Out of the four cardinal directions these two in particular have a prevalent place in the scriptures. 'East' is first introduced in describing the location of Eden (Gen. 2:8). A little later in we find it in Genesis 3:24 right after the Fall.
"After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
Next, we see 'East' again in relation to sin and judgment with Adam's son, Cain:
"So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." (Gen. 4:16)
(Note: I don't think we can flee the Lord's presence anymore than Jonah could, but it's more a spiritual picture)
As people multiplied on the earth they continued eastward, away from God.
"As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there." (Gen. 11:2)
The plain of Shinar is the location of the tower of Babel. People are moving further from God. And it continues all throughout Scripture. I counted well over 150 other passages that deal with this and to go over each would be more fitting for a dissertation than a blog. So with that said, let this be enough to show you that east seems to represent sin, judgment, distance from God, etc...
Redemption:
"Then the man brought me to the gate facing east, and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory." (Ezk. 43:1-2, Emphasis mine)
Jesus stepped down from eternal communion with the Father and Spirit, gave up the glory he had and became incarnate in flesh and blood, suffering everything this life had to through at a person, just so he could sympathize with all of our weakness (Heb.4:15), and took all of our sin upon himself, become a curse for us, and was forsaken by his Father. He went farther east than anyone has ever gone so that we could come back west, back to the Garden, back to God.
"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)
As the Son rose in the east, the light of his glory traced its way through the heavens, back to the temple and filled it.
"The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple." (Ezk. 43:4-5)
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:3)
God has come to dwell with us and has made us his hands and feet, kings and priests. We are now the hands of Jesus that reach out to those in the east while joined hand in hand to the body of Christ firmly planted in the west. It was the job of the priests to be mediators between God and people. Jesus is the only mediator between men and God, but he lives in us and he uses broken people to carry out his purposes on the earth. Thus we, as priests and kings, we are called to be mediators between the broken places in the world and the house of God. God called Abraham to pitched his tent in between Ai (Hebrew: העי; "heap of ruins") in the east and Bethel (Hebrew: בֵּית אֵל; "house of God") in the west (Gen 12:8). We too are called to pitch our tent in between the east and west. In between Heaven and earth. (Ps. 103:11-12)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Source of the River (Part I)
(This is the first in a 3 part blog series)
"The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)...
...Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezk. 47:1,12)
Today we are the temple and according to the Gospel of John, the river that flows from within is the Holy Spirit.
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive."(John. 7:38-39)
This is a good reminder that we are not the scource but the vessel, even though it is flowing out of us, out of the body of Christ, both individually and corporately we are not the source. The key words in this passage are 'from within him', not 'from him'. There is a Source that dwells within us that this water of the Spirit issues from.
The Source:
"The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever." (Ezk. 43:4-7)
The Source within the temple, within us, is a throne. It is THE throne. It is this throne and, more importantly, the One who sits on that throne that is the Source of the River (the Spirit).
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him." (Rev. 22:1-3, emphasis mine.)
This River rushes to the lowest places. It flows one direction...West to East.
"The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)...
...Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezk. 47:1,12)
Today we are the temple and according to the Gospel of John, the river that flows from within is the Holy Spirit.
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive."(John. 7:38-39)
This is a good reminder that we are not the scource but the vessel, even though it is flowing out of us, out of the body of Christ, both individually and corporately we are not the source. The key words in this passage are 'from within him', not 'from him'. There is a Source that dwells within us that this water of the Spirit issues from.
The Source:
"The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple. He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever." (Ezk. 43:4-7)
The Source within the temple, within us, is a throne. It is THE throne. It is this throne and, more importantly, the One who sits on that throne that is the Source of the River (the Spirit).
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him." (Rev. 22:1-3, emphasis mine.)
This River rushes to the lowest places. It flows one direction...West to East.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Two Poems
My buddies Marcus Regan and Brian Holda wrote these poems and they blessed me so I thought I would pass it on...
Untitled
by Marcus Regan
Does the creation know that it worships its maker?
