More glory of God

In Revelation chapter 4, we see a parallel of an image first read about in Ezekiel - check the previous post "The glory of God" from November 7, 2010.  John saw four living creatures surrounding God's throne: ox, lion, eagle, and human.  I thought that was interesting to note, and adds to the validity of each author's message, since they both saw the same thing.

Apocalyptic literature

Apocalyptic literature seems to be very often taken out of context.  By apocalyptic literature, I mean books of the bible like the last half of Daniel, parts of Ezekiel, and of course, Revelation (which we will be looking at in a couple of days).  These books and prophecies were written for the people who were contemporary to the authors' times.  That means that the prophecies would have meant something to those people, and that they did not speak about the fall of the USSR, or the US-Iraq wars, or anything else that has happened in the past few hundred years.  We can try and read anything we want into these prophecies, but let's face it - Daniel, Ezekiel, and John (author of Revelation) didn't know anything about the United States or Russia.  Granted, the Holy Spirit could have inspired them so much that they wrote about things they had no idea about, but I doubt that's the case, because it would have no meaning for anyone, even themselves, and God's word makes sense to whoever reads it, not just us.

Apocalyptic literature was a genre of writing that was used to comfort people in times of persecution, uncertainty, or other trials.  No matter how tough times get, we can always rely on God to save us in the end.  So one thing we can take away from these passages is that when we're experiencing our own troubles today (as we hear about major wars going on all over the globe), God will be with us and he will overcome.

You ol' dry bones

Key verse
1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Job 13:15 seems to have some very different translations.  The NIV says "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face."  This version seems to suggest that even though God has Job suffer bad times, Job will still trust that God has something better in store, although he will ask God why.  The NIV also includes a footnote, however, that says another way to read the verse is "He will surely slay me; I have no hope - yet I will surely defend my ways to his face."  This different version suggests that even though Job has no hope because God will definitely kill (if this is the proper translation of slay) him, Job is still going to ask God why.
In some ways, these two translations are similar, but the first seems to be more trusting in God than the other.

EzekielI like this passage about the old dry bones, because it reminds me of a song I once heard.

Here are the lyrics from an Internet site.
It was down in boneyard circuit
There was no way to shirk it,
A Preacher named Ezekiel was sent
he landed at the station
and saw the situation
a valley of dry bones was his audience
by way of a suggestion
the Lord asked him a question
can these dry bones be raised up from the dead?
The spirit was beseeching
the preacher went to preaching
and from the pulpit this is what he said

Oh you old dry bones,
hear the words of the Lord
Rise upon your feet
his goodness to repeat
lay aside your dry profession
get a holy Ghost possession
you have been bleaching in the desert long enough!

Righteousness

Key verse
Ezekiel 34:31 - "You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God," declares the Sovereign Lord.

 Ezekiel 33 says that God will judge us for our own sins, which in some ways is a relief, and in others not.  We can't rest on the laurels of our ancestors, but neither will we be punished for something we didn't do.  Our own righteousness or the righteous acts of our forefathers won't get us anywhere, but God's grace is sufficient for each one of us, wherever we are.  Let's rest in that!


For another view on Ezekiel 33, and its parallel in chapter 18, check out this link (click here).

The glory of God

I read a footnote in my bible that discussed the four faces found on the heavenly beings that Ezekiel saw.  The lion, ox, eagle, and human all represent something in particular: the lion is the king of the wild animals; the ox is the strongest of all domestic animals; the eagle is the king of the air; and the human is set on top of all creation.  I also read in this website (click here for the whole article) that these animals represent something of Jesus Christ.  This idea may be reading a little too much into the text, but it said that Christ came as king, as servant (like an ox), as an intellectual (perceptive like an eagle), and as ruler over all things.
What I was really curious about was the wheel within the wheel, and what that means.  As far as I can tell, they simply represent another aspect of the glory of God, and how he is forever watching (the eyes on the wheels) and he never stops looking out for us.  Some people would like to think that these wheels represent some sort of UFO, but I thought that was a poor reading of the text in the eyes of the author.
Basically Ezekiel was blown away by these visions in which he saw the glory of God, and could barely find words to describe his experience.

Implicit trust

Key verse
Job 2:10 - "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"

I've done some background reading on the new books we're looking at in my Archaeological study bible.   Here are some things I learned, along with my own thoughts I'd like to share.

Job
I've learned something new about the book of Job.  Apparently, when it was written, the popular idea about suffering was that if you were going through bad times, it must be because you had sinned or your ancestors had sinned.  The story of Job shows that people can suffer even though they are righteous.  This new view presents a whole different picture of what God is like, and how little we can understand of him in our finite world.  Implicit trust and faith in the ultimate goodness of God is required.

How do you reconcile the problem of suffering in this world with the belief in a good God?

Ezekiel
This book was written for the exiles to Babylon.  Ezekiel was preparing them (in 593 BC) for the destruction of Jerusalem so that they wouldn't live in the false hope that the city would somehow be spared.  The city was destroyed in 586 BC.