Steven Lawson
Author: Dan
Greetings from Tucson
Welcome to ShalomWalk. A place of respite for the inquisitive mind and the weary heart.
I'm Dan Craig, my I co-writer is Beth McKean. We are both retired professionals, we're both Christians, and we both enjoy writing about things that matter to us. We want to share things that we think about, as the days come and go. The blog will be comprised of; (1) single page essays on a wide range of topics derived from reading scripture; (2) recipes from Pepper with a story behind each recipe; (3) other kinds of useful information for running a household; (4) Photographs from Pepper and original instrumental music from Dan.
Our blog focus. By wisdom our house is built on a sturdy foundation; by understanding the roof brings comfort from the heat of life; by knowledge the rooms are filled with grandeur. As a person thinks in their heart, they become in real life (implied in Proverbs 24:3-4 and Proverbs 23:7).
May God bless you and keep you safe in His heart. May God bring you his truth and peace. Amen.
According To Your Conduct
It was my observation while reading Ezekiel (chapter 6) we find a message of firmness interspersed with grace for the Hebrew remnant, now in chapter 7 we find a much different message for those who were continuing to resist the mercy of God and seek solace in the idols of their neighbors. The approaching armies were pressing on Jerusalem, the imagery was strong and persistent. Repent or die. The messaging was very clear. For those who do not repent there will be complete and utter destruction of Jerusalem, they will reach the end of their life. It will not be a gentle death.
Ezekiel 7:1-4 — The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the Lord. [NIV]
In my view this was a fair and substantive warning of the judgement to come. It is unreasonable to assume that some were left unaware of the reason for the attack and siege from the Chaldeans. The prophets of God have been talking about this purging since Isaiah and even before. The message from God has been consistent. Now, the Hebrews can see the armies they have heard about. God kept his word. Yet most of the people are deaf, foolish and uncaring of the message. Jerusalem is in deep trouble, yet the men of the city are not concerned. They are trusting the walls of the city to stop the attack. Ezekiel continues on – the end is near, it has come, he that has ears, let him hear. This is the final event, the end that consummates the foregoing judgements. Now the trouble begins. This is on par with the message of Genesis 6:13 to Noah, which discussed the period of their depraved state, the destruction of the Hebrew nation, the serious deluge that was the end of almost all flesh.
The message was speaking of the end, the end you have been warned about, the end that leaves a scant measure of remnant to build upon after the trouble (see Jeremiah 29:10-14). They were expecting that God would bail them out. But that was not the case (see Deuteronomy 29:28-33). Their pride had obscured the proper impact of God’s wisdom. They were fooling themselves.
This messaging provides us with hints of the things to come down the road, even after Cyrus restores Jerusalem and they wait for the final stretch until the Messiah comes onto the scene. This hint points to the Romans (a replacement for the Chaldeans as a judgement tool). When we read messaging such as the end of things as we know it is at hand, we get the feeling of the thoughts found in Matthew 24:3. It seems that the once the Davidic reign came to close, the Hebrews were always feeling a sense of trouble on the horizon. This day was no different. With one exception. Destruction was going to happen soon, really soon. The veiled warnings were coming to fruit. If it is the last days for Jerusalem, then Daniel 12:13 applies — As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. [NIV]
Nahum tells us about this kind of evil and trouble that ensues. There is no need to continue day-to-day business. Nahum 1:9 says — What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time [NIV]. The Babylonian thing is a final event. The Hebrew nation is forever changed. The trouble is without precedent or parallel (implied in Psalms 75:8).
This situation exhibits God’s wrath, yet we do see his mercy protecting the remnant. This font of calamity, river of pain, this is the wormwood we find in the depth of Ezekiel’s message. His fury is poured out on the city. Jeremiah 4:18 says — Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart! [NIV]. As for me? I choose Jesus.
God Is Not Sleeping
Awakening Chorus
1. Awake! awake! and sing the blessed story;
Awake! awake! and let your song of praise arise;
Awake! awake! the earth is full of glory,
And light is beaming from the radiant skies;
The rocks and rills, the vales and hills resound with gladness,
All nature joins to sing the triumph song.
