Month: October 2024

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 24.18-24

18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. 19 Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?” 20 So I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21 Say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary—the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. 22 And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. 23 You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves. 24 Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’

Reflection: What Mourning Demonstrates

By John Tillman

Demonstrative mourning was important in Ezekiel’s culture. It showed the importance of a loss.

To tear one’s clothing, to put ashes or dust on one’s head, and to fast from food, drink, and personal hygiene was typical. Yet, when Ezekiel’s wife died, he was only allowed to quietly groan to himself.

Known for extravagant public demonstrations and shocking language, Ezekiel sat quietly, mourning in near silence. This silence was as shocking as anything he ever did.

God sometimes got uncomfortably involved in prophets’ personal lives. Jeremiah was commanded to have no wife or children. Hosea married an unfaithful wife and remained faithful to her. The similar stories of Hosea and Jeremiah shed light on God’s command to Ezekiel.

Hosea’s marriage became a metaphor of God’s relationship with Israel, filled with betrayal on one side and faithfulness and tender love on the other.

Jeremiah was commanded not to marry or have children because of the coming destruction and not to mourn traditionally when destruction arrived. Because of the people’s betrayal, sin, and wickedness, God withdrew his blessing, love, and pity from the people, and this included not mourning as expected. (Jeremiah 16.1-15)

Jeremiah’s singleness, Hosea’s faithfulness, and Ezekiel’s silence spoke volumes about the severity of Israel’s sin but all three included a promise of restoration.

What is there for us to learn from this? To emulate? Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Hosea demonstrated different ways God mourns and deals with our sins.

We shouldn’t build our lives around exceptions and special cases in scripture but we can be ready for the exceptions. Mourning is the norm. When we have losses, whatever they are, we can and should mourn them and cry to God with all the pain and emotion in our hearts. The psalms teach us how to do this.

But there may come times when we must suffer things quietly. Perhaps, as with Jeremiah we should quietly mourn losses tied to sins. Perhaps, as with Ezekiel, we must demonstrate quiet acceptance and a determination to trust God.

Demonstrative mourning, whether quiet or loud, demonstrates something we believe about God.

Let us demonstrate, sometimes with loud cries and sometimes with quiet groaning, that God suffers with us and cares for our losses.

Let us demonstrate that God is with us in every loss.Let us demonstrate our hope in his promise that our losses will be restored. (Joel 2.25)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Praise

Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. — Psalm 51.16

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about God’s Performance Artists

God’s art is complex and multifaceted but not inscrutable or absurd. Even at its darkest, there is hope.

God’s Performance Artists

Read more about Calling the Kettle

We are blessed with a God who refused to simply toss away the worthless pot.

Calling the Kettle

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 23 Listen: (7:48)
Read: Ephesians 1 Listen: (3:10)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 23:35

35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution.”

Reflection: A Love Affair with Power

By Erin Newton

We come once again to another uncomfortable passage in Ezekiel. The imagery and allegory of God’s people as prostitutes is the focus for the story. The details of this chapter are difficult and offensive to both ancient and modern readers. It is important that we note once again that this is not the condemnation of women in general, but the use of a female figure as a metaphor for the entire nation, men and women alike.

In a lengthy exposé of the sins of Israel and Judah, Ezekiel talks about the lewdness of these sisters fawning and throwing themselves at powerful men—superpowers Egypt and Assyria. I think we will always struggle to understand why the prophet chose this type of imagery, but what we can see here is the error that was caused by the nations. To substitute trust in God for somebody who claims to have more power is akin to an unfaithful marriage.

What Ezekiel seemed to dance around in chapter 16 is placed on full parade here in chapter 23. The sisters (Israel and Judah) have been like shameless lovers who seek after any possible recipient to their seductions. They are taken and abused and cast aside. And the tragic thing is that even in the worst consequences, they had yet to learn to stop running after these powerful lovers.

What makes power so attractive? Why do we trade the ones we love for the affection of something else? When we look at our spiritual lives placing ourselves in the shoes of these women, who or what is it that we find so much more appealing than God?

At the time of the prophets the nations were struggling back and forth between incursions and battles with all the nations around them. There were promises of peace, promises of a better life—if only they would give up truth and the God that they loved. In return, they embraced the way of life offered by idolatrous nations.

Everywhere we go right now we are bombarded with messages about power—messages that herald someone or something’s power and why we should support it, messages about how to gain our own power and utilize it for our own benefit.

But what does it mean if we strive for power when the Son of God Almighty showed us only what it meant to be humble? Let us not lust for power … or its leaders.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Test me, O Lord, and try me; examine my heart and mind — Psalm 26.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about In Denial about Greed and Power

Our distraction with sexual language and content in scripture can cause us to lose sight of the passages’ intended message.

