Monday, May 28: Ezekiel 40 - Time.

As I began to read the opening sentences, it drew me in and started my mind churning. I am not good at visualizing structures like the temple, which was described in detail. So after the chapter unfolded, I seamlessly returned to the opening sentences as I sat with the Lord.

Time, how much time has gone by?… In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city--on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me and he took me there (1). Twenty-five years since the exile and fourteen years since the city of God, Jerusalem, was destroyed. That’s a long time. The first exiles have lived in Babylon long enough to have born children in exile who are now married. This ‘next’ generation would have no first hand memory of Jerusalem.

In the school district of my children live many English-as-a-second-language students, youngsters whose parents were born and raised in other countries yet who moved and are raising families here. The children sometimes speak one language at home and English in school. Some families fight to keep their native culture, others work hard to adapt to their new culture. Either way there is an interesting dynamic and the succeeding generations slide further and further from their heritage and roots.

That in many ways would be happening for the Israelites in captivity. As they settled into their Babylonian life, their life in Israel would grow more and more distant.

How did they keep the religious sacrificial system without the temple, is one question I wonder about.

To these people, being pulled into the Babylonian culture, God sends a vision through Ezekiel. The second observation I had came in verse 4 The man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see." Ezekiel was to pay attention to his vision and tell the people everything! Tell them about ‘this’ temple and what it looks like and what it is for… remind them of their heritage and their future. Reconnect them to the Lord.

In my life, time has a way of marching on, and it is good for me to pause at intervals and make sure I remain connected, solidly connected, to the Lord. Time has a way of causing me to drift from my faith-moorings if I am not vigilant about remaining connected.

The great feasts and seasons of the Church can help me stay connected… as long as I engage them…

Lord, today I hear You calling me to check my moorings, making sure I am tethered tightly to You…

Lord, as I bow to pray, the Apostle’s Creed comes to mind. I don’t normally think of the creed as a prayer. Yet this morning I sense it is and so I pray the Creed back to You…

I believe in (You) God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in (You) Jesus Christ, God's only Son, [my] Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in (You), the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.