Today’s sermon is now available on the New Life website.
The sermon is shorter than normal as we had our Messy Church service today.
ezekiel
Everybody Knows…
Last night’s cell group meeting generated an impromptu study on who satan is and when his fall from grace occurred. This was partly sparked by discussion on the early chapters of Genesis which record, amongst other things, the first temptation of Adam and Eve.
I looked up a couple of web-sites that asserted that satan, also known as Lucifer, was originally an archangel and the leader of the heavenly praise. There were no scriptures to back this up, so it seems to be a tradition rather than Bible teaching.
Discussion turned to two traditional passages used in the discussion- Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. These passages often confuse me because some preachers confidently assert they talk about Lucifer in his pre-fall condition. I struggle with this because they are passages addressed as taunts against two particular human rulers. I can see how you might get an interpretation that the passages are talking about satan but they explicitly state in the text that they are addressed as taunts against the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14) and the King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28)- in fact the Ezekiel passage says this twice.
Then the revelation came. One of the group members read the Isaiah 14 passage and I heard the word I have never read before:
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!Isaiah 14:14
The New Living says this:
How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
I asked the group member, “Is that the New King James?” to which she said “Yes”
So the New King James follows the original King James in translating the “morning star” as Lucifer, and then helpfully adds the section heading “The Fall of Lucifer” right before it.
That’s where they get it from.
Here’s the problem. Lucifer is a Latin name meaning “light bearer” and was used to refer to the morning star, Venus. But the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, not Latin. So when the translators of the King James Version were doing their translation work in the early 1600’s they were still influenced by the so-called Latin Vulgate Bible which was the official Catholic translation.
The translators of the NKJV have no such excuse. They should have translated is as “morning star” and maybe referred to the Lucifer translation in a footnote.
You can still choose to interpret these passages as referring to satan if you like. To me it’s a bit of a stretch to do that, especially when the original writers were clear about whom they were directing their comments at.
The NLT Study Bible, in the footnotes to Isaiah 14:12 say this:
Some see the fall of the king of Babylon here as symbolising the fall of Satan. However there is little here to suggest that Isaiah understood it in this way. He was thinking of the historical king of Babylon… the Hebrew text makes no apparent reference here to the name of Satan.
All of this shows that we should not blindly accept what people teach us about the Bible. If something doesn’t seem to make sense in the way people interpret Scripture, you should always ask for more information about why they believe that.
In an ideal world, every christian would know Hebrew and Greek. Failing that, I think it’s always a good idea to check several versions of Scripture to try and gain a better understanding of a text. Software makes this so easy to do, or use Bible apps or internet search sites such as Bible Gateway.
Reflection on Ezekiel 17:22-24
Scripture
It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed.
Observation
The time will come, says the Lord, when He will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar and plant it on Israel’s highest mountain. It will grow tall and strong, and birds will shelter in it.
All the trees will know that it is the Lord who pulls trees down and makes trees grow, who kills one tree and raises another to life.
Application
This parable is about the church, the Kingdom of God. It started off as a cutting (or perhaps a mustard seed), is planted on top of Israel’s mountain and becomes a mighty tree that even shelters the birds of the air.
God’s kingdom is huge with members in every nation, It is God who is establishing it and causing it to grow. It exists by the grace of God and for His glory.
And whenever any part of that church steps away from God’s grace, He will strike it down.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for bringing me into the tree of your kingdom. Amen.
Reflection on Ezekiel 34:11-24
Scripture
“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,” declares the Sovereign Lord.
Observation
The Lord will remove the false shepherds who have fed themselves on His sheep. The Lord Himself will be their shepherd. He will gather the sheep from all around the world and bring them back to Israel. He will give them rich pasture and search for the lost.
The Lord will judge His own sheep. The sheep who have pushed themselves forward to get the best feed will be judged. The Lord will rescue the flock, but He will also judge them.
Application
God declares that He is the true shepherd for His people, a metaphor that Jesus also uses. The Lord promises to rescue the sheep from the rulers who have oppressed them and to care for them Himself.
The rescue comes at a price- God will now judge those who push themselves past others to get the best stuff, and those who drive away by force those who are weaker.
Followers of Jesus cannot be self-centred or self-promoting. We must not pursue our own interests at the expense of other people.
Selfishness is an entirely natural human trait. And God promises that it will bring His judgement. The good news is that He also has the capacity to change our heart’s from self to Him and thence to others.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive my selfish ways. Open my eyes so that I can see my sin and give me grace to repent. Amen.
Reflection on Ezekiel 37:1-14
Scripture
“I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes the Lord has spoken.”
Observation
The Spirit of the Lord takes Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones. The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones commanding them to come together.
So the bones are gathered together, and flesh, sinews and skin cover the bones. But there is no life in them.
The Lord then tells Ezekiel to call out to the wind to come and fill the bodies. The bodies stand up, alive like a great army.
The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy to Israel and to promise that the Lord will bring them back from exile and He will put His Spirit in them.
Application
There is nothing more dead than dry bones. But God can turn death into life when we trust Him.
The people of Israel were in exile and had abandoned all hope of returning home. But God said, “You will go home.”
Whatever hopes or dreams we have that seem to be as dead as dry bones can be brought to life by the Holy Spirit.
The only condition is that we trust God to do it His way.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, come and bring life to the dry bones of my lost dreams. Come and bring life where there is no life. Amen.
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