Ezekiel 5
Okay, this is the second chapter in a row where God has asked Ezekiel to do something that, as a priest, he “shouldn’t” do: “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind.” (vs 1-2)
Isaiah 23
And now, to the laundry list of nations that will fall at the command of God, Isaiah adds Canaan—specifically the port cities of Tyre and Sidon: “Who was it that planned to bring all this on Tyre, that imperial city, whose merchant princes were the most honored men on earth? The Lord Almighty planned it. He planned it in order to put an end to their pride in what they had done and to humiliate their honored ones.” (vs 8-9)
Psalm 44
There is nothing else in the world like being a parent. Especially when you have a baby, you realize how children are constantly changing. Nothing much stays the same. They are always growing, learning, and maturing. It’s an amazing process. In our view, maturity has a lot to do with age. While this isn’t always the case, the older a person is, usually the more mature he is. So, the job of parents is to raise their children from infancy to adulthood, guiding them through the process of maturity.
Psalm 6
A few years ago, my husband read a book called Why Men Hate Going to Church by David Murrow. Out of the many things he told me about the book, the one thing that has stuck with me is that a lot of men are a bit uncomfortable with all the “relationship” imagery the church uses when it comes to God—especially referring to God as a Lover. And I will agree that much of church (and church language) has become “feminized.” Here’s one example from Murrow’s book:
Job 9
What may be said of Job may also be said of us: There is a lot about God that we know, but there is also a lot about God that we do not know. Job demonstrated that in this chapter. He said a lot of things about God that he knew from his experience with Him—He is the Creator; He is all-powerful; He is not mortal. But, as close as Job was with God, there were still some things he didn’t know about God. And those things made him uneasy.
Nehemiah 9
Yes, before you get too worked up, observe the spelling of the word "but" in the title. It’s a part of speech, not a part of the body! And it illustrates something wonderful about God—that He is always eager to give us another chance and that He is always willing to forgive, forget, and move on.
In this chapter, as the Israelite exiles recounted the history of God and their nation, there were a lot of buts flying around:
Ezra 9
In this chapter of Ezra, we encounter an idea that weaves its way throughout the Old Testament: "Blessings" for those who obey the Lord, and "punishment" for those who do not. In this case, Ezra is lamenting the discovery of further disobedience by the exiles. "I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today." (vs 6-7)
2 Chronicles 33
It’s kind of hard to believe that—after seeing such a wonderful example of a king in his father, Hezekiah—Manasseh could be so wicked. He virtually reversed every good thing his father had done during his reign. However, maybe that’s what happens when a twelve-year-old becomes a king! Can you imagine putting a teenager in charge of a country? Mercy!
Photo © Unsplash/The Joy of Film
In the Most Holy Room
of God's Desert House,
there was a small, open door
to the universe,
where God sat between
His angels and talked
with humanity.
Okay, so the angels were gold
and it was just one man
and God had to make Himself tiny enough
to be stuffed into a room.
Still, for those moments,
it was as if God could have
His cosmic family
together in the same place.
Kind of like a mom
who dreams of having everyone
home again
for Thanksgiving.
Photo © Unsplash/Niko Manuelides
What does it matter
if the thief
kills your sheep
or it's found alive?
Why should
a sheep that has vanished
be worth
twice as much
as one that's been repoed?
Maybe it's all about
God getting justice—
not so much for the victim
as for the perp.
For to sneakily get rid
of the trace of your crime
suggests a hardness
not known to the
heart with red hands,
one so inexperienced
as to be caught with the goods.
The harder heart
requires the harsher penalty
in order to
once again
fracture the hull.
Justice for the offended
is a foregone conclusion,
but recasting the offender's heart
is much more difficult
than replacing a sheep.
Ghandi once said that
an eye for an eye
leaves the whole world blind.
Yes, but it also
leaves the whole world alive.
If the previous rule was
your hand for my eye
and then
my child's life for your hand
and then
your whole family for my child's life
and then
and then
and then
an eye for an eye
is not revenge,
but mercy;
pandemic blindness
a blessing,
compared to
the alternative.
2 Chronicles 6
Today’s thought is a simple one and uses these verses as a jumping-off place: "Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors." (vs 30-31)
1 Chronicles 25
How many ways does God have to communicate to us? The possibilities must be endless. He is not limited by time, space, language, or even the prior ability to talk (remember Balaam’s donkey?). I think this is something we would guess to be true about God, but it’s nice to see it in the Scriptures.
2 Kings 12
This chapter recounts the tale of Joash—a king of Judah who did some very good things, such as rebuilding the temple, but apparently didn’t end up so well. His downfall started after the death of Jehoiada, the high priest: "Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there." (vs 2-3)
1 Kings 21
This chapter appalled me. More than once! I know I’ve read this chapter before, but it obviously didn’t make a lasting impression then. Today, it was as if I had read it for the first time. At first, I was appalled by Jezebel. She seemed to have absolutely NO problem forging her husband’s name and enlisting the help of false witnesses in order to engineer the death of an innocent man. Just when you thought you’d seen the depths of evil in Israel, that was a nasty surprise.
Photo © Unsplash/Kyle Glenn
God revealed himself
to Moses
by a different name
than he had used
with Abraham
and Isaac
and Jacob.
An infinite God
with infinite names,
never failing
to manifest his presence
to the finite—
those who may resonate
for one reason or another
with a particular
moniker.
1 Kings 5
It must have been quite a privilege to work on building the temple of God. Many tens of thousands of Israelites were involved in the process, as well as some foreigners. This was the little tidbit that caught my eye: "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we [Israelites] have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians." (vs 6)
RUTH 1
I have always loved the story of Ruth. To me, it is a great story of how God doesn’t harbor any prejudices. No matter where we have come from, no matter our background or family history, no matter our past life’s experience and choices, God’s arms are always open to us. He is eager and ready to receive us, and He is always working to woo us back to Him.
JUDGES 16
Samson, Samson. What can you say about this guy? He was so stupid. He was so blind—both figuratively and (later on) literally. He was singled out to be God’s leader in Israel, but he couldn’t seem to keep to his Nazirite vow. When he wasn’t marrying heathen women, he was sleeping with prostitutes. He did nearly everything wrong, including the big one—finally telling Delilah the secret of his strength. Why would he do that? Had he become so narcissistic that he believed his strength lay within himself and not in God?
JUDGES 12
Jephthah... what can you say about a guy like Jephthah? This was the man God used to win a decisive victory over the Ammonites and to lead Israel for six years. The Lord was definitely with him, but he was so... flawed. I mean, in the previous chapter, it seemed that Jephthah thought he would have an easier time securing the Lord’s favor if he "bribed" Him with a sacrifice—the first person who stepped out of the house on his return home. Unfortunately, that was Jephthah’s daughter. He paid dearly for that misconception of God.
