw the world to Himself. In the midst of all that is happening, do I trust God to be faithful? To protect and preserve my life for as long as He wills? Do I trust God to be with me as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death? Do I see myself as blessed? Am I willing to put the work in to be a blessing even if that means confronting the powers and principalities of our own world just as Baruch confronted the powers and principalities in his?

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 49-50

Logical Consequences

Readings for today: Obadiah, Psalms 82-83

I have four children, all of whom have entered or are entering adulthood. One of the things we’ve tried hard to teach them over the years is the law of logical consequences. Every single one of our decisions in life - good or bad - results in consequences. When we are responsible and do the right thing, most of the time the consequences are good. We are blessed. We succeed. We get ahead. When we are irresponsible and do the selfish thing, most of the time the consequences are bad. We struggle. We invite all kinds of anxiety and fear into our lives. We fall behind. I realize it’s not always this way. Life does have a way of throwing us curves. Sometimes those who are irresponsible are blessed. Those are responsible are cursed. The rain falls on the just and unjust alike. But I do believe, by and large, logical consequences hold true.

What is true for us as individuals is also true for the nations. God is the judge of the nations of the earth and His judgments are always righteous and good. He repays the wicked for their wickedness and He blesses those who walk in faithful obedience. Consider the nation of Edom. Descendants of Esau. Jacob’s brother. One would think their bonds of kinship would make them allies for Israel but sadly, they were most often enemies. When Israel struggled and needed them the most, they refused to help. Not only that but they took advantage of her weakness and exploited her brokenness for their own gain. They refused to lift a finger as Israel was carted off into exile. They laughed at the plight of their cousins, refusing to give shelter to refugees. God, of course, was watching. He took note of how Edom treated Israel and He will judge them for their sins.

“God’s Judgment Day is near for all the godless nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. What you did will boomerang back and hit your own head. Just as you partied on my holy mountain, all the godless nations will drink God’s wrath. They’ll drink and drink and drink— they’ll drink themselves to death. But not so on Mount Zion—there’s respite there! a safe and holy place! The family of Jacob will take back their possessions from those who took them from them. That’s when the family of Jacob will catch fire, the family of Joseph become fierce flame, while the family of Esau will be straw. Esau will go up in flames, nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes.” God said it, and it is so.” (Obadiah‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

If you are like me, you often wonder at the state of the world. You get frustrated and angry when you see corruption in political leadership, the powerful exploit the powerless, nations invade other nations, and the impact this has on the poorest of the world. You may even cry out to God - as I often do - “How long, O Lord? How long will you let such things stand?” Obadiah is a great reminder of the coming Judgment Day of God where all things will be set right. Evil will be repaid with evil. Good with good. Righteousness will win the day. Justice will be done. The consequences of our choices will fall either on us or on Christ.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 45-48

Fear vs. Faith

Readings for today: Jeremiah 41-44

As a pastor, one of the real challenges I face is to help people make decisions based on faith rather than fear. Fear is a powerful emotion that is difficult to resist. It warps how we think. It makes what might otherwise seem irrational rational on some level. It activates the adrenal glands in our body, creating a physical response of fight or flight that often drives us to make rash decisions. It elicits strong emotions like anger, frustration, deep heartache, and pain. When we allow fear into our lives, it almost always results in suffering on some level. The suffering could be relational, emotional, spiritual, or physical. Fear is the root of so much evil in the world which is why we must resist it at all costs and instead, choose to walk by faith.

