Today, as I reached the end of several weeks reading the book of Ezekiel, I came to the well known part in chapter 47 that speaks of the prophet’s vision of a river flowing from the Temple. As Ezekiel wades deeper - from ankle to knee depth, and from waist level to the point of being completely out of his depth, it’s a graphic illustration and invitation for us to enter deeper into the flow of the Holy Spirit.
I couldn’t help noticing, though, that the water got deeper and deeper, the further away it flowed from the sanctuary. Perhaps it is only when we step out of our comfort zone, when we are willing to reach out in evangelism and ministry to others, that we will experience the greatest flow of the Spirit’s sustaining power in our lives.
The passing of time makes us all aware of growing older… and the time is shorter and seems to go faster for our non-human friends. This weekend I got news that my border collie back in Cape Town had died at the ripe old age of thirteen. Of course, I haven't seen her for seven years (except for over the internet) and so I already said my goodbyes a long time ago. But hearing of her death reminded me of what a great dog she was - funny, clever, energetic - and what a joy it was to have her for those seven years in Cape Town. I hope that one day I can have the blessing of owning a border collie again.
If you’re one of the people who receive my monthly newsletter, you’ll have read the thoughts I shared earlier this week from a few verses in Ezekiel chapter 36. (If you haven’t read it yet, you can click on the picture here on the right to enlarge it, or click here to download it in PDF format.)
This morning I was reading further in Ezekiel chapter 37 - quite possibly one of the best known chapters in that Old Testament book. It’s the part where the prophet has a vision of a valley of dry bones, and I was struck today by the similarity of its message of hope.
In my letter, I’d alluded to the fact that there are some believers who feel that they’ve become cold of heart and numb of spirit, and who doubt that things can ever really change again. In chapter 37 verse 3, God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live again?” And because the prophet has noticed them to be “very dry,” he answers, “God, only you know if that is possible.”
In the next few verses, the words breath or spirit are repeated nine times. I can’t help wondering how the Bible translators decided when to translate it as “breath” and when to translate it as “spirit”, because it is the same Hebrew word, ru’ach, that is used for both. In fact, the same word is used a tenth time in those verses and translated as wind. In other parts of the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word is translated as life.
What’s clear from this short passage is that it is the Word of God (vs 4) and the Spirit of God (vs 5ff) that bring new life, even to people who feel that they have been spiritually dead or dry for a long time. If we spend time reading the Bible, the Word of God, and we allow the Holy Spirit to bring that Word alive to us, new spiritual life will soon begin to flow again. No one is too dry, too cold or too dead from God’s perspective; no one is beyond the reach of the Spirit’s life-giving power. And if whole groups or congregations of people allow God to breathe on them, they too can rise up like the “vast army” of verse 10.
I couldn’t help noticing that the dead bones are described in verse 9 as the slain (from the Hebrew word hǎrêgáh - to be murdered or destroyed with deadly intent.) They hadn’t simply dried up by their own doing or neglect (although that was probably the largest reason for it) but had also suffered violence. Often what begins a person’s slide away from spiritual life and closeness to God is a violent enemy attack in the form of difficult or tragic circumstances. These people in the vision actually say in vs 11, “Our hope is gone; we are cut off.”
But God’s restoring, renewing and reviving are so dramatic that He actually compares it (vs 12 - 13) to opening up graves and bringing the dead back to life again. What an amazing picture of hope. No matter how dead or dry someone feels spiritually, they can still come back to God and have new life breathed into them. What a God of grace!
In my daily Bible reading in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, I’ve come to one of those parts that mostly contains prophecies of judgements against wicked nations. But this morning I was struck by one phrase that explained the reason for Edom’s being judged: Because you harboured an ancient hostility… (Ezek 35: 5) Edom was bearing a grudge and not putting an old hostility to rest. Verse 11 tells us that her attitude towards Israel was one of anger, jealousy and hatred, and that she would be judged by this same measure.
We may never become “best friends” with someone who used to be our enemy, but this simple little phrase is a reminder that it is not helpful to bear grudges. For our own sake, it is much better to forgive and to move forward with old hostilities laid to rest.
In just ten days' time, I'll be facilitating a spiritual growth workshop in Scotland. Over the past days I've been preparing the presentations and the participants' workbook. If you live in the Central Scotland area, perhaps I'll see you there at the end of the month.
In my daily reading of the Bible, I generally manage to read cover to cover (all 66 books of the Bible) every eighteen months or so. Last year, I read the whole Bible with the exception of some historical books of the Old Testament and the long book of prophecies written by Ezekiel. So that's where I decided to begin reading at the beginning of this year. Wow! Those books are long! I can hardly believe that it's taken me the best part of eight months to meditate my way through those six books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles. It's been a rich time of insights, though, and some of those thoughts and prayers have been posted on this blog over the past eight months.
Today I moved on to the last book on my list, the book of the prophet Ezekiel. The first chapter is extremely complicated as the prophet first receives a mind-blowing vision of living creatures and wheels within wheels (sounding something like a scene of spaceships from a science fiction movie) and then has an amazing revelation of God on the throne, in all His power and majesty. The first vision is not readily understandable and Bible scholars throughout the years have debated about what the rich symbolism could mean. The second vision, the glimpse of the Lord on the throne, causes Ezekiel to fall to the ground in respect and worship.
I've been reading the Bible long enough to know that we could waste a lot of time pondering about the complex parts that we don't fully understand… when there are so many other parts that are there to be obeyed and are so simple that a child could understand them. Perhaps that's why my attention was caught today, not by the dramatic vision of creatures in the heavens, but by one simple phrase that described the way those creatures functioned. In verse 12 it says that, Wherever the Spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went.
I realised that this is a description I'd like to be true of my own life: that I'd be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and go wherever He goes, without turning off to the left or right, or turning and looking back in hesitation. I'm not sure I understand all the complexities of Ezekiel's vision, but this one thing I do understand: I want to live a life of radical obedience, constantly sensitive to the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit in every situation and circumstance.
It's September, and in just three weeks' time I'll be heading to Scotland to give a short weekend workshop about growing in in God: just three sessions of two hours each - on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. I'll also be speaking at the church service on the Sunday morning. If you live in Central Scotland, I look forward perhaps to seeing you during that weekend in Falkirk.
