Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 10-11 and John 11

Ezekiel 10 – The prophet sees another very hard-to-follow vision: above the vault, over the cherubs’ heads, something that looks like a sapphire and above this a throne. The man in white (the vision of chapter 8) is told to take burning coal from between the cherubs and scatter it over Jerusalem.

The man goes into the courtyard of the Temple and a cloud fills the inner court. “The glory of Yahweh rose off the cherubs,” and the court is filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. There are four wheels to the side of the cherubs – glittering like chrysolite  (a greenish, clear gem).

The vision is complicated – it is of the angelic cherubim and wheels. “The cherubs spread their wings and rose from the ground to leave, and as I watched, the wheels rose with them. They paused at the entrance to the east gate of the Temple of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. This was the creature that I had seen supporting the God of Israel beside the river Chebar, and I was now certain that these were cherubs. Each had four faces and four wings and what seemed to be human hands under their wings . . . Each moved straight forward” (10:19-22).

Cherubs in Jewish thinking were angelic, spiritual beings that served the one God. Investigation of the origin of who and what they were in Jewish thought led to my reading about the entire angelic hierarchy. It was interesting and eye-opening. The Wikipedia article I started with directed me to a site that described the kabbalistic version; kabbalah is a school of Jewish thought that is very mystical. This is the hierarchy described:

·       Seraphim – the highest – are caretakers of God’s throne. They regulate the movement of the heavens and emanate a light so bright no one can look at it. Four seraphim surround God’s throne. They each have six wings – two cover the face, two the middle and two cover the feet.  Archangels Michael and Lucifer are among the Seraphim.

·       Cherubim – Next down the chain, beyond God’s throne, the cherubim guard light and stars. They have four faces – a man, an ox, a lion and an eagle. They guard Eden and the throne of God. Gabriel is one

·       Ophanim – Wheels/Thrones – beryl-colored wheel within wheel, the rims of which are covered with eyes. Also called Lords of Flame.

·       Thrones – symbols of God’s justice and authority

·       Dominions – keep the order of the cosmos

·       Principalities – guard nations/countries and are concerned with politics and war

·       Powers – bearers of conscience and keepers of history. They are also angels of birth and death and are concerned with ideology, philosophy, theology, etc. They are the only order created after the fall.

·       Archangels – chief angels (messengers) Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

·       Angels – the lowest order and the closest to man

It was interesting looking into this because New Testament references to “principalities and powers” were never something I associated with angels and archangels.

I have tried to look up the origin of the angelic hierarchy idea, but it is really not clear where it came from. Some say from Assyria or the Canaanites or just the Mesopotamian area generally. There may have been a common source for ideas about this set of angels and powers, but I can’t find anything simple to explain. Clearly, though, they are embedded in the story from the very beginning.

It is two cherubs who are given the task of guarding the gate to Eden. Satan is there is the story, but we are not given any narrative in the Bible itself to explain his presence.  Seems to me the important thing is they were seen as part of the heavenly court. God was not ALONE before the creation of animals and humans. And they seem to serve as guardians of both Paradise and the Sanctuary of the Temple. Perhaps they are evoked here in Ezekiel because they continue to guard God’s Holy Temple and city even when it seems to have been subjected to the desecration of the Neo-Babylonians.

Ezekiel 11 – Here the prophet repeats the promise of God to return those who have been exiled from the holy city. They will be gathered and returned where they will cleanse the city of its horrors.

I find it interesting what is said in verse 16: “I have sent them far away among the nations . . .and for a while I have been a sanctuary for them in the country to which they have gone” (11:17). This idea of God Himself being a sanctuary for his people will soon form the heart of the New Covenant. We do not need to be in the holy city or in the Temple there to be sheltered in God’s presence.

Meanwhile the cherubs and their wheels transport the “glory of the God of Israel” to the mountain east of the city, where it will hover until it is able to be returned.

John 11 - The raising of Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha. Mary is said to be the one “who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair” (11:2), but that story does not appear in John until chapter 12, and the Jerusalem Bible note here indicates that John has confused this Mary with the woman of Luke 7:37.

The sisters send an urgent message to Jesus about Lazarus’ illness, but he does not come for two days. “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (11:4). They return when he is dead. He actually finds upon his return that Lazarus has been dead four days.

Martha goes out to meet him, expressing faith that even now he can save Lazarus. Jesus assures her that he will rise again, and she thinks he is talking about the “last day” (11:24). Jesus responds that he is “the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (11:25-26). She tells him she believes him and also believes that he is “the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (11:27).

Martha goes home and tells her sister that Jesus, “the teacher,” is back and wants to see her. She goes to him, followed by a number of Jews who were consoling her. When she sees Jesus, she too expresses the belief that Lazarus would not have died had Jesus only been there. The weeping of Mary and the Jews with her move Jesus (11:33). He asks where Lazarus is. He is weeping too. He is “greatly disturbed” when he comes to the tomb. He orders the stone taken away. Then he looks upward and says, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me” (11:42). Then he orders Lazarus to “come out!” (11:43) He comes out with the burial cloths on him.

Many believe, but some go to the Pharisees and tell on him.  They call a meeting.  They are worried that the Romans will come and “destroy both our holy place and our nation” (11:48). Caiaphas—high priest that year—tells them it is better to have one man die for the people than for the nation to be destroyed. He implies that Jesus will not only die for the nation but “to gather into one the dispersed children of God” (11:52). Is this meant to be some ironic recognition of the universal saving role Jesus will play, ironic only because the truth is on the lips of one of the men responsible for his lynching?

