On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance of that gateway. – Ezekiel 46:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 31, 2023): Ezekiel 46

Today ends the month of August. This day has always held a significant meaning for me. As a kid, the last day of August was also the last day of summer. I know summer doesn't officially end until 12:49 A.M (Mountain Daylight Time) on Saturday, September 23. (Did you know that we can track the end of summer right down to the minute when it ends?) But for me, August 31 is the date. By the time the calendar changed to September, the temperatures were already dropping, baseball was in its final stretch, the National Football League season was set to begin, and National Hockey League Training and Preseason competitions were preparing to take the ice. But maybe most importantly, the summer school break is officially over, and, at least as a kid, the return to the classroom always happened in the early days of September.

I just recently discovered that there is a meteorological beginning to the season based on our standard twelve-month calendar and the temperature cycles. And, according to the meteorological changing of the seasons, they agree with me. Meteorologically, today is the last day of summer, and tomorrow fall begins. And, according to that meteorological calendar, winter starts on December 1 instead of the Astronomical beginning of Winter on December 21 (at 8:27 P.M if you want to know the exact moment when winter begins this year). I think December 1 makes more sense according to how we live our lives.

Ancient cultures didn't have our modern calendars, and often, they marked the passage of time and the seasons with the lunar calendar. That meant that the month began with the birth of the New Moon, and it grew during the early days of the month and shrank during the later days. But what was critical was the moon.

Ezekiel lays out the dimensions of his Temple, and he says there will be worship on the Sabbath and the New Moons. The New Moon had significance for Jewish believers that it just doesn't hold for us. The mention of the New Moons reminds us that this passage was not intended for us but for the worshippers of Judaism before the birth of Christ.

I sometimes find it a little amusing that we have people around us who can get very legalistic about returning to the original Sabbath, Saturday. Still, I have never heard them advocate a return to the Lunar Calendar. Maybe that is because changing worship experiences from Sunday to Saturday is relatively easy; we still understand a seven-day week. But to go to a lunar calendar would mean throwing away our thirty-one, thirty, and twenty-eight day months to months that would last approximately twenty-nine and half days, or somewhere between twenty-eight and thirty days, every month. Such a change would be complicated. And maybe it is too much work to justify anyone from our century to want to celebrate worship events tied to the New Moon and a lunar Calendar that we simply don't use anymore.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 47

When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the LORD a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits wide; the entire area will be holy. – Ezekiel 45:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 30, 2023): Ezekiel 45

Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park in the city of New York. It is the largest park in New York City and is more than three times the size of Central Park in Manhattan. Historically, the land was part of Anne Hutchinson's colony. Hutchinson's colony existed in rebellion to the religious beliefs about the concept of grace that existed in that day. However, conflict existed between the First Nations groups native to the area and the British colonies under the leadership of Willem Kleft. Anne Hutchinson maintained good relations with the area's original inhabitants, but those positive relationships couldn't save her. In 1643, a band of First Nation warriors destroyed the colony and killed Hutchinson and her family at Pelham Bay.

Pelham Bay was also the site of a Civil War Battle that ended with a British Victory in 1776. Essentially, the area included an archipelago of Islands divided by salt marshes and beaches. Pelham Bay Park was created in 1888 and covers 2,772 acres inside the City of New York.

Ezekiel specifies how the Temple was to be laid out. Both Solomon's Temple and Zerubbabel's Temple existed as a district within the city of Jerusalem. As a separate area in Jerusalem, Temple Mount covers about 35 acres, almost a hundred times smaller than Pelham Bay Park. However, if Ezekiel's new Temple was supposed to be part of an urban environment, the size of Ezekiel's holy district is massive.

Ezekiel specifies that the length of the Temple Area for the new Temple would be 25,000 cubits, meaning the east/west dimension of the holy district would be 13 kilometers (8 miles) long. The width of the Temple area was to be 20,000 cubits, which would indicate that the north/south dimension of the holy district would be 11 kilometers (6.5 miles). So, in comparison, as we have already mentioned, Temple Mount itself, if you occupy every inch of the area, is 35 acres. Pelham Bay Park covers 2,772 acres in the City of New York, and Ezekiel's Holy Area covers 35,336 acres. Ezekiel's Holy District is more than ten times bigger than Pelham Bay Park and a thousand times larger than the top of Temple Mount. Even Disney World, which comes in at a vast 25,000 acres, would be significantly smaller than Ezekiel's Holy District.

