May the mumbling commence!

Exactly who is a foreigner in God’s Holy Temple?  It is a question worth asking when we read from Ezekiel 44:5-14 –

The Lord said to me, "Son of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I tell you concerning all the regulations regarding the temple of the Lord. Give attention to the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.  Say to the rebellious house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel!  In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.  Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you put others in charge of my sanctuary.  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites.

The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.  They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them.  But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign Lord.  They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices.  Yet I will put them in charge of the duties of the temple and all the work that is to be done in it.  

Foreigners are those who are uncircumcised in heart and flesh.  Though Israel was circumcised in flesh, they were not circumcised in heart.  To eradicate the foreigner from the presence of the Lord a person must be circumcised in both the heart and the flesh – and notice which one comes first, the heart.  Circumcision of the heart is more important than circumcision of the flesh, which should be an outward sign of what has already occurred in the heart.

What were the sins of the people of Israel?  Much had to do with inheritance.  We hear the echoes of this sin when we think about how to distribute or not to distribute the wealth, the power, the food, and the knowledge.  We hear the echoes of this sin when we think about what kind of circumstance we are building for future generations – our children and grandchildren.  While this type of talk includes the debt crisis (if only we could embrace the radical time of Jubilee that the Lord handed down so long ago), this type of talk includes the environment – both the physical and the spiritual and the emotional.  Let us be careful how we go about our lives.  Inheritance is a detail of design given to us by our Great Creator.  Read a couple of passages from Ezekiel:

This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the house of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes. 

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.  You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah and an accurate bath.  The ephah and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both.  The shekel is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina. (45:8-12)

“‘The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people will be separated from his property.'" (46:18)

Violence far exceeds the cliché.  We do violence when we cheat people out of their share of wealth – in this case land.  We do violence when we use inaccurate ways of measuring goods and services.  We do violence when we look the other way while the wealthy cheat the poor out of the things most valuable to them.  So, let us be careful what legacy we leave behind for our children.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Details of Design; Ezekiel 40-43

May the mumbling commence!

The devil is in the details.  Sometimes, as church members, we major in the minor subjects.  Sometimes, we trivialize the essential.  Today’s reading from Ezekiel gives a lot of love to the details of the temple that Ezekiel saw in a vision.  Lots of details do not have much meaning to me.  I think back to the details of the tabernacle from earlier in the year of reading.  I think a model or drawn depiction would be more impactful for me.

Then, I read Ezekiel 43:6-12 –

While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple.  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 house of Israel will never again defile my holy name – neither they nor their kings – by their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings at their high places.  When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they defiled my holy name by their detestable practices. So I destroyed them in my anger.  Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever. 

Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple – its arrangement, its exits and entrances – its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations. 

This is the law of the temple: All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.”  

How many times in our lives has our idolatry and sin only been separated from our relationship with God by the thin four walls of the church building?  We must remember that we represent the Lord as we move about our daily lives.  What we do reflects on Jesus – whether the reflection is good or bad.

All of God’s design for our relationship with Him and with all creation is essential.  To be faithful we must live worthy of our design – to worship the Lord and bring praise to His holy name.  If we live worthy of our design, then it will not be only us that praise and worship the Lord.  The people around us will we attracted to us and to the Lord.  These people, then, will have the potential to become our brothers and sisters. 

Then, we can become truly holy – set apart for the work of the Lord, set apart for life eternal.  Eternal life is rich both in quality and quantity.

So, mind the details of design.  The details of design will steer us clear of idolatry and sin.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Watchman Ezekiel; Ezekiel 33

May the mumbling commence!

Welcome back, Watchman Ezekiel!  If the watchman does not watch and raise the alarm, who will?  Read from Ezekiel 33:1-11 –

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,  and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,  then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.  Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself.  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.' 

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.  When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.  But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. 

Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"'   Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

Blow the trumpet!  Raise the alarm!  It does not matter if people heed the warning signal.  The watchman’s job is to watch and raise the alarm – how other people respond to the alarm is their own prerogative.  If they heed the warning, they will escape.  If they do not heed the warning, they will perish. 