In Denial about Greed and Power

Read more about Incest, Greed, and Idolatry

When was the last time someone was disfellowshipped from a church for greed? When was the last time Christians boycotted something due to greed?

Incest, Greed, and Idolatry

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 22 Listen: (4:58)
Read: Philemon Listen: (2:52)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 22.2-12

2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, you infamous city, full of turmoil. 6 “ ‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. 7 In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths. 9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. 10 In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean. 11 In you one man commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife, another shamefully defiles his daughter-in-law, and another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter. 12 In you are people who accept bribes to shed blood; you take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors. And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Matthew 5.14

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Reflection: What Kind of City on a Hill?

By John Tillman

In 1630, Puritan John Winthrop referenced Jesus’ “city on a hill” image (Matthew 5.14) in a famous sermon while sailing to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Since then, many politicians, including presidents Kennedy, Reagan, and Obama, have quoted Winthrop, identifying the United States as a “city on a hill.”

There are some problems with this.

One is that Jesus never intended “city on a hill” to apply to any nation. Not Israel. Not Rome. Not the United States. Winthrop also didn’t intend a political application. He focused on the Christian community they intended to build.

Another problem is leaving out part of the message. Politicians use the image to inspire hope and to advocate for a better “city” for all people. That’s not bad. It’s a good thing when politicians lead with hope and inspiration rather then fear and intimidation. However, Winthrop’s “city on a hill” included admonition, not just inspiration. It included a warning, not just a pretty picture.

Being a city on a hill is not about patriotism or pride. In a city on a hill, whether we become righteous or wicked, God and the world are watching.

In Ezekiel 22, God watches and describes Jerusalem. What should be a shining city on a hill is a city of darkness, blood, and dross. What kind of “city on a hill” do we live in? Bright and righteous? Or dark and bloody?

Being a “shining city” begins with repentance, and repentance with seeing what God sees.

Pray solemnly through the following list of what God saw in the city of blood and dross:

Shedding blood (v3)
Making idols (v3)
Abuse of power (v6)
Contempt for family and parents (v7)
Oppressing the foreigner (v7)
Mistreating the vulnerable (v7)
Despising what is holy (v8)
Despising the day of rest and worship (v8)
Spreading slander that causes bloodshed (v9)
Benefiting from evil and idolatry (v9)
Lewdness, sexual abuse, promiscuity, and perversion (v9-11)
Taking bribes to do harm or shed blood (v12)
Financially abusing or unjustly profiting from the poor (v12)
Extortion from neighbors or community (v12)
Forgetting the Lord (v12)

Don’t lose hope. Christ’s shining city is not a country and is not built by winning elections or serving a political party. The city we build affects this world, but is not of this world. You are the shining city. But remember, the silver goes through the furnace too.

Let God melt away deeds of dross so the world sees their opposites shining among us. Be Christ’s shining city.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man will declare himself for him in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who disowns me in the presence of human beings will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.” — Luke 12.8-9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Come Out of Babylon

Babylon thought itself to be a light to the world…Do we, as Christians from around the world, think of our own nations in this way?

Come Out of Babylon

Read more about Ready to Exit the Desert

May we leave sin and doubt in the desert, crossing the Jordan toward God’s calling to be his city on a hill.

Ready to Exit the Desert

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 21 Listen: (5:29)
Read: Colossians 4 Listen: (2:21)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 21.3-6; 25-27

3 This is what the LORD says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5 Then all people will know that I the LORD have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’ 6 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief.

25 “ ‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, 26 this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. 27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’

From John: We look back today at this reflection from 2020. Many invoke apocalyptic passages to inspire or justify violence against “God’s enemies” as they define them. This is a misuse of scripture. It’s important to read apocalyptic passages introspectively and humbly. They are supposed to reveal something in us, not inspire violence against others. God’s sword of justice often falls on those who think themselves worthy of wielding God’s sword of justice. Take caution before you try to take it up.

Reflection: A Sword Unsheathed

By John Tillman

The slashing sword God unsheathes may seem shocking. Isn’t God going overboard here?

There are some things to remember about passages of judgment like this.

Like many apocalyptic passages, these are poetically exaggerated for emphasis. The sword did not cut down every single human in Jerusalem. Even though the Babylonians went farther in violence than God intended them to (which he later punished them for: Isaiah 13.17-22; Jeremiah 50.1-16) there was not complete eradication.

The destruction of Jerusalem was brought by the destruction they wrought. Jerusalem was characterized primarily by violence and was ended by violence. (Matthew 26.52) Few people feel bad for the destruction brought to Nazi Germany after a good look at the destruction they wrought. When we look more deeply into the sins of Jerusalem, we will see its destruction as the justice of God, not an overreaction. We may also see sins we are familiar with in our own countries. (We will look at this more deeply in tomorrow’s reflection on Ezekiel 22.2-12.)