Going to the Temple would be an all-day experience for those in great shape. And if it were built today, it would require a mass transit system just to get people around the Temple complex.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 46

The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the LORD. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way." – Ezekiel 44:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 29, 2023): Ezekiel 44

In my mind, I can see the day. The sun shines brightly as a man wearing unusual clothes gathers by the river. The man is preaching. A new day has come. It is a day of Revolution. Gone are the legalistic days of the past and the dominance of the priests and kings over the nation of Israel. The man said that he would baptize the people with water, but one was coming soon who would baptize the people with the Spirit of God and with fire.

On this day, as the people listened to this strange-looking man, another man appeared on the horizon. The strangely dressed man couldn't believe his eyes. The very one he was speaking about was walking toward him and the group who had gathered around listening to him. And when he arrived, this second man walked right up to the strange-looking man, embraced him, and told him he wanted to be baptized.

The strange-looking man looks at him. How could this be? How could he, a wandering preacher, baptize the one who is the Messiah? The strange-looking man shakes his head. "No. I can't baptize you. If anything, I need you to baptize me."

But Jesus replies to John. "' Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.' Then John consented" (Matthew 3:15). Did Jesus need to be baptized? I understand John's reticence. Baptism is about repentance and the forgiveness of sin. It is a statement that says to the world that we have turned our back on the lives we used to live and have embraced God's way. But Jesus was without sin. Why would he need to be baptized?

Still speaking of the Temple he had seen in his vision, Ezekiel begins talking of the Temple's Eastern Gate. The Eastern Gate was shut, and God instructed it was to remain closed because that was the gate that God had used to enter the Temple. As a result, no one else could enter through that gate. The one exception seems to be that the prince may sit inside the gateway to eat. So, the question of the passage is the identity of the priest. Most seem to land on David as the prince of the passage. Part of the reasoning is that Ezekiel has already spoken of David as a prince twice in his prophecy (Ezekiel 34:24 and 37:25). So maybe David as the Prince makes sense.

Others have suggested that the prince is the Messiah, Jesus. But what is interesting is the rebuttal of why Jesus can't be Ezekiel's mysterious prince. One of the arguments against identifying Jesus as the prince is that the prince will have to offer a sin offering. ("On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land" [Ezekiel 45:22].) Since Jesus was without sin, why should he offer a sin offering? And maybe the response to this argument is found in Matthew 3. Jesus was without sin, and yet he was baptized by John the Baptist because "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15). Is it not possible that the same argument would hold for the sin sacrifice that is required of the prince in Ezekiel?

The bottom line is that we don't know the prince's identity. But it would seem that either David or Jesus would be good guesses.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 45

 

He said: "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel will never again defile my holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings at their death.– Ezekiel 43:9

Today's Scripture Reading (August 28, 2023): Ezekiel 43

Dividing lines are amazing things. The things that separate us are many; I think too many, but that is just my opinion. We need to begin to take down the barriers between us. Somehow, we must understand that disagreeing with each other is okay, but a disagreement should never lead us to division against each other. And I know because, over the past few years, I have had some people decide to separate and erect a barrier to keep themselves from me because of what I believe. Some of the key disagreements have been music; I tend toward more contemporary styles of music, Bible Translation; I refuse to say that the King James Version is the only accurate Bible (although I admit that I do use the King James Version among others in my study of the scripture), the position of women in leadership; I am egalitarian and welcome women as my equal not as complementing my leadership; and the Christian reaction to the LGBTQ Community; I believe that the church has overplayed its cards and we need to be more accepting of each other. And these are just a few ways we separate ourselves from others. The result of these divisions is that we are gathering into smaller and smaller echo chambers where everyone agrees, and we are never challenged. And I understand that being challenged can be uncomfortable, but it is also necessary to strengthen us.