Our success as watch people for the Lord is not judged upon how people respond to the alarm that we are raising.  Our success is judged through our obedience to sound the alarms that the Lord calls us to sound.  For the Lord does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked – neither should we.

The call is there for you and for me and for anyone who would listen and obey.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  The only other option is death.  Let us accept the work that Christ Jesus has done on our behalf.  Let us accept our newfound freedoms.  Let us use these newfound freedoms to watch and witness to others, pointing them to the saving grace of our Lord through the work of Jesus.

So many people in this world are turning to the wrong places for help and healing and hope.  Though wealth, fame, and power may seem to bring hope for a time; they all are eventually revealed for the illusions that they are.  Though we may wish to cling to our political and economic ideas, they will ultimately fail.   Let us seek and find our hope in the Lord, who transcends our human ideals.  If we trust God’s economy and God’s Lordship over us, then we will find peace and security well beyond anything we can think or imagine.

Turn!  Turn from these evil ways!  God will not rejoice at our fall.

Enough mumbling for today…

Peace Out  

A Healing Balm for Dry Bones; Ezekiel 37

May the mumbling commence!

Talk about a comeback!  Once where there was a pile of dry bones; now there is a standing army of the Lord.  Can it be done?  It is the question that the Lord posed to Ezekiel.  Can we answer as Ezekiel did?  Only you, O Sovereign Lord, can know.  Read that familiar passage from Ezekiel 37:

The hand of the Lord was upon 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.  He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.  He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." 

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!  This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'" 

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.  I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'"   So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army. 

Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.'   Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.  Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.  I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"  (Verses 1-14)

And some preachers think they have a tough audience on Sunday morning.  Sometimes the church body is referred to as the frozen chosen.  How are we to melt the frozen chosen into a standing army of the Lord?  Can we be changed to be an army that will have the faith to stand for the Lord – even when the circumstances make us want to hide away?

On an immense journey of transformation, let us start with the first small and extremely significant steps.  Let us, like Ezekiel, listen to the Lord.  Then, let us do as the Lord commands us.  Let us take courage that Ezekiel was asked to only speak the words of the Lord and watch the work of the breath – the Spirit.

As we witness the work of the Holy Spirit, we will know the Lord for who He is.  Our God is a living God.  The miracles and works of God cannot be confined to yesterday.  The miracles of God continue even unto today.  And the best is yet to come.  Let us listen, speak, and witness the work of the Spirit – even in our own personal valley of dry bones.

“Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.  Now hear the word of the Lord…”

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

May the mumbling commence!

Christian leaders and Christian brothers and sisters, it is time for accountability before the Lord.  As one who has been called to leadership in the church, the words of Ezekiel 34 burn upon my heart.  Read verses seven through ten below:

"'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’”

It is a wake-up call for all ministers – especially for those that are compensated financially for their services.  Pastors are paid to serve not to be served.  They are paid so that their days are open to following the call of the Lord within their contexts without the hindrances of a nine-to-five job.  This freedom must NOT be misused to feed off the vulnerable or to take the free time as leisure only.  God will hold all Christian leaders accountable for their actions.

Those of you who are not in positions of spiritual leadership may be sighing a sigh of relief.  But no Christian is off the hook.  Read from later in Ezekiel 34 verses 17-24:

"'As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.  Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?  Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet? 

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.  Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.  I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.  I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.’” 

It is not only the shepherds that will be held accountable.  The sheep will also be held accountable.  God will judge between the sheep and the rams and the goats.  Watch out if you are sleek and fat!  If you have advantages were you live, you are to use those advantages for the benefit of the vulnerable.  No, the laity is not off the hook here.  They, too, are held accountable for living in accordance with the Christian name.  All Christians represent the name of Christ to the world at large – whether they want that role or not.  Everything that we do should be for the sake of the people around us in our daily lives.  Read from Ezekiel 36:22-32 –

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.  I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. 

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Only the Meek and Humble of the Lord Will Survive; Ezekiel 33

May the mumbling commence!

Only the strong will survive?

No, only the meek and humble of the Lord will survive.

The Promised Land is not won by strength of humanity.  The Promised Land can only be received as a gift of grace from the Almighty One.  Those left behind in the Promised Land during the exile did not inherit the Promised Land by default.  Read from Ezekiel 33:23-33 –

Then the word of the Lord came to me:  "Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.'  Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land?  You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Should you then possess the land?' 

