The Lord: Breathtaking! - 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 30:25,

"I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt."

After the events of 9/11 and our country's engagement of the war on terror, our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, I recall reading literature on what might be considered a "just war". I'm speaking of discussion on war as a principle here, not specifically Iraq or Afghanistan or any war particularly.

Should we be engaging in war as a country? What conditions might make it just? Can it ever be just? Some of what I read were documents prepared by certain Christian denominations, some were articles in Christian as well as secular periodicals. Some of the discussion centered around "what would Jesus do", "turn the other cheek", all war is immoral and wrong. Principles drawn from the teachings of our Lord on our individual personal behavior extrapolated (in ridiculous fashion!) to apply to the theater of international events, etc.

Something that seemed to get lost in a lot of what I read was how the Lord actually reveals himself in the pages of Scripture. Plenty of "proof texts" given, little in the way of context offered, and very little on passages that have direct bearing on the subject. Here in this passage we read that the Lord clearly provoked war, aided one side, and fulfilled his purposes through it.
 
As this text demonstrates, as in many other places in Scripture, the Lord engages in war to fulfill his purposes and to accomplish his desires. Where there may be plenty to discuss relative to the wisdom to go to war given a specific occasion, any discussion on the abstract concept of war leaves me somewhat perplexed. Doesn't anyone read their Bibles anymore? And if there are so many groups, many respectable groups at that, who claim to know God and are so befuddled over what God might think of war per se, leaves me wondering about a lot.

If the many good folks (educated folks!) I have read seem so fuzzy about a perspective God may have, particularly something as relevant as war in the affairs of mankind, I suspect I have my own issues with being "fuzzy" and unclear about some of the differing aspects of God. I really find much room here for humility and caution for myself and feel an utter dependence on the Scriptures to keep me clear on just how the Lord reveals himself. I feel very confident about some of the things I know of the Lord, his love for us, his kindness and mercy, his anger, jealousy and judgment. But I also lack much that brings plenty of ground for humility in my knowledge of him. But, I will say, what I do know takes my breath away…

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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All Nations Bow To The Will And Purposes Of The Lord! - 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 29:12-14,

"I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly kingdom."

Egypt comes under the judgment of the Lord in this chapter of Ezekiel. She is a major power in the world and is told she will be made desolate and lose her status among the nations. Following forty years, the dispersed Egyptians will be returned to the upper Nile region but only as a minor player on the world stage.

This, as well as all the prophecies given that impact Israel and her neighbors, demonstrate the sovereignty of God, his purposes in world affairs, and the outworking of his will. As putty in the hands of the Almighty, the world, with its nations, no matter how big or strong, how wealthy or technologically advanced, bows to the will and purposes of the Lord.

Mankind, absent a view of the glory of God, puffs himself up in a spiritual vacuum and loses sight that the Creator of the cosmos supersedes anyone else's agenda, purpose or will.

All bow to him!

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 God Is Coming 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 28:22,

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'I am against you, O Sidon, and I will gain glory within you. They will know that I am the Lord, when I inflict punishment on her and show myself holy within her.'"

The Lord delivers a prophecy against Sidon, one of Israel's neighbors. He is going to "gain glory within" her.

We learn from Scripture that the glory of God far exceeds a repute or acknowledgement of someone that is wonderful and awesome. God's glory is the radiance of the perfections of his being. It is both an objectively seen presence in a radiance that was witnessed by the Israelites at the tent of meeting and in the temple. It was seen as a reflection in Moses' face after he had spent time with the Lord on Mt. Sinai. His glory is also a subjective experience that takes place in the hearts and minds of his creatures as they behold his majestic splendor; one who creates a sense of overwhelming awe, adoration as well as a sense of fear and terror.

I see this last sense of God's glory at play in this prophecy against Sidon. The Lord goes on to say that he will gain this glory as he sends both plague and sword against Sidon. He says, "I will send a plague upon her and make blood flow in her streets. The slain will fall within her, with the sword against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the Lord." He gives as his reason for this judgment against Sidon, "No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns." And, the outcome he will achieve, "Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord."

