Archive | September, 2006

Ezekiel 32:17-32: Final Fellowship

By Stephen Barkley on September 27, 2006 in Ezekiel 0

Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too
I’m on the highway to hell
— AC/DC (“Highway to Hell” from Highway to Hell)

Do you remember the yōrĕdê bôr? Those who go down to the Pit? In this passage we get to see what life is like down there, because Egypt’s on her way down.

This is the last of seven prophecies directed toward Egypt, and it is offers a sense of finality that you would expect from the last prophecy. Unlike other nation’s views of the afterlife, Ezekiel describes the Pit or Sheol as a place that Yahweh controls. When Yahweh consigns someone to the Pit, it’s final.

This passage is also closes the second major division of Ezekiel as a whole. Just to remind you, Ezekiel can be divided into three sections:

Judgment against Judah (1-24)
Judgment against surrounding nations (25-32)
Hope for Judah (33-48)

After this passage, we walk into the more positive messages of hope. After almost 1 ½ years of blogging on judgment, I’m ready for the shift!

. . .

Here’s God’s message in brief:

“Hey mortal, go and “mourn” loudly as you send Egypt to the Pit for me. They’ll have lots of company down there. They can hang out with Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal, and a bunch of other princes. Pharaoh should feel right at home.”

Did you catch the sarcasm? Yahweh’s judgment is as horrible as an Egyptian could imagine. Egyptians practiced circumcision. Circumcision was a sign God’s covenant with Israel, but it to Egypt it was a sign of cultural superiority. To lie with the uncircumcised was to be sent off in disgrace.

. . .

This is a good time to remember what these messages of judgment to foreign nations meant to Israel:

God is still working on her behalf.
God’s judgment on wicked nations, although delayed, will come.
God will deal finally with evil.

These messages still resonate today. Regardless of how we feel, or how things appear: God is still active on our behalf. Regardless of how wickedness seems to go rewarded, God will set this world to rights (thanks to N. T. Wright for the phrase). When we feel overwhelmed by the amount of darkness and wickedness around us, we can trust that God will finally deal with evil.

. . .

Our Saviour, today we echo the refrain of John: “Amen, Come Lord Jesus!” Come quickly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

< Ezekiel 32:1-16 | Lion or Dragon

Ezekiel 33:1-9 | Going Public >

Ezekiel 32:1-16: Lion or Dragon

By Stephen Barkley on September 21, 2006 in Ezekiel 0

The rise and fall of nations may appear attributable to charismatic and gifted leaders, but behind all international movements one must acknowledge the supreme hand of Yahweh, who alone fixes the times and the seasons of their lives, sets the limits to their conduct, determines the nature of their downfall, appoints the agents of judgment, and in the process accomplishes his goal: the universal recognition of
his power and his person.
— Daniel I. Block (The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 25-48)

In college I used to buy the whitest heavy paper I could find. Sure, it cost a little more money than standard bond—but I think it paid off. When the time came for everyone to hand in their term papers, the brightness level of my paper made all the rest in the pile look dirty. Of course, I know that content is more important than style, but every little bit helps.

Things look best in contrast, and there is a big contrast coming. We are now looking at the sixth of seven prophecies of doom towards Egypt. Many themes are repeated from earlier prophecies. I’ll be honest—the gloom and doom message begins to wear on me. But the contrast is coming.

In a few short passages, God’s blindingly beautiful vision for Israel’s future will shine—like a super-bright term paper in a pile of gray. Hope is coming, but first we need to endure the darker messages to fully experience the contrast.

. . .

This prophecy sounds a lot like 29:1-16 where Pharaoh was depicted as a crocodile whom Yahweh would hook and pull from his river and cast on the ground. In this passage, Yahweh reveals that Pharaoh likes to think of himself as a lion. Instead, he’s acting like a monster—or a dragon.

