Today's Scripture Reading (August 9, 2026): Ezekiel 16
The Harappan Civilization existed 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 happened to them. At the height of the culture, the Indus Valley
inhabitants appear to have had a writing system, a well-developed trade and
transportation system, and an interest in producing significant works of art.
Aiding the civilization's ability to create great architectural marvels was the
development in the valley of precise methods for measuring length, weight, and
time. The people of the Indus Valley were among the first peoples on Earth to
develop 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 and 3500 years ago, the Harappan people mysteriously disappeared.
Some experts have postulated a violent end to the Harappan Civilization, but we
really do not have any evidence of that. It appears that they just faded away.
One of the proposed culprits behind the end of the Harappan Civilization
was simple climate change. It appears that local environmental conditions in
the Indus Valley changed around the time the civilization disappeared. The monsoon
system that allowed the valley's vegetation to flourish weakened and shifted
eastward. The weather change led to a cooler, drier world in the Indus Valley.
As a result, the crops that they had traditionally planted refused to grow.
Starvation would have followed. Many inhabitants probably died, and others moved
on, leaving the remains of their civilization for us to find and a mystery to
examine.
In the ancient world, it didn't take much for a civilization to die.
Many did; some left us puzzles we can solve; others left us stories to tell and
retell. Still others have achieved the status of myth and legend. We are no
longer even sure if some of these civilizations ever existed because they have
left no evidence for us to discover. The mystery of Atlantis would fall into
that category. One researcher humorously admitted that 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 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 compares the birth of Israel to the 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, and the baby has to be cleaned and sterilized to minimize
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.
However, Israel did survive. 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 it really should. With Israel, the real mystery is how the nation
survived. And the answer is that they live because God has decreed it; no other
reason 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 for the past 2000
years. 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
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