I recently watched "Jesus Revolution," and while I enjoyed the movie, it also made me a little uncomfortable at points. But the one thing that I agreed with was the idea that the "Jesus Revolution" involved people being welcomed into the church who were previously rejected. In the movie, this idea was symbolized by the acceptance of the hippies, a group of older teens and younger adults who were rejected in most churches of the late 60s and early 70s.

I don't have many hippies trying to get into my church. But I know that my neighborhood includes many people who might not feel welcome in my church. And as I watched the movie, I wondered if there was a need for another "Jesus Revolution." A revolution that insists that you are welcome, regardless of who you are. Have you been rejected? Come to Jesus and find acceptance. Do you feel lost? Come and discover Jesus. Are you tired? Come and find rest. This is who I believe the church is supposed to be. The truth is that there are people in every congregation who feel that they cannot be real with us because if we know who they are, they believe we will no longer accept them. And that is on us.

Ezekiel seems to give us an image of a Temple where the dividing lines have been removed. All that is left is what is holy and what is profane or common. And all that matters is the common (us) as we interact with the sacred (God). And as we listen to him and try our best to hear what he has to say to us. No longer will we bring what defiles God into his presence. Here we will love each other despite our differences and accept each other as God accepts and welcomes us. And our interaction with God will be all that actually matters.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 44

 

Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. – Ezekiel 42:19

Today's Scripture Reading (August 27, 2023): Ezekiel 42

The New Century Global Center is a multi-use building in Chengdu, China. It houses a massive shopping mall, commercial offices, conference rooms, a university complex, two conference centers, hotels, an IMAX theater, a pirate ship, a Mediterranean village, as well as an Olympic size skating rink, and "Paradise Island Water Park," which includes an artificial beach. The New Century Global Center is the largest building in the world by floor space. The floor space of the Center is over 18 million square feet.

According to the dimensions given by Ezekiel, this Temple would have occupied more than 27.5 million square feet. It would be a fantastic engineering feat in our century, let alone five hundred years before the birth of Christ.

This floor space for Ezekiel's Temple would have only included one floor, but Ezekiel says that, at least in some places, this Temple would have as many as three floors, making the total floor space for the Temple almost inconceivable.

Ezekiel's Temple would be far too large to fit on Mount Moriah, the home of both Solomon's and Zerubbabel's Temple. If Mount Moriah is the intended construction site for this Temple, it would require a massive restructuring of the geography of Jerusalem. But it might be that Ezekiel believed that on the day of the construction of this Temple, there would be a supernatural reconfiguration of the topography of Israel. It is a restructuring that Zechariah hints at in his prophecy.

The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure (Zechariah 14:9-11).

It will indeed be a new world where the desecration that happened in Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians will never happen again.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 43

Then he went into the inner sanctuary and measured the jambs of the entrance; each was two cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were seven cubits wide. – Ezekiel 41:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 26, 2023): Ezekiel 41

I have always been intrigued by the idea of "safe rooms." What would it be like to have a room in a house built to keep problems out? Whether it is a fire or an intruder in the home, these rooms are constructed to keep the occupants safe while trouble reigns just outside the room's walls.

Of course, there are problems with "safe rooms." Maybe the biggest is that having a room is one thing, but when trouble shows up, you have to be able to get to the room. Is the" safe room" located where it is accessible from various places in the house? Because a "safe room" isn't very safe if the people of the house can't get to it.

Modern "safe rooms" are made secure by the materials used in their manufacture. Unique compounds that are resistant to ballistic weapons as well as impervious to other attempts that might be made to breach the room. And depending on the materials used, some "safe rooms" are more secure than others.

Another type of "safe room" isn't necessarily any different from other rooms except that it is hidden. In this case, the security comes from others simply not knowing that the room is there. But maybe the best "safe room" is a combination of both of these ideas of security; rooms that are made secure because they are hidden, as well as being made out of more secure materials.

As Ezekiel begins his description of this Temple, one of the first things we notice is that both the inside and outside walls of the Temple are massive. In this case, as well as in some others, the walls are thicker than the rooms they surround. The result is that this new Temple is even more massive than the one Solomon built. This Temple is not just a spiritual house; it was a well-engineered and constructed building that would be very difficult to breach.