Over and over the prophets’ voices cried out God’s concerns. Powerful and wealthy leaders who represented God profaned his name through their abuses. Widows and orphans, the poor and the foreigner suffered under violence and abuse. The blood of the poor ran in the streets.

Jerusalem’s leaders ignored God’s whistleblowers. The watchmen called out warnings but no one listened. (Ezekiel 33.1-7) The fire alarms went off but no one fought the fire.

The righteous, although they suffered, were sealed, loved, and cared for even in the midst of the destruction. In a different vision (Ezekiel 9.3-4), God set a seal on those who lamented the wickedness around them. This seal did not prevent all physical harm or suffering. Instead, God’s seal was a guarantee that evil would work out for their good. (Genesis 50.20)

God’s good purpose for them would come through the destruction, the exile, the return, and ultimately, through Jesus. God promised to remove the kingship and to restore it only when one worthy of it came. We are the selfish kings, uncrowned. The worthy king we now must serve is Jesus.

As whistles blow and alarms of judgment sound in our cities, may we be those who the Spirit finds filled with lament not contempt.

May we cry against violence not cry for it.
May we end the suffering of the poor not endorse it.
May his unsheathed sword mercifully cut us away from the false political kingdoms we have served, that we may learn to serve the kingdom of Heaven.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, not sat in the seats of the scornful!
Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall prosper.
It is not so with the wicked; they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is doomed. — Psalm 1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Scrupulosity of the Spirit

Do not give yourself excuses. But do not excuse yourself from God’s grace.
Humble yourself. But do not spiral into self-loathing.

Scrupulosity of the Spirit

Read more about The Thriving Tree

Our path to salvation and restoration follows the steps of the suffering, crucified servant, Jesus. It is only in the shade of Christ’s thriving tree, his cross, that we will thrive.

The Thriving Tree

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 18 Listen: (5:26)

Read: Colossians 1 Listen: (4:18)

This Weekend’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 19 Listen: (2:12), Read: Colossians 2 Listen: (3:27)

Read: Ezekiel 20 Listen: (9:25), Read: Colossians 3 Listen: (3:09)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 18.2-3, 19-23

2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

“‘The parents eat sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

19 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. 20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them. 21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Reflection: Blame Less and be Blameless

By John Tillman

Ezekiel’s generation of exiles blamed the generations before. Haven’t we all? Generational finger-pointing is common.

Their complaint reminds me of the opening line of Mike + The Mechanics’ 1988 mega-hit, “The Living Years,” “Every generation blames the one before. And all of their frustrations come beating at your door.”

The exiles beat on God’s door, quoting an “old song”: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” This saying or “proverb” is in scripture twice but is not “scripture.” In both places it appears, in Ezekiel 18.1-3 and in Jeremiah 31.29-30, it is quoted to be refuted.

In refuting the proverb, God does not deny the grim realities and results of parents’ sins or how this affects children. God also rebuked those quoting the proverb. Ezekiel’s generation was deflecting blame and denying responsibility, and God was having none of it.

The quote has some truth to it. The old covenant explicitly stated that God would punish younger generations for their parents’ sins, but promised a longer generational blessing for righteousness than a curse for wickedness. (Exodus 20.4-6)

Parents can harm their children with what they do or what they believe. Generational curses were a common religious belief in the ancient Near East and many other cultures. Today we have a secular belief in generational curses such as poverty, violence, addictions, lack of education, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

Instead of denying that one generation’s failures can harm another, God was and is saying, “My way will be different. This is not how I will deal with you.” God promises, and delivers, a new covenant in which every generational curse can be broken.

There is no generation completely free of blame. We benefit from and perpetuate the sins of our parents and pass on sins and errors to the next generation.  God says, “Stop blaming your parents and deal with me honestly.”

Don’t curse a generation before you for their failings or curse a generation following you with yours. The only son who ever rejected all the sins of the generations before, is Jesus, the sinless son. (Ezekiel 18.14-17) Each generation, and each individual, stands or falls by how we deal with Jesus.

Jesus, the blameless son, suffered the blame and sin of all generations to make us blameless and free us from sins’ curse. Blame less and rely on the blameless one, Jesus.

Read more about A Generational Lament

“Every generation blames the one before…” Old and young scoff at each other’s sufferings, separating into camps of division and bias.

A Generational Lament

Read more about Sinless Descendants

God’s description of the righteous son is not a case study of an actual person. Such a son, who rejects the sins of previous generations did not exist…

Sinless Descendants