Refrain:
The Lord Jehovah reigns and sin is backward hurled!
Rejoice! rejoice! lift heart and voice, Jehovah reigns!
Proclaim His sov’reign pow’r to all the world,
And let His glorious banner be unfurled!
Jehovah reigns! Rejoice! rejoice! rejoice! Jehovah reigns!
2. Ring out! ring out! O bells of joy and gladness;
Repeat, repeat anew the story o’er again,
Till all the earth shall lose its weight of sadness,
And shout anew the glorious refrain;
Ye angels in the heights, sing of the great Redeemer,
Who saves us from the pow’r of sin and death.
Lisa Harper
“So don’t you think it’s incredibly cool that God chose Mary Magdalene—this woman who’d been totally oppressed and completely marginalized—for what is arguably the most important job in biblical history? To be the first witness of the Resurrection, the very first human to testify that Jesus had come back to life! I know I do. Because it encourages me that He can use anybody—any hot mess out there, including me!—to tell the story of His Son and change the world. He can take someone totally dominated by the enemy and transform them into someone totally dominated by the Gospel! Thank You, Lord!”
Lisa Harper Life: An Obsessively Grateful, Undone by Jesus, Genuinely Happy, and Not Faking it Through the Hard Stuff Kind of 100-Day Devotional
You Have Been Unruly (Part III)
This is the third message present in chapter 5. I addressed the first two messages from Chapter 5 in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. In this third message, we find a clear statement, I will put you down, I will bring you famine, childlessness, bloodshed, and the plague. You are done. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Ezekiel 5:14-17 says — I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning, and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken [NIV]
This situation is far more dire than any previous judgement. All of the minor prophets deal with this situation. Once the judgement is over and the Hebrews limp home from Babylon, they never really get their luster restored. They dribble along looking for unity, shifting the blame for their problems from Babylon, to Alexander the Great, then the Romans. Eventually the Messiah appears. Then after the rejection of the Messiah, the temple is destroyed by the Romans and the Hebrews are scattered.
This is a bad thing, on the scale of the problem that led to Noah and the ‘reset’ button (the flood and the ark). Nobody makes fun of God. Nobody! The Hebrews have caused the other nations to mock and make fun of the one true living God. God’s judgment is announced with time for repentance provided. Then Judgement comes — his way, his time, his severity, and with his finality. He tried extremely hard to make a path for the Hebrews. They simply balked at the gesture. He put the hammer down.
The one true living God is determined to school this rebellious crowd. He is determined to cause the knee to bend. They will learn to fear him and then learn to respect his power and his mercy. The closer the human is to God’s grace the more severely he refutes the sin. The Hebrews were to teach the other nations about virtue and piety. They were to be water in a dry land. But they chose to abdicate that role, pursuing with vigor the depravity of the other nations. They rolled in the mud, imbedded their minds with the filth of sin. They lifted their haughty fist in anger towards God and rebelled.
The outcome. We are watching the demise of the Hebrew nation, they are reduced in stature to serve the neighboring kingdoms, they build somebody else’s city rather than their own city. In their final days of freedom, they resort to eating their children. Their lifeblood is squandered to fill their belly. Is that not similar to what is happening today? Do we not kill our own children to be free?
The sword of the Lord that once defended the city is now used to destroy the city. The warriors who attach the city move like evil beasts making prey of the inhabitants of the city. Women were not safe, children are not safe, this is a bad situation as the city grinds down to embers. No one escapes, even the ones who try to flee to the deserts and mountains are hacked down. But there is still more.
As we push our way through this story, we see God’s mercy emerging. We see the promises of a future once God pulls back his wrath and replaces it once again with his mercy. We see an amazing vision of a valley of bones that are brought back to life in Chapter 37. God promises to end the exile and then, taking a page from the new covenant yet to be written, God tells them how they will be returned to life. When we walk in with his eyes, at his pace, watching things unfold, his mercy is endless. I choose Jesus.
Measure
Shalom Talk 