Say this to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague.  I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them.  Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.' 

As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.'  My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.  Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. 

When all this comes true – and it surely will – then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

The poor and weak were left behind during the exile.  The meek inherit the earth, right?  Not so fast!  Meekness and humility have little to do with the “last man (or woman) standing.”  Even these poor and weak people who were left behind reveled in their newfound strength and freedom – freedom to own land and to eat and worship they way they saw fit.  Taking advantage of freedoms granted to us by the Lord is the antithesis of meekness and humility. 

Meekness and humility mean that we are fully attentive to the call of the Lord in our lives.  It means hearing the words of the Lord AND putting them into practice.  Humble and meek people toward the Lord will inherit the earth.  The song and story of the Lord is not a silly little love song to be ignored or cast aside.  The song and story of the Lord is about a powerful love that nothing can overcome (Romans 8:31-39).

My prayer today is that we might have the Love Song of the Lord etched upon our hearts so that we can be attentive to the heartbeat of the Lord.  Oh, to be a man or woman after God’s own heart!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

May the mumbling commence!

Only God can cure the incurable.  Where humanity fails, the Lord of all heaven and earth prevails.  Read the word of the Lord from Jeremiah 30:12b-17a –

'Your wound is incurable,

       your injury beyond healing. 

There is no one to plead your cause,

       no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. 

All your allies have forgotten you;

       they care nothing for you.

I have struck you as an enemy would

       and punished you as would the cruel,

because your guilt is so great

       and your sins so many. 

Why do you cry out over your wound,

       your pain that has no cure?

Because of your great guilt and many sins

       I have done these things to you. 

But all who devour you will be devoured;

       all your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plunder you will be plundered;

       all who make spoil of you I will despoil. 

But I will restore you to health

       and heal your wounds.'

Why cry out and complain?  There is nothing we can do to change things.  No one will defend us.  There is no remedy or healing or cure.  It is the Lord’s will that we suffer the consequences of our sins.  But it is also the will of the Lord to restore to health, to heal the wounds, and to provide the remedy for the cure.  What is impossible for humanity is possible for God.  It is another reason not to cry.  Read the word of the Lord from Jeremiah 31:15b-17a –

"A voice is heard in Ramah,

       mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

       and refusing to be comforted,

       because her children are no more." 

This is what the Lord says:

"Restrain your voice from weeping

       and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,"                   declares the Lord.

"They will return from the land of the enemy. 

So there is hope for your future."

Though there may not be hope for now, there will be hope for our children.  Speaking for myself as a father, there is no more comforting words.  I love my son and wish him hope.  He should live far beyond me.  He will carry my fingerprints of parenting and faith.  Faithful parents will have their work rewarded – even if they do not see the reward in their lifetime.  The Promised Land will be rebuilt and replanted in this time of new covenant.  Read from Jeremiah 31:27-28; 33-34a –

"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will plant the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the offspring of men and of animals.  Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the Lord.

"This is the covenant I will make

       with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord.

"I will put my law in their minds

       and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

       and they will be my people. 

No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

       or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'

because they will all know me,

       from the least of them to the greatest."

With the Law of the Lord etched upon our hearts, we will be replanted in the Promised Land – from the least to the greatest.  May our hunger and desire to know the Lord dry up our tears.  Even the worst of times will come to pass.  We have eternity with our Lord to look forward to!  Talk about hope that has both quality and quantity!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Remove Our Agendas, O Lord Part II; Jeremiah 43-44

May the mumbling commence!

Why do they ask if they will not listen?  Why did they ask when their minds were already made up?  Today, we return to the story of the remnant left behind in Judea during the times of Jeremiah and the beginning of the Babylonian exile.  Read from Jeremiah 43:1-7 –

When Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God – everything the Lord had sent him to tell them – Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, 'You must not go to Egypt to settle there.'   But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon." 

So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah.  Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.  They also led away all the men, women and children and the king's daughters whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.  So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.

