Ezekiel chapter 39

So I've spent the last period of time writing a sermon (as so usually happens when there is a gap in my bible reading) but now that I've finished it, I don't know that I should post it, since I'm not actually giving it till December. But what the hey, I'll stick it up. How many people will actually see it, after all?

In the meantime, back to Ezekiel, before I start on my next sermon on the same topic.

vs 1

Oh good, Gog is still getting a thrashing.

vs 2

It's so interesting that in other places, where God uses a nation for his purposes, there is this real quandary about whether he is using them, or he is just approving the actions they do, and they want to do it anyway, so he is just going along with it, and then he'll punish them for the actions which they always wanted to do. But here, and in the last chapter, the language is far more forceful. God is dragging Gog to do the things, and it's pretty much entirely for the purpose of smiting him for doing it. Which makes it a lot more difficult to justify, which is good, because it makes you sit back and say, "Okay, so that's God. How do I deal with that?"

Personally, God can do whatever he wants in my book. Since he defines what is good, it is good.

vs 3

Not many people see it, but you do realise that this is God prophesying that left-handers will rule the world, right?

vs 4

Again, the carrion bird feast is echoed in Revelation.

vs 5

I'm not sure what the relevance of the open field is - that they will lose a fair fight, not a guerilla war in the mountains?

vs 6

Well, damn. I mean, it's not bad enough that God drags their whole army out to battle, only to slaughter them all, but when he defeats them, God himself goes on a reciprocal rampage and burns down their houses!

vs 7

They sure will. I won't argue.

vs 8

The day. It's long in coming. Even longer than we shortsighted Christians think.

vs 9

This is great. It is obviously a verse to give you an idea of how big the army was, that if you piled up all their weapons, you could use it as firewood for seven years. And remember, people used fire a lot back then - for things like cooking.

Now, you have to be a little guarded about the dispensationalist interpretation, which sees the invasion of Gog and Magog as that of Russia. While it is true that an AK74 has a wooden stock, I don't know that tanks and such burn that well. But as a friend of mine said, "They can just siphon out the petrol!" Nothing stops the dispensationalist.

vs 10

Israel has certainly shown itself to be good at this. You attack them, they beat you, they retaliate, they take some of your land, and then they fight tooth and nail over it for decades. No doubt some of them even look at this verse as legitimising this. But of course it doesn't.

vs 11

"Oh, this valley? Well, it used to be the highway to the beach, but ever since Gog attacked Israel, it's been blocked with the bones of him and his army." I mean, seriously, are you getting the message? If you are against God, you are paste.

vs 12

Another seven. Coincidence?

vs 13

I would remember having to work for seven months to bury bodies, for sure.

vs 14

But oh, no, it doesn't stop there. I suppose this is to show the holiness of God's land. I mean, if God wants an army to march onto his promised land and then strike them down, that's fine. But you can't leave a bunch of corpses lying around.

vs 15

It's an important job. Dead stuff is ceremonially unclean, I think especially dead human.

vs 16

Body parts are going to litter the ground - I mean, does God make them all explode, or what?

vs 17

As truly disturbing as this picture is, those who had been to war during this time period would no doubt be well aware that when hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses are lying around, this is the consequence.

vs 18

And of course it's a fairly ignoble way to die - the death of the defeated.

vs 19

You'd almost think that God has a special soft spot for vultures.

vs 20

But really, it's just marking out that God is going to kill so many people, because it doesn't matter how many rise up against God, they are wrong, and they will die.

vs 21

I'm afraid even if God send down a pillar of holy light that just killed a whole army, people would just blame America and say it was a GDI style ion cannon or something. That doesn't mean God didn't show his glory - it just means that the blind are called the blind for a reason.

vs 22

But those who see can see, and will go, "What the - woah."

vs 23

So... we won't have forgotten about that by this time, evidently.

vs 24

That's for sure. God deals with all uncleanness - if it's his own people, he exiles them. If it's a rogue army, he explodes them. If it's corpses, he summons carrion birds. He's got it all covered.

vs 25

God has let his name slide a little, but now he's going to make his image crystal clean again, and he's going to do it by making sure Israel does it.

vs 26

No-one to make them afraid! What an incredible statement. The less we fear, the less we fear God, I suppose.

vs 27

He definitely was. I mean, could you honestly read Israel's history any other way? Of course you could. But this way is pretty darn compelling.

vs 28

Leaving none behind. Damn it. It's in the Bible. I mean, I love it as a military idea, but as an educational idea it leaves something to be desired in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, as a religious idea, I think I'm okay with it. Not that everyone will be saved - but that no-one who should be saved won't be saved. And as such, all humanity should be reached with the gospel.

vs 29

I'm honestly not sure what to make of this promise. Is this marking Acts, or did God pour out his spirit on the exilees upon their return? Both?

