Posts

Think Like Abraham!

How so?  Adam & Abraham are two of the biggest Patriarchs in Genesis.    Adam is the Patriarch of all of humanity just as Abraham is the Patriarch of all Israel (both spiritual & ethnic).   In addition, the command to be fruitful & multiply & exercise dominion isn’t just a command, it’s a promise & a blessing.   The same is true with respect to God’s promises to Abraham.  Both also involve Adam & Abraham & their respective families producing children/offspring.  These two declarations on God’s part are therefore analogous.  In order to bring those promises to pass, God provided Adam & Abraham the means to fulfill their covenant obligations.   Adam was given Eve (& vice versa), & Abraham & Sarah were given each other too.   In relation to one particular person who they loved who was integral to the fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises, Adam was given Eve & Abraham was given Isaac.  ...

Pentecost Reading: Ezekiel 45

Property for the  Lord , for the Priests, and for the Prince 45  When you cast lots to divide the land as an inheritance, you are to devote a contribution to the  Lord , a holy area of the land. Its length is to be twenty-five thousand cubits and its width twenty thousand cubits. [ a ] Its entire area will be holy. 2  Within this area, a square five hundred by five hundred cubits [ b ]  is to be set aside for the sanctuary. There is also to be an open area of fifty cubits all around it. 3  From this measured area, you are to measure off a separate area which has a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits. The sanctuary, the most holy place, will be in it.  4  It is to be a holy area of the land. [ c ]  It will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the  Lord . It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy place for the sanctuary. 5  Also an area twenty-five...

Pentecost Reading: Ezekiel 40 - 44

A Vision of the New Temple [ a ] 40  In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, [ b ]  on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the  Lord  came upon me, and he brought me there.  2  In visions of God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side there was a structure that resembled a city.  3  When he brought me there, I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. In his hand he had a linen cord and a measuring rod. He was standing by the gatehouse. 4  The man said to me, “Son of man, watch carefully, listen carefully, and pay attention to [ c ]  everything that I am about to show you, because you were brought here so that I could show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.” The Wall and Outer Gates The Wall 5  I saw a wall [ d ]  all the way around t...