July 16, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven facets on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.’” (Zechariah 3.9)

“‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.‘” (Jeremiah 31.33)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36.26) I believe it is a synthesis of the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah that helped Zechariah to hear what the Angel of the Lord shared as the Word of God to the reconciled and reappointed people of Israel. I also believe that the knowledge of these three “revelations” provided the backdrop for understanding the words of Jesus to Peter near the headwaters of the Jordan River north of Caesarea Philippi. It was there in the midst of other “sanctuaries” erected to the gods of other nations and peoples that Jesus brought His disciples on retreat. In some fashion it may have resembled what Paul experienced as he confronted the Greek scholars in Athens drawing their attention to the empty platform titled “To the Unknown God.” Paul knew of that God. He was the God of his fathers and their fathers before them. He was the God and Father of Paul’s Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul was witness to that “stone” which stood among others with definitive images of those constructed to serve humanity instead of they themselves serving the “gods.” There in that place where Jesus and the disciples gathered, the question was posed: “Who do people say that I AM?” There were a number of answers, but it was Peter’s confession which hit the mark. Peter responded, “You are the Christ of God.”

What was Jesus’ response? He said to Peter, “You are correct, Peter, but flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. Rather, it is My Father in Heaven who has made this known to you by faith. Upon your faith, Peter, which is like a ‘rock,’ I will establish My people.” We know, of course, that Jesus was not speaking of a literal “rock.” He was speaking to the cornerstone of faith by which the believer would align the building up of their own lives for the future. Peter’s faith was in Jesus as the Christ. Paul would write to the Christian community of Rome/the Roman Empire saying, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the grave, then you will be saved.” (Romans 10.9) Here is another one of those vital “if/then” statements which we must consider as mighty ones of God. Again, too often, we love to focus on the “then” without fully embracing the “if.” Remembering, all things are possible with God to bring good out of any situation. That “good” is the purpose of God being accomplished and enacted by the creation which was made by His Hands, His Word (the Holy Spirit) in the image of His Son. The “good” which God has purposed is that the people in the world understand who has given them life. This was the calling of Israel since the first in Adam and Eve. If they had been true, faithful, to one another and to God, then Satan would have been rebuked and he would have fled from Eden. Instead, they did not have a “solid rock” faith. That kind of faith would be too heavy to lift from its place but of such form that it would be the foundation upon which the “rest of their lives” was built. Fortunately, they “found” their faith in God’s mercy and grace. Though they were expelled from the Garden (Satan was expelled from Heaven), they were still God’s people. He had redeemed them by the blood of the Lamb and clothed them in “righteousness.” Restored to their purpose, they were sent into the world not to be of the world but to bear witness to the goodness of God which saved them though they deserved to die.

In all of this, we can most certainly identify with the phrase spoken to Zechariah in 3.9 “…on a seven-faceted stone I will engrave my inscription…” We are not told what that inscription is. From Jeremiah 31.33, we might infer the text of God’s Law similar to the engraving of the Ten Commandments on the tablets of stone carved out for Moses and the liberated Hebrews. It may have been simplified to the Shema as the entire context of the Law given by which the Ten Commandments themselves were to be understood and considered. That “law” was to be written on the hearts of the people. In Ezekiel the call of God was for the removal of the heart which had become like stone. In its place was a transplant of a “heart of flesh.” It would be a heart that beat with the newness of God in a people reconsidered, reformed and revived. They were no longer to live as “dead people” (read Ezekiel 36 and the valley of dry bones) but as those made alive and “resurrected” from the dead by the power of the spoken word which commanded the Holy Spirit, the ruach of God, to rekindle the fire of life in them. So it is that we may understand what happened on the Day of Pentecost fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. “The stone” had been rolled away revealing not a “rock hard” body of a dead man. Instead, the grave clothes only as a testimony to “He has risen as He said…believe in the Word He has spoken to you.” The resurrected Jesus was not a ghostly image but a real flesh and blood man full of God’s spirit. The disciples could touch Him, eat with Him and experience His presence in real time. His heart had been emptied out on the cross, laid dormant in the tomb but revived at God’s Word now written on “the stone which the builders rejected now is set as the chief stone [be it the cornerstone or the capstone matters not].” It was Jesus’ faith in His Father’s will which accomplished the work completed in Him. What was engraved there may be a easily understood as the “name above all names at which every knee shall bow and tongue confess…Jesus is Lord.”

Mighty ones of God what does our mouth declare and our heart believe? Who are we but “living stones set up as a building of priests to lead the world in worship of God.” (1 Peter 2.5) That word which was spoken to the prophets of old speak now! When the leaders of the Temple and the Pharisees confronted Jesus about the “things” His disciples were saying as they proclaimed leading the parade into Jerusalem, Jesus paused. I can almost imagine that He held up His hand and the whole assembly grew quiet. Believing that they had accomplished their task, Jesus interrupted their feelings of success with a word. He said, “If I asked these men to be quiet, then the very stones along the sides of the road would begin to cry out!” (Luke 19.40) And in that moment, the whole crowd erupted in praise picking up where they had left off, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest.” Yes, the very stones may well have been the people themselves who dared to believe as Peter, the Rock, believed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Lord and Savior!” Are we, mighty ones of God, rocks of judgment to be cast at others? Or are we, rocks upon which the whole people of God are built together to declare the acceptable day of the Lord? Let His name be inscribed on our hearts, in our minds and with our spirit as deep calls unto deep!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.