Posted: 7/06/05

Explore the BIble Series for July 17

Act as God leads by caring for the oppressed

• Ezekiel 34

By Dennis Tucker

Truett Seminary, Waco

Beginning with chapter 34, the book of Ezekiel makes a radical shift from that of judgment to that of consolation and hope. Yet in some ways the opening theme of this chapter—judgment against the shepherds—appears to relate to the former emphasis on judgment. The judgment against the shepherds, however, is merely the bridge to the more promissory claims to follow in the chapter.

In the ancient world, the metaphor of shepherd was frequently applied to kings. For example, in the Sumerian King list, Etana is referred to as a shepherd, and later the better known king, Hammurabi, is dubbed a shepherd as well. There is a Babylonian proverb that reads, “a people without a king is like sheep without a shepherd.” The metaphor is well known in Israelite literature as well (Psalm 23; 1 Kings 22:17; Psalm 95).

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The indictment in Ezekiel 34 is most likely against Judah’s last kings—those who ruled in the years leading up to the exile. And they are charged with failing to act as shepherd/kings.

A primary responsibility of kingship in the ancient Near East was care for the people, particularly those who were poor and oppressed. Hammurabi states one of the three reasons he set up his code was to “give justice to the oppressed.”

The primary rationale in the ancient Near East and in ancient Israel was that the king was the vice regent of God—in other words the king acted on behalf of God or the gods. In the Old Testament, there is ample evidence that God sides with the oppressed and marginalized. If an Israelite king was truly to serve as the vice regent of God, then how could he do other than care for the oppressed and down-trodden in society?

Verses 1-10 in chapter 34, however, depict a very different scene in Judah. The shepherds are taking care of themselves, they have not bound up the injured, nor have they sought out the lost sheep and returned them. As a result, the sheep “became food for all the wild animals” (v. 5). The most damning line, however, appears at the end of verse 10, “I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.” The kings are no longer depicted as shepherds—as vice regents of God—but as wild animals that feed in frenzied fashion upon the weak and vulnerable sheep.

As churches changed over the course of the 20th century, so too did our expectations of leadership. Often we size up our pastor or minister based on whether he or she can “manage the organization” well. If revenue is up, enrollment increases and the bottom line appears healthy, then we assume the pastor is doing things right. Unfortunately business criteria do not appear in the biblical text as a standard of leadership.

Instead, the biblical text often challenges us to see leadership in radically new ways. Ezekiel 34 returns us to a model of leadership that almost appears antiquated in modern Christianity—leadership is based on pastoral care for the least among us. If God is a God who time and time again sides with the broken, the injured and those that appear most vulnerable, should we not also expect the same from our leaders—and from each other. Modern churches have not lost some of their credibility with the larger society because they have failed to act as businesses—we have lost it because we have failed to act as God would act, demonstrating pastoral care for the least among us.

Six times in the opening verses God refers to “my flock” or “my sheep.” This prepares us for the grand announcement in verse 11 by God, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” Later, in verse 16, God announces, “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.”

Perhaps as a church, a Sunday school class, or even as individuals, we may wonder whether we are “succeeding” in our spiritual journey. Greater yet, we may wonder, “Where is God among us?” Perhaps the perceived absence of God says more about where we are not than where God is.

Verses 23-24 speak of a new shepherd to come from the line of David. While Ezekiel may have been speaking to his immediate circumstance and possible leaders, as Christians, we understand this to be fulfilled ultimately in the Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And yet in page after page of the Gospels, we find the Shepherd mixing in circles with the poor, the victimized and the downtrodden. He is the model of leadership—he is the shepherd/king. Perhaps if we desire to hear his voice, we should find those same circles—and listen carefully. “The sheep hear his voice … and they know his voice” (John 10:3).

Discussion questions

• What models of leadership do you think are important for a minister? For a lay person? How does care for the poor and oppressed figure into your answer?

• How could your Sunday school class embody such a model of ministry?

Posted: 7/12/05

BaptistWay Bible Series for July 24

Christ provides the mettle for perserverance

• Revelation 12:1-6, 13-18; 13:1-4, 11-18

By Wayne Smith

First Baptist Church, Lamesa

Last week’s lesson covered the Second Interlude. During this pause in the narration of God’s history, mounting Roman persecution called for Christians to continue witnessing. The Roman Empire would be destroyed, although Christians would continue to suffer for some time.

Revelation 12 begins the second section of the book’s 22 chapters. In this last of three interludes, John pictures a wave of hostility directed against the church by the Romans. Emperor Nero who is portrayed as the antichrist dictates the persecution.

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The conflict between Rome and the church is a picture of the conflict between Satan and God. Although the conflict with Rome will be resolved, the conflict between good and evil will continue until end times. The third interlude occurs prior to the vision of the judgment of the bowls—the final outpouring of God’s wrath upon his enemies.

The dragon and the woman (Revelation 12:1-6)

A sign appears in heaven of a pregnant woman about to give birth. An enormous red dragon stands ready to devour the child as soon as it is born. After the woman gives birth to a male child, he is taken away to heaven while the dragon pursues her.

