dry bones and new life

Good evening friends,

Thanks so much for all the prayers of support for our family; it really means a lot to us. Today's reading is a favorite of mine because it's a powerful image of God's ability to bring new life into situations that seem hopeless. It's also a reminder that the power for renewal lies outside us. God fills us with the wind of the Spirit. At the same time that new life requires a choice from us to live with hope. That's why the prophesy to the people matters: they have to embrace the new life God offers if they are truly going to live. We can always choose new life or barren dryness.

God bless,
Sam

Ezekiel 37:1-10

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 

⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ⁷So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 

⁸I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 

waters of life

Good morning brothers and sisters,

Today's reading shows us the renewal of Jerusalem and the world through the eyes of Ezekiel. Many of the images in Revelation seem to take their cue from Ezekiel. He envisions the world's renewal, here shown as the streams of the water of life, coming from the temple of God. In Revelation, there is no temple because God's presence will be so obvious such things won't be necessary. 

God bless,
Sam

Ezekiel 47:1-5

Then he brought me back to the entrance of the temple; there, water was flowing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. ²Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. 

³Going on eastward with a cord in his hand, the man measured one thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. ⁴Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured one thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the waist. ⁵Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be crossed.

sweet and bitter

Good evening folks,

Today's reading is a great example of how Revelation echoes Ezekiel. When God called Ezekiel, God gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat as well to prepare him to prophesy. The same is true for John. It's an interesting image for God's word in general, which is sweet in our mouth and challenging in our soul.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 10:1-11

And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. ²He held a little scroll open in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³he gave a great shout, like a lion roaring. And when he shouted, the seven thunders sounded. ⁴And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 

⁵Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven ⁶and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will be no more delay, ⁷but in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.” ¹⁰So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹Then they said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

images of jealousy

Good morning brothers and sisters,
I'd like to remind you of two events that may be of interest to you. The first is an evening discussion about the state of our schools and what we can do to help. The event will include dinner and take place beginning at 5:45 on Monday, September 24 at Downtown Presbyterian Church. Let me know if you can attend; it will be a great chance to get to know others in the area who also want to support our kids in education. On Saturday, September 29th beginning at 8am at the East Henrietta Road Church of Christ (right by the expressway and Strong Hospital) there will be a seminar on trauma and violence in the community, including sessions on gangs, bullying and organ donation. Again, let me know if you're interested.

Today's reading is from the Prophet Ezekiel. God takes him to the temple to show him that some of the leaders of Judah are worshiping other gods and leading Judah into sin. Ezekiel can be tough to read because of the strange word choices. In this case he talks about an "image of jealousy," by which he means an idol set up in the temple. God calls us to follow; we often turn away, but God will always welcome us back.

God bless,
Sam

Ezekiel 8:1-6

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ²I looked, and there was a figure that looked like a human being; below what appeared to be its loins it was fire, and above the loins it was like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming amber.

³It stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, to the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴And the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I had seen in the valley.

⁵Then God said to me, “O mortal, lift up your eyes now in the direction of the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. ⁶He said to me, “Mortal, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? Yet you will see still greater abominations.”