FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Big Picture Hope

Some Bible passages are so perplexing that we’re not really sure what to make of them. Such is the case with Ezekiel 38:1-39:24. As we closely examine this text, we can easily lose sight of its message. We can find ourselves so lost in the details that the big picture becomes fuzzy. So what is the big picture presented in this passage? God is on the side of His people; He will fight for them.

This message is comforting. We all experience times when we feel like an ancient Israelite, lost and wandering in the desert. We go through times when we’re not sure what’s next or how it will all end up. But when we realize that God is there to war on our behalf—even in the midst of supreme chaos and paradise interrupted (compare Ezekiel 37)—our viewpoint quickly shifts.

When we feel as though we’re blindly grasping for answers in the smoke that is the future, startling realizations like the type Ezekiel envisions can provide us with the hope we need (compare Hebrews 11:1). The book of Revelation casts similar visions. After the lament over Babylon and all the “woes,” John the Apostle experiences rejoicing in heaven—salvation has arrived:

“After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by her hand!’ ” (Revelation 19:1-2).

The big picture of the confusing passages of the Bible is indeed big. God is bringing judgment against the evil in the world and ushering in His great and glorious salvation. He will war on our behalf against all we fear. He has, and will, fight for us. He is a glorious and powerful God, worthy of praise.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.

A New Way of Being

God calls us to live lives that are distinguished by His light, clearly separate from our old way of being. He wants to make us a new creation by separating the light from the darkness within our own hearts.

In Revelation, John describes God calling His people out of Babylon:

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out from her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive her plagues, because her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes’ ” (Revelation 18:4-5).

Sometimes we can be separated from our former ways of living in the literal sense, but the light has not yet pierced our hearts. We still live in “Babylon” because it exists right where we are. While we have inflated our position, we’ve failed to let God’s light pierce our lives. We’ve failed to live lives that respond to His work.

Becoming separate involves putting off the old ways of thinking, acting, and being. It involves clinging to Christ, who brings light and renewal to our lives. Christ’s sacrifice has reversed death and punishment so that He can bring us new life.

We are called to be separate not for our own sake and our own reputation, but so we can proclaim Christ’s work in our lives. Ultimately, it’s about pointing others toward Him:

“For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God who said, ‘Light will shine out of darkness,’ is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5).

Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.

Shepherding Is a Tough Business

Leadership requires accountability, yet many leaders of the past considered themselves above rebuke. Even when their deeds failed to catch up to them in their own lifetimes, history judged them clearly. History often remembers and records people as they really are. And if history doesn’t recall the truth, God does.

Ezekiel was firm in his rebuke of the leaders of his time—Yahweh commanded him to be:

“And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock’ ” (Ezekiel 34:1-3).

During Ezekiel’s lifetime, the leaders of God’s people were not being leaders at all. They were looking out for themselves rather than the good of the people. The same is true of leaders in our own time. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, as John Dalberg-Acton remarked, than surely we are all at risk of losing our way. Rather than responding with dismay, we should determine to take right action and speak the truth.

We must be people who seek God above ourselves. We must be people who put the needs of others before our own. We must want the glory of God among all people, above all things. We are all leading in one way or another, and others are watching us. That gives each of us an opportunity to lead by example. And any leader who is led by something other than God’s will ends up corrupt. Ezekiel’s criticism presents us an opportunity to change—to accept our rebuke and choose to live above reproach. Will we take it?

Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.

Mercy and Judgment

“God is judge,” we like to say—especially when someone is struggling with injustice. When we get to the book of Revelation, though, we might struggle to understand God’s judgment. Yet even as John describes God dispensing judgment, he emphasizes God’s righteousness and loving nature. He tells us we should not forget that God is a righteous judge.

The Bible is unapologetic and straightforward when speaking about God’s judgment. This is especially true in Revelation. Here the judgment God exacts echoes the plagues that He sent on Pharaoh and Egypt in the book of Exodus—blood, darkness, fiery hail, and locusts. Although Pharaoh was given multiple opportunities to obey God’s request, he still chose his own way. By turning the bodies of water into blood, God spoke what Pharaoh should have realized:

“By this you will know that I am Yahweh” (Exodus 7:17).

Revelation 16 pronounces God righteous not in spite of His judgment, but because of it (Revelation 16:5). We might be tempted to question God’s judgment, but Revelation shows us that His judgment displays His righteousness. Revelation also shows God’s love for and protection of the saints—that His judgment is vengeance for their blood (Revelation 16:6).

Those who receive judgment in Revelation express fierce opposition to God in their blasphemy. They rebel even to the end:

“And people were burned up by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory” (Revelation 16:9).

When other judgments come, the responses are the same (see also Revelation 16:11, 21). Nothing hints at repentance.

God’s judgment is not arbitrary, and His willingness to show mercy is great. Throughout the Bible, we hear about His longsuffering nature and His mercy that extends to a thousand generations. When we speak of His judgment, we should not diminish His mercy. We should speak carefully about God as a righteous judge, but we should balance and outweigh these statements by speaking of His longsuffering nature and incredible love.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.

Picturing God

If you were to ask five people at random, “How do you picture God?” you would receive five very different answers. A social network prompt to “describe God in one word” confirms this idea: It resulted in more than 50 answers. For John, that one word was logos or “Word.” Ultimately, God is far too complex to fit into human language. His personality is too diverse to capture in a painting. His intricacy of character far surpasses ours.

God is able to feel the full spectrum of emotion and able to articulate who He is using the full spectrum of vocabulary. He is able to encounter us in any way He sees fit. Where we may be able to change only our hair color, glasses, or general way of speaking, He can change anything.

Throughout the books of Ezekiel and Revelation, we see diverse descriptions of God. They are so different that they could, by analogy, range from a mannerist painting of Jesus to a surrealist or modern one. Ezekiel 30:1-8 depicts Yahweh as a warrior, whereas in Revelation 14:14-20, we see God using messengers to glean a crop and bring fire. The images vary even more when we peek into the next chapter, where a warring God sends His angels to bring plagues (Revelation 15:1-8).

There is not one depiction of God in the Bible, and any attempt to create one is an ill-conceived effort. We know much about Him, but we’re not capable of understanding Him fully. As we attempt to picture God, we should be aware that our words about Him and visions of Him are shortsighted compared to who He actually is. Yet one thing we do know for certain is that He, our indescribable creator, desires to enter into relationship with His creation (for example, John 15-17).

Adapted and modified excerpts from Connect the Testaments
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Lexham English Bible, LEB © 2012 by Logos Bible Software.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links open in new window and are in the Lexham English Bible, LEB, unless otherwise noted.