A Messianic Irony

Posted on August 30, 2011 by JohnJ

Hosea 9:12 Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations! For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. You have loved harlots’ earnings on every threshing floor. “

from Google News, 8/29/11

Israel lures Hollywood to film in the Holy Land
By DANIEL ESTRIN, Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is tired of Hollywood filming Jesus’ crucifixion in Italy and the Crusader invasion of the Holy Land in Morocco.

So Israeli officials are promising better tax breaks, terror attack insurance and handouts of up to $400,000 to lure international movie producers to the holy city of Jerusalem. They want to cash in on the multi-billion-dollar industry, and want the real Jerusalem on the silver screen — not Mediterranean stand-ins

———————-

Does any one else see the irony in Israel recognizing Christ Jesus of the Gospels portrayed on movies, but only in so far as they can make money off of His story? They can’t see the salvation story in their Messiah bearing the sin of the world according to their own scriptures, and being resurrected from the dead so that man might live, but they can see the disappearing dollars that are not coming into the Holy Land because film crews and production companies go elsewhere make their movies. It is lost revenue, not a lost relationship with their God that is their concern. Just as depicted in scriptures, they are always more concerned with everything else in this world except the One who had given it all to them in the first place.

How do they miss this bizarre twist of irony?

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Most Barbarous Nation Status

Posted on August 18, 2011 by JohnJ

2King 8:12 Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” Then he answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword, and their little ones you will dash in pieces, and their women with child you will rip up.”
Isaiah 13:16 Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.
Jeremiah 13:14 “I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”‘”

Before I say anything about all the bloodshed as described in the Scriptures, need I say it didn’t have to be this way? [Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? (Also Ez. 18:32 and 33:11)] Compare the initial description God gave His people prior to bringing them into the Promised Land, of the blessing and the curse. Starting in Deuteronomy 7:11 wonderful blessings are promised if they obey; but also that curses will follow if they turn away and forget His loving-kindness. Gee, what to choose, take the blessings or the curse? “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known. Deut. 11:26-28

So after reading all the history of Israel’s life with and without God as a developing nation through the books of Joshua, Judges, Kings and Chronicles, from the beginning of the nation to its deplorable downfall, the reality is they ultimately chose the curse. We see in the prophets descriptions and visions all the horrors with which God will inflict them. Of course it takes a while to come to pass, He’d rather relent from this and scare them into making a more sober choice. He paints the picture through Ezekiel like this: “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.” EZ 33:2-4 So many warnings were given, countless warnings, spanning hundreds of years, sadly all to no avail.

But it is the horrifying descriptions of the punishments that lay in store that take the breath away. Some of them are listed above, but the most chilling is the Isaiah description, starting in chapter 13 part of which reads:

Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir.
Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger. And it will be that like a hunted gazelle, Or like sheep with none to gather them, They will each turn to his own people, And each one flee to his own land. Anyone who is found will be thrust through, And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces Before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished. Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold. And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children.

Reading the warnings of the atrocities that lay ahead make me wonder at the barbarity of these nations in times past and present. Who wins the most barbaric nation award? There are so many candidates, not only in distant history but also in current times. Bosnia comes to mind. Or Syria pulled from today’s newspapers is another. Too many to list here. But in modern times Nazi Germany surely stands out. In his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer summarizes (page 5) “It lasted twelve years and four months, but in that flicker of time, as history goes, it caused an eruption on earth more violent and shattering than any previously experienced . . . during which it instituted a reign of terror over the conquered peoples which, in its calculated butchery of human life and the human spirit, outdid all the savage oppressions of the previous ages.”

One might argue whether Nazi Germany would beat out Babylon or Assyria, or the Meads and Persians, or the Vandals and Visigoths, for their brutality, all of whom left horrifying carnage and waste in their wake as they conquered other kingdoms and cast them in the gutter. Let’s face it, there is certainly no lack of candidates for the gold medal of national malevolence.

It does make me wonder though. Is the depth of depravity more extensive today than it was thousands of years ago? From so many readings of the prophets constantly trying to awaken God’s people to make rational decisions by telling them in precise terms, leaving nothing to the imagination, of the terror to come, that maybe those nations God used to discipline His people were pretty the same as those committing genocide on their neighbors today. Man’s nature really hasn’t changed much since the Fall. Only his technological innovations have made his tools more interesting.

—–
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a History of Nazi Germany, William L. Shirer, Simon & Schuster, 1959

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Will You Inquire of God?

Posted on August 14, 2011 by JohnJ

Ezekiel 20:1 Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.”‘
Eze 20:1-3

Chapter 20 of Ezekiel repeats the litany of abominations, rebellions, apostasies, and perversions that Israel has committed and wallowed in since He brought them out of Egypt a millennia ago. But certain leaders of Israel among the Diaspora now come to Ezekiel to ask for a word from the Lord, as if they were really interested in knowing what God had to say to them, as if their hearts really leaned to the things of the Spirit. As if they really would follow any of God’s words and teachings. Just like they had all those hundreds of years before. They must have expected to hear their fantasies confirmed.