These people had already set their minds to journey to Egypt, but the journey was only the tip of the iceberg.  The decision to journey was based upon a root cause – the sin that had lead to the exile in the first place.  What a difference perspective makes!  Read from Jeremiah 44:11-23 –

"Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all Judah.  I will take away the remnant of Judah who were determined to go to Egypt to settle there. They will all perish in Egypt; they will fall by the sword or die from famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine. They will become an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach.  I will punish those who live in Egypt with the sword, famine and plague, as I punished Jerusalem.  None of the remnant of Judah who have gone to live in Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah, to which they long to return and live; none will return except a few fugitives." 

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present – a large assembly – and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah,  "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord!  We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm.  But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine." 

The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?" 

Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, "Did not the Lord remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land?  When the Lord could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today.  Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see."

Do not misinterpret God’s patience with you.  If you do, it may lead you astray to the very things that God most desires for you to leave behind. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Remove Our Agendas, O Lord; Jeremiah 42

May the mumbling commence!

When we go to the Lord to pray and listen, do we go with preset agendas or are we ready to heed the word of the Lord?  The people left behind by the Babylonians went to Jeremiah with the question: What does the Lord want us to do?  Though they had their ideas, they knew what they wanted to do: Flee from Babylon to Egypt.  Read Jeremiah’s answer from chapter 42:7-22 –

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.  So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.  He said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:  'If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.  Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.  I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.' 

However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the Lord your God, and if you say, 'No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,'  then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there,  then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.  Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.'   This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.' 

O remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today  that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, 'Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'   I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the Lord your God in all he sent me to tell you.  So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle."

God knew what they wanted, but God told them what he wanted them to do.  They were to stay and remain under Babylonian control.  Though they feared the king of Babylon and the war and strife that he would bring, they were to stay.  If they ran to Egypt, they would be pursued by the sword that they feared.  If they chose to stay, then the Lord would bless them.

Help us to listen, O Lord, to your word – even when it undermines our agendas.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

May the mumbling commence!

In the deepest and darkest times of despondency and despair, it is essential to remember the reason to hope.  There is a silver lining to the storm clouds.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel (and no it is NOT an oncoming train).  Even in the time of the start to the exile, Jeremiah knew in his lamentation that there was hope in the Lord alone.  May we learn that lesson well when we tackle the toughest times of our lives.  Read from Lamentations 3:19-33 –

I remember my affliction and my wandering,

       the bitterness and the gall. 

I well remember them, 

       and my soul is downcast within me. 

Yet this I call to mind

       and therefore I have hope: 

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

       for his compassions never fail. 

They are new every morning;

       great is your faithfulness. 

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;

       therefore I will wait for him." 

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

       to the one who seeks him; 

it is good to wait quietly

       for the salvation of the Lord. 

It is good for a man

       to bear the yoke while he is young. 

Let him sit alone in silence, 

       for the Lord has laid it on him. 

Let him bury his face in the dust –

       there may yet be hope. 

Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,

       and let him be filled with disgrace. 

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. 

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,

       so great is his unfailing love. 

For he does not willingly bring

       affliction or grief to the children of men.

I am certain that many of you have heard the words about God’s love, compassion and/or mercies being new every morning.  But did you know that they came in the context of great downfall and ruin?  They came when there was little evidence that they were true.  What faith!  But, what better thing is there to put our faith into than the Faithful One?

If our hope is in the Lord, let us look for Him.  Let us sit in silence and listen for the sound of His voice.  Let us wait patiently on His command.  Let us be patient even as those around us are violent with pain and suffering – offer your cheek to the one who would strike you.  Does this sound familiar?  It should.  They are the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew. 

Does it surprise you that similar words are spoken in the Old Testament by the prophet Jeremiah?  Yes, there is much violence in the Old Testament; and the violence disturbs me.  But there is also much to the thread of peace throughout the Bible.  Peace was to walk hand-in-hand with justice.  It is injustice that trips us up and spoils any attempt we make at peace.

Finally, let us struggle with the thought that the Lord brings both the bitter and the sweet in our lives.  While the bitter will only last for a time, the sweet will endure forever.  So can we swallow the bitter pills that the Lord gives us for a day so that we can embrace the sweet fellowship with our Lord, with all people, and with all creation.  It is my prayer that I will be able to do so.  It is my prayer that you will be able to do so.  It is my prayer that we will be able to do so.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out