Ezekiel chapter 38

vs 1

As it does.

vs 2

Good old Gog and Magog. I wondered where it came from. Don't ask me where they are though. But now, instead of prophecying to dry bones, he's prophesying against some more nations.

vs 3

So God just sets the record straight right away.

vs 4

It sounds like God is going to drag him out painfully, but I don't quite understand why the army is involved. Perhaps it will become clear.

vs 5

So that sounds like a pretty big army.

vs 6

Okay, we're talking a hell of a lot of troops - an empire worth.

vs 7

So Gog (or Magog?) is taking control of this huge empire worth of armies, because God has called them to do so.

vs 8

Wait, what? God is raising another army to invade Israel? After he's brought them back and made peace with them again?

vs 9

Unless God is going to destroy them all at the border, I think we're in for some repetitive history here.

vs 10

What a cool way to explain it - they will have this huge army, march to Israel, and then they'll think something evil. Before that, it was just military manouevres.

vs 11

Of course, no reason for Israel to build gates, because God is their gates and walls.

vs 12

Good to think that Israel will have been made rich again by God. But I assume that this is at the very least a warning to say that Israel may still have enemies.

vs 13

Why they feel the need to throw in their two cents, I don't know. But the fact is, that's the question you're bound to ask when there is an army at your doorstep. They're probably not going to borrow a cup of sugar.

vs 14

And here's the thing - God is talking to someone who probably is a leader of armies, and who probably does think like that. It's almost accusatory, like saying, "If you saw a baby with a lollipop, you'd think about stealing it, wouldn't you?"

vs 15

I guess if you think it's going to be easy pickings, then why not?

vs 16

This is what I love, and it is actually a fantastic way of showing how God makes things happen, using people's own selfish natures against them, and using evil for good. God allows Gog to raise up an army, God actually tempts Gog to come and attack a soft target, Gog selfishly thinks that's a good idea, and I think, from the sound of it, God is going to smite Gog's ass off the planet.

vs 17

So this isn't new news, then.

vs 18

Even though God tempted him to do it, and even went so far as to put hooks in and drag him there, God will still be angry he's turned up.

vs 19

Which is not the most awesome news ever for anyone, really.

vs 20

That sounds like an earthquake, all right. A biggun.

vs 21

That's a lot of sword.

vs 22

But God isn't content with using one sword against another - he wants it marked out that he is involved a little more directly.

vs 23

When a huge army comes knocking and God smites them out of existence with fiery sulfur, if at that point you do not know he is the Lord, you're crazy.

Ezekiel chapter 37

Well, after something of a hiatus, it has finally gotten hot enough that I can't sleep past about 6am, so that's a rather engaging way to get back into morning Bible reading.

vs 1

You know, I have never heard a sermon on this passage, or any real explanation. All I have heard is the song they sing at CCC, which basically consists of singing the words "Prophesy, prophesy, prophesy, prophesy, prophesy to the dry bones" ad nauseum.

Anyway, God takes Ezekiel to a valley full of bones.

vs 2

I suppose dry means not with bits of flesh sticking to them. So more skeleton than zombie.

vs 3

This is most likely the most intelligent answer someone can give to any question God poses, especially when in the spirit.

vs 4

No doubt Ezekiel is going to learn something from this.

vs 5

Well, there's not much else you could promise bones - a good burial?

vs 6

So they will come back to life, and not just as skeletons. God is not raising an army of undead.

vs 7

I can imagine this scene, thanks to myriad years of fantasy games, but if it actually happened in real life, I think I'd freak.

vs 8

So instead of skeletons, thy became corpses.

vs 9

Now this story, I don't know if it is told in the dry bones song, I don't remember. But this is a fascinating story to me. Because the word for breath in Hebrew (and Greek) is also used to spirit. So breathing life into these corpses is giving spirit to them. But also, Ezekiel prophesys to the spirit, giving it a command from God, and it enters these bodies. We also learn something about these bones - they were slain, which I would take to differentiate them from those who may be dead from natural causes.

vs 10

Now, I said before that God wasn't raising an undead army, but the word army just happens to be used here. Is it actually an army, or is it just a great throng of people, and an army is a good group descriptor of such a large group of people? Not enough to be a nation, perhaps.

vs 11

I am so glad to read these words. I thought I was going to puzzle over this. But here is God explaining his vision. The bones are Israel (so it is enough for a nation), and Israel is complaining that they have no life, or no hope.

