Friday 4 November

Ezekiel 4:1-6:14

It’s like prophetic pictionary.  Or Russian Roulette with mime instead of bullets.  I’m not entirely sure but I think the original language suggests Ezekiel was dressed in black and white and was wearing a slanty beret.  Whether or not that is the case, he was certainly making vivid to the people the ways they were going to die.  And that is the point of all this talk about wrath and anger.  And that is the point of the festering flesh on his arm that Ezekiel bared after he had laid down for a year and a half - it was to provoke a response.  Whether through fear or revulsion or shock or whatever, Ezekiel was God’s man for going to every extreme to call his people back into repentance.  God didn’t want to strike down or slay or bring calamity, so he was telling his people he was going to do it so that they would repent and save them all the pain of it.  So as we read Ezekiel we should expect to be shocked.  We should expect to be disgusted.  He should challenge us.  He should lead us to repentance and faith and getting right with our God.  Because knowing that “I am the Lord” is the most incredible place to be.

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Maturity is about being able to distinguish between good and evil (v14).  I like that definition.  I’m going to try to remember it.  And the foundation upon which maturity is built is an understanding of repentance from bad acts, faith in God, baptism, laying on hands, the resurrection, and eternal judgement.  This seems to be a bit of a standard chronological narrative of the Christian life.  You repent and turn from idols to God, you get baptised, you are empowered and filled with the Spirit, and then... oh, what’s this stuff about resurrection and eternal judgement?  We don’t seem to talk about those very much.  Certainly not as the foundation of things.  But resurrection and eternal judgement seem to be the two linchpins of the Christian mindset after being filled with the Spirit.  They lift our eyes to a day in the future - a day beyond our current experiences - where momentous events will occur and destinies will be set.  For centuries they seemed to be used like prefects supervising (sometimes a little too keenly) the activities of Christian pilgrims, scaring them into behaving for fear of future rebuke.  But they needn’t be seen that way.  They can be seen as a glorious hope of justice and peace.  They can be seen as the consummation and full enjoyment of the slithers and snippets of the kingdom that we get to experience today.  They can be seen as fundamental truths about life, without which maturity cannot be reached.  They set the context for our life - they help clarify the things that are worthy and the things that are useless, the things that are good and the things that are evil.  It’s time to think about the future some more.

Proverbs 26:23-27:4

“Do not boast about tomorrow.”  Is it a coincidence this comes today - the day before bonfire night?  I guess it is no surprise that Solomon was a monarchist.