God Is

Dear all, the SPM has begun, and we both sat for our first paper today: Bible Knowledge; although Soo Tian would probably agree with me that we need to make room for the big questions and more space to explore the Word, rather than merely memorize passages with minimal understanding.

Anyway, the book of Ezekiel is one I was hardly familiar with, recalling nothing about it at all (even the famous Valley of Dry Bones, I did not remember until I came across it while reading this time around). So far, it is the most pictorial of the prophets, and I can only imagine what it would be like if made into a movie!

Same themes all over basically: judgement, hope, restoration, Messiah etc.
But I made more notes on the character of God, than the judgement/hope ones... Anyway, since I have to go soon, I'll outline this briefly:

Judgement

There are two attitudes that bring God's judgement upon us, generally speaking, and they are:

1. Rebellion - This is when we deliberately disobey God's commands. They are sins of action, and Ezekiel directed his messages of judgement on Israel mainly because of this.

2. Responsibility - The far subtler sin, however, is that of shirked responsibilities. I use the word 'responsibility' in a broad sense, referring to duties we're supposed to do, but don't do for one reason or another. The warning against these sins came to Ezekiel from God himself, for the prophet might have held back the message for fear of his life.

Most people think of sin as acts of rebellion, hence we don't murder, or lie, or cheat or steal etc. But the higher one progresses in the kingdom of God, and the further one walks in life, the dangers of Type 2 become more imminent. We are all the more at risk of not loving as we should, not doing good when we can, finding substitutes for prayer and Scripture, etc.

Hope

The messages of hope in Ezekiel find their expression in the prophecies of the new kingdom of God -- especially in the closing chapters when God lays out his plan for a new people who will worship in spirit and in truth. (Of course, the staggering nature of the closing prophecies also came with the bane of having to slug through meticulous temple measurements!)

We find there are two aspects of this new kingdom;

1. Righteousness - It is a kingdom in which people are truly good, never stagnant, always growing. It is a kingdom of LIFE. Here, the people care nothing about rules; their lives reflect the law in all its perfection. They are creatures whom God has made able to live the perfect life. On this side of heaven, these people are the ones who attempt to live differently for the sake of what is good.

2. Restoration - Hope springs eternal. The world that will be created, that is even now being created, is not a new world. It is Creation as Creation was meant to be. It is the fulfillment of the dream of God -- a perfect world in every sense.

Somehow I think that's the best definition of the new kingdom: perfect. It is NOT, however, perfect in the sense of nothing but halos, harps and goody-two-shoes glittering angels fluttering to and fro.

I really do believe there'll be questionable characters there, even scars we will continue to bear. But it is perfect in that evil can no longer reign; God has overcome. It is perfect in the sense that we have overcome all that is not good. Scars may still exist; but pain will not. People will still exist, but bad attitudes will not. It is a restored kingdom!

And now, the section I've been waiting for:

GOD

I have to go for dinner in a moment, and will subsequently subject myself to add maths work, so I'll make this quick.

God is:

-Really serious about judgement
-Sure of what he is doing
-The giver of life who takes no pleasure in death
-The Master who gives purpose to chance
-Jealous (but he has every right to it, since he owns everything anyway)
-Not 'pigeon-hole-able'
-The Ruler of all nations
-The great I AM

Those are only some of the many glimpses of God found in Ezekiel. But you could delete the last 8 lines or so and still be left with the deepest meaning of God: that he IS. He doesn't change like shifting shadows. Even the writer of Hebrews said Jesus Christ "is the same yesterday and today and forever more."

Of all finales, Ezekiel probably takes the cake, ending his 48 chapters with this declaration:

YAHWEH-SHAMMAH

God is there. Now the question is: what about us?...