Full of Old Dry Bones

TLB Ezekiel 37: 1-3

^1-2 The power of the Lord was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them, ³ and then he said to me:
“Son of dust, can these bones become people again?”
I replied, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

 

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Why is this ponderable?

Imagine walking along a mountainside trail through a thick forest.  You see a bright opening ahead foretelling a stretch of open pasture. As you approach the field, you expect green grass, an easy walking trail and maybe a stream of cool water. Instead you find a long runway strewn with piles of old dry bones. As you get closer disbelief turns to horror as you realize these are human bones. Some are still attached to skeletons; others are just strewn about in reckless order.

That horror is what Ezekiel must have felt when the Spirit of the Lord let him see this vision. That fear and horror gave God the platform needed to test Ezekiel by asking him, "Son of dust, can these bones become people again?" 

Because Ezekiel was a seasoned Prophet he knew better than to give a foolish answer. He deferred the question back to God, "Lord, you alone know the answer to that."

We would like to think this is just another Bible story with no relevance to the world we live in today. But lets look around us at the twisted broken lives resulting from violence, drug addiction, alcoholism, and religious extremism. Are they much more than old dry bones still covered by rotting flesh?   Can we restore them to abundant life again? 

Our answer must be the same one Ezekiel gave. The old dry bones cannot be restored by our own power. Powerful Governments have tried and failed. We must defer to God, who alone can turn dry old bones to living people again.

In Spirit and In Truth

NLT John 4:23

But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

Why is this ponderable?

How do we worship God in spirit and in truth? To understand this we must first accept the idea that the Temple in Jerusalem was merely the groundbreaking ceremony for the actual place from which God wants us to worship. That place is our own heart and soul. In the New Covenant, the worship of God cannot be appropriated to any physical place, as it was under the Law of Moses, but must originate in our unique body and soul. If the Truth in us exudes the love of God above any person, place or thing, that is the spiritual foundation we need to worship God in spirit. Tradition and culture may dictate gathering with others in a Church building, but that is not what God expects of us. 

 

Unfortunately, there may be more Atheists sitting in church pews than are out walking the streets on Sundays. If the truth is that we really don't put God above everything every day of our lives, then the spirit has no foothold in our being.  Without the spirit and the truth in us, we may merely be giving lip service to God. 

Usury

NLT Exodus 22-25

If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would.

 NLT Deuteronomy 23:20

You may charge interest to foreigners, but you may not charge interest to Israelites, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

 

Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash 

 

Why is this ponderable?

Lending money and charging interest was a financial transaction long before the Exodus. What is ponderable here is that Moses forbade charging interest to his people in need. That must have seemed as counter intuitive to the people of that time as it would be for us today. Why put your own wealth at risk by lending it to someone who had already lost theirs?

Part of that answer is contained in the phrase, "to any of my people." Although Moses did not proscribe charging interest to those outside the Jewish community, there were no outsiders needing loans during the 40 years it took to reach the Promised Land.  These interest-free loans were actually the earliest form of insurance. As they traversed the dessert there were many ways a family could fall into need through no fault of their own. Livestock might be attacked and eaten by prey, wagons and carts might break apart, or illness might strike. Even though these interest free loans were expected to be repaid, there were no terms spelled out in Exodus. Therefore, we can assume these loans would be repaid whenever the recipient was able to do so or they were forgiven by the lender.

Once the Jewish community entered the Promised Land, there were many foreigners needing loans. They were more than willing to pay interest. So it was time to define the rules for doing so. Deuteronomy 23:20 reaffirms the no interest rule but opens the door to lending for gain in transactions with foreigners. 

This business practice came into prominence in the Middle Ages when the Christian Church emulated it. Christian bankers were not allowed to charge interest to fellow Christians. That was considered usury. However, they were allowed to charge interest to non-Christians. At that time most non-Christians were Jews. So Christian bankers could profit by lending money to Jews and Jewish bankers could profit by lending money to Christians without violating the usury laws of their respective religions. 

 

Jonathan loved David

NLT 1 Samuel 18:1-4

After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. ² From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. ³ And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. ⁴ Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt.

Why is this ponderable?

If the author of 1 Samuel had lived in the 21st Century, he might have used bromance to explain the bond between them: "a close, emotionally intense, non-sexual, male bonding relationship, distinguished by a particularly high level of emotional intimacy." This is ponderable because of the details provided by the author and the fact that it is the only relationship described this way in the entire Old Testament.

In the New Testament, we encounter "the disciple whom Jesus loved" in John 21:20-23  Although biblical scholars disagree about the identity this disciple, he is described this way in six different places in the Gospel of John. Some biblical scholars ponder if this could be a reference to Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. Jesus wept when he learned that Lazarus had died before he arrived at his home. In fact, the death of his friend Lazarus was so devastating to Jesus that he called him back from the tomb. We do not hear about Lazarus again after this event which is also ponderable. Perhaps the Apostles were warned by Jesus to keep this event under wraps lest the people begin to follow Lazarus and fall away from Him.  

