Eastern Hospitality

Centuries before the magi visited Bethlehem bringing exquisite gifts fit for a king, a desert sheik spotted three strangers lingering a short distance from his tents. With the vigor characteristic of middle-eastern hospitality, he hurried over to them and offered them a quick drink of water.

In the conventions of hospitality, you make the initial offer so small that to refuse would be an insult. Then,

A Psalm of Water for Thanksgiving

This week-end I will be in New England to celebrate an early Christmas with my three children and six grand-children.

We will have turkey and potatoes and an abundance of food – and, no doubt, a glass of wine to mark the occasion. And we will pause before we eat to do something very important.

CSI - Ancient Israel Water Ritual

What should you do if a dead body is found in a field, and your basic detective work cannot discover a killer? Here is an ancient water ritual that ensured that cold cases didn’t just suffer the indignity of civil neglect.

You can read the extended ritual in Deuteronomy 21:1-9. Here is a brief summary:

A Floating Ax-head

There’s a water story about Elisha that frankly stretches my credulity.

The school of prophets which Elisha led was clearing trees in the Jordan River valley to build a larger place to live. Suddenly someone’s ax-head flew off and fell into the river. What’s worse than losing your tools is losing a tool you borrowed from somebody else. So the poor man turned to the master and explained his plight.

“Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. 2 Kings 6:6

A Pinch of Salt

Near the ancient ruins of Old Jericho, a spring burbles out of the ground, just as it did long before the famous city walls came tumblin down. It’s called Ain-es Sultan or Elisha’s Fountain. The story associated with this spring is told in 2 Kings 2.

The men of Jericho said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken 2 Kings 2:19-22.

Presence

I think one of the most memorable lines in all of Isaiah’s inspiring 8th century prophecy is this –

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.
Isaiah 43:2.

These words occur in the part of Isaiah that describes Israel’s release from exile and return to their homeland, but they also convey God’s promise to sustain Israel through the ordeal of exile, which was truly a deep water trauma. It was an upheaval so jarring and disorienting, many Jews doubtless lost what little faith they had. It seemed obvious that God had abandoned them and broken covenant with them.

Laver - God's Peace

When King Solomon replaced the Israel’s primitive tabernacle with a magnificent temple, he had a huge water-reservoir built to serve as the laver for the purification for the priests (1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-6) It was so large – 15 feet across, 45 feet circumference and holding 16,500 gallons – that it was called a “sea”. This grandiose symbolic ocean illustrated the expansive dimensions of God’s grace and forgiveness.

But it also conveyed another level of meaning. Since the sea for Israel represented the chaotic forces of evil opposed to God, this artifact probably also symbolized “the forces of chaos that have been subdued and brought to order by the Lord who is creator of the world”(1) It affirmed that Yahweh was supreme over the Canaanite deities Yamm and Baal, gods of sea and storm.

Egypt's Finest Day

In an earlier post this week, Egyptian Reversal, we looked at Isaiah's ancient prophecy in Isaiah 19 - that the Nile would dry up and Egypt's economy would disintegrate.

It was a shocking use of prophetic hyperbole designed to warn Israel not to seek a military alliance with Egypt.

Interestingly the last book of the Bible echoes Isaiah’s vision of economic collapse of a great city and its maritime commerce. Global investors are distraught and lament ...
In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin! Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.
When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim,
'Was there ever a city like this great city? Revelation 18:17-19

But Isaiah’s prophecy, like John’s Revelation, is not a doomsday tirade. Like John, Isaiah is a prophet of hope. In a way unforeseen by any other Hebrew writer, Isaiah perceives that God has a national destiny in store for Egypt that would astonish even the most imaginative zealot in Israel – or the church. Isaiah foresees a day when God will open Egypt’s heart, not to foolish superstitions, but to the worship of Yahweh. Egyptians will become passionate Yahweh worshippers and Yahweh will become Egypt’s saviour (v.20).

