Surely Temple

And he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever.”

Ezekiel 43:7

The passage about Ezekiel’s temple is a bit of a puzzler (understatement of the millennial kingdom). But there are some things we can be sure of. We know that the temple portrays God’s presence with his people. And what happens at the temple is plain enough: sin-atoning, world-healing sacrifice (as seen in the rest of the vision). So here it seems we have it once again, the age-old gospel truth. Our wondrous God is with us through our Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sin. And thus will he always be with us.

Hid in Wisdom

The king of Tyre must’ve been some chap; Ezekiel arrays him in the glory of Satan before his fall. “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (v. 12). It sounds like he was the most God-like creature that ever was made, the very stamp of perfected beauty. And yet it was he who made the first sin exchange! “Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (v. 17).

Unlike the foul fumes and desolate wastelands of Mordor, the wicked in this world prize outward beauty. Thus, if we should happen to find heavenly wisdom and earthly beauty or pleasure at odds with each other, let us choose the hidden and chaste but superior beauty of fearing God over the easy luxury of doing what looks or feels best. For sin is essentially self-worship.

Let us also praise our heavenly Father for the gift of his Son Jesus, who suffered in tangible weakness while winning our eternal salvation from sin, death, and Satan by his invincible wisdom.

The Reformed Doctrine of Being Samwise Gamgee

There is comfort in the Christian faith when things go awry. That comfort is the fact that our lives are but the story of our Creator’s telling long ago. We need this comfort in hard times. One of my heroes, Samwise Gamgee of Bagshot Row, speaks to this well in The Two Towers:

I used to think that [adventures] were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them.

Those who are called to adventures often wish it was otherwise and long for quieter times. Samwise ever wanted to experience the stories of old; yet, looking to the end of his and Frodo’s great errand, he says:

And then we can have some…plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning’s work in the garden. I’m afraid that’s all I’m hoping for all the time.

Therefore, if we are in quiet times, let us enjoy them. And if we are in difficult times, let us trust our Maker’s storytelling to bring us through. All who belong to him through Christ will share in that profound rest in due time.

Red Tape Christianity

Let the children come to me.

Mark 10:14

Pure and undefiled we received the truth from the apostles and prophets; yet it wasn’t long until we started adding in our own stuff. We mean well when we throw our little thoughts and rules into the mix but the holy faith is quite complete without our human complications. So rather than fence ourselves in like Pharisees, let us stand firmly upon God‘s commandments and declare the free gospel freely. Let’s tear out all the churchy red tape that we think keeps us safe from the world but in reality only serves to keep the world away from Jesus.

The Reformed Doctrine of Gandalf the Greyt Encourager

Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt.

Gandalf the Grey

Tolkien’s wizard was an encouraging fellow; he went about inspiring hope and courage in the face of powerful evil. And isn’t that the war of faith we all must wage in Christ? When we saw our sin for what it truly is, was it not faith in the sweet promises of God that assured us there was still hope, even for me, the chief of sinners? Was it not our faith that drove us on past despair to find divine mercy in Christ or die trying? And now we face new battles of all sorts. Let us not despair! Sin and doubt may yet be slain; heavy trials may yet pass; salvation may yet come to those we dearly love. Though we plunge like Gandalf, staffless into the chasm of Moria along with our very foe, we may yet attain the victory. There is always hope for us in our resurrected Lord, for the end is his with absolute certainty. Amen!

The Perspective of the Saints

Ezekiel had a hard job to do, so before he started the Boss showed him a nice little training video. The big screen of the sky opened before him and behold! he saw mind-boggling beings and the radiance of the glory of God from on high. After this, he was sent forth with a new understanding of Who he served as he entered on his difficult way.

We may not be prophets of yore—and who would want to be? Tough gig! But we all have our paths to tread and they are not always easy. Perhaps a refresher course on the transcendent beauty and downright terrifying majesty of our Creator would put some steel in our spine (or emery in our foreheads, as Ezekiel has it). We are, after all, only very small moving pieces in the midst of his master plan of wheeling orbs.

The Reformed Doctrine of Being Batman

“It’s what I do that defines me.”

Batman

Appearances can be deceiving, as the caped crusader of justice and butt-kicking shows us. Our modern selfie culture teaches us that appearance is everything: how we look matters more than what we do. But we aren’t statues, and our friends know that best. Our living thoughts, words, and actions—the look in our eye and the tone of our voice—that’s who we really are.

We can see pictures of ourselves and even watch videos but we will never know what our presence is really like to others. We aren’t meant to. So let’s focus on what we’re doing (and saying and thinking!) and leave off insecurities or preoccupations with what we think we look like. In that way let’s get out of our own way and leave the rest to God!

Cloudy With No Chance of Wrath

How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!

Lamentations 2:1

We’ve all had our fair share of cloudy days. In the Bible, the city of Jerusalem had its fair share as well. In Jeremiah’s day, God destroyed Jerusalem for its great wickedness. And this was not the last time clouds would darken the City of David. Many years later, the sky would lose all light at noon on a very wrathful day indeed. If we are in Christ, we will never face those threatening clouds of God’s judgment because they have already passed over us in him, on the dark day he died for sinners. May this amazing encouragement help us face our own little cloudy days on earth.

Covered by the Mud

So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard… There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.

Jeremiah 38:6

Here was a nasty business for Jeremiah that we can all relate to. A scene from the 1987 motion picture The Princess Bride comes to mind, when Princess Buttercup sinks into quicksand in the Fire Swamp. Sometimes life suddenly turns to mush all around us and we have nothing to hold onto to gather our bearings. In such times we must remember that even there our Lord is with us. Even there in the mud we are covered by the blood of Christ and loved greatly by highest heaven. We will not always be sinking; soon enough our Savior, like the hero Westley, will bring us out and place our feet on solid ground again.

Cloudy With a Chance of Encouragement

The medieval poet Dante described the Bible thusly:

The downpour of the Holy Spirit that is diffused on the Old vellum, as well as the New

So, more than a chance! More like a 100% guarantee of cheering gospel truths for weary, parched souls. When the clouds of despair settle over us, or when the threatening storms of conviction lay upon our hearts, let us drink freely from this scrollerific wellspring that the good Lord has sent for poor sinners who know their need of his mercy and grace.