Maybe part of the reason for the massive walls of this Temple is that Ezekiel didn't want to see the same thing happen to this Temple that happened to Solomon's Temple. This was a Temple that the Babylonians would have had a little more struggle trying to bring down. In fact, if the doors were barred, this Temple would have been more secure than the city itself. It is important to remember that Ezekiel's Temple has never been built. While this Temple would have been much larger than the one constructed by Solomon, Zerubbabel's Temple, which became Herod's Temple was smaller. And while Ezekiel's Temple would have been more secure, it also might have been impractical for Israel actually to build.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 42

In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. – Ezekiel 40:2

Today's Scripture Reading (August 25, 2023): Ezekiel 40

Perception is a strange thing and often depends on experience. Often, we see what it is that we expect to see. When I was eight, my family moved west toward the mountains. We need to understand that the eastern mountains are different from the western mountains. The mountains from where my parents used to live were lower and usually covered with trees and vegetation. But, the western mountains were higher, rockier, and some were snow-covered at their peaks twelve months a year.

At the time of the move, I remember arriving at our new home, and my mother looked up at a nearby hill and declared that we had a mountain in our backyard. The locals smiled. The hill might have fit in with the mountains back home; even there, it might have been a little undersized, but it wasn't close to the mountains that could be visited just an hour's drive further west. My Mom perceived something from her experience, but it wasn't the new reality of the place that would become our home.

There is so much that we don't know about what follows in the rest of Ezekiel. It is an image of a Temple that has never existed. It is not a match for any of the Temples of the past; in some ways, it is a Temple that sometimes seems to be impossible to build in the future. And yet, many stress that this Temple is intended to exist in our "real world.'.

We don't know the Mountain that Ezekiel was taken to, although some believe it might be Mount Moriah, the site of Solomon's Temple. If it was Moriah, then the city was Jerusalem. Or maybe, more accurately, the new Jerusalem. The old city was still in ruins at this point in history.

But others aren't so sure. Others wonder if this new Temple was so vast that it seemed to Ezekiel to be a city. Nothing in Ezekiel's past had prepared him for what lay before him. And the hint is that Ezekiel says he saw "some buildings that looked like a city." Whatever it was that Ezekiel saw, it reminded him of a city, yet there was also something quite different from a city. The view from the mountain was both familiar and alien at the same time.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 41

It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. – Daniel 4:2

Today's Scripture Reading (August 24, 2023): Daniel 4

A mononymous person is a person that is known by one name. If I say, "Cher did something," most people would know I spoke about a singer who was once married to Sonny Bono. The same is true of Liberace, Oprah, and Bono, who is not Sonny, the former husband of Cher, but rather the frontman of the rock band U2. You don't need two names to identify these people. One is enough.

The same is true of Jesus. Just the name of Jesus is enough to identify about whom we are talking. Most of us don't know that Jesus was a ubiquitous name in the first century. In the crucifixion story, we run into another Jesus; his name was Jesus Barabbas. I am still intrigued that when Pilate brought Jesus and Barabbas out to offer a choice to the people between these two men as to which one should be set free, the choice was between Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of the Father (God), and Jesus Barabbas, whose name literally meant "Son of the Father" (Bar – son of, Abba – Father). But if I speak the name of Jesus, most people know I am talking about the rabbi from Nazareth and not the revolutionary of Jerusalem, let alone one of the many other Jesuses who roamed Israel before, during, and after Jesus's time on the earth. All that is needed is one name.

About three years have passed since the incident at the fiery furnace. Then, Nebuchadnezzar praised "the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." In Nebuchadnezzar's mind, there were many gods, but this God of the Jews deserved to be on the pantheon of gods Nebuchadnezzar worshipped. But as he writes this letter, something seems to have changed. Instead of describing God as the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, He is simply "ela," or "God." Nebuchadnezzar no longer felt that he had to differentiate between the God of Shadrach and his friends and the rest of the gods on his pantheon. It was enough that he was God or the Most High God. No other descriptor was needed.

