Prophetic Perspective

Joel 3

            As Joel wraps up his prophecy, he looks forward to a day of judgment on Israel’s enemies and a day of restoration. This makes a good time to comment on what is called prophetic perspective. Joel is seeing a locust infestation, but he can see indistinctly meaning beyond that initial crisis. He likens those locusts to an invading army—whether that’s the Assyrians or the Babylonians or some other army, who knows. But the locusts are clearly a foreshadowing of something greater, which Joel summarizes as the day of the Lord. And as we read on, we see that the day of the Lord is greater than even the defeat of Israel’s enemies. He talks of multitudes gathered for judgment and the darkening of the skies. We can see in that a foreshadowing of the last day. Joel probably doesn’t see all of that, but the words which the Lord inspires him to utter contain all of that.

A Locust Hoard and the Day of the Lord

Joel 1-2

            Joel’s prophecy focuses on the devastation caused by a locust hoard. If 1: 4 is to be taken literally, it might have even been a succession of locust hoards. Some suggest a drought also afflicted Israel.

            Joel uses these natural disasters as an opportunity to call Israel to repentance. They are a foreshadowing of the day of the Lord, a day of destruction for Israel (1:15), “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” (2:2). Notice in 2:4-9 how Joel likens them to soldiers and how in 2:20 he refers to the locusts as “the northern horde.” Both Assyria and Babylon, while technically northeast and due east respectively, would have invaded from the north.

            This notion that disasters in the present are foreshadowings of God’s end-time judgment is important. Sometimes we want to know what present evil has occurred to occasion our troubles, but Joel offers an alternative explanation: they are reminders that the Lord will eventually judge a fallen world.

            Significantly, Joel prophesies that the Lord’s judgment is not His final word. He has a new age in store (2:28-32), a passage Peter quotes in connection to Pentecost (Acts). Peter’s appropriation of Joel 2 reminds us Christians that we already live in that new age through faith and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Out of the Blue?

Hosea 13

            After 13 verses detailing Ephraim’s arrogance and the Lord’s threats against her, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, comes verse 14, “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?” In one way, it makes no sense, especially since the words of judgment pick up again in verse 15.

            So, it is possible, and many commentators argue for it and some modern translations do it, to translate verse 14 as rhetorical questions, “Shall I deliver this people? Shall I redeem them?” One commentator puts it this way, “This would be like a judge saying, ‘Shall I let this prisoner go? Executioner, where is your axe? I will not have pity.’” It makes a lot more sense contextually!

            On the other hand, in his great chapter on the resurrection, Paul quotes this verse about the defeat of death (1 Corinthians 15:55). So, Paul, at least, took it as a promise not a threat.

            What if it’s both? What if the original reader is supposed to read the question, “Shall I deliver?” and think, “Well, the Lord would certainly be in His rights not to deliver! He’s made an airtight case for the unfaithfulness of Israel. Exile was the long-threatened punishment for breaking the covenant. Israel certainly has it coming.” But what if the ambiguity is supposed to move them further so that they say, “On the other hand, the Lord promises that His anger will not burn forever, that He delights in mercy, and that He has purposes for Israel that are not yet fulfilled. Maybe there is yet hope.”

            As C.F.W. Walthers directs, “Do not hold forth with the Law too long; let the Gospel follow promptly. When the law has made the iron to flow, apply the Gospel immediately to shape it into a proper form; if the iron is allowed to cool, nothing can be done with it” (The Proper Distinction, Lecture 39).

Out of Egypt

Hosea 11-12

            Matthew plucks Hosea 11:1 out of the Old Testament and applies it to the Holy Family escaping from Herod’s assault on the infants of Bethlehem by fleeing to Egypt and their return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:13-23). On the surface, Matthew seems to choosing a verse that has very little to do with the story at hand. I mean, in Hosea 11, the bringing out of Israel is followed by a recitation of their persistent disobedience. By I think Matthew is making a deliberate contrast: Israel was called out of Israel and became disobedient in the wilderness, but in Matthew 3, Jesus, who obediently came out of Israel, submits to John’s baptism and takes up a vocation of righteousness. Hosea is setting up the next two chapters of God’s love for Israel and Israel’s scorning of the love. Matthew is showing Jesus to be everything Israel was supposed to have been, the fulfillment of the Lord’s plans through that people.

            Which brings us to 11:8ff… Here the Lord demonstrates His heart. He loves Israel so much that He struggles with having to discipline them as they need to be disciplined. I talk often about the difference between God’s alien work and His proper work. God’s alien work, the work that is not natural for Him, is the work of punishment. No parent wants to punish their child, but sometimes a child’s disobedience forces a parent to it. So, too, with the Lord. Indeed, the Lord is the best of fathers, and His proper work, the work that reflects His deepest being, is to bless and care for us.

            Why doesn’t the Lord’s love just overturn all punishment? Because Israel (and we!) continue to resist. In chapter 12:4, especially, we see it. Israel’s forefather was named Jacob, but from the womb and well into adult life, he resisted the Lord’s claim on his life. Famously, he wrestled the angel on the banks of the Jabbok (Genesis 32:22-32). There’s a complexity to our relationship to the Lord. Having given us our own agency, we are free to resist Him, to wrestle with Him, and we do. The Lord’s love is steadfast and while He disciplines us when we disobey, His love endures forever. Consider Hosea 12:9: “I have been the Lord your God ever since you came out of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, as in the days of your appointed festivals.” He doesn’t give up on Israel, and He doesn’t give up on us.

What Does This Mean for Us?

Hosea 9-10

            You know, sometimes I read the prophets and it just strikes me, “This is still God’s Word.” I mean, it’s not like it only applied 2700 years ago in the specific instance of Israel and her disregarding of the covenant the Lord made with her. Now, if you’ve ever sat in one of my Bible studies, you know that you have to be careful with the way that you bring it forward and apply, but it does still apply.

            What do these condemnations have to say to us? First, let’s remember that the Lord never completely abandoned His project with Israel. He did indeed fulfill the promises He made that through her all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. By the time that promise is fulfilled, there’s really only one truly faithful Israelite, namely, Jesus, but He did achieve His purpose. The Lord still promises today that His church will endure, that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So, we have that assurance, even if there are only 7000 left (1 Kings 19:18), the church will endure and the Lord’s purposes through it—to bring the good news of Jesus to the world—will be achieved.

            Second, though, our reading today is pretty short on promises! How do these condemnations apply to us?  For starters, Hosea 9:7 says, “The prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac.” How does that apply? I’m writing this at my district pastors’ conference, and the speaker just made a point about the way we often simply don’t hear God’s Word. He preached a funeral sermon and talked in it about the wages of sin being death; he made the point the sin was the cause of death. One of his congregation corrected him, “Oh, no. She died of cancer.” Sin is definitely a teaching of Scripture that is unpopular. No one likes to have their sins pointed out. In many ways, we (including this preacher) soft-peddle sin and its effects.

            Scorn for God and His Word, pursuing prosperity and a comfortable life, pursuing one’s own interests at the expense of others—these are things that Hosea condemns Israel for, laying them out as reasons for the Lord’s anger and the impending judgment. And put Israel’s sins that way and we realize the same charges could be applied to us today! Are we then under the threat of exile or destruction? Maybe. A principle I stand by, “God has promised that His church will endure until the second coming; He has not promised it will meet in your neighborhood.”

            These are sobering thoughts, but as I’ve said, these are the words of God, and they still apply to us these many years later. At the least, this ought to motivate us to examine our hearts and lives, to repent our sins and receive forgiveness, and to strive to live out our faith.

Images of Israel’s Sin

Hosea 7-8

            Chapters 7-8 use several images for Israel’s sin that make some important points about the nature of sin. First up, 7:3, in which they delight in sin. Sometimes we are caught up in sins and loathe ourselves for it (Romans 7:21-25). Other times we are so used to, habituated to, our sin that it becomes normal; we don’t even notice it as sin anymore. That’s delighting in sin!