Tragically, the people of Israel continue to walk in fear. After the assassination of the Babylonian governor, the people come to Jeremiah to ask how they should respond. Should they stay in the land or should they flee to Egypt? Jeremiah seeks the Lord and the Lord graciously responds. “This is the Message from God, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your prayer. He says, ‘If you are ready to stick it out in this land, I will build you up and not drag you down, I will plant you and not pull you up like a weed. I feel deep compassion on account of the doom I have visited on you. You don’t have to fear the king of Babylon. Your fears are for nothing. I’m on your side, ready to save and deliver you from anything he might do. I’ll pour mercy on you. What’s more, he will show you mercy! He’ll let you come back to your very own land.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭42‬:‭9‬-‭12‬ ‭MSG‬‬) The message is clear. Choose faith over fear. Trust the Lord rather than your own feelings. Look to God and not to Egypt for protection. Sadly, the people’s hearts are too hard. They cannot hear the Word of the Lord. They reject His counsel and they flee to Egypt with the hope of escaping the coming judgment. Judgment will follow them, however, and the very thing they fear most - death - will come to pass.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen this happen over the course of my pastoral career. People come to me from all walks of life, dealing with all kinds of issues, trying to avoid all kinds of consequences for their decisions. The message I have for them is the same message Jeremiah had for the people of Israel. Place your trust in God. Hold fast to His Word. Walk in integrity before Him. Refuse to give into your fear. Resist the temptation to take the path of least resistance. I wish I could I say I had more success than Jeremiah. Sadly, I do not. Most walk away and give into their fears and the very thing they were hoping to avoid - divorce, addiction, the breakdown of their family, loss of their job, etc. - comes to pass. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.” Choose the way of Jesus. It’s the only way that leads to abundant life.

Readings for tomorrow: Obadiah, Psalms 82-83

Open Your Eyes

Reading for today: 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. 

We sang these famous words yesterday during worship and they never cease to move me. I found myself thinking about John Newton who first penned those words as he reflected back on his life as a slave ship captain. I found myself thinking about my own spiritual blindness as a young man before meeting Christ at college. And then I read today’s passage about the fall of the Kingdom of Judah and the end of the reign of Zedekiah and once again, the words ran through my brain. What is it that keeps us from seeing God? What is it that keeps us from seeing the world as God sees it? Seeing other human beings as God sees them? Why are we so blind?

The answer, of course, is sin. Sin is a condition we are born into. A power we are born enslaved to. It’s not something we can escape on our own and it keeps us from seeing and trusting God. I don’t know about you but when I read the stories from the Kings and Chronicles, I find myself wondering why these kings struggled so much to follow God. Why did they not place their trust in Him? Did they not know their history? Could they not see that when kings were faithful, God brought blessing and when kings were unfaithful, God brought the curse? Why were they so blind? The Scriptures make much of Zedekiah’s blindness. Jeremiah mentions it twice. The historians of Israel mention it as well. Perhaps it’s a painful reminder of how broken Zedekiah had become or perhaps it signals something deeper. A spiritual blindness that afflicted Zedekiah for years before God’s judgment fell.

As I said above, I remember my own spiritual blindness. I was raised in the church. My parents were faithful to take me to worship every Sunday. I sang in the choir. I was a leader at youth group. By all accounts, I was incredibly engaged. However, my heart was hard. I was blinded by my own desires. My own fears. My own doubts. I could not see God. I could not hear God. I did not want to follow God. This was all exposed my freshman year of college. Once outside of the protective rhythms and boundaries my parents set, I floundered. I was lost. I wandered aimlessly. I drank heavily. I skipped class. Most of all, I avoided God. When confronted, I blamed others. I blamed my professors. I blamed my friends. I was so blind I could not see the wretch I’d become.  

That’s when I met Jesus. He confronted me on a sidewalk right outside the UMC up on the campus of the University of Colorado. He opened my eyes and it was like I was seeing the world for the very first time. The light was blinding. The exposure painful. All my sins were laid bare before Him. There was no escape. I was overwhelmed by sorrow. Overwhelmed by grief. Overwhelmed by the depth of my sin. The road back to spiritual health was not easy. It was one tentative step after another. It required facing the consequences of my actions. The brokenness of my relationships. The anxiety of my failures. But Jesus was faithful. He was the light for my feet. The lamp for my path. Because my eyes had been opened, I could actually see the way He laid out for me.  

I have no idea where you find yourself this morning. I have no idea if you are blind or if you can see. Perhaps you are like Zedekiah or like I was prior to receiving Christ. Groping in the dark. Stumbling around in the shadows. Blinded by your desires. Fears. Doubts. Failures. I am praying for you to have your eyes opened by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you see dimly or through a glass darkly. Your vision is blurry because you have allowed something to come between you and Christ. I am praying you find clarity as you fix your eyes on Jesus. Perhaps God has opened your eyes to His majesty and glory. Rejoice! Thank the Lord for the great work He has done! Ask Him to give you the grace to see even more clearly and distinctly and to help others do the same.

Reading for tomorrow: Jeremiah 41-44