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.

By the Rivers of Babylon

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It was my observation browsing through Ezekiel, this vision in chapter 1 is not like any other message I’ve ever read in scripture. Ezekiel is very precise about his calling. He was sitting by a tributary of the river of Babylon (Euphrates), known as the Kabar River. It did not go unnoticed by me that the Euphrates is one of the four rivers that’s connected to the Garden of Eden. It also did not go unnoticed to me that Bob Marley wrote about this river in his landmark song by the Rivers of Babylon. We all know that Bob pulled his references from Psalms 137; but it was humorous to me that Ezekiel was hanging out on that same river that Bob spoke about. I’m not saying in any way that Bob’s writings are prophetic. In fact, he got the intent of Psalms 137 wrong. But I am observing that you find the most interesting things when you allow God to muse a bit with you. And so, we begin.

Ezekiel 1:1-3 says — In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians [NIV].

In this opening statement from Ezekiel, we find the circumstances of this prophecy. The first few verses define who was involved and they define the audience. The entire 1st chapter is a vision of God. I’ve read this chapter 15-20 times. I’ve done audio playbacks; I’ve tried to draw pictures of what the vision shows. This initial vision is the most profound thing I’ve encountered in a long time when reading the scriptures. Of course, this vision will have some competition for that prize once I finally get to evaluating Revelation. On the other hand, there is Ezekiel 10 and Ezekiel 37. We will see.

The glory of God (the vision) starts with the discussion of the four angels with extended wings, supporting him. There is a strong loud continuous sound of thunder accompanied by lightening. And it outlines the wheels that they stand upon and the platform that they hold up with their wings. Then the throne and the one true living God is described. When you try to make a picture from this vision, God’s glory speaks loud and clear. You are foolish to approach this without reverence, I think we would be at peril if we disrespect this vision. We see the throne through a veil, we are given but a glimpse.

We can glean from these initial few verses the approximate time when Ezekiel started his ministry. He was about 30 years old. He was at the age to be called into priesthood. But we should note Ezekiel is in Babylon. There are no temple services. God calls him to be a prophet to the people that have rejected the covenant law and temple ordinances. Later, God tells Ezekiel that he will need a forehead made out of flint. Why? Because the message he is to deliver will cause people to reject him aggressively.

The deeper truth. Most everybody I read agrees that this calling came to Ezekiel on the sabbath day. John’s Revelation also came on the sabbath day (see Revelation 1:10). Then we read in Lamentations 1:7 — In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall [NKJV].

The footnote in NKJV for Lamentations 1:7 suggests the Hebrew term underneath the word ‘downfall’ refers to the mocking of sabbaths. Do you think that it was an accident the initial message of Ezekiel and message of Revelation were delivered to the prophets on the Sabbath? I think not. Both messages have been mocked by men. I choose Jesus.

All Around is Bright and Fair

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Minnie B. Lowry 1889

1 All around is bright and fair,
While we work for Jesus;
Joy and peace are everywhere,
While we work for Jesus.

Refrain:
Come, O come, this cheerful, happy day;
Come, O come, to Sunday School away.

2 Every face with pleasure beams,
While we work for Jesus;
Every heart with rapture teems,
While we work for Jesus. [Refrain]

3 Nearer seem the realms above,
While we work for Jesus;
Dearer seems our Saviour’s love,
While we work for Jesus. [Refrain]

Angels of the Bible

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by Leanne Guenther and Sharla Guenther

Today we are going to talk about angels.  Where have you heard of angels before?  What do you think they look like?  Hopefully by the end of today’s class you will know more about angels and why they are here to help us.

The most important thing to know about angels is that God made them.  He sends angels to help and deliver messages to us.  The word angel actually means God’s messenger.

Some of the angels in the Bible that sent messages are: the angels that announced Jesus birth, they were at the tomb to tell Mary and Martha that Jesus was alive, and the angel, Gabriel, that told Mary she would have a son.  There are many more places where angels gave messages but these stories you probably know the best.

Angels also protect us when we’re in trouble.  Remember Daniel in the Lion’s Den?  An angel came and shut the mouths of the lions.  What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?  An angel was standing with them in the fiery furnace to keep them safe.

So you can see angels are important, but they’re not more important than God, they serve God.  Angels are actually like us in some ways.  Angels can chose to follow God or not.  Most of the angels chose to follow God and work for him and some of the angels went to work for the devil instead.

It’s good to know there is a devil, just because he sometimes tries to trick us into thinking that bad things are fun or good.  Keep in mind, God and his angels are much more powerful than the devil, after all the devil was an angel, but he began to think he was better than God.  So God sent him out of heaven.