            Second, I found the likening of sin to an oven powerful. But it’s not just any oven; it’s an oven that doesn’t need stirring because it’s always hot. What an image for the constant temptation of sin! Because sin is always ready to seize us, we need to be constantly aware of its burning in us.

            Finally, today I appreciated 8:7, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.” My Bible’s cross-references remind me that we’ve read something similar before, but it’s an important reminder: play with the fire of sin and you get burned.

            So, today, a reminder to be on the watch for temptations to violate the Lord’s commands and to deal with our sin with immediate repentance. (Fortunately for me, my other devotions today included Psalm 86:5, “You, Lord, are forgiving and good!”)

Hosea 5-6

Hosea 5-6

            It’s so easy to think, “All Israel had to do was trust the Lord,” but it’s not always that simple. Well, it is that simple, but we don’t see things clearly. Imagine Israel. Hosea says they are sick and covered in sores (5:13). They know things aren’t going their way. They are surrounded by more powerful enemies Their economy is being squeezed. Things look grim. What’s the most natural thing to do? Find an ally. So, they turn to Assyria. What the Lord wanted was a radical dependence on him, that they would forsake their dalliances with the nations around them and their gods. I daresay we’re the same way. We want to rely on the Lord; we think we do. But our confidence is ultimately in different places—in our own abilities to fix our problems, in our finances to see us through, whatever. Those are pretty natural places to look for security, and we often don’t see it for the idolatry that it is.

            There are some important lines in chapter 6. The first paragraph (vv. 1-3) seem to be Israel’s confession, that the Lord who punishes also restores and that they only need to seek Him. The reference to “after two days, after three” in verse 2 may be the Scripture Paul is referring to in 1 Corinthians 15:4 when he says that Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Second, Jesus quote 6:6 in Matthew 9 and 12. The point here is that God doesn’t want mere mechanical performance of the sacrificial system; what matters is faith, faith that is active and living and manifests itself in a changed life. There’s a lot more that could be said there! I direct you to the Small Catechism and its discussion of Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar. Finally, there’s a translational issue at 6:7. NIV takes Adam as referring to a place, down near the Jordan River. But the NIV’s footnote indicates that it could also be translated “like human beings.” NIV favors the first because of the second half of the verse and the word there that is there. Still, it’s interesting to think that maybe Hosea was being intentionally ambiguous, reminding Israel that for all her special role in God’s plan of salvation, she was still only human and therefore as much a part of God’s problem as the Gentiles.

Still Adulterers

Hosea 3-4

            Once again, Hosea’s marriage reflects the relationship of Israel with the Lord, and the prophet is sent to regain his wife. Apparently she had become a slave in the interim, because he had to redeem her for 15 shekels and some barley. Think about that: she had desired freedom to pursue her lovers and that had ended badly for her. There’s a lesson there: in our sinfulness, we think we can do better making our own choices, but the ways of God are always better in the long run—even if that long run takes us into the resurrection before we see the blessed outcomes.

            Chapter 4 has a lot going on. First, reading the prophets one would think the Israelites were a horrible people. I wonder if we need to understand some of the indictment in verse 2 in the way Jesus explains the 10 Commandments in Matthew 5. By that I mean, there’s probably no more actual murder in Israel than anywhere else (even if there should be less among God’s people), but Jesus explains that even anger is a violation of the 5^th Commandment. Second, my study Bible says that verses 4-9 are an indictment of the Levitical priests, and I see that. But the priests aren’t named as the subject right away. It’s just possible the verse 6, “I reject you as priests” is not just a rejection of that particular class, but a rejection of all of Israel who are a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6). To be clear, I think that the Levitical priests become the subject later in the passage. Third, I note the statement that the women will not be held guilty for adultery because it is the men encourage that behavior and are just as guilty. (That last makes a nice contrast with some of the things we read in Exodus and Leviticus, which always seemed to place the greater burden on the woman.)

Hosea

Hosea 1-2

            When we turn the page from Daniel to Hosea, we are going back in time. Hosea is part of a collection called the minor prophets or sometimes the Book of the Twelve. These are minor prophets only in the sense that they are much shorter than Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel. And they are collected from all over Israel’s history—from the 8^th century BC to the 5^th century. Hosea may be the oldest of them. He identifies his ministry with King Uzziah, making him roughly a contemporary of Isaiah.

            Hosea casts his prophecy around his own life experience. The prophet is told to marry a promiscuous woman, perhaps even a prostitute. He has children by her, named successively, Jezreel, a prophecy against the house of Jehu, Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi, twin prophecies against faithless Israel, who is just like adulterous Gomer. We’ve talked before about the analogy between adultery and idolatry. Idolatry is not just some sin. It is a sin that violated God to His very core, just as adultery violates a marriage to its core.

Dreams and Angels

Daniel 10-12

            Danel has a dream, well, I guess a vision technically. Whatever. He is talking to a man shining and golden, probably an angelic being. Angels figure prominently in this kind of literature. In fact, a lot of what we think we know about angels and demons has more to do with non-biblical books in this same style from this period.

            Anyway, the angel lays out a very thorough history between a king of the south and a king of the north. My study bible explicates chapter 11 in terms of the breakup of the kingdom of Alexander the Great and the intermittent war between two parts of that broken kingdom: the Ptolemaic (Egypt) and Seleucid (Syria) Empires. This story culminates with the king of the north invading and persecuting Israel. This is a reference to events that happened about 170 BC, when the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, conquered Jerusalem and desecrated the temple.

            Whenever things look bleak for God’s people, they look to the future when the Lord will set all things right. So, too, Daniel, who looks for a great confrontation and the resurrection and everlasting life. No wonder that by Jesus’ day so many Jews were ready to think that the day of the Lord was right at hand!

Daniel’s Prayer and Seventy Sevens

Daniel 9

            The first part of Daniel is straightforward enough. Daniel recognizes that he’s been in Babylon almost 70 years (605-538 BC) and prays that the Lord would keep His promise through Jeremiah that the exile would only last 70 years. One interesting note in Daniel’s prayer is the way that he contrasts the Lord’s righteousness with Israel’s sin. One scholar thinks that when we read “righteousness” in the Bible, we should not think of God’s “moral rectitude” but of His “covenant faithfulness.” That is, He had told them the consequences of violating the covenant terms, so He was just when He exiled them. But He also promised to hear and restore, and His righteousness would be proved by keeping that promise.

            Much more difficult is the promise of 70 sevens. At the outset, we need to acknowledge that 70 sevens is pretty obviously a symbolic phrase, probably of some divinely set span of time. But the temptation is to take it literally. Certainly by the century before Jesus, Jewish people were working those number and working them hard, because 70 time 7 is 490, and by 100 BC, it was closing in on 490 years since Daniel had begun his work. So, these verses were being applied feverishly and those times were filled with wild expectation that the day of God’s great intervention was at hand.

            Now, the early church inherited Daniel along with the rest of the Old Testament from their Jewish forebears. And there’s a lot in these verses that they would see in hindsight as referring to the Messiah. First, the Anointed One is literally the messiah. Second, there is a clear statement that the Anointed One would be killed Third, Jesus Himself had spoken of the abomination of desolation when He prophesied the destruction of the Temple. The final seven, then, was taken as the remainder of the era between Jesus resurrection and His second coming.

            Whatever we make of the details—and a lot has been written!—Jesus clearly referred to this chapter, too, so we have to struggle with it as we try to understand what He said about His own ministry.

The First True Apocalyptic Visions

Daniel 7-8

            Oof. What a set of chapters! Literally dozens and dozens of books are written about this portion of Daniel.

            First, there are connections with the prior chapters of Daniel. In chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar had been struck down so that he lived as a beast of the field, and in chapter 6 Daniel had been thrown to the wild beasts. So, the connection with the pagan nations with wild beasts is well-established. Additionally, in chapters 1and 5 Daniel had predicted the demise of Babylon, so a vision that speaks of successive empires fits.

