God's Grace Is A River That Runs Deep! - 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 47:1,

"The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar."

Here is an amazing feature of this temple of Ezekiel's vision. Here is a river, which has as its headwaters a source that emanates from under the threshold of the temple that flows east toward the Dead Sea! The description is careful to point out that the source of the water comes from the threshold of the temple and as it flows toward the east it grows deeper and deeper to support "a great number of trees on each side of the river." The water turns the salt water of the Dead Sea to fresh and sustains "swarms of living creatures". Large numbers of fish and everything in this river's path will live. The fruit trees that adorn the banks of the river will be fruitful and their leaves will not wither. "Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

This, of course, brings to mind the vision given John in Revelation 22:1-2, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."

And also Jesus Christ's words to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:13-14, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

This speaks to me of the tremendous and boundless flow of grace that emanates from the throne of God. God's mercy, forgiveness, love and kindness flow from him providing and sustaining life - abundant life. Providing healing for each of us and sustenance to carry us into and through eternity is an ongoing act of God that will ever flow. Never a dry spell, it runs deeper and deeper as we wade into it, as we plumb the depths of it, as Ezekiel did with the measuring line.

What a 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!

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 Sacrifice Of Jesus Reveals His Passion For Us - 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 46:4-5,

"The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah."

Ezekiel received instructions for the worship at the temple he has been shown in his vision. The prince of Israel was to bring offerings and sacrifices to the priests. Specific instructions are given as to how many lambs, rams, bulls, how much grain and oil. The grain that accompanied the bull was to be one ephah (3/5 of a bushel) and likewise with the ram. But with the lambs he is to give as much as he wants, as much as he pleases.

So, how much would he? How would he decide that? If he has opportunity in this one aspect of the temple worship to give what he wanted, what he pleased, what would that amount he offered express? It is an interesting question even given that the grain is somewhat insignificant.  If he gave a lot would it indicate he worshipped the Lord a lot? If he gave little would it indicate little regard, little love, little worship, and little devotion for the Lord? That he could give whatever he wanted with the lambs probably meant the amount was not as important as with the other items offered, but, as I say, it does raise an interesting thought.

I suspect anyone who has freedom of choice in their worship of the Lord by the gifts he brings, whether treasure, time or talent, any kind of sacrifice indicates how dear he holds the Lord in his heart by what the cost is to him, how much of a sacrifice it is for him to give. That amount, whether money, time, acts of love and kindness, faithfulness in ministry, etc. though different for each one, does matter. What I gave last week says more about my true worship of the Lord and just how I esteem him than what I may "feel" today. What I have done speaks a truer word about my heart than what I seem to think or feel. Just ask James - it is a major theme in his letter.

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7. As I think of it this morning, my thought is our God is worthy of all I have. A specified amount is easy: an ephah was a required amount. A tithe is a required amount. Neither really expresses the level of passion of what is in a man's heart. But the offering that is to be determined by the worshipper… now here is an expression of what is in one's heart. How much, relatively speaking, indicates how much passion one has for the Lord. And as I think of the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave it all for us, his passion for us is on full display!

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 Blood Of Jesus Christ Brings Atonement With God! - 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 45:18-20,

""This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect and purify the sanctuary. The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and on the gateposts of the inner court. You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple."

As Ezekiel's vision continues he is given instructions that sound much like what Moses was given as he met with the Lord: a design for a sanctuary for the Lord, identification for who is to serve as priests, their garments, instructions on propriety relative to temple worship and instructions for sacrifices and offerings. I note a central theme of both sets of instructions surrounds that which provides atonement: blood. It is blood that makes atonement.

"The life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." Leviticus 17:11. And so, as we read of our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ, we find that blood - his blood - was necessary to make a once-for-all atonement for all mankind, "He [Jesus Christ] did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" Hebrews 9:12-14.

The value of this currency of atonement that Jesus brought with him into the Most Holy Place is far beyond any wealth this world has to offer. Peter puts it this way, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19"

The "precious blood of Christ" is a theme found throughout all of God's revelation to us, whether through Moses or Ezekiel or in the New Testament. It was and always has been the blood of Jesus Christ that brings atonement!

How wonderful he offered it up for all of us! What love has been expressed by this one sacrificial act!
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 Glory Of The Lord Is Headed Our Way! - 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 44:4,

"Then the man brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell facedown."

