Month: November 2015

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EZEKIEL 16:42-17:24 | HEBREWS 8:1-13 | PSALM 106:13-31 | PROVERBS 27:7-9

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The wrath of the Lord remains unabated, and Ezekiel continues to receive instruction in his vision for what he is to tell the erring people of Israel on what is to befall them.

Using an allegory of two eagles and a vine, Ezekiel is told of what he must tell his people. 

He says:  ¹¹ Then the word of the LORD came to me: ¹² “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon. ¹³ Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land, ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵ But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army.

Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?  The answer, of course, is a deafening no!

We turn now to our reading of the book of Hebrews, and see the writer continuing in the same line of thought:  Jesus Christ is the perfect high priest, and replaces every human priest in the Jewish tradition.  This is all for the benefit of the new believers to the Christian faith who have a Jewish heritage and are accustomed to following the Jewish practices of worship. 

The writer of this letter, most likely a Jew himself, is now challenging every Jewish tradition—asking that the reader either look at the practice differently, or get rid of it altogether.

Keep your practices, only view it in a different light, the writer seems to say. 

You know of the priest and his functions in the temple; well, here is a more superior priest, nay, a high priest, who supersedes every human priest, and offers you direct access to God, the father.  So put away your old notions, and boldly approach this high priest who will intercede on your behalf, who is himself God, and who appeared to you as Christ Jesus incarnate. 

Are you able to comprehend and accept these truths, the writer seems to say.

To further elaborate on this point, the writer goes on to say: 

¹ Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

The writer wishes to take his time to explain this slowly and clearly—so there is no room for doubt. 

He says yet again:  ³ Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. ⁴ If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. ⁵ They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” ⁶ But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

New covenant, better promises—these are the new concepts that the Jewish person of the first century had to reconcile himself/herself to. 

You mean to say that I don’t need to offer up animal sacrifices anymore?  In fact, I don’t even need to go to the temple anymore?! 

Yes, that’s right, you don’t need to do anything but believe—believe in this new covenant of faith that God has offered to you by way of the plan of sending his own son in the person of Jesus Christ, who was made to be the sacrifice for all mankind, once and for all.

Gentle reader, is that sufficiently clear?

Furthermore, under this new covenant, both Jew and non-Jew are entitled to the free gift of salvation, i.e., a saving of your soul for eternity, by simple faith in the grace of God extended to you, and if you should accept this gift, you need do nothing more—nothing more to earn it, that is. 

But you would WANT to do everything you possibly can in order to reflect the same love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness that you have received from God to your fellowmen.  Would it not then give you a personal satisfaction to do unto others what has been freely done unto you? 

THAT is the way this new covenant works, People!

And to wrap us this train of thought, the writer says one last thing:  ¹³ By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. 

Get it?  Got it?  Good!

We shall turn now to our reading of the Psalms, and we find ourselves still making our way through Psalm 106. 

This, as you may recall, is a chronological account of the history of the children of Israel.  David is recounting the many times that his ancestors had turned away from God, despite the fact that the presence of God was a palpable force around them all the time. And yet, the people had been quick to turn away and take up images and idols to worship. 

Such is the checkered history of the people of Israel.  She may be the chosen one, but she never knew it!

Finally, we turn to the book of Proverbs for an interesting mix of proverbs, each speaking to a deeper truth.  Solomon, wise king of Israel, offers these couplets as food for thought:

⁷ One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸ Like a bird that flees its nest
is anyone who flees from home.

⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.  Amen.

Click Here For Today’s Reading

EZEKIEL 14:12-16:41; HEBREWS 7:18-28; PSALM 106:1-12; PROVERBS 27:4-6

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Ezekiel’s commission from the Lord continues, and we learn that Jerusalem’s judgment is inescapable. 

This is what the Lord says to Ezekiel: 

²¹ “…How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! ²² Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. ²³ You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

The wrath of God burns strong against Jerusalem, and she is described as a useless vine. 

This is what the Lord says: 

⁶ “…As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. ⁷ I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the LORD. ⁸ I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

If this sounds terrible, the next analogy of Jerusalem as the adulterous wife and prostitute is no better. 

The wrath of God is unabated, and these are the words of the Lord: 

³⁵ “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! ³⁶ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, ³⁷ therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. ³⁸ I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. ³⁹ Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. ⁴⁰ They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹ They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.

Turning now to our reading of the book of Hebrews, we find the writer speaking of a “better hope” and a “better covenant” that is made available to all in the person of Jesus Christ.  While the old covenant through the Mosaic Law was entirely unattainable, the new covenant through this new plan of salvation was completely attainable, and in full measure—to both Jew and non-Jew, at that. 

The writer has been quite detailed so far in offering up an argument for the more perfect and permanent nature of the priesthood in Christ Jesus, and he does so yet again in these lines.

He says:  ²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

The writer goes on to make the case for this supernatural priest in the person of Jesus in this way: ²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

This was indeed a radical concept for the Jews of the day to reconcile themselves to.  Having been accustomed to approaching a priest in the Temple, who would offer up a sacrifice on their behalf for an atonement of sins, here was something entirely different. The writer of Hebrews was pointing to Jesus as being both the priest and the sacrifice all in one. 