            Whether in chapter 1 or here in chapter 7, the idea of four successive kingdoms makes the majority of scholar think that Daniel was written much later than Daniel himself. Daniel was active from at least 605 BC to 536 BC, but most scholars assume the book wasn’t written until about 160 BC. The Persians almost bloodlessly took over the city of Babylon in 539 BC, and the rest of the empire quickly followed. The Persians ruled the ancient near east for two centuries, until the conquest of Alexander the Great, a Greek, in a series of campaigns from 334 BC to 323 BC. Alexander died shortly thereafter, and his empire was divided into four parts, given to his four leading generals. At first the Egyptian quadrant ruled Israel, but Israel came under the control of the Syrian quadrant (the Seleucids) in 187 BC and a period of intense persecution followed until 175 BC. In 167 BC, a Jewish revolt under the leadership of the Maccabees threw off the Seleucid yoke. Most commentators, then, see Daniel 7 not as a prophecy of the future but a retelling of history.

            Whether Daniel was written in the 500s (the traditional view) or the 160s (the modern view), the fourth kingdom was still in the near future. Perhaps it should be identified with Rome, which was first starting to assert itself in the Mediterranean in this time period; maybe it should be identified with the Seleucids. Many Jews in the Maccabean period seem to have thought of this last kingdom in the latter way and they were looking carefully for the rise of God’s everlasting kingdom (7:26-27).

            As apocalyptic, the language here is highly symbolic. The idea of beasts should be understood as pagan powers. The various animal parts are intended to draw on popular associations. The lion was the most powerful of the land animals, and the eagle the most powerful of the animals in the sky. The bear was known for its power and ferocity, the leopard for its speed. Numbers also had symbolic force: 7 was God’s number, 10 the fullness of earthly power, 4 indicative of the 4 corners of the earth.

            From a New Testament perspective, the most important part is Daniel 7:9-14, the vision of the Ancient of Days and one like a son of man. In the centuries before Jesus, messianic expectation was at an all time high. So, when Jesus chose to refer to Himself as the Son of Man, he was tapping into widely known messianic expectation.

            There’s a lot more that could be said. I’ll deal with it in my Wednesday morning Bible class this week.

The Stories of Daniel

Daniel 2-6

            Daniel 2: Pharaoh had been troubled by his dreams of plenty and famine (Genesis 41), but he had at least told his magicians and wise men the dream before asking for an interpretation. Nebuchadnezzar is a breed apart and demands that his magicians not only tell him what his dream means; they must also tell him what the dream was. (One gets the impression that the king of Babylon knew that many of his advisers were shysters…) Enter Daniel, who like Joseph before him, gives the credit to the Lord.

            Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was about a huge statue made of gold, silver, bronze, and clay which was destroyed by a rock and crashed to the ground. Most modern scholars think the whole scene was made up after the fact to describe the succession of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and eventually Syrians (technically the Seleucids, a Greek people ruling over Syria) as the nations that oppressed Israel. Of course, if you don’t believe that God knows the future, you have to find a different explanation. The reality is that the dream has Babylon as the gold, but historically you could argue that Persia and Greece were the greater empires. The dream and its interpretations seem to have two purposes. First, it seems designed to stoke Nebuchadnezzar’s ego, similar to the way that the Lord enticed Pharaoh to arrogance so that He could glorify His name. Second, it looks forward to a lasting kingdom, which in Christian reflection means the kingdom of the Messiah.

            Daniel 3: Having dreamed about a statue, Nebuchadnezzar builds himself a statue and its quite a thing—90 feet tall and 9 feet wide. Think a giant obelisk, or in the language of archaeology, a stele. He falls right into the trap of arrogance laid for him. The three young men: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to worship and are thrown into a blazing furnace. Two quick notes: first, the fiery furnace should remind us for fiery trial, that is, the difficulties that come on us to test our faith. (The testing of faith is a theme through Daniel—part of that no-compromise agenda.) Second, when the king looks in the furnace, he sees four men, and one looks a son of the gods. The fourth may have been an angel, or it may have been the pre-incarnate Christ, that is the legitimate Son of God. Daniel is filled with messianic expectation.

            Daniel 4: Daniel 4 takes the form of a letter after the fact. Nebuchadnezzar narrates a story about a dream with a great tree cut down, it’s interpretation by Daniel, namely, that Nebuchadnezzar will be punished for his arrogance, and the fulfillment of that threat. The point of the thing is at the end of the chapter when Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the God of Israel. Another theme of Daniel: the pagan kings cannot help but acknowledge the Lord’s power.

            Daniel 5: That same theme continues in chapter 5, where, on the night of the Persian conquest of Babylon, the king is having a banquet. Filled with pride in his own power, a hand writes a message on the wall: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin—“Your days are numbered; you have been weighed; your kingdom is divided.” The Lord judges the great nations and His power can only be recognized, never denied.

            There’s a difficulty in chapter 5, namely, that it says Darius the Mede conquered Babylon. Historically, Cyrus was the Persian king who accomplished that in 539 BC. Skeptics will look at that and use it as evidence that the Bible is inaccurate. However, consult a decent study Bible and you will see there are ways to explain it.

            Daniel 6: The last chapter this week tells the familiar story of Daniel and the lion’s den, one of those iconic Sunday school stories. As adults we notice the continuation of the themes that God’s people are never to compromise their faith, no matter what the consequences, and that the Lord is able to deliver from every threat. Notice, too, the deep identification of pagan powers with beasts: Nebuchadnezzar becoming a beast, the king of Persia using wild beasts to impose his will. Why notice that? The vision of succeeding kingdoms and their beastly nature lies behind the fantastic visions that will occupy us next week.

Introducing Daniel

Daniel 1

            Daniel’s life experience takes us from 605 BC to about 536 BC, a span that takes us from Daniel’s childhood to his golden years. We can easily imagine Daniel being a tween, about 12, though that’s just a guess, when he was chosen for training, and that means he would have lived and worked to a good, old age of at least 81.

            Daniel is clearly patterned on Joseph, from the book of Genesis. He is portrayed as a sort of golden boy, handsome and bright, just as Joseph quickly rose to prominence both in Potiphar’s house, where he, unfortunately, became desirable to his master’s wife; in the prison in which he was incarcerated; and before Pharaoh. Just as Joseph served in the courts of a foreign power, so did Daniel; just as Joseph interpreted dreams, so did Daniel.

            More than a replay of Joseph, though, Daniel became an example of how an Israelite could stay faithful to their God in face of tremendous pressure to compromise. In this chapter, he proposes a small test to demonstrate that staying kosher was possible and even better than the alternatives.

            This no-compromise theme runs through Daniel. No wonder it became one of the most referenced books in the period between the Testaments! In the centuries after the exile, it seems that Israel determined never to fall into idolatry again. (See, for example, Ezra and the controversy around intermarrying with pagans.) Beginning with the conquest of Alexander the Great in the late 300s and running for the next two centuries with Alexander’s successors, Israel faced incredible pressure to hellenize, that is, to adopt Greek practices and to soften some of their more distinctive practices; their refusal led to all sorts of persecution. In such an environment, the example of Daniel shown brightly. So Daniel became the great example of a man who could beat the pagans at their own games but do it on the Lord’s terms. No wonder he became a hero.

 

            Now, the book of Daniel works in two parts. Chapters one to six are full of stories, many of which a modern reader will find familiar. The three men in the fiery furnace are here. So, is the origin of the phrase, “The writing in on the wall.” And the very famous story of Daniel in the lions’ den rounds out the section. Keep these stories in mind, because the last six chapters are filled with fantastic visions (the technical term for them is apocalyptic), and, if we pay attention, we will see how the stories provide the framework for understanding the visions. (I personally find N. T. Wright’s summary of Daniel in The New Testament and the People of God, pages 292-294, very helpful, and I’ll be relying on it in this blog quite a lot.)