A highway of commerce and communication will open from Egypt to Assyria, linking Israel’s ancient and current oppressors in a covenant of loyalty, not simply with Israel, but with Israel’s God. Egypt and Assyrian will worship Yahweh together (v. 23). And so the doomed Nile becomes a river of blessing to the whole world, like the river of Eden and the rivers of  Ezekiel and St. John.

St. Simon the Tanner Church, Moquattan Mtn, Egypt

Who could have foreseen such a paradigm-bursting turn-around, such a river of blessing from such a cursed source? Who would have imagined that - 'in that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.' (v. 24-25)

God of Rivers, Revenue and Righteousness,
Your words today remind me that the flow of wealth in this world is not automatic. Your River flows in channels of justice and truth. You have ordained a law for all nations that industry and mercy must flow together or they will eventually shrivel and die. And you have promised that if we pay attention to your commands, our peace and prosperity will flow like a river, our righteousness like the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18).

May your mercy flow today into every country drained and watered by the mighty Nile – Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. And, may the good news of Jesus flow like a river through these nations and cause them to flourish in ways we can hardly imagine. Amen.

Photo Sources:
Pyramid - EgyptPhoto
Nile - Travel2Egypt
Coptic Church - The Egypt Diocesan Association

Downpour

Three years with no rain had left the land depleted and dry.

The showdown on Mount Carmel between Yahweh and Baal had confirmed which god deserved worship.  "Yahweh is God," the people had chorused.  But Yahweh's purpose was not self-aggrandisement or public acclaim.  Yahweh was - and is - intensely passionate about people and their well-being. He cared too much for the land and its people to leave the soil dusty and dead.  Rain was desperately needed - and that was to be the next demonstration of the character of the true Rain-maker God.  Read the story in 1 Kings 18:41-46 

Showdown

The drought grew more intolerable by the day. Streams ran dry; crops failed. The king was frantic for grazing land for his herds while peasants ached with hunger. Disaster stalked the land. Something had to break.

In the third year of the drought, 1 Kings 18, Elijah went to confront King Ahab. When they met, Ahab cursed Elijah - 'you trouble-maker' he sneered. ‘On the contrary’, Elijah countered, "you and your family are Israel's trouble-makers by abandoning the Lord's commands and following the Baals" (I Kings 18:17-18). Elijah called for a spiritual show-down on Mount Carmel, a sort of religious duel between Yahweh and Baal.

Elijah's Dew-Free Zone

It had been a grim three years in Israel’s northern region. Ahab was one of the bad kings. In fact, it was said that he ‘did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him’ 2 Kings 16:32-33.

One of his vices was his foreign wife Jezebel who had a special fondness for the sexually explicit Baal cult. ‘Human orgies lead to fertile fields’, she told them, and far and wide, Ahab’s people gave it a try. Her influence was pervasive; Asherah poles, Baal idols and hundreds of Baal priests filled the land.

So God sent the prophet Elijah with a message to Ahab. "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word" 1 Kings 17:1.

This was not good news. In northern Israel rain is usually plentiful and agriculture flourishes. No rain or dew was a death sentence for thousands of people. It was a serious ultimatum - abandon Baal worship or face the consequences.

Break-through

Guerilla warfare depends on evasion, stealth and surprise, and David was a master at the game. He had honed his skills through 20 years on the run from King Saul, but now that Saul was dead, David faced an even more formidable foe. The combined Philistine confederacy was moving in for the kill. 2 Samuel 5:17-25.

When David learned this he reverted to guerilla tactics instead of direct assault. He retreated to the caves near the Dead Sea and prayed for God’s counsel. With divine direction he attacked and routed the Philistines decisively.

Learning to Trust - or Distrust God

At the end of forty years, God told Moses that the years of Israel’s deprivation in the desert had had a purpose. 'My design', God said, was ‘to humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart” Deuteronomy 8:2. 'As a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you’ (v.5) ‘to do you good in the end’ (v.16).