It was the moment that the God of Shadrach became a mononymous God for Nebuchadnezzar. God was God, which meant nothing more needed to be said. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 40

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. – Daniel 3:28

Today's Scripture Reading (August 23, 2023): Daniel 3

The first time I was ever placed in an entirely 3D environment was on a ride at Disneyland almost twenty years ago. I walked into the room with my family and sat beside someone genuinely afraid of heights. We sat in a gondola together that was destined to be raised a few feet off the ground, and then the lights went out, and the ride began. For me, the ride had a fantastic mix of several features. First, the special effects were superb. No matter where I looked, I saw what I would have seen if I really was flying high above the earth. But the second feature of the ride was that the gondola itself felt flimsy, and as a jet passed by barely overhead, the gondola shook with the turbulence created by the plane. You felt as if you really were a thousand feet above the earth's surface. And as the scenery twisted in a particular direction, the gondola tilted with the turn.

I mentioned that I was sitting beside a family member who was afraid of heights. For most of the ride, she simply closed her eyes. I don't really blame her. I have to admit that I kept on looking down at the ground, and I had to keep reminding myself that the earth wasn't hundreds of feet away at the base of the Grand Canyon or whatever scene it was that we were passing over, but barely six feet below where we were. If the gondola crashed, there might be some twisted ankles, but nothing that would put anyone in a hospital for an overnight stay.

As we got off the ride, the only word that seemed to fit was "Wow." Some wanted to go again, maybe to see if there was an edge where the fakeness becomes apparent. But we wanted to do too many other things, so that second ride never happened. That was probably for the best; sometimes, it is better to let the magic happen and not look too closely to try to find the man behind the curtain.

Have you had a genuine "Wow" moment? What caused you to go, "Wow?" I admit that I had to think to get to an actual wow moment in my life, and the Disneyland example, and a wonderful trip for my family, was one of the more printable ones.

This was Nebuchadnezzar's "Wow" moment. It was completely unexpected, and all the Babylonian King had to say was, "Wow." He had no idea how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had survived the furnace except to say that it was the direct result of their God. We need to note that it wasn't Nebuchadnezzar's god. And Nebuchadnezzar seems to want to honor the God of these three Jews. Nebuchadnezzar was amazed that when he had threatened their lives and his threat hadn't moved these Jewish men. But now he understood. His threats didn't match the saving power of the God of these Jews. And it might be at this time that Nebuchadnezzar began to do a little more research about this saving  God of the Jews.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 4

For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. – Ezekiel 39:12

Today's Scripture Reading (August 22, 2023): Ezekiel 39

I have constantly reminded Christian leaders in my circle of influence that the standards God will use with us will be higher than what is expected of someone just participating with us. And I think that the reason is justified. As a leader, you can never lead anyone in your circle of influence to a place you haven't gone to yourself. As Christians who seek to lead those around us to Christ, we need to know the way to the destination before we can ever lead people there.

But the Christian Church has a serious problem. We have been infiltrated by counterfeits who are only in the game for the money they can get from us. I have friends who believe that that is true of all of Christianity, but that is also a lie. But counterfeits are walking among us. Usually, they lead large ministries, and they beg us for money either to destroy some imagined bogeyman that is corrupting our society or so that God will return his blessing to us by healing our diseases. But they are lying. They have never made the journey to Christ, so they don't know how to take us there.

Ezekiel prophesies of a war between Magog and Israel. A lot of ink has been spilled trying to decipher who Gog and Magog might be. And it usually ends up being the bad boys of the day, whatever flavor that might be.

According to Ezekiel, the winner of the war between Israel and Magog will be Israel. On that day, the dead will be many. But God has shown Ezekiel a different ending from the one he just witnessed in his vision of the dry bones and in Jerusalem at the city's fall. Babylon destroyed the Holy City, and the dead were left where they had fallen. The animals had eaten the flesh, and bugs, sand, and wind had cleaned the bones. The area surrounding Jerusalem had become a horror scene, much like the Valley of Dry Bones. Leaving the soldiers unburied and open to the effects of nature was one way of dishonoring the bodies of opposing soldiers.