It reminds me of churchgoers, coming to church Sunday after Sunday, because that is what they have always done. It is in their culture, to follow the rules and regulations. It defines their spirituality, that they honor the ceremonies and customs handed down from their fathers for generations. But for the most part it is a mere following of form and custom. Like going to work, like having he same thing for breakfast each morning. It is mere habit. As long as they follow the rules and regulations they satisfy the spiritual requirements their religion requires and they are absolved of all their sins by the hour or so spent in a church building each Sunday. Philip Schaff write of this life, “Piety which should proceed from a living union of the soul with Christ and a consecration of character, was turned outward and reduced to a round of mechanical performances such as the recital of Paternosters and Avemarias, fasting, alms-giving, confession to the priest, and pilgrimage to a holy shrine. Good works were measured by the quantity rather than the quality, and vitiated by the principle of meritoriousness which appealed to the selfish motive of reward.” * I can relate, I was one of them for my entire youth, being an alter boy, assisting at Mass in Latin, memorizing the requisite Latin, bows, genuflections, tinkling of bells. Not having the least inkling of the power of the Gospel that remained concealed by the fog of my own selfish heart.

But upon walking out of the gilded, stained-glass building all those trappings and constrictions of spirituality were quickly shed as impediments to living in the real word, and were quickly discarded like muddy boots on the porch. The vulgarity, blaspheming God’s name, evil attitudes and behaviors, drunkenness, abuses, continue unabated, as I witnessed the families walking before me. Just like these elders approaching Ezekiel asking for the word from the Lord while their hearts were far away.

God is not fooled. He is not mocked. Through Ezekiel He categorically states He will not be inquired of by these impostors.

It takes more than just entering a church building, chanting pious phrases from a missal, consuming a wafer, dipping fingertips in holy water, genuflecting, making the sign of the cross. It is the relationship of the heart, a walking with God (Micah 6:8). A living, breathing face to face, heart to heart with the Living God that redeems. No amount of ablutions or prayer book chanting by an unregenerate heart can draw one’s soul closer to God. Such an approach is arrogance and is nothing short of blasphemy. And the word of the Lord makes crystal clear in this chapter that such insolence will be utterly harshly dealt with. But in the quiet of your heart God is calling for repentance, to “know that I am the Lord your God.” So seek the Lord that you may live. Way back when God protected His people in the dessert He foretold of these days of exile because of their apostasy but promised them a way back: “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. Deut. 4:29 With all their heart. With all their soul. Not the shallowness of habit. Not halfhearted laziness. But out of genuine care and concern and love, a driving motivation of firm purpose. Then He will be glad to be inquired of by that heart. And it will be a beautiful thing.

* Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume VII. Modern Christianity. The
German Reformation, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910, p. 9

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Fall of the Mighty

Posted on August 13, 2011 by JohnJ

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.”
Eze 16:1-2

There are a lot of ways the prophets have condemned Israel’s apostasy, but chapter 16 of Ezekiel seems to be the most powerful, as well as the most repugnant. Read the entire chapter, which is a mixture of allegories, of a newborn and of a virgin coming of marital age. It is a devastating evaluation of how one so mighty and elevated in every aspect can fall so utterly and completely.

First a newborn is depicted representing the birth of the nation as the people of God in Egypt, as their bondage to that nation developed after the death of Joseph. Normally a new born baby is given the most tender care and comfort since in no other stage of life is one so completely vulnerable. But this infant is not cared for in any of the normal aspects of new birth. No washing of the body, no cutting of the umbilical cord, no swaddling cloths, no nourishment, no bed for rest, but in its own blood and naked it is tossed out into a field despised, like so much refuse. This is how Egypt treated Israel once her population grew to a threatening proportion.

But God saw her and had compassion on her, saw this repulsive and damaged thing but felt tenderly, and took her in and cared for her, and gave her life, gave her sustenance and allowed her to grow and blossom.

“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord GOD. “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:8-14

Out of pure grace and love God chose this nation out of all the others on the face of the earth and bestowed on her His majesty and glory, giving her everything a bride could want or dream. One would think that with such a magnificent husband, and such a glorious love such a marriage made in heaven would grow wildly and prosper. I know any most any marriage here on earth would be prized and protected by men and women. But what would such a husband think if after all this devotion and ravishing love his bride went behind his back and wandered the streets and gutters giving herself away to any and all of the lowest scum who couldn’t even pay for her favors, nay but was paid by her instead! How repulsive it is to see a bride beautiful beyond description and treated with all tenderness and devotion, to make herself instead the ugliest and deformed of creatures to wallow in society’s filth. That is the picture Ezekiel paints in this chapter. It is disgusting in the extreme.

