Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 25 Listen: (2:50)
Read: Ephesians 3 Listen: (3:42)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 26 Listen: (3:45), Read: Ephesians 4 Listen: (3:58)
Read: Ezekiel 27 Listen: (5:15), Read: Ephesians 5 Listen: (3:42)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 27.3-7

3 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you said “Aha!” over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore I am going to give you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their camps and pitch their tents among you; they will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 5 I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and Ammon into a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 6 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, 7 therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will wipe you out from among the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Reflection: Participating in Violence

By John Tillman

Violence is a complex topic in scripture.

God used violence for his purposes, but also condemned it, even when it accomplished his purposes. He used David’s violence to defend his kingdom but condemned that violence when he refused to allow David to build the Temple. (1 Chronicles 22.8) When David’s kingdom became evil, God used Babylon’s violence to destroy it, but condemned the Babylonians for what they did. (Isaiah 47.6)

In this section of Ezekiel God curses and condemns nations and tribes who didn’t commit violence against Jerusalem—they just celebrated it. God treated them as participants.

Violence is being normalized in culture and politics today. Calls for violence are frequent. Leaders on the left and the right have been threatened and attacked. Some (including Christians) have celebrated this.

Jesus clarified and redefined his followers’ relationship with violence. We are to have no flesh and blood enemies. We must love, pray for, and do good to our enemies. We are not to resist insults and not return evil for evil. Christians must be different than the world.

If our hearts bear malice towards humans, it doesn’t matter if we don’t commit violence against them. Jesus says we are guilty. (Matthew 5.21-22) God will treat us as participants, even if we are on the sidelines.

What does participating in violence “from the sidelines” look like?

Provoking or inciting violence. This can be subtle or overt. A person might just imply that it would be good if something bad happened to someone. Or someone might openly state that someone deserves harm. Even if no one carries out what was said, it is still inciting violence.

Supporting or promoting violence. This means organizing, planning, or providing the means for violence. One can provide the place, opportunity, or information needed for it to happen. One can allow it to continue or refuse to act to stop it. This is supporting violence even if we never swing a fist or wield a weapon.

Celebrating violence. This means cheering it on, enjoying the suffering of the victims, or joking about the outcome. It also means glamorizing it or defending it. It also means repeating the rhetoric of violence, using the slogans, and endorsing those who do.

Violence is part of our world but should have no place in our hearts or our leaders’ mouths. No matter how malicious our foes, there must be no room in our hearts for malice.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

But you, O Lord my God, oh, deal with me according to your Name; for your tender mercy’s sake, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. — Psalm 109.20-21

Read more about Victory Over Violence

As someone who experienced and participated in violence, I’m shocked at the glorification of violence in our culture and among Christians.

Read more about Sticks and Stones and Scorpions

Of course words can harm. Stones may strike, sticks may swing, or scorpions sting. Fear not. The gospel’s words of healing are for us and them.

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 27.27
27 Your wealth, merchandise and wares,
    your mariners, sailors and shipwrights,
your merchants and all your soldiers,
    and everyone else on board
will sink into the heart of the sea
    on the day of your shipwreck.

Reflection: Onlookers’ Delight
By Erin Newton

In modern terms, Tyre was a supercenter of goods. Like a mega-company that traded with dozens of nations, Tyre was a household name for the ancient Near East. She prided herself in her achievements and her wealth. She was the supplier of purple dye, the symbol of royalty. Tyre was successful and perhaps considered herself indispensable.

We are met again with a passage that does not speak about Israel. What is central to this chapter? Wealth. Extensive amounts of wealth. A long list of trade partners fills verse after verse. Imagine a business today with that sort of revenue. Tyre’s hope is not bound to one source; she is linked with every nation in the area. There is a feeling of financial security. But downfall is coming. God tells Ezekiel to speak a lament to the people.

How does one lament great wealth? The wise sage of Ecclesiastes surveyed the accumulation of wealth and ended with a lament, of sorts.

Ecclesiastes 5.10 says, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” Wealth can never be fulfilled. It always wants more and more. Tyre, seeing Israel destroyed, immediately assumes that destruction would result in benefits for herself.

Ecclesiastes 6.2 also says, “God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.” With vast amounts of wealth, those who labor to obtain it die before they can fully enjoy such treasures.

Wisdom would tell us that wealth is not inherently bad: “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it” (Proverbs 10.22). The message about money is a mixed bag. It can be good. It can be bad.

There is an attitude that must be examined in the texts about Tyre. It is Tyre’s pleasure of Israel’s misfortune that causes her judgment. Pleasure derived from another’s demise is called schadenfreude. It expresses the joy and thrill experienced when another person suffers. It highlights the inner perversion of love.

Wealth alone was not a problem. Somehow the desire for riches turned the treaty of brotherhood into a den of vipers.

God calls us to love one another. We would never take joy in our failures. Loving our neighbors means not reveling in theirs. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
The Lord is King; let the people tremble; he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake. — Psalm 99.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Ezekiel 27 (Listen 5:15) 
Ephesians 5 (Listen 3:42)

Read more about Solomon’s Folly
Most people seek to retest Solomon’s findings. “Sure, sure, wealth and pleasure are meaningless,” we say, “but let me try.”

Read more about Neither Despair Nor Nostalgia
In golden ages, we often find excesses that will bankrupt the future. Solomon instituted forced labor and was consumed by pleasures of wealth, sex, and power.