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Temple, Part 1

Ezekiel 40-42

            Ezekiel’s culminating vision concerns a new and rebuilt temple. The instructions are very detailed, and one can find pictures online that demonstrate that detail. Some think that this is the temple Zerubbabel should have built after the exile. Some think it will be built in the future—both Jews and some Christians. Probably the whole thing is an idealized vision. A few details confirm that judgment. First, notice that Ezekiel envisions temple courts that are a perfect square, suggesting maybe a symbolic description. Second, in chapter 47, we’ll read about a river flowing out the temple, a geographic feature that never existed on the top of Mt. Zion. Probably we are to think of this temple as an idealized vision and the lesson in its detailed description is that, if the temple is ever rebuilt, Israel must treat the temple as holy, unlike the desecrations of the earlier chapters.

The Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37-39

            Wrapping up this section of Ezekiel needs two comments. The first is about Ezekiel’s most famous vision: whether you knew it was his or not, almost everyone knows the vision of the valley of dry bones. The big question, of course, is what is this vision about. My answer makes some assumptions. I assume that understanding the fullness of God’s revelation is only possible after the ministry of Jesus, especially after His death and resurrection. That is the lens which brings the Scriptures into focus. So, for example, although there is evidence of the Trinity all the way back to Genesis 1, it wasn’t until the church reflected on the nature of God in the light of Christ that we came to confess it fully. In terms of Ezekiel 37, I think we need to recognize that Israel’s understanding of the afterlife was long in developing. In many of the psalms, for example, we find the word Sheol, the grave, the place of the dead, and it is a nasty place, described as dark and wet, like a dungeon. No one praises the Lord from there (Psalm 6:5, a psalm of David). Yet, by Psalm 116 (unattributed and undated), we read that the death of the Lord’s holy ones weighs on Him, and David himself hints at some kind of hope beyond death. Still, I don’t think Israel had really thought about bodily resurrection until much later, 150 years before Jesus or so. So, the vision of the valley of dry bones is, in its first instance, a prophecy about Israel’s national restoration. We can’t discount that this vision fired the imagination and understanding of later generations who came back here to better understand the fate of God’s people after their physical death. Even though I don’t think that’s what Ezekiel was talking about at the time, certainly in mature reflection we see here an image that draws us forward to the resurrection on the last day.

            The second comment is from chapter 38 and the naming of Gog, from the land of Magog. Probably this is some unknown ruler for what we name as Asia Minor, and the point is that the Lord’s justice will extend to the farthest nations. The problem is that Gog and Magog are named in Revelation 20, and dispensationalists have set all sorts of people’s hair on fire about some mythic, end-time battle called Armageddon. So, let the Ezekiel set the terms on which Revelation draws, and Armageddon becomes a sort of symbol for the world’s opposition to the Lord and His church, which extends until His return in glory. May be I’ll be able to comment on that when we get to Revelation later this year, but for now, let’s just see Gog of Magog as one more nation against whom the Lord speaks.

Catching Up

Ezekiel 28-39

            I’m sorry I’ve been very lax about this blog. Here are some notes from the last several days’ readings.

            In chapter 28, there is a reference to Noah, Job, and Daniel as proverbial figures of wisdom (also in chapter 14). The odd man out here is Daniel, because the only Biblical character of that name is not a proverbial wiseman, but one of Ezekiel’s contemporaries who at the time of Ezekiel is only just starting his memorable career. I think most commentators understand this Daniel to not be the Biblical character. There is a reference to a Danel in the literature of Ugarit, a city northwest of Israel, north of Tyre and Sidon, which was influential before the time of David. Now, here’s the interesting thing, to me, at least. If Daniel is non-biblical secular character, what of the other two? The way the story of Job is framed in the Bible, I would think it likely that he was a more widely known character outside the Bible. (For example, while no one knows exactly where Uz is, it’s definitely outside of Israel.) As far as Noah is concerned, many ancient cultures have a flood story of some sort; only in the Bible is the main character named Noah, but this could be a reference to that person named in many civilizations and by many names. It strikes me that this is evidence that Ezekiel (and Israel) lived in the real world. A thing I've often said about the Bible that makes it stand out from other religion's sacred texts is that the Bible so clearly fits into what we know of the world from other sources.

            In chapters 29-32, Egypt comes under the Lord’s judgment because she is a “reed staff,” that is, one that cannot support a person’s weight and does damage when she fails. Remember that the kings of Israel on several occasions looked to Egypt as an ally against either Assyria or Babylon. But by this time in human history, Egypt is past her prime and can’t provide the assistance that Israel and Judah imagine.

            Chapter 33 brings back the idea of Ezekiel as a watchman, calling out the warning of approaching enemies. These are passages that make me personally uncomfortable, because there are prophetic elements in a pastor’s call. So, verses like, “I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood,” (v. 6) stand out for me, as if to say, “Make sure that you preach the law, point out people’s sins, call them to repentance.” That is a part of my work I don’t love to do and certainly not as bluntly as Ezekiel does! I tend to take a gentler approach to calling people out of their sin, and verses like this make me nervous, like I should be more forceful. Still, verse 11 shows us the heart of God, that He does not desire the death of a sinner, so He doesn’t love the work of condemning and punishing, either. Oh, well, those are not your problems, they’re mine.

            Chapter 34 compares the rulers of Israel to bad shepherds. While there is plenty of evidence that the people themselves embraced and engaged in idolatry, very often the leaders of Israel, especially the kings, are blamed for it. Leaders bear greater responsibility (which plays into my unease in the paragraph above!) The good news here is that this language is grabbed up by the Lord, in Psalm 23, for example, who is a shepherd who provides and protects. Also, in the Gospels, especially John 10, in which Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who loves His sheep enough to die for them, and Matthew, in which the crowds are like sheep without a shepherd, but Jesus has compassion on them.

            Finally, chapter 35 is last of the oracles against the nations, this time highlighting Edom, the historical descendants of Esau. The common criticism of Edom is that they should have acted like Israel’s brother, but they did not. We’ll talk about that a little more when we get to Obadiah.

Oracles against the Nations—Again!

Ezekiel 25-27

            We’ve been over this ground before. Two things stand out this time. First, the reason for the condemnation is that the nations rejoiced over Israel’s fall. In His righteous judgment, the Lord punished His holy people for their unfaithfulness. But they are still His people, and He will not tolerate other people abusing them. We discovered a similar phenomenon early in our marriage. We would each complain about our parents, but if we complained about the other’s parents, that felt out-of-bounds. We could criticize our own families, but don’t you dare criticize my family! There’s a Gospel twist here: even under judgment, the Lord treasures His people.

            The second thing that stands out I don’t have an explanation for: the city of Tyre comes under lengthy judgment—3 chapters! I don’t know quite why. Tyre was not historically a prominent enemy of Israel. It was a city known for its pride. A city on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, Tyre was unconquered until Alexander the Great conquered it n 332 BC. Ancient historians tell us that Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city for 15 years without success. (With an unparalleled reputation for seamanship, Tyre could resupply itself through overseas trade.) But, for whatever reason, Tyre draws the Lord’s ire…

Ezekiel’s Wife

Ezekiel 24

            Another day, another enacted prophecy. Ezekiel is forbidden to grieve for his wife. Well, that’s not exactly the case. He is permitted to “groan inwardly” (. 17), which seems to mean that he is forbidden the usual public rites of mourning. In the same way, the exiles of Jerusalem are forbidden to mourn over the impending doom of the city. The Lord has decreed its destruction and the reasons for it: who is Israel to weep and mourn as if the Lord’s judgment were unjust?