Is that sufficiently clear, gentle reader?

This was a new covenant between God and man that allowed for anyone at all to approach the Almighty so long as they entered through the intercession of Jesus Christ.  This is most certainly a more abstract concept to wrap one’s mind around. 

There’s no physical priest, alright.  There’s no physical sacrifice, okay.  And if you take it one step further, there’s really no need for a physical temple, even.

Paul has already openly written about the body being the temple of God, and now the writer of this book, Hebrews, is writing about the ultimate priest and the ultimate sacrifice. 

This is most certainly a new faith, a new construct, a new way of life.  And the newly-made believers, i.e., the Jews of the day who have embraced the idea of Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah to also be the savior of this world are being urged to accept these new truths, and live them out—day in and day out. 

What a concept!  If think if I were a first-century Jew, I might have also struggled with these new views.

We turn now to our reading of the Psalms, and find in Psalm 106, the Psalmist reminiscing about his ancestors and their rebellious ways.  The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate contriteness of spirit, and to offer up thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty for his many mercies over generations. 

David, the Psalmist, says this:

⁶ We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
⁷ When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.
⁸ Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his mighty power known.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.
¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.
¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
¹² Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.

Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs, in which Solomon, wise king of Israel, offers food for thought on certain key qualities within human relationships. 

Anger, jealousy, love, loyalty, and betrayal all have a place under the sun, and reside within each individual.  What sets one person apart from the other is the manner in which each of these qualities are contained and developed.  Solomon says:

⁴ Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵ Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.

⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.  Amen.

Click Here For Today’s Reading

EZEKIEL 12:1-14:11 | HEBREWS 7:1-17 | PSALM 105:37-45 | PROVERBS 27:3

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Ezekiel continues to record the vision and the instructions he receives concerning his people in his battered homeland of Judea. 

Ezekiel is in exile at the time he receives his calling to go back to his people and preach to them of an even greater destruction that is to soon come upon them.  This would be the second and final destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem—within ten years of the first invasion by the Babylonians.

The prophecies of Ezekiel will come to pass in 586 BC in full, and yet at the time of Ezekiel’s commission, it appears that the people in Judea, as well as those living in exile in Babylon did not believe that another greater destruction was to come upon their people. 

There was doubt and derision among them, and in order to address this, the Lord says to Ezekiel to make it clear that there is going to be no further delay in the prophecies that Ezekiel makes.  These things will come to pass posthaste, and the Lord instructs Ezekiel to inform the people to snap out of their reveries.

Ezekiel says to them: 

²¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ²² “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’? ²³ Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴ For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. ²⁵ But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”

Ezekiel goes on to lambast the other prophets of the day—both in exile and in the motherland—of the wrath of God that will soon descend upon them for their false prophecies. 

He says to them, these words of the Lord:

¹⁰ “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, ¹¹ therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. ¹² When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”

And there’s more where that came from.  Ezekiel goes on to tell them what God really thinks, and what he is going to do. 

He serves as the Lord’s mouthpiece in these words: 

¹⁵ So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign LORD.”’ 

Put away your peace-pipes, folks, the time for peace is a way off, the Lord seems to say through Ezekiel.

And yet again, there is the steadfast exhortation to turn away from idolatry, and Ezekiel is told this by the Lord: 

⁶ “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices! 

Let it not be said that the people were not warned!  Let it not be said that a prophet was not sent to them!  Let it not be said that a clear sign was not given to them even in the destruction of the Temple the first time around!

We turn now to our reading of the book of Hebrews, and find the writer has picked up where he last left off concerning the person of Jesus Christ to be a more perfect priest in the likeness of the high priest, Melchizedek, a priest that ministered to Abraham even before the establishment of the house of Levi and the order of the priesthood endowed to them. 

It is important to the writer that he explains this concept as clearly as possible to a readership that consists primarily of a Jewish heritage.

These Jews are considering the validity of the person of Jesus Christ to be the Messiah, and are filled with some uncertainty about giving up their traditions and customs that include honoring a priest in the temple.  But here comes this person—perhaps it is Paul, perhaps it is another—who is writing to tell them to reconsider their views in light of the new faith they have adopted. 

In Christ Jesus resides a new way of worship and faith.  It is Christ, the author of Hebrews writes, who is the ultimate priest, a High Priest, in the order of Melchizedek, the mystery priest, that had appeared from nowhere to whom their ancestor and forefather, Abraham, paid tithe and tribute.

This is what the writer says:

¹¹ If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? ¹² For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. ¹³ He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. ¹⁵ And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶ one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Turning next to our reading of the Psalms, we find that we have come to the end of Psalm 105, a long psalm of praise and thanksgiving in which the Psalmist lists the long history of his peoples’ existence and establishment as a nation that started with one man, Abraham.

Finally, turning to our proverb for the day, we find one in which, Solomon, wise king of Israel, speaks to the power of provocation in these lines:

³ Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.  Amen.