vs 12

Is this where the doctrine of resurrection starts? I mean, no question God can do it, but he never really promised it before. In any case, I don't know that this is what he is promising per se here. It seems to be more metaphorical. God is going to bring back their hope. But then ultimately, without resurrection, is there hope? Ecclesiastes has things to say about that.

vs 13

People will definitely know that God is Lord when that happens. Or has it happened, as reported in Matt 27:51-53? That passage always puzzles me.

vs 14

It's almost as if life not in the land of God's promise isn't really life. But God gives them hope that they will live there again.

vs 15

Ahhh, good old word of the Lord. Let me guess, he said, "Son of Man"?

vs 16

So, two sticks with names on, one for Judah, and one for Ephraim (well, for Joseph, represented by Ephraim).

vs 17

If i were to just say what I thought this meant, without reading on, it seems like a reunification message to me. Which, to me, would be hugely important, because taken at face value, it would be saying something about the future of Israel.

vs 18

As people would, considering all the other things that Ezekiel has done for God so far in this book. I can imagine people coming up and saying, "Ezekiel, what are you doing?" "Err, I'm buying eggs." "What does that mean?" "No, seriously, just buying eggs. But check out these two sticks with names on them."

vs 19

I called it. This to me is really quite important. Has this happened? Will it happen? Or is this a metaphor for the new Israel?

vs 20

Whatever it is, God wants them to see it clearly.

vs 21

As one stick, as it were.

vs 22

As far as I know, they were never divided into kingdoms again. But also as far as I know, we have never really heard of the northern tribes again in history, and what happened to them. I don't know, though. That's just what I've heard.

vs 23

A huge promise here, especially considering how bad the northern kingdom was. But God's promise was still with them, and so he makes it clear that all Israel is his. Does it happen in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah though? I don't think so.

vs 24

This has got to be messianic, since they never again have a davidic king.

vs 25

I was going to say that it's easy to read this as a metaphor for Christian hope, but then I was going to ask, "Okay, but what does that mean for Israel?" But honestly, how is this hope any different from our hope? It's not. It is just as pie-in-the-sky hopeful, just as eschatologically hopeful. They've been waiting just a bit long for this as we have been waiting for Christ to come back.

vs 26

To a Christian, this definitely refers to heaven. But to a Jew, does it refer to another temple being built? I still don't really know much about the eschatological hope for Jews.

vs 27

It's the classic promise of God, and one the Jews will be glad to hear since they're tromping their way into exile for several decades.

vs 28

I can quite confidently say that the nations will know this at the end of time. But will the nations know it beforehand? I'm honestly not so convinced. Or perhaps they did know, because Jesus came from Israel? And in that way, we can see that they're blessed in the same way Mary was blessed to have Jesus as a child. They have him as a national child. They've disowned him, which was a bad decision. But that doesn't stop him being a child of Jerusalem, as it were.

Suffering Church Sunday 2010 talk

Suffering Church Sunday is a brainchild of Barnabas Fund, in an effort for churches to spend one Sunday a year focused on those who suffer for their faith. While I wrote this sermon, I modelled it around a powerpoint presentation that they sent out. It's the first time I've written a sermon using someone else's outline. Was interesting to do. I also kept it short, because I was time-conscious of the service. The little (S)'s are marks where a new slide should be shown, as I didn't have control over the slides myself. If you want to see the presentation, click here.

Suffering Church Sunday sermon

John 15:18-16:4 – Be On Your Guard

3.47-6.20 of Haddy's story

Last year, you might remember that St Ives Community Church devoted a Sunday to remembering the suffering church. We heard testimonies of those who had suffered for Christ, we looked at the different kinds of persecution that Christians suffer around the world, and we prayed for and learned about the plight of our brothers and sisters in Christ who face discrimination, rejection, beatings, separation and even death because they call Jesus Christ and Lord, and we sought to stand by them because we are their fellow believers.

This year, the focus of Suffering Church Sunday is a little different. This year, we look at the spread of persecution of Christians that is becoming more and more pervasive across the world, and how we as Christians, here in Australia, may face similar forms of discrimination to those we saw last year effecting our brothers and sisters in Christ overseas.

It might be surprising to think that this is possible. When we think about Christians suffering persecution, we think about Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world, or we think about China and the Communist world, or we think about India and the Hindu world. But what these Christians, who have been suffering for decades, some for centuries, want to tell us is, “Australian Christians, be on your guard. British Christians, be on your guard. American Christians, be on your guard. European Christians, be on your guard. Because they will not stop at us. You are next.”