Scripture speaks of God's glory often. I long for it. I think we all do – all mankind. My feeling is that we were designed to experience his glory, to embrace his glory and to exult in his glory. I wonder if the emptiness and absence we at times experience or feel in our lives is due to the removal of God's glory from our lives as a part of his judgment against mankind for our sin and rebellion. Those of us who have become God's children by embracing him in faith see glimpses and small snatches of God's glory and we long for more – I know I do. As we read of the resurrection this longing becomes our hope as we know we will behold God in all his glory and have the opportunity to exult in it forever.

And then again, as I read of what the Sidonians beheld as God's glory, as I read of the fear and trembling of Moses as he had his encounter with the Lord, as I read of Peter, James and John and the fear they experienced on the Mount of Transfiguration, I think there are aspects of God's glory that must be far beyond just "sobering". Something fearful that I can only imagine…

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 Judgment Can Come To Any Nation - 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 27:1-3,34,

"The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'You say, O Tyre, "I am perfect in beauty."… Now you are shattered by the sea in the depths of the waters; your wares and all your company have gone down with you."'"

Israel is not the only nation culpable before the Lord. All nations exist within the sphere of the Lord's creation and under his sovereignty: all nations answer to our Lord. Here we see Tyre, a very successful sea trading city caught up in an arrogance and conceit that is pictured as a ship in this prophecy. Fully adorned in beauty, this ship of arrogance is equipped with the best the world has to offer.

But in her arrogance she has caught the Lord's attention. She has said of Jerusalem, "Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper." Ezekiel 26:2. For this she will suffer the judgment of the Lord as well.

As I think of it, I think of all the people within Tyre whose lives were impacted by the Lord's judgment. Not just the leaders of Tyre, not just movers and shakers were impacted but also the teachers, the shopkeepers, the children and old folks. All were impacted by the destruction of their city.

I am reminded that it is not just Israel that has faced the fury of the wrath of God Almighty, but all nations have faced that potential – certainly this nation of Tyre did. And, what of the nations of today? Do they face that same potential of the wrath of the Lord?

I am reminded again of what the writer of Hebrews says, "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." A good read of Revelation is quite sobering and sheds a great deal of light in an age where arrogance and conceit have their deceiving effects.

As Proverbs says, "Pride goes before destruction and haughty spirit before a fall." However, our Lord makes himself available to us all, "The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short." Proverbs 10:27.

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: Active On The International Stage - 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 26:2-3,

"Son of man, because Tyre has said of Jerusalem, 'Aha! The gate to the nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me; now that she lies in ruins I will prosper,' therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves."

As the four nations in the previous chapter, the Lord prophecies judgment against Judah's neighbor, Tyre, for looking to take advantage of Judah's judgment. The Lord says he will bring up "many nations" against her.

The events recorded in the Old Testament contain much about the activity of the Lord in the affairs of the various nations. Certainly Israel, but also the nations surrounding her, as well as the "super-powers" of the day. We read of the interaction of the Lord in these various nations through his manipulation of the hearts of their leaders as, say, Pharaoh of Egypt, and also through such things as international military threats designed to create alliances, etc. All with a purpose of fulfilling the Lord's intentions. He has used various nations to accomplish his purposes.

That same theme does not stand out in our New Testament. Where there certainly is much in the way the Lord dealt with individuals in the Old Testament, there is much about his interaction on the national/international scene. However the New Testament's focus is mainly on individuals as opposed to international intrigue. This is certainly so following the earthly ministry of Jesus, after the birth of church, the crusade of evangelism begun and prior to the events we read of in Revelation.

So, is the Lord no longer involved with international affairs today? Is he concerned with individuals on an individual level only today? Or, do the events of our day reflect what the Lord may be doing? Does the Lord have any intentions, any purposes relative to the terrorism of the Mideast, to the famine and genocide taking place in Africa, to political movements at home and abroad? If he has, what are they?

From Scripture we know the Lord is "the same yesterday, today, and forever." There doesn't seem to be anything in the New Covenant to indicate he has retired from his involvements on the national/international stage. The focus on individuals in the New Testament prepares us to carry forward the ministry of redemption through the efforts of evangelism on an individual basis, but doesn't indicate God is done dealing with nations on a national/international level.

Because of this I attempt to interpret what I read and see in the news from this perspective. I admit I'm not good at understanding what God may be doing and why, but it is the grid through which I attempt to interpret the world around me. I see our God as a big, big God with his hands on all of the important issues of our day.

Just as he was during the day of Ezekiel!

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.