Jesus goes to the town of Ephraim near the wilderness and remains there.  The Passover is near, and many are going to Jerusalem.  They look for Jesus and wonder if he will come. The chief priests and Pharisees have let people know that they want to arrest him.

This is the ultimate story of Christ’s power over the flesh and our mortal existence.  It’s interesting that this amazing story only appears in one of the four gospels.  The less dramatic one about Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha seems to have been more widely told.  But the story reinforces the major theme of John’s approach to the gospel – that Jesus – from the beginning of creation on – is the source of life, both spiritual and material, and He is the One who has power to raise the dead to life.  The quotes I have included above speak volumes about what this fact can mean for our individual lives if it is apprehended as a spiritual reality available to all of us as friends and beloved of Jesus.

Daily Bible Reading: Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 42 (continued) and 43 and Acts 20:13-38

Sirach 42 (Continued) – God’s Glory: “He has imposed an order on the magnificent works of his wisdom, he is from everlasting to everlasting, nothing can be added to him, nothing taken away” (42:21-22). It is the nature of all things from God that they “go in pairs, by opposites” (42:24).

Sirach 43 – On God’s Glory: “The sun, as he emerges, proclaims at his rising, ‘A thing of wonder is the work of the Most High!’ . . .Great is the Lord who made him, and whose word speeds him on his course” (42:2-4).

And then there is the moon, “always punctual, to mark the months and make division of time” (43:6). And the “glory of the stars makes the beauty of the sky” (43:9). The rainbow praises its maker and all the wonders of nature – the lightning, the clouds, thunder and wind, snow and hoarfrost. “He swallows up the mountains and scorches the desert, like a fire he consumes the vegetation. But the mist heals everything in good time, after the heat falls the reviving dew” (43:21-22).

Those who ply the seas tell of its wonders, and “all things hold together by means of his word” (43:26).

“Exalt the Lord in your praises as high as you may—still he surpasses you. Exert all your strength when you exalt him, do not grow tired—you will never come to the end. Who has ever seen him to give a description? Who can glorify him as he deserves?” (43:30-31)

Acts 20:13-38 - They went by sea from Assos to Mitylene and the next day to Chios and then on to Miletus. They avoid Ephesus, so as not to get delayed, but the elders of the church in Ephesus met him in Miletus where he delivered this sermon – his third in Acts [see chapters 13 and 17 for the others]: He speaks of himself already as a “prisoner” (20:22) who is going to Jerusalem unsure of what will happen. He is sure imprisonment await him there, but “life to me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I finish my race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me—and that was to bear witness to the Good News of Gods grace” (20:24).   

He speaks of his worry that “even from . . .[the leaders of the church[ there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them” (20:30).  He leaves them in tears, believing he will not see any of them again. Wish I knew exactly what he thought they were going to say.

 

Daily Bible Reading: Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 17-18 and Acts 8:25-40

Sirach 17 – “The Lord fashioned man from the earth, to consign him back to it. He gave them so many days’ determined time; he gave them authority over everything on earth. He clothed them with strength like his own, and made them in his own image” (17:1-3).

“He filled them with knowledge and understanding, and revealed to them good and evil. He put his own light in their hearts to show them the magnificence of his works” (17:7-8).

“Their eyes saw his glorious majesty, and their ears heard the glory of his voice” (17:13).

“One day he will rise and reward them, he will pay back their deserts on their own heads. But to those who repent he permits return, and he encourages those who were losing hope” (17:23-24).

Sirach 18 – “He who lives for ever created all the universe. The Lord alone will be found righteous” (18:1).

“What is man, what purpose does he serve? What is the good in him, and what the bad? Take the number of a man’s days; a hundred years is very long. Like a drop of water from the sea, or a grain of sand, such are these few years compared with eternity. For this reason the Lord shows them forbearance, and pours out his mercy on them” (18:8-11).

“Man’s compassion extends to his neighbor, but the compassion of the Lord extends to everything that lives; rebuking, correcting and teaching, bringing them back as a shepherd brings his flock” (18:13-14).

“In a time of plenty, remember times of famine, poverty and want in days of wealth. The time slips by between dawn and dusk, all things pass swiftly in the presence of the Lord” (18:25-26).

Acts 8:25-40 - Peter and John return to Jerusalem. There Philip experiences “the spirit of the Lord” (also referred to as an angel), telling him to get up and go south toward Gaza. On the way, he encounters an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Ethiopian Queen on his way home from worshipping in Jerusalem. He was seated in his chariot reading Isaiah.

The Spirit impels Philip to go and engage him. He asks him if he understands what he is reading, and the man answers, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (8:31), and he invites Philip into the chariot. The passage he is reading is about the suffering servant: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter . . .” (Is 53:7). Philip, using this scripture, proclaims to the man the good news about Jesus. When they come by some water, the eunuch asks if there is any reason why he may not be baptized.

A Jerusalem Bible note says that there is a verse, verse 37, that is an ancient gloss preserved in the Western Text that says “’If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he replied, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” The verse is omitted in the NRSV and in the Jerusalem Bible translation (also the Good News version).

Philip does baptize the man. “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing” (8:39). Philip finds himself in Azotus (a town right on the Mediterranean in Gaza) and there proclaims the good news to all the towns between there and Caesarea (8:40).