I've told this story many times, but it bears telling again. Seven years ago now, I was in a hotel in Cyprus meeting with Christian leaders from across the Middle East and across the world. There were Christians from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Pakistan, Central Asia, Russia, Guyana and other places, as well as me from Australia, a couple from New Zealand, and a couple from the USA. And these Christian leaders from across the persecuted church would approach me and ask, “Ben, tell us about Christianity in Australia. We have heard that bad things are happening there, and we are worried.” You see, at the time, two Christian pastors were in court in Victoria because they had been giving seminars about the nature of Islam and its negative attitude towards Christianity. They were found guilty of discrimination for telling the truth, and were ordered to pay damages to the Islamic Council of Victoria and to make a public apology.

Has the situation got better here in Australia? You tell me. The ethics class trial in our schools has been a great success, according to the government, and many parents are keen to take their kids out of Scripture classes and put them into non-religious ethics classes, at the same time raising questions about whether Scripture is needed in schools at all. In Victoria recently, a Christian Brethren campsite on Philip Island – that perhaps some of you have been to – was charged with discriminating against a pro-homosexual group that wanted to use their facilities to propagate their beliefs about homosexuality and forced to pay damages. In New South Wales, the anti-discrimination law uniquely fails to protect Christians because of its wording. Similar things are happening across the western world, with some converts from Islam to Christianity not able to escape death threats even in places like England, as Haddy's story shows.

(S)Should this really be surprising to us? After all, Jesus made it clear to his disciples before he was arrested, as we read in the book of John, (S)“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (S)Discrimination, harassment and persecution are effecting Christians all over the world, and that includes places like Australia. (S)The poster on the side of that bus reads, “There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” (S)In places like Australia, the culture is turning against existing Christian institutions and beliefs, and Christians are finding themselves under increasing pressure for what they believe. (S)There is an increasing pressure for us to change what we do and think so that it is in line with what non-Christian society thinks – the world of political correctness, scepticism of spiritual things, and antagonism towards established religious institutions such as church. (S)When we are faced with some of these things, it can cause us to ask some pretty serious questions. (S)Why does this persecution happen to us? (S)How should we respond to it? (S)And does it call our faith into question?

Jesus foresaw these questions coming, just like he foresaw persecution coming to his followers, and he didn't shy away from telling them about it. (S)No, Jesus wanted them, and us, to be ready, to be on our guard when discrimination and persecution comes to us. (S)In this passage in John, Jesus seeks to explain (S)why the world will hate his disciples, he seeks to show them (S)how to respond to suffering for his name, and he seeks to (S)protect them from falling away from their faith when persecution comes.

So why, according to Jesus, does the world hate Christians? (S)Quite simply, it hates us because it (S)hated Jesus first. Jesus says that he came with a confronting message. (S)If he did not come, then people would not be confronted with the guilt of their sin, their disobedience and rebellion against God. But he did come. (S)He came, and he preached that we need to repent, to turn away from our sinful lives and to live for God. The world just can't stand that message, because it's offensive to be told that you're wrong. And so the world hated him. And so the world killed him. (S)The world hates the followers of Jesus because we don't fall into lock-step with them. We accept Jesus' message. (S)We accept that we are sinful, and there is nothing that we can do to come before our perfect God. (S)We have been chosen by Jesus to be a part of his kingdom forever. We are therefore no longer part of the world.

(S)Moreover, Jesus tells us that the reason people hate us is because they also hate the father. (S)Jesus is God in bodily form, and comes to call for our obedience. But we don't want to be obedient, and so we rebel. (S)You can see why Australia is so hard a place for the gospel to penetrate. Australians don't like people who are different. Oh, we don't mind people coming from all cultures and nations and backgrounds. But we don't like it when people separate off into their own little groups, and don't mix with the culture and become Australian. We also don't like tall poppies who say that they're better than us. Well, God tells us that he is better, that he is perfect, and that we are sinners. He tells us to be different, not just to fit in, but to be different, to be holy, for him. Jesus, as God, claims not to be our equal, but to be our king, to be perfect. Humanity does not want to bow the knee, and so it rails against God, it fights and struggles to keep control. (S)Psalm 69 was written by David, but is messianic in referring to Christ. “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me.” If our lives as Christians are to mirror the life of Christ, then we can only expect these words to be true of us too. People will hate us without reason, they will be our enemies without cause, they will seek to destroy us.