This scene is symbolic of the beginning of the church as Jesus was born, established the church and returned to heaven. Persecution continued against the church. The woman flees into the desert where God protects her. Although the church is persecuted, God will not allow it to be destroyed.

The war in heaven (12:7-12)

The scene shifts to heaven where Michael and his angels defeat the dragon. They hurl the dragon (Satan) along with his angels to earth, where he will be allowed to practice his evil.

The dragon pursues the woman (12:13-18)

The dragon pursues the mother of the male child. This symbolic picture is one of continued Roman persecution of the church. The woman is lifted on the wings of an eagle (deliverance and protection of the church). The dragon spews out water and attempts to drown the woman, symbolic of the wave of hostility directed against the church. The earth opens and swallows the water and the woman isprotected. The dragon turns his anger against the remainder of the woman’s children, representing Nero’s anger against those who have survived his first wave of persecution against the church.

The beast from the sea (13:1-4)

As the dragon stands on the seashore, a beast with seven heads and ten crowns emerges from the sea. The seven heads and ten crowns represent seven Roman emperors who reigned and three lesser rulers who governed for a short time during the existence of the church within the Roman Empire.

The beast resembles composite animals, representative of national powers that had conquered the world. The dragon gives the beast all authority. One of the heads has a fatal wound that is healed. This head represents the power of evil to survive. Men worship the beast (emperor worship) and the dragon that gives him power. The dragon recognizes the beast as all-powerful and asks if anyone can make war against him.

The beast conquers the world (13:5-10)

The beast is given power to slander God and conquer the entire world. He is allowed to persecute the church. Christians are told to remain steadfast in their witnessing.

The coming of the antichrist (13:11-18)

Another beast comes out of the earth. He has two horns like a lamb but speaks like a dragon. This is the antichrist. He makes the entire earth worship the first beast and performs great and miraculous signs. Because of the signs, he isgiven power to act on behalf of the first beast.

He orders worship of the first beast’s image, giving power to the image of the beast to speak. He orders all who will not worship the first beast killed. He orders everyone to receive a mark on the hand or forehead. No one can buy or sell without bearing the mark. The mark is the name of the beast or the number of his name—666. More than likely, the number represents Nero as the antichrist.

This lesson presents a vision of Christ founding the church, which continues to exist after his ascension to heaven. After killing Christ, the Romans attempted to destroy the church. The emergence of Nero as the antichrist, the embodiment of evil and enemy of the church, is a symbolic narrative of historical events that occurred in the first century. Prophetic interpretation pictures events that will occur during the end times. The constant message through all interpretations of the Revelation is one of hope that enables Christians to persevere.

The Christians will continue to be persecuted—even in the midst of the terrible events taking place. They will continue to die. The conflict between the church and Rome is symbolic of the continuing war between good and evil. Rome will be defeated, but evil will continue to exist. The final judgment and defeat of evil will occur at the end times. In the meantime, courage and persistent witness is required of Christians.

Application

We do not face the physical threats of conflict the early Christians did. We do face the threat to our Christian witness of compromise with conflicting secular practices. Compromise will not endanger our lives but it will endanger our influence.

Discussion question

• Do I constantly seek God’s direction and draw upon his strength as I face conflict in my daily Christian walk?

Posted: 7/12/05

Family Bible Series for July 24

Hold onto Christ if truth is what you seek

• Colossians 2:1-23

By Mitch Randall

First Baptist Church, Bedford

It is extremely easy to fall into the trap of accepting false truth. From civil religion to oblique views of Christianity, the trap to falsehood is easily tripped by those seeking meaning and purpose in their lives. When desperate people are looking for desperate measures to cope with life’s desperate questions, people are willing to believe anything for validation, or vindication, as some of the cases may be.

In Paul’s letter to the Colossian Christians, we gain a sense of caution and sensitivity in his words. Paul’s letter, while written specifically for the Colossians, was meant to be passed from church to church. The church at Laodicea was close by, most likely established about the same time the church in Colosse was planted. Therefore, the same issues the Colossians faced likely were being debated in the Laodicean church as well.

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Paul’s language gives evidence of other teachings merging with the doctrines of Christianity. We must remember the influence Hellenism (the Greek way of thought and life) played within the missionary churches. Hellenism gave credence to polytheism, which flew in the face of monotheism. For polytheists, placing faith in one God was risky business. Why pray to one God, when you could get all your bases covered by praying to them all. The premise behind this way of thinking is there is not one truth combining the universe.

Paul contradicted this by declaring Christ the one and only truth. For Paul, Christ plus nothing was the one truth on which everything hinged. Anything else, even Christ plus something, was dangerous ground. All treasures, knowledge and mysteries are centered in the person of Jesus. Practicing our faith with anything other than Christ as Lord demeans our faith to the point of destruction.

However, many in our world have added to faith in Christ. There are those who believe faith cannot be practiced properly without the gift of tongues. There are those who believe one is not a true believer if they do not prescribe to their fundamentals of faith. There are those who believe one cannot separate faith and politics, professing allegiance to political parties as proof. Just as in Paul’s day, there are those seeking addendums to faith.

