Tag Archives: Old Testament

Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 10

GOD WALKS OUT ON A LOVER

– A narrative on Ezekiel 10

THE DIVINE PROMISE “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20) recurs in various forms throughout Scripture. But just occasionally, it is revoked. God is patient. God is love. Sometimes, however, his people become so insufferable that like an exasperated lover he walks out.

In Ezekiel’s vision he leaves his “house”, the temple in Jerusalem, before it is destroyed. The symbolism is powerful. It says to the Judeans that God is leaving them to their own devices. His holiness cannot co-exist with their sinfulness.

It wasn’t the first time he had walked out like that. When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines in Samuel’s day, it was said that the glory of the Lord had departed (1 Samuel 4:21,22).

It won’t be the last time, either. Churches, like ancient castles, can become empty shells from which the Spirit of life has departed. Those that survive the invasion of property developers may echo with liturgy but do not vibrate with life. There were some like that even in New Testament times (Revelation 3:1,2).

And people once zealous for God became shipwrecked on the reefs of materialism; no longer able to catch the wind of the Spirit they drift on the tide (1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 4:10) while God sails on without them. He will stay as long as you want him to, but he never outstays his welcome.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Book of Esther

OLD TESTAMENT

ESTHER is a gripping story with tension, subterfuge, danger – and a happy ending. Why it is in the Bible has been long debated; it doesn’t mention God, nor attempt to teach anything overtly. Yet it is a moral tale in which good eventually triumphs over evil. This is not a book for bit-by-bit study. It is revealing and its spiritual treasures emerge best if you read it in one sitting.

Set in Susa, the capital of Persia during the reign of Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) about 480 BCE, before Ezra returned to Jerusalem in 445 BCE, it records an otherwise unknown incident. The pompous courtier Haman plots the destruction of the Jews (by tricking the king into signing a bogus decree) because Mordecai refuses to bow to him. Esther, Mordecai’s cousin and surrogate daughter, groomed in the royal harem, catches Xerxes’ eye after he expels his wife Vashti for insolence. In a second sub-plot, Mordecai saves the king’s life.

Hearing of Haman’s planned genocide, Mordecai and Esther conspire to tell the king the truth behind the decree he has just signed. Very annoyed, he issues another decree which annuls the first, executes Haman and promotes Mordecai.

Today, at the Jewish feast of Purim, the story is read and the audience boo every mention of Haman and cheer every mention of Mordecai.

Esther shows how God is sovereign in human affairs. The eye of faith can see him putting characters in place on the stage. They have no prophet to tell them God’s word, and no priest to intercede for them. God is apparently silent and distant. There are just some coincidences which add up to a remarkable deliverance through the human agency of two people who risk all.

Esther is the ordinary Christian’s book. Most of us live with problems for which solutions do not come easily. Yet looking back we see God’s ordering of events which aid us through the troubles. Esther’s message is, ‘don’t forget such signs’, look back with thanks and gratitude, and trust that God will show himself sovereign again. It is through circumstance and coincidence that this sovereignty works.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Book of Proverbs: Down-to-earth advice

BE KIND, BE CAREFUL

– A narrative from Proverbs

MOST Western people tend to be cautious when it comes to giving money or sharing possessions. Finding the balance between being generous or foolhardy on the one hand, and selfish and uncaring on the other, is not easy.

The Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, which contains hundreds of pithy sayings about wisdom and daily life, suggests two principles to inform our actions. One is to help the poor. Under no circumstances are we to take advantage of them (22:22). To pour scorn on them is to insult our Maker (17:5) while being kind to the poor is like lending to God (19:17).

This is echoed in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) in which acts of kindness to others are in fact done to God.

It is unwise to withhold good from those who deserve it (3:27), but wisdom requires more than just being nice to nice people. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him” (25:21,22) was directly quoted by Paul in Romans 12:20 and alluded to by Jesus in Luke 6:27-30. If nothing else, it makes black deeds even worse, which is the meaning of “heaping coals of fire on their heads”.

The second principle is that while love may be blind, wisdom isn’t. Proverbs draws the line of generosity at standing surety for someone else or “you will surely suffer” (11:15). It even urges the person who has already underwritten a deal to free themselves from it even if it humiliates them to do so (6:1-5).

It is worth asking why. Human nature probably relaxes when it knows that it is not ultimately responsible for a debt or agreement. It is easy to default after a while. Wisdom acts responsibly, but it is encouraging responsibility in others, too.

GOD BE IN OUR UNDERSTANDING

PROVERBS assumes the spiritual dimension. Scattered through the book are reminders that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (1:7). Faith is like a fountain keeping our life fresh and productive (14:27). Respect for and worship of the LORD must always be present.

With the prophets, Proverbs asserts that sacrifice without faith is detestable to a God who looks for inner truth rather than outward conformity (15:8,26). Therefore we should confess our sins in order to find mercy (28:13) and accept God’s “discipline” as a means of spiritual growth (3:11). Only then will we be sure of receiving his guidance through the maze of life (3:5; 19:21).

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