The Park Forum

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.

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.

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.

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…

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 17 Listen: (4:26)
Read: Philippians 4 Listen: (3:20)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 17.22-24

22 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

“ ‘I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.’ ”

Reflection: The Thriving Tree

By John Tillman

Biblical authors don’t always explain their visions and parables. Thankfully, Ezekiel explains his visions of trees and eagles.

Nebuchadnezzar, the first eagle, took King Jehoiachin and others into captivity (2 Kings 24.15) and “planted” Zedekiah under Babylonian control. Pharaoh, the second eagle, is who Zedekiah, the “low vine,” entreats for help rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. “Will it thrive?,” God asks. (Ezekiel 17.9)

Many kings, humbled and seeking God’s face, received miraculous deliverance from their enemies. This was not one of those times. Zedekiah was the opposite of humble.

Refusing to humble himself under the discipline of God, (2 Chronicles 36.12-13) Zedekiah would not accept a reduction in status. He wanted to be a mighty cedar, not a low vine. He wanted the “good old days” back.

Zedekiah didn’t make his bad decisions alone. A host of religious leaders and yes-men helped. Self-serving false prophets fed Zedekiah’s ego and pride with lies and predictions of great deliverance and salvation.

It doesn’t take too much conjecture to imagine what Zedekiah might have felt and thought. “I’m a descendant of David! God promised to have one of David’s descendants rule forever on this throne. It just can’t be God’s will for me,…I mean…us, to be humiliated like this!”

Don’t we often look at scripture and our experiences in the same way? “This can’t be what God wants for me! I won’t stand for this kind of treatment! I deserve better! God will vindicate me in this fight!”

Zedekiah’s selfish desires for salvation and a return to power would not be answered because God had already set in motion his long-term plan to save and empower his people. Part of God’s plan to save them was to purify their hearts through exile and suffering. Part of God’s plan to save them was to enact a second Exodus, calling the faithful of his people back from captivity once again.

But God’s ultimate plan was in the tree, the king, only he could plant. (Ezekiel 17.22-25, Jeremiah 23.5-6)

Zedekiah, the king planted by Nebuchadnezzar would fail. Even Nebuchadnezzar would fail in spectacular fashion. Jesus, the king planted by God upon Zion, is the tree that will thrive, bringing all the birds to his shade.

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.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel. — Psalm 69.7

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

Read more about Praise in the Midst of Trouble :: A Guided Prayer

Plant us, Lord. Cause us to grow to shelter many.
In the midst of our trouble, raise us up to shelter the troubled around us.

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Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 16 Listen: (10:36)

Read: Philippians 3 Listen: (3:21)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 16:15, 47

15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.

47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they.

Reflection: Atypical Prostitute

By Erin Newton

Ezekiel 16 should come with a content warning. The graphic description of Jerusalem (both men and women) is described in a vulgar display of childbirth, shameless prostitution, and sexual violence. It is one of the most difficult passages to read, especially for sensitive readers who know the reality of such trauma or sympathize with those who do.

The language is jarring and upsetting. The image of the violence against the woman is not an action that is condoned, but the shock value of the image is likely the key to understanding why Ezekiel would talk about God’s people this way.

God’s people were once orphaned and rooted in a family tree of idolaters. It wasn’t Jerusalem’s excellent heritage that bonded her with God. It was God’s own love that chose her, in her loneliness, in her unworthiness, in her rejection by her own family.

She was clothed in honor and dignity. Her fame spread among the nations on account of her beauty—beauty given by God. All that was good of God’s people was because it reflected God himself. They were like radiant faces of those who had seen the Lord on the mountain.

But she was swayed in her devotion. Political alliances were made, spoken of here as sexual relationships with any passersby. She was not even a typical prostitute; she gave all that she had. She received nothing.

From history we know of these alliances with foreign nations. In most cases, they were attempts to find security in foreign power. They were made against the advice of prophets and always ended in disaster.

This harsh image is meant to awaken slumbering souls that had long forgotten the sound of God’s voice and only looked for new lovers. They traded their dignity for false security in someone else’s arms.

Have we grown in spiritual maturity so as not to act in this way? I’m not sure we are so different.

Like the metaphorical woman, Jerusalem, we were left to die, unloved and unwanted, before God clothed us with his love. But many times, we are quick to pledge our devotion to someone other than him, and these lovers only take and take with nothing to give in return. Let us not be swayed by anyone claiming to save us apart from God alone. He has promised to stand with us forever. May we commit our hearts only to him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Cry of the Church

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

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

Read More:

Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

The idols of a culture don’t always dress up in flamboyant costumes. They often hide in normality and ubiquity.

The Sins Behind Sexual Sins

When we are willing to kiss any ring, shake any hand, or endorse any person…we are prostituting ourselves in lust whether or not there is sex involved.