(S)If this is why the world hates Jesus and his disciples, what should our response be? Well, Jesus tells us that too, and it might not be the response we would think of. You see, when someone has a problem with us, we would usually seek to change what we're doing, talk about it with them, try and come to some sort of resolution or compromise. We would probably want to stop doing what it is that makes them angry. But not in this case. The world hates us because it hates Jesus. (S)The response he calls us to is to bear witness to him all the more. The opportunity is there, constantly, for those who are persecuted for Christ's name. The number of times they are told, “Just convert to Islam, and we will stop beating you,” or, “Just renounce your faith, and we will release you from prison,” or even what was on that bus, “Stop worrying, and enjoy your life, and forget about God,” all they need to do, all we need to do, is renounce our faith, and things will go better for us. A Christian couple in the UK, living in Derby, have recently been barred from fostering children by their local council, because of their Biblical views on marriage and the family. They have had to take their case to the High Court, where a decision will be made essentially about whether Christians are 'fit and proper' persons to foster or adopt children. Do they want to adopt a child? Just renounce their beliefs, and they won't have a problem. Does Kedron want more school camps? I remember Greg saying that if they just remove the religious element, they will get more.

But this is not the path that Jesus tells his disciples to take. He tells them that he is going to send the Holy Spirit, which will go out into the world and testify to about Jesus. (S)In the same way, Jesus tells his disciples that they must testify to him, because they have been with him since the beginning. In the same way, we are to continue testifying to him, bringing the gospel of hope and freedom to people, people like Haddy, people like us, sinners who need to hear it. Yes, some will hate us for it, because it is an offensive message to be told that you are sinful and that you're not perfect and you're not the way God wants you. But Jesus tells us also in verse 20 that if they obey Christ's teaching, they will listen to us too. There are those out there who need to hear the message, who God has chosen to hear it. And no matter whether it will cost us our comfort, our money, our friends, our job, our family, or even our lives, Jesus calls his disciples to testify to him in the face of persecution.

Think about that. How offensive is your life? Does the life you live, do the words you say, send that message that no-one is good enough for God, and that the only way to find true meaning in life is through submission and obedience to God through Jesus Christ? How often do you cop flack about it? I asked some of the young people if they would be prepared to give their lives up for Christ, and most of them were honest and said that they really hope that they would do it if it came to it. So then, I asked them if they're prepared to die for Christ, why do we all – them, me, you – not totally live our lives for Christ? And their answer was profound: because it is harder to live the life every day and suffer the little things - the rejection of friends, the not fitting in with society, the giving up of things that you know you shouldn't do – than it is to think of giving your life for God in one shot, and going to heaven. Is that how you feel? That it's easier to come to church on Sunday, then just go to work on Monday, and not do anything to stand out or make a fuss or show what you believe? Of course it's easier, but it's not what Christ demands.

(S)And Christ knew that persecution would come on his disciples, both back then and today. In fact, he gets them ready for it. (S)He gives them advanced warning, so that when it comes they remember that he warned them. And he tells them so that they do not lose faith and fall away, because he knows how hard it will be for Haddy, he knows how hard it will be for us. (S)So let me ask you another question. When you became a Christian, was it a hard choice? Were you aware of what you were giving up? Were you aware of what people would think of you? Or for you, was it an easy choice, because you went to a Christian school, or your family were all Christians, or you were at a Christian camp surrounded by Christians, and everyone you knew and loved were ecstatic that you had made the right decision? Were you told that it was going to be hard, that you were going to suffer, that persecution is the lot of the follower of Jesus, and did you count the cost before you made the decision? (S)Maybe you weren't, but Jesus told his disciples that they should. In Luke 14 Jesus tells his disciples they have to be prepared to hate their family, their children, even their own life, or they cannot be his disciple. They have to count the cost, like you count the cost before building a house, or going to war – he told them that if they aren't prepared to give up everything, then they should forget about being his disciple. Maybe you were never told that when you first became a Christian. Now you know. Are you prepared to make the change in your life?

(S)Jesus told his disciples what was coming. (S)He wanted to make sense of the suffering that they would undergo in his name, (S)he wanted to call them to bear witness to him regardless of the cost, and (S)he wanted them to know what to expect by following him. People like Haddy, who take their lives in their hands when they accept Christ, know how valuable he is to them. The time may be coming when being a Christian in Australia will actually mean that you are looked down on as intolerant, irrelevant and ignorant – if that time is not already here. So ask yourself, how valuable is Jesus to you?(S)

Lord, be with us all as we seek to live our lives entirely for you. Help us to recognise the persecution that Christians face, both in the Muslim world, the Communist world, the Hindu world, the Buddhist world, the Tribal world, and the western secular world. Thank you for the concern our suffering brothers and sisters have for us as we face discrimination. We pray that you give us the same heart of loving concern for them as they suffer relationally, financially and physically for you. We thank you that you are worth the cost. Amen