            Two thoughts. First, there is an absoluteness to God’s Word. If He says it, it is just. He is the very definition of what is right, because He is holy. His words also carry that holiness. They are not to be quibbled with. This is a hard thing for us moderns; I suppose it’s been a hard thing for sinful humans since the Fall. Ever since Adam and Eve decided it would be cool to be like God, we’ve tried to ignore, modify, excuse ourselves from God’s word. After all, the original sin is to think that we know better. But God’s holy people set themselves under His word and let that word shape them instead of them trying to shape the word.

            Second, and a bit of a tangent. I’ve spoken other places about the importance of traditional rites of grieving. (See our YouTube channel and you will find a Bible study I did on the topic a few years ago.) Just briefly, we live in an age that will do almost anything to deny the reality of death. As just one example, look how often we refuse to use the word funeral (a word derived from the Latin word for corpse) and instead talk about celebrations of life. Death is a punishment for sin, a consequence of the Fall. To face its reality honestly involves not just grief but also repentance, because it is a reminder that we are all under this same sentence. And from a Christian point of view, to face death honestly means to be refreshed in the Gospel, that by His resurrection Jesus has defeated death, so His people have hope for eternal life. Much more could be said, but let this simply be a plea for traditional funeral practices.

Adultery Again?

Ezekiel 22-23

            Again, an extended comparison of Israel’s idolatry with adultery and prostitution. What is it with sexual sin that so resonates with the prophets?

            Part of it is certainly our problem. We live in an age in which sex has been reduced to mere biology. The culture around us regularly depicts people falling into and out of bed with each other and it pays little attention to the emotional ramifications of sex. I’d argue there is no such thing as “casual” sex; all sex has consequences and entanglements. Paul agrees. In 1 Corinthians 6:16 he says, “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’” That last line is from Genesis 2:24, a passage in which the “one flesh” idea is associated with marriage. Now, I would argue that the “one flesh” of marriage is more than sexual, but Paul wants us to know it’s at least sexual.

            The point is to see that sex involves emotional, even spiritual, commitments that our age tries to minimize or eliminate. But they are there. So, when the prophets liken Israel’s idolatry to adultery, we are supposed to understand the deep sense of betrayal, of broken trust, of defilement, to use Ezekiel’s word. Idolatry is incredibly personal for the Lord. It is a rejection of Him as thorough as any marital cheating.

The End of Prophesy?

Ezekiel 12-13

            These chapters begin with another enacted prophecy. If the covering of the prophet’s eyes seems strange, remember that Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, had his eyes put out by the Babylonians. So, that is one very specific prophecy!

            The more interesting thing to me is in verse 22, when the proverb, “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing.” Jeremiah began prophesying some 30 years before the first round of exiles were taken to Babylon in 597 BC. Ezekiel himself was in that first exile, but it would be 11 years until the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. With that kind of delay, a biblically literate Israelite must have thought about Deuteronomy 18:21-22, “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” I mean, how long do you give a prophet to have his words proven true?

            In the face of this doubt, Ezekiel goes on the attack, just as Jeremiah had. False prophets are assuring them of peace and deliverance. If Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s threats seem a long time coming, the theologically observant Israelite should still recognize the sins they are condemning. Those things are happening right now for everyone to recognize. And because those sins are right there for the seeing, the Lord—through His real prophets—doubles down on the impending doom.

The Lord Abandons the Temple

Ezekiel 8-11

            Ezekiel has a visionary experience of the temple. He sees one like a son of man, who transports him to temple—whether in reality or in vision, who knows?

            On Sunday, someone commented to me about the figure of the son of man. Ezekiel is called a son of man dozens of times in his book. I think it’s meant to emphasize the difference between Ezekiel, a mere mortal, and the Lord. Here in chapter 8, the one like a son of man seems to be an angelic being of some sort, and in Daniel the son of man will become a messianic figure. This matters because Jesus habitually refers to Himself as the son of man. Is he minimizing Himself or claiming some messianic credential? I think the answer is, “Yes.” I think Jesus means to be claiming messiahship for Himself, but He does it in an ambiguous manner because He is also redefining what messiahship means.

            Anyway, on to Ezekiel. He sees in the temple all sorts abominable, idolatrous things. The Lord, offended by what goes on in His temple, abandons His temple. It’s difficult to put into words how devastating this vision would have been for an Israelite. The best I can think is imagine if the 9/11 attacks had also destroyed the White House and your place of worship. The Temple was the center of Israel’s religious and national identity. “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him” (Deuteronomy 4:7)? If the Lord abandoned the Temple, He was abandoning their nation and them. It was utter loss across many spheres of life.

            Good news, though, at the end of chapter 11: the Lord intends to restore them. The new heart and the undivided spirit come up again later in the book. We’ll comment then.

The Word’s the Thing… Even if It Is Enacted

Ezekiel 3-5

            If you’re a more experienced Lutheran, and you remember the old red hymnal, there was a collect (a prayer) in the service without communion on page 5, in which we prayed that we might “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” God’s Word. In the blue hymnal they changed the last phrase to “take them to heart.” It gets at the same idea—thinking deeply about the Word—but I sure do like the evocative language of “inwardly digest.” That’s what Ezekiel is called to do; literally eat the scroll of God’s words and fill his stomach with it. For Ezekiel it’s tied to the scene at the end of chapter 3, in which he is bound with ropes and told to be silent until the Lord tells him to speak. As a prophet, Ezekiel is to center his entire ministry in the Lord’s words and to speak only those words. But for every Christian it reminds us that “God’s Word is our great heritage” (LSB,582).

            The rest of chapters 4 and 5 are occupied with enacted prophecies. In the first Ezekiel is to make a drawing of Jerusalem and then he is to lie there for over a year as sign of Israel’s ongoing sin. Next he turns on his other side for 40 days as a sign of the Lord’s impending judgment. Since the Lord give Ezekiel permission to bake and eat, he must not have laid there all day every day, but still, what a strange piece of “performance art”!

            In the second enactment, Ezekiel is to cut his hair and beard and apportion it for all sorts of reasons, expressing how Jerusalem will fall. Bear in mind that Ezekiel ministers to people already in exile, so there is a warning there that their particular exile will endure and they will be joined by many more from Israel.

            Now, if you ask me why Ezekiel has to do these very unusual things, I will give you an honest answer: “I don’t really know.” I suppose the graphic things he does really drive the message home.

Introducing Ezekiel

Ezekiel 1-2

            Of the major prophets, Isaiah is the most familiar and the most lovable. Yes, he has long sections of condemnation, but 1) his poetry is always beautiful and 2) his condemnations are offset by some of the clearest promises of good news in the Bible. Jeremiah is a whole other thing. Condemnation and judgment dominate his book, so much so that he becomes a little difficult to read.

            Ezekiel is a whole other thing again. Ezekiel was a priest (1:3), and the temple dominates a lot of his thinking. Ironically, for a book dominated by temple concerns, Ezekiel only ever prophesied from Babylon and to exiles in Babylon. (A little chronology: Ezekiel was 30 when he started prophesying, meaning he was born about 623, was among the first exiles taken to Babylon in 597, and began prophesying in 593, seven years before the temple was destroyed.)

            Besides temple ideology, another feature of Ezekiel is the nature of his prophecies. As you will notice today, Ezekiel sees visions—and sometimes fantastic ones, at that! He also enacts a lot of his message. For example, in chapter 3, he is to be bound and silent in his house for a period of time. More on that tomorrow.

 

            Today’s inaugural vision of the Lord is both fantastic and in some way stereotypical. The four living creatures appeared in Isaiah 6, and they will come back again in the book of Revelation. They are some order of angel, and their description is in some sense symbolic. The various gems seem to be a way of saying that they are dazzling, difficult to see because of the various colors reflecting among them. The depiction of four faces bear the sense of power and wisdom: the lion the most powerful of the wild animals, the ox the strongest of the domestic animals, and the eagle the most majestic of the birds; and the face of a human, the being who is to rule them all. The overall picture is of a chariot or a cart, but it has four wheels so it is able to move in any direction, unlike a chariot that takes a long time to turn around. The ‘vault’ above them recollects Genesis 1 and the vault of the heavens. In some ways it indicates that the Lord is lord of all, reigning from heaven, and that His holiness is such that it must be veiled lest it utterly destroy the unholy.

