The Bigger Lesson

Ezekiel 29:13-16
(13) "For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered,
(14) and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom.
(15) It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.
(16) And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD."

This is the beginning of a long judgment passage against Egypt. What I find interesting is that Egypt has merited its own punishment for how it has acted. Yet verse 16 shows God's deeper reason for all of this. He wants to remind Israel that He is indeed Yahweh.

There are some like my friend who think that they have God's intentions all figured out from a human perspective. I admit that there are times when He seems random to us and even capricious. It's as if He is pulling the wings off of flies sometimes.

Yet this passage gives me some hope as to why God does what He does. Ultimately it is for the glory of His name and to teach His people. Let's never forget that when we are going through trials or when we see others going through them.

A Recurring Theme

As I've been blogging through Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel I keep noticing a few things:

1. God is in charge
2. He takes His rules very seriously
3. All three men were commanded to preach faithfully no matter what the response

It's easy to sometimes look at the Old Testament as, well, old. We think that it doesn't have any bearing on our lives today. I agree that it is often an abuse of the text when the Old Testament is used to give us a lot of direct applications, though there are times for that. But what can we get from the stories of these men?

The obvious one that I keep harping on is the call to preach faithfully. They had poor soil to scatter seed in, but they still had to keep scattering the seed. They understood their role and God's role and were faithful to their callings.

The first two are really compelling to me lately. I hate the idea of "Old Testament God" vs. "New Testament God." We know that God doesn't change. Yet we see a lot more wrath in these books than we see in 26 of the New Testament books. What changed?

I would maintain that the cross changed everything. God's wrath on Judah was so severe that people were cooking their children to get through the famine. That is the same wrath that was propitiated at the cross. God hasn't changed, but we now have the cross so that we do not have to suffer from His wrath because of our sin.

It's easy to look down our noses at those idolatrous fools, isn't it? We are no different in our hearts. Yet we have an all-sufficient Savior who took the punishment for us. I hope that gives you some joy.

My Christian Blogs

I don't do a whole lot of HTing especially now that I've made this blog into more of an online journal about what I'm reading every day. However, I can tell you that my Google Reader has quite a bit going on from Major League Baseball to a variety of blogs about Jesus to some blogs about Windows PowerShell. Historically, my two favorite places to learn about new blogs have been Justin Taylor's Between Two Worlds and Tim Challies' aptly named challies.com.

I've never heard of aggregator sites, but they make sense. A new one has recently sprung up called My Christian Blogs. I took a look through his front page and I can tell you that I either regularly read, have read, or have at least heard of all of them. If you're interested in what is going on in the Christian blogosphere it is well worth your time to check out.

Who is He?

John 8:58
(58) Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

It's almost impossible for us to see just how blasphemous this would have seemed to the Pharisees. Basically, He quoted this to them:

Exodus 3:13-14
(13) Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
(14) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

Jesus was calling Himself God here. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There are some "Christian" organizations who try to twist this verse to read "I have been." The Greek could not be any clearer. Jesus was claiming to be God.

Yes, Jesus was a good teacher. Yes, Jesus was kind and gentle. Yes, He was a healer as well. However, if He wasn't truly God then He was a complete nutjob or charlatan. It's the classic CS Lewis choice of Lord, Lunatic, or Liar. You have to choose one.

Which one is He for you?

Saved from Death

Ezekiel 16:6
(6) "And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'

This is part of God's judgment on Israel for her disobedience. He starts by explaining how Israel had no birthright. He made Israel from an Amorite and a Hittite. Yet as she metaphorically lay there like a helpless infant He took her and made her prosper.

I find it's easy to read this passage and shake my head at Israel's foolishness. However, if I back up a step I realize that this applies to me just as much. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, yet God made me alive together with Christ. By grace I have been saved.

What am I doing with that salvation? How am I living? Am I turning to idols as Israel did? Or am I living faithfully for the Lord? Frankly, I'm somewhere in between, but I hope that I'm living for the Lord more than I'm chasing idols. How about you?