“‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” – Ezekiel 16:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 9, 2014): Ezekiel 16

The Harappan Civilization exists in the Indus Valley in modern day Pakistan 4500 years ago. The modern significance of the Harappan Civilization is in the discovery of advanced architectural wonders and in the mystery of what ever happened to them. At the height of the culture, the Indus Valley inhabitants appear to have a mode of writing, a well-developed trade and transportation system as well as an interest in producing significant works of art. Aiding in the civilizations ability to create great architectural marvels was the development in the valley of ways of very accurately measuring length, weight and time. The people of the Indus Valley were among the first peoples on earth to have developed a system of uniform weights and measures. All of this should have placed the Indus Valley residents on the fast track to success. Yet somewhere between 3000 to 3500 years ago, the Harappan people mysteriously disappeared. Some experts have postulated a violent end to the civilization, but we really do not have any evidence of that. It appears that they just faded away.

One of the proposed culprits that brought about the end of the Harappan Civilization was simple climate change. It appears that there was a local change in the environmental conditions of the Indus Valley about the time that the civilization disappeared. The system of monsoons that allowed the vegetation in the valley to flourish, weakened and moved toward the east. This resulted in a cooler and drier world for the Indus Valley. As a result, the crops that they had traditionally planted refused to grow. Starvation would have followed. Many died and others probably just simply moved on leaving the remains of their civilization for us to find – and a mystery for us to examine.

But the reality in the ancient world is that it didn’t take much for a civilization to die. Many did, some left us puzzles that we can solve, others left us stories for us to tell and retell. Still others have achieved the status of myth and legend. We are no longer even sure if they existed (the mystery of Atlantis would fall into that category. One researcher humorously admitted that probably the only way we will ever be able to prove that Atlantis existed is if we find a sign that says – Atlantis: Population 58,672). And there are a multitude of civilizations that have disappeared so quickly that they have left us no evidence. We don’t wonder about them because they didn’t get to live long enough to give us anything to remember them by.

God says that Israel should have been one of those short lived civilizations. Ezekiel makes a comparison between the birth of Israel and biological birth of a baby. In biological births, there is a set procedure, a list of things that must be done if the baby is going to survive – the umbilical cord has to be cut and properly tied off, the baby has to be cleaned and sterilized minimizing the risk of infection. The Baby then needs to be fed and protected. But in the early days of Israel none of these elemental things were done. The newborn nation was simply dumped in the desert of Egypt. It existed in its own pain and in its own blood. There was no reason for Israel to survive.

But they did. And according to Ezekiel, the only explanation for life was that God spoke the word over them commanding them to live. Israel does not belong among all of the lost civilizations of the world even though they really should. With Israel, the real mystery is how did the nation survive? And the answer is that they live because God has decreed that they should – and there is no other reason that is needed.

I believe that God is still speaking the same words over his church. There is no reason why the Christian Church has survived through the past 2000 years of its existence. It is certainly not because of anything that the church has done. The only reason that I can discern for why we still exist is simply that God has spoken over his church and commanded her to live. And we will live until God stops speaking.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 17