Hunger and thirst are powerful tests – and God wanted Israel to internalize deep in their consciousness a conviction that they could trust their covenant Partner. Experiencing God’s provision of water and food in God's time would lay a foundation of trust in other areas of life. But Israel never seemed to pass the trust-test. They were habitual whiners, constantly grumbling against God, testing God’s patience.

Getting Water from Rocks

Back in November I wrote come comments reflecting on the Exodus story -

Deserts are relentless – and humans are not well-adapted to desert demands.

As the Israeli tribes travelled deeper into the wilderness of Sinai toward their promised home, their principal need was water.

Once, in Exodus 17, when the need was especially acute, God told Moses to smack a nearby rock. To everyone’s astonishment, water gushed out. God knows the map-line of every underground aquifer and how to provide for his people.

Surprise Pathway

'History repeats itself', they say; 'what goes around, comes around.'  But Isaiah says 'don’t limit your imagination to what has happened before. Keep looking ahead because God is as much a God of tomorrow as a God of yesterday. While God is consistent and faithful, God is not predictable. Yahweh is full of surprises!'

This is what the LORD says—

he who made a way through the sea,

a path through the mighty waters,

Forget the former things. See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:16, 19

Unseen Footprints

In the exodus, God’s path led through the sea, not around it or over it, but through it. I prefer to avoid obstacles; but apparently God does not. In Psalm 77 we read -

Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

Psalm 77:19

Yahweh does not normally lead his people away from difficulties, but through them. And that is reinforced by the next line, ‘your path led through … the mighty waters’.

The painting on the left was made by a 13-year old Haitian child. Haitians understand the concept of going 'through'. There is nothing trivial about the ordeals God requires of his people, but the gigantic fact is that God remains present with us no matter how overwhelming they may seem to us.

Writhing Waters

Israel’s miraculous liberation in the Exodus was seared into their national consciousness. God intervened and they escaped into freedom through the Red Sea – and that deliverance defined Israel as a free people. In later years whenever they faced crisis, they went back to their founding story to get their bearings.

Psalm 77 is one of those times. Life in the real world seems to bring one crisis after another. Friends turn hostile, disease threatens, money runs out and debts pile up, plans go south and family peace disintegrates over-night. Life can get really scary sometimes – and faith doesn’t insulate anyone from distress.

Flood Season

This week-end's news told of swollen rivers over-flowing their banks in the Assinoboine and Mississippi flood-plains and disastrous floods in Colombia. Today's post focuses on the challenge of a river in flood-stage.

In the spring of the year, the Jordan River runs at its highest level, swollen by melting snow and late winter rains. This was the season when God chose to lead Israel into the Promised Land, perhaps for two reasons. Pragmatically, it brought Israel into their new homeland in time for the abundance of the spring barley and wheat harvest. But more significantly, it provided a dramatic sign of God’s amazing power for both Israel and the nations.

Birthing the Sea

In February 2009, 48 high school and university students aboard the 57 foot Nova Scotia ship the SV Concordia, were sailing in rough seas 500 kms off the coast of Brazil when a bizarre wind – a microburst - suddenly capsized their boat. Within 20 minutes it sank.

The students and 16 staff members all escaped safely to life-boats and were rescued the next day by commercial ships, but they will never forget the unpredictable, untamable power of the sea.

The Secret Power of Spring Rain

Okay, the calendar may say Spring, but Nature has a mind of its own and treated us overnight to a cruel dump of wet, unwelcome snow.

Yesterday I took pictures of crocus shoots triumphantly announcing the new season. Today they’re buried in white.

Having endured 5 months of winter, I’m not about to let a spring blizzard get me down. I know what’s coming. I’m Canadian. I’m a man of hope. Still, I’m tired of winter and itching to get my hands dirty in the soil again, to participate in the annual miracle.

In the land of the Bible, the spring rains are vital for bringing the winter growing season to its climax. The ‘early rain’ falls in late October and softens the summer-hardened soil for planting. January brings the peak rainfall, but most vital is the spring rain, also called ‘the latter rain’, just ahead of the heat that plumps the harvest. No rains, no harvest.