In his vision Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord filling the temple he has been shown. His response is that he fell facedown. I find a similar response from Moses, Peter, James and John. All who have had the opportunity to witness the glory of the Lord have been impacted by it. We are told the Israelites worshipped at the opening of their tents whenever they saw the glory of the Lord at the Tent of Meeting when the Lord would meet with Moses.

Over the past few weeks I have had a recurring thought that the world is desperate for a view of the Lord's glory. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, a huge consequence has been the separation and isolation we have had from our Creator. As we read the account of Adam and Eve prior to their sin we clearly see we were originally designed for a relationship with God where we regularly experienced God's presence.

That presence is a glorious presence. A presence in our sinful and weakened state that is a blinding brilliance in the physical and a breathtaking sense of beauty and awe in a myriad of perfections of qualities in the metaphysical. As I read of the reactions of those who have encountered the Lord's glory in the pages of Scripture like Ezekiel, it must be a presence of such holiness that one is left feeling contrite and humbled; horrified at the contrast of a felt sinful condition in our present state of humanity compared to the moral excellence and pristine purity of our holy God.

My thought of this desperate need the world has of tasting, of seeing the Lord's glory, comes from the acknowledgment that we have a need to experience something much bigger than ourselves. We have a need to encounter that which is real and true, that which "yanks" our thinking straight about who we are and where we stand in God's economy of things. The befuddled thinking of our day, the perverse and warped things folks get involved in, the desperate drive to elbow others out so we can get ours - all must become instantly scorched and scoured in the burning penetration of this unspeakable brilliance we call the glory of the Lord.

Surely this is one of the worst consequences of our fall in the Garden of Eden: we have had our exposure to the wonderful and penetrating glory of the Lord withdrawn from us! What the world needs, what each of us needs is an encounter with the awe-inducing, stop-dead-in-your-tracks brilliance of the glory of the Lord! And, this is exactly what is headed our way! Just like a big freight train that has already left the station down the tracks and headed our way, the glory of the Lord is headed our way… unstoppable, and certain to arrive at exactly the right time! I'm not sure when it is best to "buckle up" for it, but today can't be too soon!

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.

What We Have In The Lord Is Grand And Magnificent! - 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 43:10-11,

"Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider the plan, and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations."

Ezekiel's temple is a mystery. We have no record of it ever being built and there is no evidence it ever has been. The Lord had Moses build the tabernacle to be carried in the wilderness and to the Promised Land. Solomon built a beautiful and magnificent temple on the temple mound which was destroyed by the Babylonians when they took the remainder of Israel into captivity in 586 B.C. Following the Jews release from captivity Zerubbabel built a much more modest temple (so much more modest that we are told the people wept as they viewed this new temple in remembrance of the grand temple built by Solomon). This temple was rebuilt by Herod and the one we read of in the accounts of Jesus' ministry in the gospels. It was later destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. (or something like that).

In Ezekiel 43:18, the Lord says to Ezekiel, "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: These will be the regulations for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood upon the altar when it is built…" And yet, as noted by many, the Lord never commanded anyone to build the altar, let alone the entire temple.

Some feel it will be a temple that will be built during and for the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, in the future from now. This makes for a difficult explanation for me as the animal sacrifices outlined for this temple, the burnt and sin offerings called for in the worship that is to take place make little sense as we read that all these looked forward to, and were replaced by, the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ's own body. Additionally, the priesthood called for in Ezekiel's temple, any human priesthood for temple worship, has been superseded by our great high priest, Jesus Christ who intercedes for us now on our behalf and forever.

So, this temple of Ezekiel is a bit of a mystery to me. One thing that is not a mystery for me is the grand scale of its design. This is one magnificent temple! In these verses the Lord tells Ezekiel to describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. They are to consider its plans and if they feel the appropriate sense of shame for their sins, Ezekiel is to "make known to them the design of the temple-its arrangement, its exits and entrances-its whole design and all its regulations and laws."

What God offers is that which is grand, sweeping and magnificent. The best result we experience when sin has its way with us (or the other way around) is always less than what God offers us. I don't know if that is the intended message of Ezekiel's temple or not, but what strikes me today is just that: in our sin, we have what might be considered small, insignificant and lacking the grandeur and magnificence compared to that which we have in the Lord!

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.