Give Us A King

TLB 1 Samuel 8:5-6

“Give us a king like all the other nations have,” they pleaded. ⁶ Samuel was terribly upset and went to the Lord for advice.

 

Why is this ponderable?

Why would anyone want to follow an earthly leader when God is on the front line with you?

In the Old Testament,  the giving of the Law, as the establishment of a covenant between God and Israel resembles treaties or covenants made between ancient kings and their subjects in that day. For them, it was a no-brainer that God was establishing the covenant basis for His rule as King over Israel. 

First, God delivers the Israelites from Egyptian bondage guided by His emissary Moses. Then God proclaims Himself as their King through a formal covenant;The Law of Moses. Only after the Israelites cross the Red Sea do they realize that it is not Moses who is fighting with Pharaoh but God. It was King Pharaoh--the most powerful king on earth at that time--fighting King God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They were His chosen people who would reign over and protect them forever and ever.

In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, God indicates that there will be a time when Israel will ask for a human king like those of their enemies. Chapter 8 of 1 Samuel is the first account of Israel’s demand for such a king. Samuel is displeased with this demand but, as usual, God is way ahead of the curve. During the gestation period between the flight from Egypt to the settlement in the Promised Land, the people of God's kingdom were like children being nursed by their mother. Now it is time to wean them and prepare them to take their place in the material world. They have been able to avoid idolatry but  not the many other temptations the world, the flesh, and the devil will throw at them.   

Samuel warns them that there will be many costs associated with binding themselves to an earthly king. 

At first it seems like only the elders of Israel are demanding a king. As the chapter unfolds, we see that all of the people of Israel are behind this movement to have a human  king.  Israel is testing God's permissive will and weaning themselves away from God's revealed will. Their elders are not leading, as much as they are representing the people in this democratic movement.

 

The simple fact is that Samuel is the greatest judge of all time. During the period of his service, Israel reaches one of its spiritual “high water marks.” No rebuke of Samuel is found in 1 Samuel, either as a prophet or as a father.  It is not just Samuel’s age and the corruption of his sons which prompt the Israelites to demand a king. From chapter 12, we learn that the military threat posed by Nahash, the king of Ammon, is perhaps the fundamental reason the Israelites want a king. The Ark of God is out of commission, Samuel is soon to be, and the Israelites want an earthly king in whom they can place their trust. They have been weaned...

Power to Get Wealth

NSRV Deuteronomy 8:18

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

 

Why is this ponderable?

In light of the record-breaking $1.6 Billion Lottery we observed on Wednesday, this passage from Deuteronomy lets us ponder whether God himself selected the three final winners.  Given that the odds of having a Winning Ticket were about 1 in 300 million, the three winners cannot believe that their number selection ability beat out 300 million contenders. 

Anyone who purchased a ticket with so little hope for a win, must have some sense that a Power greater than themselves could intervene. Some may have attributed it to Lady Luck. Others may have felt it was their fate to win. And still others may have prayed for the wealth so they could help people in need. 

All Christians know that a prize, greater than any wealth on Earth, awaits them in Heaven. Yet Believers have pondered why God empowers some to get wealthy and not others. Often, in their estimation, the people whom God gives the greatest power to get wealth are the least worthy of it. And many decent hard-working people struggle daily just to put food on the table of life. 

We cannot know God's reasons. We can only trust Him to act with mercy and justice. Who knows? Perhaps those favored by Him while on Earth are merely instruments of His divine Will. And if such great wealth had fallen into our undeserving hands, it would have driven us to a life of selfish adolation. What good would it do us to have gained millions of dollars only to lose our souls in the process?

 

Watchers and Holy Ones

HNV  Daniel 4:17

  The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that God rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will, and sets up over it the lowest of men.

Why is this ponderable?

Most biblical commentators tell us that the Watchers and Holy Ones are simply angels of the Lord who carry out His intentions. However, the context of this passage suggests that the Watchers, alluded to by Daniel, may be more like Umpires whose mission is to observe people and events on the earth and ensure God's rules are being faithfully observed.  If so, then Satan may have been doing exactly that when he noted that Job's righteousness was suspect. By his authority as a Watcher, he could take away all of Job's creature comforts to test the depth of that righteousness.

The fact that God did not cast Satan right to hell for even suggesting this gives us two clues about Satan's role in Job's case. First, he was allowed, or even assigned, to watch Job and judge potential violations of Trust. Second, he could rule that Job be separated from his material possessions and interrogated by his friends and even his wife. So we can conclude from this that the Watchers are more than ordinary angels. They have the authority to judge violations and rule on them.  But who or what are the Holy Ones?

If the Watchers patrol the earth looking for violations of God's Will, then perhaps the Holy Ones are angels who unpack God's Will in much the same way a compressed software application is unpacked and implemented.   They are empowered to execute any operation which they unanimously  agree is the will of God.  In Job's case it was God's will that Job become a role model for all who trust in God's providence and are grateful for all they are given. For King Nebuchadnezzar, the Holy Ones raised him up to be Supreme Ruler in order to show that all authority and power comes from God  who gives it to whomever he will--even the least worthy.