But with the war against Magog, Israel would win the war and then spend seven months burying the bodies of the deceased Magog soldiers. Yes, there was an element of needing to do this to cleanse the land, but part of cleaning the land meant honoring the bodies of soldiers who had fought against Israel. It was not the normal thing to do, but Israel was leading the world to a place it had never been and teaching them how to honor our enemies in a time of war and death.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 3

I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land. Ezekiel 38:12

Today's Scripture Reading (August 21, 2023): Ezekiel 38

The World Map, as we commonly picture it, is actually wrong. The map I had hanging in my bedroom as a kid was a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional image. And that is hard to reproduce accurately. As a result of the transcription from three to two dimensions and our bias about what is important and unimportant, a map often shows a northern hemisphere that is larger than it is and, therefore, a smaller southern hemisphere. And thus, in our minds, the South is of less importance.

Often, what we think is important is also placed at the center of our rendering. A map centered on Alaska looks very different from one centered on New Zealand. And the size of whatever is at the center of our image is also exaggerated.

God says that his people will live at the center of the land, or this idea could be literally translated as "the navel of the earth." When we talk about the center of a globe, that place could be anywhere. In our current society, we often believe that the United States, or maybe the nations of Europe or China, exists at the center. But that wasn't the belief with which the Bible was written. According to Rabbinic literature, just as the navel was the center of the human body, Israel was the center of the world. It was the starting place from which everything came. But more than that, Jerusalem was the center of Israel, the Temple was the center of Jerusalem, the Holy Place was the center of the Temple, and the Ark of the Covenant was the center of the Holy Place.

For Ezekiel, it doesn't matter that none of these things existed anymore. Israel, Jerusalem, the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Ark of the Covenant were all gone. As hard as it was to imagine, everything that had existed at the center of the world had been destroyed. Now, Ezekiel saw a different group of people living at the naval of earth, but Ezekiel says that God would never accept these people. Instead, God would wait until the day when his people would return to the center of the land.

Today, Israel has returned. Jerusalem exists, although the central nature of David's City is, at least politically, in question. But there is no Temple, no Holy Place, and no Ark. But maybe someday, those will return as well, making Jerusalem once again the center of the earth.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 39

The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. – Ezekiel 37:1

Today's Scripture Reading (August 20, 2023): Ezekiel 37

On December 30, 1916, Grigori Rasputin was murdered. Rasputin was a Russian mystic and holy man who is probably best remembered as a friend of the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire. Rasputin had many enemies, and folklore says there had been many attempts to kill him with poison, and he was once even stabbed, an event that took place on July 12, 1914. But these attempts failed and increased the rumor that Rasputin was immortal. But on December 30, 1916, he was finally stopped by a bullet in the head. The conspirators then wrapped Rasputin's body in a blanket and dropped the mystic into a river. But on January 1, 1917, his body was found and given an honorable burial the next day. Plans were also made to build a church over the grave of Rasputin, further honoring the mystic.

But that church was never built. His enemies and the enemies of Russia's First Family dug up Rasputin's body after Nicholas II abdicated from the throne in March 1917. What was left of Rasputin was then burned and scattered so that no one could use his grave as a rallying point for a counter-revolution. But maybe the deeper reason for the desecration of his corpse was that they didn't want to give honor to Rasputin. For many of our societies, especially in the past, burial was part of giving honor to the one who has died. Admittedly, with the popularity of cremation, that attitude is slowly changing.

God leads Ezekiel in a vision to a valley of bones. The valley was full of bones, which likely means that they covered the ground. There was no place where the prophet could step where bones were not underfoot. It was a vision given to Ezekiel by God, but it may have had a real-world origin. The vision might have roots in Ezekiel's memory of the Israelite dead he saw outside of Jerusalem or along the desert road that Ezekiel and his compatriots were forced to travel as they went into exile.