 

            Ezekiel’s call to ministry is similar to both Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s. The similarity with Isaiah begins with the vision of the Lord that accompanies it. But all three are similar in that they are commissioned to a message of judgment over a stubborn, thick-necked people. They are told to be courageous, assured of the Lord’s sustaining presence. And the words they are to speak are to be the Lord’s words and no other. I don’t really have time to explore it, but as a pastor I’m always fascinated by the ways that prophetic calls inform the call to ministry that I have…

Introducing Lamentations

Lamentations 1-3

            Lamentations is a beautifully structured book, although only part of that structure is apparent to an English reader. The part that we can see in English is that the book has four chapters of 22 verses (chapter 1-2 and 4-5) and one central chapter of 66 verses. The center verses of chapter 3 are the theological heart of the book. 3:22 confesses that Israel is not fully consumed, that the Lord’s compassion never fails. 3:23-42 continue that theme and consider who one of God’s people (or all of God’s people) are to consider their suffering. God’s mercies are new every morning; the Lord is good to those who hope in him. It is good to wait for the Lord. The Lord does not cast off forever; He doesn’t willingly bring affliction. Humble repentance is the right attitude for the chastised child of God.

            The other phenomenon, the one that we cannot replicate in English is that in Hebrew the book is filled with acrostics. In chapters 1, 2 and 4, every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter 3, the pattern becomes more intense, and there are three lines beginning with A, then three lines beginning with B, and so on. Chapter 5 is the only one that is not an acrostic.

            Let me quote scholar N.T. Wright at length:

[Jeremiah is saying] there is a pattern, a form, underneath it all. So at the very moment Jeremiah is saying in his poem, ‘This doesn’t’ make sense! There’s no meaning to al this! Why should this be happening?’ he is expressing that outburst of grief in a form which says, ‘And yet I believe it isn’t random; I believe there is meaning and purpose, even though I can’t see it at all just now.’ He can see nothing but chaos and ruin all around, but he has expressed that is a pattern which says, “And yet I trust that somewhere, somehow, there is order after all” (Christians at the Cross, 64-65).

Faith waits on the Lord, even—especially!—when we cannot perceive God’s plans and purposes for ourselves. That’s a pretty good summary of Lamentations.

Thinking about Judgment

Jeremiah 44-45

            I was thinking this morning about how all of these oracles of judgment apply to us today. The first way they apply is to understand Jesus. Jesus placed Himself under God’s ultimate wrath. Final judgment fell on Him; all of the Father’s wrath for human sin fell on Him. The destruction of Jerusalem was but a harbinger of that final judgment; the destruction of the world by water in Noah’s day was but a harbinger of that final judgment. So, strangely, there is a Gospel aspect to all of this: the substitutionary atonement of Jesus took all judgment into His death and paid for it there.

            Still, Israel faced all sorts of condemnation for her idolatry and rebellion, and this morning, I couldn’t help but think that, were Jeremiah walking around churches today, he might condemn us for our idolatry. We have some of the same hang-ups about our buildings and property that ancient Israel had about their Temple. Yes, it was the place the Lord promised to meet them, but it became a sort of talisman for them, a good luck charm, a distraction from the faith the place was supposed to call forth. And we have some of the same hang-ups about political power as ancient Israel did. And at least they had the excuse that Israel was at the same time God’s holy people (the Old Testament church, so to speak) and an actual nation among the other nations. The New Testament church is not a nation at all, but we often act like we’d rather rule by coercion on earth than offer grace and compassion to all sorts of people now so that we can all together enjoy the new creation then.

            I think the thing that got me thinking about this was Jeremiah 44:22, “When the Lord could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became a curse and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today.” Many, many churches today are only a shadow of their former selves. The Missouri Synod has churches with enormous buildings in Milwaukee, in Chicago, in St. Louis that are either closed or mostly empty on a Sunday today. And it will only get worse. The millennial generation and Gen Z are the most unchurched generations in U.S. history. A smaller percentage of people attend church in a weekend than ever before in the U.S. And this morning, I wondered, “Is this the punishment for the church’s idolatry?”

            Maybe. It bears thinking about. And it also bears thinking about the remnant that the Lord left Israel so that He could fulfill His promises, and it bears thinking about Jesus, whose atoning death is the key to the church’s mission. It bears thinking about what the church is really for, namely, the bringing of many into a right relationship with God.

Historical Events

Jeremiah 36-43

            These chapters are all over the place chronologically. It might be helpful to have a little chart of Judah’s final kings.

Josiah (640-609 BC)

Jeremiah’s Ministry (626-586 BC)

Jehoahaz (609 BC, son of Josiah, reigned 3 months)

Jehoiakim (609-598 BC, also Josiah’s son)

Jehoiachin (598-597 BC, Jehoiakim’s son)

Zedekiah (597-586 BC, Josiah’s son)

So, Jeremiah was preaching the destruction of Jerusalem at least some 20 years before it happened, and for all of those years none of the kings wanted to hear it. Jeremiah himself was under some sort of arrest a number of times in these years. In 36:5, Jeremiah is under some kind of restriction. In chapter 37, he is imprisoned. In chapter 38, he is thrown into a cistern during the siege off Jerusalem. “Neither Jehoiachin nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet” (37:2). There’s something important there about hearing and taking seriously the Lord’s words!

            Chapter 39 records the fall of Jerusalem (repeated later this week in chapter 52). The Babylonians set up a puppet, Gedaliah, as a proxy for them. Unfortunately, in a story worthy of the north kingdom, he is assassinated, and then the assassins are executed, too. Amid such uncertainty, the leaders worry that the Babylonians will blame them for revolting and ask Jeremiah what to do. He tells them that the Lord wants them to stay in the land. But, typically, they take their own counsel and leave.

            The latter incident stands out because of the Lord’s concern for a remnant in the land. He has every intention of keeping His promises to bless the peoples of the earth through the family of Abraham. Leaving the land is tantamount to stymying the Lord’s plans.

A Study in Contrasts

Jeremiah 34-35

            The siege of Jerusalem was intense, and Judah was wildly outnumbered: “the king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled.” In this case, the emphasis is how helpless Judah is against this threat. Other places in the Scriptures when Israel is woefully surrounded the Lord promises to deliver them against superior enemies. (See the incident at the Red Sea in Exodus 14 or the story of Gideon in Judges 7.) The Lord is capable of delivering His people miraculously, but this siege was the Lord’s righteous judgment against a disobedient people. There would be no deliverance.

            Judah’s disobedience is highlighted in the second half chapter 34. The king orders a sabbatical year, specifically freeing all the slaves (Leviticus 25). The people comply but change their minds and re-enslave their fellows. It’s a rare case where the king is trying to be obedient but the people are the ones resisting. It’s more common for the blame to fall on faithless kings. Here we are reminded that the whole nation is corrupt.

            Chapter 35 offers a counter-example. A family had followed their forefather’s admonition not to drink wine for some 250 years. And they were still at it. Consider the contrast: this family obeyed a random injunction from a human ancestor for two and half centuries and wore it as a badge of honor. Israel as a whole refused to keep the holy commands of their creator and redeemer, the LORD, for even a short time. You would think that people would take the Lord’s words more seriously than human words, but that wasn’t the case.

            Same thing happened in Jesus’ day. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for loving their traditions more than the laws of God (Mark 7:9-13). Not incidentally, it happens today, too. How often people—even those who name themselves Christians—follow the ways of the world rather than the ways of the Lord! We are quick to dismiss the Scripture as if we know better now. Just consider the way we justify all sorts of ungodly sexual ethics… It’s important to recognize that we can’t just condemn Israel’s condition, because Israel’s condition is the human condition.

