Monday, October 21, 2013, Day 288
– Ezekiel 35 - 36, Psalm 86, Revelation 9
“But you, O Lord are a God Merciful and Gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Throughout the various books of the Bible there are various themes followed by each of the writers. But there is one over-arching theme of the Bible as a
whole:
CREATION –SIN –
JUDGMENT – AND REDEMPTION.
Each of the Prophets have their own spin on this theme but if you look you will find it in every book
and prophet. In today’s section of Ezekiel we notice two major examples of this.
As chapter 35 begins, through his prophet Ezekiel, the Lord is stating the sin
of the Edomites [the people of Mount Seir], who had helped the Babylonians in
their attack against the city of Jerusalem. This beautiful and lush mountain
area which God had created and given to Essau, Jacob’s brother, has
turned against God and God’s people. God’s Judgment:“I will make
Mount Seir a waste and a desolation…” But where is the “Redemption” here? --- “Then you shall know that I am
the Lord.” The Edomites, and for all God’s people, redemption is knowing God.
For the people of the mountains and mountains themselves will once again
flourish: “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches, and
yield your fruit to my people
Israel…”
As we read on in these few chapters of Ezekiel, we see another working of this theme. Other
Prophets, particularly Jeremiah, consider the fact that the exiled people are
paying a price for their sinfulness by having been exiled. But Ezekiel sees it a
bit different. God and only God is in control of all aspects of the Theme
[Creation, Sin, Judgment and redemption.] Even in exile, many were assuming
that God had been overpowered by Israel’s enemies and failed to recognize the
world stage as under God’s control. Ezekiel points out that the people
continued to sin in the foreign land. It is here that we find God’s grace in
the midst of the theme. “Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O
house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my Holy Name, which
you have profaned among the nations to which you came…I will sanctify my great
name…I will take you from the nations … and bring you into your own land… I
will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be cleansed… I will give you a
new heart and a new spirit…Then you shall live in the land I gave to your
ancestors; and you shall be my people and I will be your God. Then you shall
remember your evil ways…[and] Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O House of
Israel.”
The spin is that sometimes we need redemption to fully recognize our sinfulness. Sound familiar?
Is this not the gift we now as Christians are living within? Christ has redeemed
us even before we are born and we live into that redemption. The theme is a
circle. Redemption – Creation – Sin – judgment –Redemption –Creation – Sin –
Judgment – Redemption. It is our acknowledgement of God’s Grace, the
thankfulness of Christ’s salvific act and our awareness of the entirety of this
gift through the Holy Spirit that draws each of us forward –living or at least
attempting to live into our fullness as God’s people – a people
redeemed!
“But you, O Lord are a God Merciful and Gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness.”
Tom Bruttell
– Ezekiel 35 - 36, Psalm 86, Revelation 9
“But you, O Lord are a God Merciful and Gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Throughout the various books of the Bible there are various themes followed by each of the writers. But there is one over-arching theme of the Bible as a
whole:
CREATION –SIN –
JUDGMENT – AND REDEMPTION.
Each of the Prophets have their own spin on this theme but if you look you will find it in every book
and prophet. In today’s section of Ezekiel we notice two major examples of this.
As chapter 35 begins, through his prophet Ezekiel, the Lord is stating the sin
of the Edomites [the people of Mount Seir], who had helped the Babylonians in
their attack against the city of Jerusalem. This beautiful and lush mountain
area which God had created and given to Essau, Jacob’s brother, has
turned against God and God’s people. God’s Judgment:“I will make
Mount Seir a waste and a desolation…” But where is the “Redemption” here? --- “Then you shall know that I am
the Lord.” The Edomites, and for all God’s people, redemption is knowing God.
For the people of the mountains and mountains themselves will once again
flourish: “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches, and
yield your fruit to my people
Israel…”
As we read on in these few chapters of Ezekiel, we see another working of this theme. Other
Prophets, particularly Jeremiah, consider the fact that the exiled people are
paying a price for their sinfulness by having been exiled. But Ezekiel sees it a
bit different. God and only God is in control of all aspects of the Theme
[Creation, Sin, Judgment and redemption.] Even in exile, many were assuming
that God had been overpowered by Israel’s enemies and failed to recognize the
world stage as under God’s control. Ezekiel points out that the people
continued to sin in the foreign land. It is here that we find God’s grace in
the midst of the theme. “Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O
house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my Holy Name, which
you have profaned among the nations to which you came…I will sanctify my great
name…I will take you from the nations … and bring you into your own land… I
will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be cleansed… I will give you a
new heart and a new spirit…Then you shall live in the land I gave to your
ancestors; and you shall be my people and I will be your God. Then you shall
remember your evil ways…[and] Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O House of
Israel.”
The spin is that sometimes we need redemption to fully recognize our sinfulness. Sound familiar?
Is this not the gift we now as Christians are living within? Christ has redeemed
us even before we are born and we live into that redemption. The theme is a
circle. Redemption – Creation – Sin – judgment –Redemption –Creation – Sin –
Judgment – Redemption. It is our acknowledgement of God’s Grace, the
thankfulness of Christ’s salvific act and our awareness of the entirety of this
gift through the Holy Spirit that draws each of us forward –living or at least
attempting to live into our fullness as God’s people – a people
redeemed!
“But you, O Lord are a God Merciful and Gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness.”
Tom Bruttell
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