But the fact that they were just left on the ground means that these bodies had not been given the honor of a burial. An unburied corpse left to suffer the effects of the weather and the attention of the carrion eaters has the height of disgrace in Near Eastern culture. It was an unthinkable response to the death of someone. And as Ezekiel looked at the bones in this valley, they had obviously been denied the honor of a burial, and therefore they now suffered in shame.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 38

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The enemy said of you, "Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession."' – Ezekiel 36:2

Today's Scripture Reading (August 19, 2023): Ezekiel 36

In times of crisis, we develop songs that often tell an aspirational story or maybe even make fun of the enemy. And sometimes, it is interesting to look back at the musical record we left behind during those times. These musical tributes reflect the hopes and dreams as well as the struggles of the people living in desperate times. World War II was one of those times, and we have an incredible list of songs we can listen to that can take us back to what life was like during the war. One example of those songs might be "Mr. Hitler" by Huddle Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. Lead Belly was a folk and blues singer of that era, and he wrote;

You ain't no iron; you ain't no solid rock.
You ain't no iron; you ain't no solid rock.
But we American people say "Mr. Hitler, you is got to stop!"

We're gonna tear Hitler down; we're gonna tear Hitler down.
We're gonna tear Hitler down someday.
We're gonna bring him to the ground; we're gonna bring him to the ground.
We're gonna bring him to the ground someday.

The song speaks of the aspirations of a people. The lyrics also talk about the crime. Another verse proclaims, "Hitler started out in nineteen-hundred-and-thirty-two. When he started out, he took the homes from the Jews" A full accounting of the Holocaust was likely unknown at the time that Lead Belly wrote the song, but he refers to the seeds of the sin and what he knows in his lyrics."

At other times, battle songs are written that are sung as the soldiers move into battle. Sometimes it is nothing more than a family name shouted as the men join the fight. But the battle cry raised the soldiers' pride as they entered the battle fray.

Ezekiel is essentially speaking of a battle cry here. "The ancient heights have become our possession" was a phrase that the enemies of Israel repeated as they ran into battle. It spoke of an aspirational desire; the land once occupied by Israel was now open to be taken by her neighbors. But Ezekiel reminds his audience of something else. The people of Israel may have been taken into captivity, but the land was far from empty. God was still there, and what happened to the land and mountains of Israel was still under his control, and he was the one who would always be in possession of the ancient heights and all the land that was once Israel. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 37

Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate, that is how I will treat you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'" – Ezekiel 35:15

Today's Scripture Reading (August 18, 2023): Ezekiel 35

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers, I made some unpopular statements that I still stand behind. At that time, I spoke of the eventual arrest of Osama Bin Laden and the knowledge of the trial and likely execution of the Islamic leader and said that that day could not be a day of rejoicing for the people of God. As bad as Bin Laden's crimes were, I stressed that he was still a child of God, and as such, we should mourn his coming demise. As the news of Osama Bin Laden's death was revealed on May 2, 2011, I did mourn the passing of the leader, not because I agreed with him in any way, but because a child of God was gone; he had paid the ultimate price for his sin, and there was the knowledge that none of this had to happen,

You are allowed to disagree with me, but I wonder if we will be held responsible for our joy over the demise of sinners. Ezekiel makes it clear that those nations who rejoiced over the end of Israel, a death that had happened as a direct result of Israel's sin, are to be severely judged. But is this just a response to Israel, or are we playing with fire whenever we celebrate the retribution of God over people who have wronged us?

I lean toward the latter. Jesus's instruction to Nicodemus included that famous quote that most of us memorized as children.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17).

What if God loves Israel, but he also loves the rest of us too? What if God also loves Osama Bin Laden and other bogey men of our contemporary culture? What if God loves the person but hates the sin? Undoubtedly, our iniquities carry us toward death, but God believes that that is a reason for his people to mourn, not celebrate.

Maybe I am reaching, but I don't think so. Our first reaction to sin should be to mourn for those who find themselves within its grasp because we are all the children of God. And God loves those caught in sin as much as he loves us and Israel. And whenever we rejoice over the demise of sinners, we sin against the love of God, and we might have to pay the price for that sin alongside nations like Edom.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 36

I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. – Ezekiel 34:24

Today's Scripture Reading (August 17, 2023): Ezekiel 34

One of the earliest pieces of scripture that most of us memorized was the "Shepherd's Psalm," a Psalm that begins with the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd." The Psalm was written by David, possibly at a relatively young age. It is not hard to imagine a young David protecting the sheep on the pasture, caring for the flock, and recognizing that the same care he gives to the sheep that has been entrusted to him, God is giving to him. Being a shepherd, in the mind of David, is an active pursuit, and God is actively protecting him on the hillside just as he protects his sheep.

