The Lord: Both Lover And Judge! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 24:14,

"I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord."

Our Lord is a Lord of mercy and forgiveness. In Ezekiel 33:11 he expresses himself this way, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live." And so in the gospel message we find forgiveness. In spite of the sin in our lives, our Lord offers us his forgiveness through his mercy. He pays the penalty for our sin himself.

But if we don't turn to him, if we persist in our sin and rebellion against him, we find his certain judgment. In this case Israel did. The Lord's judgment against Israel has begun and will not cease until it is complete. He will not hold back, have pity or relent. The opportunity for a change of heart for Israel has come and gone. Now they face the certain ongoing judgment of the Lord without recourse until its completion.

In the Lord I find an array of attributes: his love, mercy, kindness and forgiveness and also his righteousness, justice and judgment of all sin. As demonstrated in the national life of Israel, none of his attributes "cancels" the other. The Lord is merciful, but his mercy stops at the threshold of his judgment. It is almost as if we live in a closed moral universe. Each and every sin will be paid for whether by Jesus' death on the cross or by the sinner himself.

God's love and mercy, God's judgment… both realities that need to be faced! As for me, I take heed to the point the writer of Hebrews makes, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Lord's Love: An Emotional Attachment - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 23:35,

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution."

A good read of Ezekiel brings a vivid picture of the sense of spiritual promiscuity and prostitution Israel engaged in. As I read it the Lord seems to come across as not just a righteous judge but at times a jilted husband. In this chapter he speaks of the divided kingdom of Israel as two sisters that are compulsively lewd and immoral. His judgment seems to spring from both an expression of his justice as well as his jealousy.

He says, "They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters… Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was still mine; and she lusted after her lovers…"

What strikes me this morning is that our Lord reveals an emotional attachment to those that are his. When John speaks of the love of God in 1 John 4, it is no mere point of theology or an expression to help us understand the mysteries of God, as say, his lavish expression of grace toward us. Beyond those things is a reality that our Lord truly loves us and carries an emotional attachment for us as a lover would. The more I think of it, the more astonishing it strikes me.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Lord Expresses Love, Even In Judgment - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 22:30-31,

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord."

After enumerating the many sins of Israel, some of them quite horrific, the Lord tells Israel he looked for someone to "build up the wall", to "stand in the gap" to protect Israel by preventing the Lord's wrath in his destruction of them. Finding no one, he informs them of his coming judgment.

I take this to mean that the Lord could find no one that could lead Israel into repentance, someone to lead them in a return to the Lord, to draw them away from their detestable practices and receive his blessing rather than his judgment.

No one capable, no one qualified, no one willing: whatever the case, here is a statement that brings two things to my mind, one horrible, the other wonderful. First is the obvious decline into the ungodliness that Israel had sunk to. But the second is a wonderful statement about the Lord who eventually destroyed Jerusalem. He looked! He looked to see if there was anyone who could lead Israel into a path that would spare them his judgment. Someone he could work with to draw Israel to himself! It speaks to me of his enduring patience, his desire to build up, not to tear down; it speaks of his love of man in spite of man's rebellion and rejection of him.

As we will read in Ezekiel 33:11, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God's Judgments Are Always Appropriate! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 21:1-5,

"Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel and say to her: 'This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its scabbard and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its scabbard; it will not return again.'"

As I read the words of this prophecy the phrase comes to mind, "politically incorrect". In today's world the discussion among the nations would be "Unilateral, bilateral or multilateral?" The concept of destroying a people, no matter how well deserved, has become something of an "anathema" in our day.

Negotiation is the way of our day. Reason and understanding, possibly some education is the way. But this is not the tack that the Lord took with Israel and her surrounding neighbors. They were warned of impending judgment and destruction if they persisted in a life of rebellion and sin against him and having had ample time to repent without doing so they were destroyed. Jerusalem was leveled and its inhabitants yielded to either captivity, famine, sickness at the Lord's hand, or put to the sword. He destroyed Judah and Jerusalem as they had existed. A little over a hundred years earlier he had destroyed the northern ten tribes of Israel.

So, have we "evolved" now past the Lord? He tells us he is "the same yesterday, today and forever." Since he didn't employ the craft of the diplomat and reason with Israel and her surrounding neighbors to arrive at some acceptable settlement but rather resorted to violence, has mankind now come to a superior point where we view God's actions with disdain?

I think not. I find in my God action that is always appropriate and effective. My perspective is he knows a few things we do not. He knows mankind has an amazing facility for delusion. We are artful in deceiving ourselves and accepting that which is abhorrent and abominable. Those who find repugnant the use of force to eliminate those who engage in horrific acts are often engaged in it themselves.

We deceive ourselves all too easily and at times divine wisdom has dictated the removal and/or elimination of the wicked and rebellious. Whether through the flood in Noah's day, the judgment of Israel and her neighbors, or the future judgment the world will see in the Day of the Lord, our God's actions are always fair, just and appropriate!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God Has Determined He Be Known As He Is - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Ezekiel 20:9,20b,

"But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations they lived among and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites by bringing them out of Egypt… Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."

I don't think the Lord is concerned with the trifling issues of conceit or winning popularity contests. Yet several times in this chapter the Lord repeats the thought that he did certain things to protect his name, to keep it from being profaned. See verses 20:14, 41 as well. He also repeats quite often in the prophecies he gives to Ezekiel that he wants the Israelites and surrounding nations to know he is the Lord - both through his judgments and his redemptive acts.

We worship a big, big God and in all he does he certainly demonstrates he is lofty, transcendent and above issues like petty conceit in his majestic splendor. He never indicates he wants anyone to feed a perceived starved ego, much unlike the false deities the Israelites had turned their hearts to. And so it causes me to wonder about his interest in the "sake of his name" - keeping it from being profaned. Why is it he is adamant that the Israelites and surrounding nations know it is he who is God?

My thoughts drift to the predicament of mankind. As a race we are lost. After rebelling and sinning against God we fell under his judgment. We all face certain death as he warned of in Genesis 3. Out of a love for us he has made it possible to escape his wrath expressed in his judgment – and to join his family. What he has chosen is that those who, unlike the expression of Adam and Eve in their rejection of God and his warning, embrace him in the faith Abraham did, become children of God (John 1:12). "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." (See Genesis 15 and Romans 4.) In his love for us and his desire that as many as will embrace him in faith to come to him, it requires he hold a perceived stature that is beyond reproach. It seems to me he doesn't want false impressions of who he is to keep folks from coming to him in faith. Unlike so many who want to impress others with an appearance of respectability that deserves honor which may or may not be deserved, our Lord wants people to see him clearly as he really is.

If anyone steps in the way of God's name being revered they risk action from God. Not because he needs our approval by protecting his name, his reputation, but because we desperately need him. He wants us to see him clearly as he is. He doesn't need our approval - we desperately need him.

To me, the Lord's purpose in protecting his name and doing those things that cause us to know he is God is further demonstration of his boundless love for us in these efforts as he keeps us from hurdles created by mankind in coming to him.

Just how wonderful is this love of his?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.