GLORY WHERE GLORY IS DUE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.

When the Lord commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands.)

I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz. As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead.

Ezekiel 10

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Glory. It’s something we all show an interest in even though we don’t tend to use the word as much as another word that is associated with it, the word “beauty”.

Think about all the things of beauty in the world, the things that make you stop and adore matters of creation.

Maybe it’s a brilliant sunset at the end of a day.

Maybe it’s the miraculous appearance of a rainbow after a rainstorm.

Maybe it’s the array of countless bright stars set against the background of a dark, clear night sky.

Maybe it’s any number of flowers or plants or animals or birds or fish of the sea that amaze us with their splendor.

Maybe it’s simply the face of a newborn child as it opens its eyes and smiles.

Yes, there are so many things in our world that merit our admiration but there needs to be a caution thrown in here, one that we could easily fall prey to if we’re not careful. For all things of beauty in this world have a single author and creator, the King of Glory, the Lord God Almighty. And He is the One who is to receive all our praise when we find our breath taken away by the stunning magnificence of anything that is in the heavens or the earth.

This is an important point because we need to go back to the Israelites of Ezekiel’s day to see how adoring creation the wrong way can lead one down the road of sin and eventually God’s punishment.

So what happened?

Well, the Israelites, through their idolatry, were actually worshiping things of nature instead of the God who created nature. They worshiped animals. They worshiped plants. They worshiped everything except the One they were obligated to give all their worship to. And that’s exactly what got them in trouble with God who decided to remove His glory from the temple that His people had desecrated and defiled. If the people did not want to honor His glory, they would find out what would happen when His glory was removed from them.

Here’s a hint. It wasn’t pretty.

We know this because after God removed His glory from His temple in Jerusalem, the temple along with the holy city and all of Judah were attacked, ransacked, and left in ruins. The people were then taken into a seventy-year captivity into Babylon where they would live without God’s glory in despair and anguish.

It would be a pretty sad story if God had not assured it would have a happy ending. For He assured His people that His glory would indeed return one day when His punishment of exile would end and He would put events in motion to allow His people to return home to Israel to rebuild their cities, their homes, their lives, and, most importantly, their relationship with God.

So what are we to take away from this part of Old Testament history and the major error in judgment made by the Israelites?

It’s easy. All we need to do is give God all the glory, honor, and praise for all things.

When we see the brilliant sunset, give God the glory.

When we see the rainbow, remember its meaning and then give God the glory.

When you gaze up into the night sky and admire the stars, give glory to the God who put them in place.

When you find yourself awestruck and fascinated by the beauty and wonder of nature, give glory to the One who made every single part of it special in its own way.

And when you find yourself adoring a little baby, know that he or she is the handiwork of a Master Creator God and then give Him the glory.

In the end translation, the Lord is giving us valuable instruction today, instruction intended to keep us from repeating the mistakes of the Israelites’ disastrous, idolatrous past.

What is that guidance?

Give God all the glory and you will never go wrong. We would be well served to receive this wisdom and put it into action.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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