A Promise of Restoration

Jeremiah 33

            With the end of Jerusalem near and Jeremiah in a personally tight spot, the Lord offers a promise of restoration, a promise that His anger will not burn forever, that He will not forget the plans and purposes He has in store for Israel. The Lord promises health and healing, cleansing, and prosperity for Jerusalem. He promises the restoration of both the north kingdom and Judah.

            The people of Israel looked forward to that in the normal way. They expected a return from exile and the establishment of Israel as the foremost of the nations. And there was a return. But as we saw in Ezra, when the old-timers who had seen Solomon’s temple wept over the poverty of the temple they had just rebuilt, things weren’t what they expected. When they returned, their city was a shambles; they didn’t even have a wall for almost a hundred years. The Persians were enlightened masters, but they were still the political masters—until they were replaced by the Greeks, who were in turn replaced by the Romans. No wonder that by Jesus’ day, the people of Israel were thinking the Lord had not yet kept all of His promises!

            In truth, this must be understood as a messianic promise. The one who would reign on David’s throne was the one who first reigned from a cross and who now reigns from heaven. Right now, there’s no earthly kingdom, even though the entire earth is His to rule. So, there is a spiritualizing of these promises, fulfilled in the church, living in joy and peace despite the raging of the world around them. And the final fulfillment waits for the last day, when all of God’s enemies will be set under His feet and He will make all things new. That’s what Israel should have been looking for; that’s what we look for.

I Know the Plans

Jeremiah 29

            Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” A lot of people love that verse, and it is beautiful. But a lot of people grow to hate it, often because they do not see the future it promises coming.

            A couple of things: first, the context is important. The verse is part of a letter that Jeremiah sends to the first round of exiles in Babylon, and it can be summarized: “Get comfortable; you’re going to be there a while.” The Lord tells them to build houses, plant gardens, and raise children: they’re going to be there a while—70 years to be exact—a lifetime. He tells them to work for the good of Babylon. It’s going to be home for a long time. This verse is not offering a light or easy way.

            Second, we should understand it as a plural, that is, addressed to the whole community of exiles. The promise is that the Lord has plans and purposes for Israel, not necessarily just any individual Israelite.

            We often say things like, “Everything happens for a reason,” or “God has a plan.” And in one sense, he does. But if the Scriptures teach us anything, they teach us that God’s plans and purposes encompass years, decades, centuries. We might not know what part our troubled part of the story plays in God’s plans until we see Him face to face.

            So, we can certainly take comfort in a God who sees much farther than we can see, who is out ahead of us by years, decades, centuries. We can take comfort in knowing that somehow all things work out of the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8). But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all of troubles will fall away in this present age of the world.

            I always liked Marcedes Lewis, a tight end for the Green Bay Packers. He was a great blocker, but he hardly ever caught a pass. His job was to seal an edge, to spring a running back or a receiver. There’s no glory in blocking. At the end of the day, there’s a trip to the training room and not a single highlight on SportsCenter. Within the plan of the whole game, the blocker plays a part, but he’s rarely praised for it. I think that’s a fitting analogy for God’s plans and purposes. I might just be a blocker: I might just ride the bench. That’s ok. It’s a team sport and the one stat that matters is team wins and losses. My role might be modest, unseen, painful, but within the much fuller purpose of what God is up to, He knows the plans He has for me. 

A Promise and More Opposition

Jeremiah 23-28

            I need to apologize for how sporadic I’ve been with this blog this week. No, not apologize—I need to explain. When I began writing this blog, I put it in the time slot that I ordinarily use for my personal devotions. With Today’s Light, after all, I was still reading the Bible. Why not just write about it? Because that makes my Bible reading professional; that is to say, I was always reading and thinking, “What can I write about?” instead of reading and thinking, “What does this do for me, personally, today?” Two very different questions. So, this week, I reclaimed my devotional time for myself. Unfortunately, I’m still looking for a home for blog writing somewhere else in my daily schedule.

            Anyway, here’s a few thoughts going into the weekend.

            Chapter 23—at last a promise! A promise for a wise king and a promise for dedicated shepherds. I think Jesus embraces this chapter deeply, if not obviously. A lot of His controversies in the Gospels are not with rank and file Israelites but with those who are and who claim to be religious leaders in Israel. And He is none to gentle with those shepherds who “destroy and scatter the sheep” of the Lord! Further, He identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10), and He trains the apostles as new shepherds for tend the flock (John 21). Much of the rest of chapter 23 demonstrates that a good shepherd (pastor) preaches the whole counsel of God, good and bad, Law and Gospel.

            Historically, chapter 24 takes place between exiles. The Babylonians invaded and carried off portions of the people of Judah three times. First, about 596 BC, the rich and the powerful were deported. Then, the majority of the remaining people were deported and the city destroyed in 586. There was one smaller deportation following yet another rebellion about 5 years later. Chapter 24 takes place between the first two. Interestingly 2 Kings 25 ends with King Jehoiachin receiving favor at the Babylonian king’s table. Zedekiah, who was actually Jehoiachin’s uncle and who was made regent by the Babylonians, had his eyes gouged out and taken into captivity, never to be heard from again.

            Chapter 25 presents a question. “How do we count the 70 years of the exile?” We could look at figuratively, that 70 is 7 (God’s number) times 10 (the number of human strength) so it’s not really a specific number at all but a way of saying that the exile will last as long as the Lord enforces it through human powers. The first exiles returned in 538, when the Persians took over Babylon; the Babylonians had first invaded Judah around 605, so we could say close enough. I think the best solution is from the destruction of the temple in 586 until its rededication in 516.

            Chapter 26, an incident early in Jeremiah’s ministry, has a sort of Good Friday vibe to me. Notice the powerful rising up in opposition to Jeremiah, demanding his death for prophesying the destruction of the temple and compare that to the accounts of Jesus’ arrest.

Back at It

Jeremiah 15-22

            It was a nice break for me, but you have been slogging through Jeremiah! He’s a tough read, isn’t he? I’m going to try to catch up several days today, so no unifying thread, just some observations.

            1) Jeremiah hates his ministry. 15:10, “Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth!” Anyone who tells you ministry is easy hasn’t been in ministry very long! Joyous? Yes, when you preach the Gospel. Easy? No way…

            2) Relatedly, Jeremiah took delight in God’s words, describing it in words we used to use in one of our collects, “inwardly digested” (15:16). The prophet/preacher delights in the words of the Lord. Ezekiel says the words were initially sweet (Ezekiel 3:3), but Revelation 10:10 says that they turned bitter. Paul speaks of being compelled to preach (2 Corinthians 5:14); so is Jeremiah (20:9). The Gospel is sweet; the Law is bitter; and the preacher is compelled to preach both as the whole counsel of God.

            3) Jeremiah often has to enact his message. No marriage or children for him! His life is a prophecy about coming judgment. No mourning, either. This people is under God’s curse. And no rejoicing: there’s nothing to rejoice about! Jeremiah’s message is unrelenting.

            4) The end of chapter 17 is a good example of what I call the Deuteronomistic character of Jeremiah. If you keep the Sabbath, all these blessings will flow to you; if you don’t, here are the curses that will fall on you. Why is it important to see that this is related to Deuteronomy? Because these covenantal curses fall on Israel under Moses’ covenant. When Christ comes that covenant is fulfilled. Things are not nearly so tit-for-tat with us. That would take a long time to work through fully, so ask in Bible class for a deeper examination.

            5) Preachers in the modern US shouldn’t complain, even if ministry is hard. Precious few of us have been beaten and put in the stocks! It certainly happens in many places around the world, where persecution is much more common that here.