In Colossians 2:8, Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” The Greek word for “captive,” means to prey upon someone’s spirituality to lead them astray. In other words, there are people in the world looking to advance their own agendas at the expense of genuine people seeking faith in Christ. They strive to hold people captive to their belief system rather than liberating people in Christ.

The idea behind this way of persuasion drives a philosophy of empty deceit. Peeled back to its very core, this life philosophy is a hollow core of nothingness. There is nothing to build upon other than shallow thoughts created from the worldly perspectives of men. Human traditions and spirits derived from this universe lead to a false hope sold wrapped in the idea of spiritualism. Yet any time Christ is de-emphasized, there is a tendency to abandon him for the hope of something else.

Paul condemns this as heresy. Anything short of Christ Jesus is not acceptable to Paul. Jesus is the cornerstone for belief. If not, that particular wall of thought faces certain doom. Jesus is the one truth everything else is measured by. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

Discussion questions

• Define truth. Is there one truth within the universe?

• Why is finding truth important to our lives?

• What do we build upon the truth?

Posted: 7/12/05

Explore the Bible Series for July 24

Make no mistake, God always is faithful

• Ezekiel 38-39

By Dennis Tucker

Truett Seminary, Waco

Among the numerous difficult and obscure texts in the book of Ezekiel, there is little doubt chapters 38-39 are among the most difficult. Questions abound concerning the identity of Gog and the nature of the battle between Gog and Israel’s God. Other questions center on the time and circumstance of such a battle.

Although such questions are interesting, they have led to much speculation, and in the end, result in answers that are only possibilities at best. For example, the identity of Gog has occupied an inordinate amount of attention. Some have attempted to assign his identity to a contemporary of Ezekiel such as Nebuchadnezzar, while others have thought it only a personification of evil (the Sumerian word for “darkness” is gûg).

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There also are other associations with legendary figures from other cultures (the most famous is a Lydian king who ruled from 680-650 B.C. named Gyges). Others have sought to read Ezekiel 38-39 in conjunction with Revelation 20, suggesting both texts speak to the same event, and hence the same characters.

The original identity of Gog from Magog will most likely remain a mystery—and in some ways, the mysterious cloud surrounding the identity of Gog actually accentuates the power of the story. To concentrate only on the identity of Gog is to suggest in some part that the story is actually about Gog. But such is not the case. Gog is merely a character—the story is about the God of the Israelites. Whether one can identify Gog is not the question—the question is whether one knows the Yahweh God of Israel.

A second area of speculation pertaining to this text concerns the date of such a battle. Again, speculation can lead us from the primary emphasis in the text. The text was written specifically to exiles living in Babylon—those who were facing immediate crisis.

And although the text mentions phrases such as “in the days to come” (38:16), “at that time” (v. 17), and “in that day” (v. 18), we must be careful not to import our own eschatological (“end times”) beliefs into the text. All of these phrases were used by earlier prophets when speaking of the coming “Day of Yahweh”—it was a day in which Yahweh would mete out justice. These phrases would have been familiar to those who first heard Ezekiel’s words—and they would have represented a word of comfort to those in exile.

And as with the earlier prophets, Ezekiel was not concerned with a date—the Day of Yahweh was “pushed out” onto a future horizon. The question was not whether one knew the date—it was whether one knew this God who would be coming.

A persistent fear among those who experienced the exile appears to be whether God is still God—or is he some lesser deity that has fallen victim to the powers of the Babylonian gods? Ezekiel attempts to allay the fears of those who wondered about their God. He speaks of a future time when Israel has returned home, living in a city without walls, bars or gates (v. 11). Although they are a restored people, they also are a vulnerable people, unable to prevent the unwanted advances of neighboring enemies. It is at this time that God chooses to send in the army of Gog.

Had the vision of this coming battle depicted Israel as a mighty nation, prepared to repel the advances of an invading army it would have offered some assurance that Israel would be restored and able to protect itself. In this vision, however, Israel is restored, but unable to act on its own behalf—it is defenseless. Yet it is just at that moment that God announces “my wrath shall be aroused” (v. 18). God’s people can do nothing but rely on the Holy One of Israel (39:7)—to believe that the God who redeemed them once will be the same God who redeems them even now.

The final scene depicts a sacrificial (and somewhat gruesome) feast (39:17-20). The scene depicts God and his people together at the feast table—the vulnerable people alongside the capable God. It stands as a testimony of God’s power to redeem and preserve his people and to the victorious work of God on behalf of those whom he loves.

The vision of Gog from Magog and the ensuing battle actually serve as a helpful resource for theological reflection. Although the text often is folded into a discussion of the end times, such an approach may fail to appropriate the theological vigor of the text. The text suggests that in our most vulnerable moments—in moments when it appears we have no hope—we still have the Holy One of Israel.

In a pragmatic and narcissistic world, we are lead to believe we must do all things for ourselves. Ezekiel 38-39 reminds us that perhaps God is known greatest when we have shelved our pragmatic and narcissistic ways—when we are like Israel, without bars and gates, but a vulnerable people. In those moments when we discover we cannot do all things for ourselves, we will find there is One Greater.

Discussion question

• When you need to recall God’s faithfulness, what pictures spring to mind?