Angels are also like us because they worship God, but they do this continually, that means they never stop.  In Revelation 4:8 (NIV) it says, “Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings.  Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'”

Another way angels are like us, is that they don’t know everything God knows.  The Bible says that not even the angels know when he is going to come and take us to heaven (Matt.24:36).

Angels are very different than us in some ways too.  They live in heaven with God so they certainly know more about God than we do, and just being in God’s presence probably gives them the special glow or brightness they seem to have.

Angels can be visible and invisible.  They were seen at Jesus tomb and in the sky to the shepherds, but they can be invisible too helping us when we don’t even know it.

The Bible also says that angels never die in Luke 20:36.  So you can see that angels are a little higher than us, but lower than God.  God is very strict in saying that we should not worship angels or see them as more important than him.  Remember that God made angels and He is the only one we should pray to, but its certainly okay to thank God for angels and to pray for them if you want.

You might wonder what angels look like.  Well, there is no clear answer to this.  When people saw angels in Bible times they were often afraid at first (imagine if you saw an angel all of a sudden).  I think its okay to imagine angels as friendly, beautiful creatures that help us.

Some people like to believe that we each have our own guardian angel, an angel that watches and takes care of us at all times.  While we do know that there are many angels, the Bible says there are, “thousand upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand” (Rev. 5:11, NIV).  The Bible doesn’t seem to say anywhere that we each have a guardian angel.  If you think about it, we don’t need a guardian angel, angels can’t be everywhere and know everything like God, and He is always with us.

There are also different ranks of angels, or they have different jobs.  Some of the angels talked about in the Bible are Michael an archangel which means the prince of angels, and  Gabriel is another angel named in the Bible and he was the angel that told Mary she would have a baby and to name him Jesus.

Angels also have been mentioned in different groups.  Some are called chief princes, cherubim or seraphim.  They all seem to be important to God and all seem to have specific duties that they do.

One of the best  things about angels is that whenever someone becomes a Christian they sing and rejoice, in other words they have a big party!  One day we can look forward to singing to God with the angels someday in heaven.

So you see, angels are important and they’re very real.  God uses them to give us messages, to help and encourage us, and they will announce his second coming.

Difficult to Define Him.

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It was my observation, if John had aggressively declared that love is only what God is, we would be compelled to say God is what love is (see 1 John 4:8). If love is equal to God, then the God we have defined leaves little space for any other attributes, He becomes a man-made deity. He no longer is Elohim. Let us open the aperture of thought to a larger f-stop. When we examine God’s other attributes, we can learn more accurately about His love. For example, if God is self-existent, then love has no beginning; if Elohim is eternal, love has no end; if the Logos is infinite, he has no boundaries for his love; if he is holy, he is pure in love; if He is immense, His love is incomprehensible.  Now we can say his love is like a sea with no end, and we bend in silence at his grace and grandeur (see Psalms 36:5-9).

Psalms 104:30-35 says — When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. (NIV). Selah.

If we know God, we are compelled to try to speak of His love and grace. Try we must, but none of us do it very well. There are no words in my vocabulary to properly define the formidable and wonder-filled attributes of God. Children reach toward a star hoping to grab the light. Their outstretched arm points towards the love of God. This is the best we can do – encourage others to look up.

1 John 4: 13-18 says —   This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (NIV).

I am not foolish enough to say – I know exactly what love is. But I can see many things that exhibit the notion of love. We can see love pours out goodwill towards other people. Love does not wish fear for others. John said there is no fear in love. Fear is a painful thing; it grips us and blinds us to a path towards safety. It persists and grows; it smashes our hope. Yet, the moment we encounter love, fear runs away. Fear is powerless over us; that is the impact of love. My mother is many things, but her love can arrest my fear.

Our world is full of trouble and enemies. A casual examination of the news suggests that our enemies’ resolve is strong, and trouble is inevitable. Soldiers are taught to focus on the endgame, get the job done, adapt to the situation and overcome the problem. Their answer to fear is to redirect their focus. Yet, I think, the effort to vanquish fear without addressing the cause is silly. Our heart is wise enough to know as long as we trust our plan to outmaneuver the enemy, we may have every good reason to be afraid; we may have overlooked something, may have failed to ask a question we did not know we needed to ask. But, in the end, we know that fear is a liar. We are wise to focus on love – the endgame.

This is what I know – God is a God who defines love, in the secret place of our heart, we lean on Jesus. Love is not the sum total of God; but it is an essential truth of his sovereignty. Our effort to adapt and overcome fear is nothing compared to his Love. His love casts away all fear. When we embrace God’s love and mercy – fear retreats into the shadows. Nothing can really hurt us, perhaps temporarily, but not forever. Love will win. I choose Jesus.