Introducing Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1-2

            Jeremiah is a whole other kind of prophet from Isaiah. For one thing, Jeremiah ministered about a century later than Isaiah (626 BC to 586 BC), and the crisis was at hand. Babylon was ascendant on the world stage, and they were, if anything, more powerful than the Assyrians had been. Jeremiah saw the kings of Judah trying to protect their little country by forging alliances here and there and he saw the disaster that that political dabbling was going to cause for Judah. While from one point of view it looked like a wise way to insulate a weak nation, Jeremiah saw it as just one more example of refusing to trust the Lord for their deliverance.

            Jeremiah himself was from a priestly family. Although the temple doesn’t figure overly much in Jeremiah’s prophecy, it is certainly a present concern. More than that, Jeremiah had access to the royal palace, and we will read about him in controversy with kings and royal advisers.

            Jeremiah has sometimes been called the weeping prophet. He had a hard road. His message—largely a message of doom—stirred up powerful opposition, and he was often persecuted because of it. Jeremiah has in common with Moses a raw honesty with the Lord: he doesn’t always love his work and he blames the Lord for saddling him with it.

            Next, a word of preparation. On the basis of number of words, Jeremiah is the longest book in the Old Testament (well, in the whole Bible, really), nudging Genesis by about a thousand words and the book of Psalms by some 3,000. Not only is Jeremiah long, it is also gloomy. Isaiah had his soaring promises of restoration; Jeremiah noticeably less.

            As you read, listen for resonances and echoes from the book of Deuteronomy. Scholars use a word, Deuteronomistic, to describe parts of the Bible that focus on covenant faithfulness and covenant unfaithfulness. I myself find Jeremiah very much in this train. Maybe at some point down the road, I’ll have a chance to talk about how Jeremiah turns up in Jesus’ ministry, too. While the influence of Isaiah and Daniel is obvious in Jesus’ ministry, Jeremiah’s is more subtle, assumed, especially when Jesus is criticizing Israel.

 

            I will be away the next week, so no new posts until February 13.

The Conclusion of Isaiah

Isaiah 63-66

            Isaiah 64 longs for an appearance from the Lord similar to the theophany on Sinai: thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, you know, the rending of the heavens. I’ve addressed this in sermons over the years, but that’s not really the Lord’s style. He does it on occasion, but He usually intervenes more quietly than that. This chapter is read in the Advent season, and it makes the point beautifully: when the Messiah appears, it looks quite ordinary, just another baby boy born to poor parents—and with the smell of scandal and illegitimacy about it. In some ways, Christmas is the most ordinary story you ever heard. Of course, the Lord is doing something extraordinary in that ordinary story. After all, this baby is hailed in terms usually reserved for Caesar: bringer of peace, savior, even lord are all titles Caesar appropriated for himself. So, God does come down from the heavens, but not in a Sinai kind of way.

            Isaiah is reminded that at Sinai, Israel fell into terrible sin, namely, the incident with the golden calf. So, he turns immediately to repentance, that Israel’s finest acts are so many dirty rags (the phrase literally refers to a use menstrual clothes). His prayer is marked by humility, that the Lord is the potter and that Israel is the clay. They are nothing before Him, but Isaiah prays that He would look on them with favor.

            In chapter 65, the Lord responds in terms of law and gospel. He will punish Israel for her covenant unfaithfulness, but He will remember His mercy and bring them back. The vision of restoration expands to a vision of the final restoration, the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. There is the promise of very long life (in the New Testament expanded to everlasting life), and there is the return of the wolf and the lamb lying down together, indicating that natural enemies will set aside their animosity and become companions, even friends.

Restoration

Isaiah 60-62

            Restoration seems to be the theme through these chapters. Chapter 61 is associated with Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to the Christ child, at least in later Christian traditions. I don’t think that Isaiah 60 is ever directly quoted in the New Testament; the association is with the gifts of the Magi and the reference in Isaiah to gold and incense (v. 6). If we strip the chapter of its associations with Pentecost, it along with chapter 61 mention the nations rebuilding Jerusalem, as if in the day of restoration the nations will serve Israel. By the era around Jesus, Israel’s dream had been exactly that: that Israel would be the chief of the nations and that those nations would serve her.

            Jesus turns that expectation on its head and portrays the Gentiles not as servants ruled by Israel but as partners, participants in the Lord’s salvation, with Israel. Consider Matthew 8, when Jesus heals a Roman centurion’s servant and exclaims that He hasn’t found such faith in Israel. He makes a similar comment about a Syro-Phoenician woman and many others who would have been considered “outside.”

            Two other elements of this vision of restoration include reference to the Jubilee year and to marriage and childbearing. First, in chapter 61, we have the image of the year of the Lord’s favor. Remember the Jubilee was every 50^th year; slaves were released from service; the land reverted to those to whom it had originally been apportioned in Joshua. It’s an image Jesus applies to Himself in His sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4), in which He declares the prophecy fulfilled in Himself. Release from the bondage of sin and the setting right of the world are part of Jesus’ work. The second, marriage and childbearing, I mentioned a few days ago in connection with chapter 54. If you’re reading in the NIV, the Lord renames Israel Hephzibah and Beulah. There’s a footnote there that tells you Hephzibah means “my delight is in her” and Beulah means “married.” This pairs with earlier in verse 4 when they will no longer be called deserted or desolate. (Desolate is used here in the sense of barren, as in without children.) Later, in verse 12, the promise repeated: they will be called Sought After, as in courted for marriage, and No Longer Desolate.

A Call for Justice

Isaiah 58-59

            The prophets often lambaste Israel for the injustice of their society. Isaiah is no different; Israel is to share food, provide shelter, clothe the naked (58:7). That list reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25.

            The core tension is that religion that is merely ceremonial has missed its point. “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?” (58:5) I’m reminded of Luther’s 95 Theses, in which Thesis 1 says, “When our Lord Jesus calls us to repent, He calls us to a life of repentance.” Religion is supposed to change lives, make us more like Christ.

            In their book, Stuck, sociologists Todd Ferguson and Josh Packard tell stories of clergy who have left their ministries because of their disillusionment that the church is not more involved in social ministry. One leaves the ministry to open a coffeehouse; one leaves and gets involved in anti-sex trafficking work; one becomes a probation officer. As I read, I concluded that each of them misunderstood the church at some level. They wanted the church to be involved in that work, but as I see it the church prepares Christians to do that kind of work. The message and programming of a congregation supports the work of transformation that the gospel works in individual lives. A church may or may not have a food pantry on its site, but even if it doesn’t, it reminds its members to make helping at a food pantry a priority.

            So, the church is not a social service agency, but it proclaims a Gospel that empowers individuals to make a social difference.

Promises of Restoration

Isaiah 54-57

            I’m not sure there’s a throughline for these chapters, so here are some random thoughts.

            In chapter 54, I appreciate how the imagery of marriage and childbearing are used for the restoration of Israel’s hopes. It might not make as much sense in our day and age, but in ancient Israel a woman’s prospects really depended on a man. If she was young, her identity was wrapped up in her father; when she was of the right age, her identity was wrapped up in her husband. This is why the law of Moses has such an emphasis on taking care of widows, lest they be left destitute in the absence of a man. So, here renewed fertility is a metaphor for the restored fortunes of Israel.

            Chapter 55 is well-known. It begins with the Lord’s grace, expressed as free food and water. In some ways, idolatry is in the background: why chase after other gods to provide what the Lord already gives free of charge? Then there is the famous statement about the word of God accomplishing what the Lord desires, calling to mind a theme throughout these chapters of the enduring power of the Word. Finally, there’s a beautiful promise of restoration, one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!”

            I don’t have much to say about chapter 56, but there is one interesting little play on words and images. In verses 4-5, literally the Lord promises a name that will never be cut off to the eunuchs (who, at the risk of being scandalous, are those who have been ‘cut off). A fun little pun that is lost in modern translation…

            Again, not much to say about chapter 58, either, but I do love verse 16, that the Lord will not be angry forever. Punishment is God’s foreign work; it’s something He does not because He delights in it but because human rebellion pushes Him to it. His proper work is to be gracious and merciful. So, His anger will not be His last word.