When David became King of Israel, he seemed to adopt the idea of being a shepherd as the job description of the King. King David would be the shepherd of Israel. He would protect his people just as he had protected the sheep on the hillside during his youth.

Ezekiel seems to pick up this theme of the shepherds as he looks at the Israel of his day. But Ezekiel argues that Israel's shepherds have failed the sheep. They have become distracted, allowing some sheep to become fat while others are starving. They were following their own goals and ignoring the needs of the sheep. But Ezekiel saw a day coming when God would come to fix the situation with the return of David.

Most scholars seem to interpret passages like this one as a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Jesus became the presence of God, who walked among us. He was the good shepherd, the one that we needed. But not everyone is sure about that interpretation. And part of the argument is that if Ezekiel or other prophets meant the Messiah, why invoke the name of David? Why did Ezekiel not say "the Messiah" or even "the one like David." But Ezekiel seems to be clear. It is David who will return to shepherd Israel. And he adds another descriptor in this passage; it is not King David who will return but Prince David. Maybe it is important to note that David was never the Prince of Israel. He was a General in King Saul's army, an outlaw chased and persecuted by King Saul, and then became King. But there was never a time when he was Prince.

But if we are talking about the actual David who ruled over Israel after the death of Saul, he could not come back as King. That title would belong to Jesus, the Messiah. At best, David would be a prince in the kingdom of the Messiah. He would be a shepherd under the command of "The Good Shepherd." And it is with this recognition that Ezekiel speaks of Prince David, a David who would serve in the administration led by King Jesus, that have some questioning if Ezekiel is really speaking of the return of David in this passage.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 35

When I say to the wicked, 'You wicked person, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. – Ezekiel 33:8

Today's Scripture Reading (August 16, 2023): Ezekiel 33

Laws are interesting realities in human life. And some laws, like the laws of nature, simply happen. If I drop a coin off a tall tower, the forces acting on that coin as it tumbles toward the earth are consistent. Every time I drop the coin, the coin behaves in a specific way according to the laws of nature. If all the conditions remain the same, including windspeed and the way the coin is dropped, the result will be the same. Nature's laws don't change according to our interpretation of the law, and what happens once will always occur as long as the circumstances remain stable. 

Human laws aren't quite so set. My first brush with the law was for a speeding infraction on a highway as I was heading into the city for a night with friends. I was a teenager at the time, and it was a significant moment for me. That first brush with the law did not result in a ticket, although admittedly, others have. But that first circumstance resulted in grace given to me by the officer. He left me with a warning. Don't speed, or the next time you will receive a fine. Actually, my most recent brush with the law, for rolling through a stop sign, also resulted in a warning. The officer commented that my driving record revealed that I was a good driver, and good driving should have consequences, so he decided not to give me a ticket. In both cases, I admittedly didn't complain. I was happy to receive grace instead of a fine.

Human laws are like that. The lawgiver is not the one who imposes the penalty. That task is given to mediators, who decide whether punishment is required or whether grace should be given. And most of us have received both the penalty and the grace.

God's laws are also subject to mediators. And according to Ezekiel, that is where a portion of God's grace lies; with the mediators. When God's law has been broken, his mediator is to give a warning. It is the grace of the moment. The penalty has not been incurred yet, but if the behavior continues, then there will be a reaction to our wrongdoing. But for now, there is a moment of grace. The warning becomes a pause between the violation of the law and the prescribed punishment. It is a chance for the guilty to change their behavior.

But God goes a step further and tells Ezekiel that if his mediator chooses not to extend that moment of grace, the punishment will come on the guilty, but God will hold the mediator responsible. We will share in the guilt because we have heard the warning of God but chose not to extend the grace of the warning and have allowed the guilty to fall into their punishment without a chance to change their behavior. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 34