The sequence of events is very clear:

God will capture the monster in a public way.
God will hurl the monster into an open field.
God will scatter the remains of the monster’s carcass all over the land.
God will turn the lights out on the monster.
God will create fear in everyone who witnesses this event.

The end result: women will chant a lament over the fall of Pharaoh, and everyone will know that Yahweh is God.

. . .

It’s important to remember that this negative oracle would sound positive in the ears of an Israelite on the banks of a foreign river. God was moving to destroy evil in the world. We can take that same hope from this passage today. It does not matter how big, beautiful, or powerful a wicked power is—God can extinguish its lights in a second.

. . .

All-powerful God, please continue working to eliminate evil in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

< Ezekiel 31:1-18 | Envy of Eden

Ezekiel 32:17-32 | Final Fellowship >

Ezekiel 31:1-18: Envy of Eden

By Stephen Barkley on September 9, 2006 in Ezekiel 0

We’re free to fly the crimson sky;
the sun won’t melt our wings tonight.
— U2 (“Even Better than the Real Thing”, Achtung Baby)

A few years ago I woke up in Georgia, drove all day, and arrived home in Ontario just before dark. The day before I arrived home, an ice storm had blown through. I put my shorts on in 80 degree weather, and returned home to ice.

One of the things I like about my southwestern Ontario home it is the stand of ten or so jack pines in the back yard. They remind me of the north—the type of trees that Tom Thompson painted. When I walked into my backyard fresh out of Georgia, I found one of my largest pines had toppled.

It was tall, and its crown was covered in needles. Unfortunately, the ice from the previous day’s storm clung to the needles, making it top-heavy. The winds that accompanied the storm knocked it down.

. . .

Ezekiel 31 is a satirical look at a majestic tree—a cedar, to be precise. The tree represents Pharaoh. If this chapter 31 was not judgment oracle number five of seven, you would think from the first nine verses that all was well. Listen to how this tree was praised:

The deep made it grow tall. (v. 4, NRSV)

All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs. (v. 6, NRSV)

It was beautiful in its greatness,
in the length of its branches;
for its roots wend down
to abundant water. (v. 7, NRSV)

The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it. (v. 8, NRSV)

Cedars were symbols of majesty. Cedar wood was used in the construction of temples and palaces. Majestic wood grown for holy and magisterial places.

Then Ezekiel hits us with verse 10.

. . .

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, I gave it into the hand of the prince of the nations; he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. (vv. 10-11, NRSV).

This is a cleverly worded oracle. If an Egyptian heard it before the fall of Egypt, they would assume it was a hymn of praise to their Pharaoh’s majesty. Until verse 10.

Yahweh’s condemnation of Egypt in this chapter reminds me of the tower of Babel:

Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves. . . . So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:4, 8, NRSV)

Egypt tried to do just what all humanity tried to do at Babel. With their roots firmly planted in the earth, they tried to stick their heads into the heavens.

In Ezekiel 31, Yahweh reveals himself as the empowerer of Babylon, the lumberjack. And look how far the tree fell: “I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit” (v. 16, NRSV). This tree didn’t just hit the ground—it fell through the ground into the Pit, just like Tyre a few chapters earlier was pushed down into the Pit by Yahweh.

. . .

There are many events, stories, and parables in scripture that show the folly of hubris. These stories are not even limited to scripture. Icarus comes to mind—in Greek mythology, he flew too close to the sun and the wax holding his wings together melted.

I think we need so many warnings against pride because we are so susceptible to it. Of course, it’s not often called “pride” today. It’s cloaked in commercial-driven platitudes like “you deserve . . .”, or “you’re worth it”. Here’s what I believe: we deserve death, and discover our infinite worth only as we see ourselves reflected in the eyes of our scarred-yet-glorious Elder Brother.

. . .

Lord Jesus, help me to always find my self-worth in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

< Ezekiel 30:20-26 | Strong Arm

Ezekiel 32:1-16 | Lion or Dragon >

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Archive | September, 2006