I wonder
In the Spring the wild flowers put on their best dresses
The dresses they have waited all winter just to wear again
So that they might dance as the bloom before Beauty
For Beauty evokes beauty
In the Fall, trees scream bold praises of red and gold
In a language I sometimes wish I spoke
And then lay down their colorful crowns
For a Crown begets a crown
Deafening is the sound of a forest alive
Doing what it does just to bless your eyes
It is no decision of the stream's to dance
And the needles took no counsel to cover the earth
And give off their sweet fragrance of pine
A response your presence evoked
An unstoppable hallelujah
Because you are near
Great is your gravity.
It made the prophets fall down as though dead
The trees turn colors of red
The wild flowers dance in their beds
The sun lay down and raise
A daily display of new colors
Like a poem that is new each time it is read
We cannot help but praise you
When your beauty is on display
Set it before my eyes Lord
Set it before my eyes
And I will adore you
Like the flowers and the trees
Like the sunrise and the sunset
like the honeycomb and the stream
Yes they all worship
But do they know?
Only Beauty can make that which is beautiful
A sweet smell that tells only of the sweeter
A bright color that tells only of the brighter
A strong wind that speaks only of the stronger
I want to blossom like the flower
Dance like the stream
Be fragrant like the pine
Set like the sun and raise the same
All for you, before you, in you, oh King
By Marcus Regan
Inspired by My Romance by Rick Pino
The Lonely One
by Brian Holda
Inspired from Mark 14:27-32
His heart is fire;
His gaze a sword.
His arms are open.
And He says, "Come."
But, "We all like sheep have turned away."
We said with Peter,
He looked away.
He knew.
We didn't.
The light would grow dark.
The night, cold.
We would forget.
We would fall.
One by one -
Everyone.
He would stay standing,
Alone.
And He'd remember everything,
And would see us later,
With our eyes laying on the floor,
While His eyes never left us.
And through shared tears,
He would say:
"Love keeps no record of wrongs."
I wonder
In the Spring the wild flowers put on their best dresses
The dresses they have waited all winter just to wear again
So that they might dance as the bloom before Beauty
For Beauty evokes beauty
In the Fall, trees scream bold praises of red and gold
In a language I sometimes wish I spoke
And then lay down their colorful crowns
For a Crown begets a crown
Deafening is the sound of a forest alive
Doing what it does just to bless your eyes
It is no decision of the stream's to dance
And the needles took no counsel to cover the earth
And give off their sweet fragrance of pine
A response your presence evoked
An unstoppable hallelujah
Because you are near
Great is your gravity.
It made the prophets fall down as though dead
The trees turn colors of red
The wild flowers dance in their beds
The sun lay down and raise
A daily display of new colors
Like a poem that is new each time it is read
We cannot help but praise you
When your beauty is on display
Set it before my eyes Lord
Set it before my eyes
And I will adore you
Like the flowers and the trees
Like the sunrise and the sunset
like the honeycomb and the stream
Yes they all worship
But do they know?
Only Beauty can make that which is beautiful
A sweet smell that tells only of the sweeter
A bright color that tells only of the brighter
A strong wind that speaks only of the stronger
I want to blossom like the flower
Dance like the stream
Be fragrant like the pine
Set like the sun and raise the same
All for you, before you, in you, oh King
By Marcus Regan
Inspired by My Romance by Rick Pino
The Lonely One
by Brian Holda
Inspired from Mark 14:27-32
His heart is fire;
His gaze a sword.
His arms are open.
And He says, "Come."
But, "We all like sheep have turned away."
We said with Peter,
"'Til death! We'll be faithful!"
Because we looked at Him and thought,How can we not?
He smiled.He looked away.
He knew.
We didn't.
The light would grow dark.
The night, cold.
We would forget.
We would fall.
One by one -
Everyone.
He would stay standing,
Alone.
And He'd remember everything,
And would see us later,
With our eyes laying on the floor,
While His eyes never left us.
And through shared tears,
He would say:
"Love keeps no record of wrongs."
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