It makes you wonder how such a thing could possibly happen, what would drive such a person to squander such an elevated place of splendor and majesty? Kind of like Tiger Woods who had it all, wealth, fame, accomplishments, at the pinnacle of his career, and in a flash, in the blink of an eye, it is all thrown away. And for what? For the illusion of pleasure, a clutching at the wind, in the blink of an eye. Instant gratification, instantly vanished. He is only one of many notables in society, though; there are plenty of Tiger Woods, Anthony Wieners, John Edwards, etc., etc. The American and world landscape is littered with them. But Israel was God’s own choice. Who is any better suited or capable of giving comfort and joy beyond measure. And yet, somehow it wasn’t enough for this nation of Israel. All those magnificent gifts God bestowed on her she gave away and gave them to the worst sort of bedfellows imaginable. The ones who actually hated her and only wanted to use her up and spit her out.

The chapter is almost unbearable to read, much less have to have someone speak to your face, which is what Ezekiel did, as he directed this word of the Lord to the nation.

But most amazingly, this isn’t the final word, as at the end, after the all the nations surrounding Israel used her up and left her for dead, and then God Himself trampled her in punishment for such unspeakably ungrateful and lewd behavior. But then He promised to take her back, to lift her out of the trash heap, to once again, as described in the first verses of this chapter, clean her off, bandage her up, care for her wounds, and restore her to health.

“You have borne the penalty of your lewdness and abominations,” the LORD declares. ‘For thus says the Lord GOD, “I will also do with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant. Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord GOD declares.’
Eze 16:58-63

Amazing love indeed! What husband on earth would respond with such charity and grace? It is beyond human ability and comprehension. But nothing is impossible with God. And He keeps His promises. This should give us, imperfect creatures though we are, who still stumble and fall, an encouraging hope, to keep pursuing the closest relationship with our Lord and God, because He can keep us and protect us. He can guide us. Until He finally brings us into the glory of His kingdom, bestowing on us the ultimate of gifts. Where we can fear no more of stumbling and disappointing Him, but will see Him face to face. I can hardly wait! To Him be the glory!

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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Judgement Enough for All

Posted on August 6, 2011 by JohnJ

Jeremiah chapters 46 – 51

Just to let you know that God is not an indiscriminate judge we have a number of chapters in Jeremiah where judgement is dispensed to the various nations around Israel. Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, Edom, and Babylon.

So it isn’t just judgement on Israel as their being the people of God, called out from all the nations to be a singular people of His own possession that get chastised and punished for failing to live up to God’s standard. All the other nations don’t get away free just because they weren’t chosen, they weren’t given the Law and the prophets. Indeed, the prophets did go beyond Israel’s borders to preach repentance to other nations. The book of Jonah fully concerns God’s call to preach to Babylon, specifically to the city of Nineveh. And here we see that a people can actually respond in repentance to God’s warning of impeding doom. Interestingly, Jonah thought they indeed may respond favorably to God’s word and initially refused to obey God’s call. But that’s a different discussion.

This has great ramifications on all the rest of the world and we shouldn’t think that just because America, or any other nation today, isn’t a theocracy as Israel was a few millennia ago, that we can’t fall under the judgement of God for not following His ways. We should actually take a lesson here. These nations, Egypt, and the rest were still under rebellion against God even if they weren’t His chosen people. They were still His creatures, , their rulers were still held responsible, they were still under the curse of the Fall of Adam. Ignoring a personal relationship with the Lord and the responsibility of leadership is still a punishable offence, even for all those outside of the Jewish state.

Lot’s of its citizens think that the United States is a Christian nation, but it isn’t. It is just a nation composed of a lot of Christians. Are they a majority? I don’t think so. Not if you count Christians as only those with a saving personal relationship with Jesus Christ, those who have been born again. And not everyone who goes to church. Kind of like saying that not all who are of Israel are God’s people, like Paul says, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter . . . ” Rom 2:28-29. So I wouldn’t say that this is a Christian nation, though America is reportedly the nation who gives the most money to Christian missions worldwide, probably because of the huge number of churches it contains.

But this nation will still be judged for the evil it does, under what ever guise. The evil of genocide as native peoples were exterminated like pests in America’s formative years. The evil of slavery and the evil that spawned after slavery was abolished resulting in the fight for civil rights. Or the evil of abortion protected by national law and protected by the Supreme Court. The list goes on. But yes, this nation will be judged along with all the other nations of the world. If only we could be like the people of Nineveh when Jonah visited.

Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation” leading to national repentance. Jonah 3: 5-7

It could happen. But I’m not counting on it.

[Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible © 1995]

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