Walls

Enemies break down our walls.

Idolatry leads us to build no walls.

Ignorance leads us to leave an open gate.

Fear leads us to wall in the gates.

Sin leads us to ignore the walls

               crumbling around us.

Hypocrisy leads us to paint a smile over

                       the wreckage.

But God

     builds upon His salvation

     and adorns our walls with jewels.

I have been thinking about walls during the past few months.  I think back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve experienced sin- the result of boundary issues- and they were escorted out of the garden. 

Fast forward to the exodus:    

Exodus 14:22
And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

These walls were protection allowing an impossible escape from the enemy while holding back the natural elements.

As Israel settled in the Promised Land, they began building walls.  These walls of protection for the city had towers for the ability to see an approaching enemy.  They had gates to let people in and out for commerce and travel.

As I meditated about these purposes, I thought about boundary problems.  Some people have no walls or gates.  They have not developed the ability to discern what to let in their lives and what to keep out.  They let everything in.  There is no protection. 

Others go to the other extreme and have a great wall- with no gates.  Fear has led them to isolation and a smothering of those who live inside the wall with them.  They let no one in, and they fear too much to let their loved ones travel freely. 

2 Chronicles 14:7
And he said to Judah, "Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side." So they built and prospered.

Soon after the walls were established, they fell into disrepair.  Most often a righteous king ushered an era of throwing out the garbage (idolatry) and repairing the walls of protection.

2 Chronicles 32:5
He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance.

Because of Israel’s repeated disobedience and idol worship, they were eventually conquered and taken to different lands.  When a remnant did return under the leadership of Nehemiah, they set up the task of rebuilding the wall.  The remnant was ridiculed by their enemies for this undertaking.  When taunts didn’t deter the few, the enemies spoke lies then planned attacks.

Ezra 4:13
Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired

It made me think, that if we take on the task of repairing our walls, we must be ready to face the opposition. 

 I found the process Nehemiah went through to be powerful and applicable. 

.

First, The walls were inspected- assessed.

Nehemiah 2:15
Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

We need to look at our boundaries and assess them.  Are we saying “yes” too often without asking God?  Are we saying “no” in order to shut out or shut in our loved ones?  Are our priorities backed up by the amount of time and money we spend?  Are we protecting our marriages, families, friends, churches with appropriate boundaries?  Are we helping our children to set boundaries? 

Nehemiah did not rebuild the wall by himself.  Second, He enlisted help by rallying others.  God wants us to not just protect our own interests, but create a movement of boundary setting.  How can this be done? 

Finally, the walls were consecrated by the priests and then people were put in charge as “gatekeepers” and singers, among other jobs.  I thought these jobs were particularly interesting, because they sounded unusual.   I have skipped over them too easily. 

A friend of mine calls parents “gatekeepers” because she feels it is their job to help protect their children’s sexual purity.  She feels the responsibility for all God’s children- to protect them by careful observation for any that would attack those boundaries through abuse.  She feels she neglected this role with her own children out of ignorance, but now she understands this important role, and she takes it seriously. 

Gatekeepers.  I help my children set up boundaries while they are under my influence.    

Nehemiah 7:1
Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed…

God criticized the Levites for neglecting their responsibilities in maintaining the walls.

Ezekiel 13:5 ⁵ You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.

Ezekiel 22:30
And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

Again, in the NIV:

³⁰ “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

Some say this verse is speaking to the future Messiah who would stand in the gap and pay for our sins.  As “gatekeepers” for ourselves and for our families, I think we are called to examine our walls consistently. 

Sin distracts to keep us from inspecting the walls.  Sometimes it is just the sin of busyness that keeps us from reflecting.  Sometimes it is just the desire to “check out” by “checking in” to television and movies.  Whatever keeps us from God keeps us blind to our condition.   

Even in the prophetic scriptures, we find references to walls.

Isaiah 26:1
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.

Isaiah 60:18
Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

Ultimately, our walls should be the story of our salvation, and our gates should be doors of praise. 

It is Christ’s work and free gift that is my protection.  That salvation is the lens that should help me choose every yes and every no.  Every attack should be filtered through his salvation.  I am still figuring out what exactly this means on a practical day to day level.

And my gates are praise.  I pray that every time I walk out my door, I will remember to praise my God.  I pray that every person I let come in, will hear me praising God.  And if they refuse to praise Him, they may just be asked to wait on the other side of my walls of salvation!  When I neglect to praise him and only complain, complain, complain, I may need a time out for meditation on the walls of salvation. 

Even Hezekiah, in his time of anguish “turned his face to the wall and prayed” 2 Kings 20:2.

If our walls have been built by anything but the salvation of our God, we are in trouble.

Ezekiel 13:14
And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare.

But God, when we go to him, is our builder.

Amos 7:7
This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

Zechariah 2:5
And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.'"

As a conclusion to this post, and a conclusion to the Old Testament, let us read about our future with God:

Rev. 21

¹⁸The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

 ²²And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, ²⁵and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night...

There will be no temple, but there will still be walls.  The gates will be open all day, every day- every true believer safe within God’s beautiful salvation.  His gates forever open for those who praise him eternally.   

So let us live in his walls of protection today.

Let us enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise. 

Remember Who You Are

What a privilege for me to be able to choose to do my post on portions of Scripture from Esther. Esther has always been one of my favorite books. It thrills me to be able to share some valuable truths I learned last Spring from the study of Esther by Beth Moore.


We know that Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who had adopted Esther) were Jews living in Susa of Persia as a result of the original exile of God's people to Babylon. We have also learned from our Bible reading that a group of God's people already returned to Jerusalem before the account of Esther. Many Jewish families, including Esther's, chose to stay behind. Although the book of Esther never mentions God, it's central theme demonstrates God's mighty hand providentially taking care of His people.


Xerxes, the King of Persia, is portrayed as someone very irresponsible and easily manipulated. Queen Vashti refuses his request to appear at his feast, so in anger he takes the advice of his manipulative adviser for her to be banished from his presence forever and to choose another queen. All young virgins of the empire are gathered into a harem for year long beauty treatments. Esther was taken into the harem and eventually to the King's bed. He was so delighted with her that he made her queen and celebrates with a great banquet. Soon afterwards her cousin/father, Mordecai, became a palace official at the king's gate.


Xerxes appoints an official named Haman as the most powerful official in the empire. Now Haman was an Amalekite and, as we've learned in our reading, the Amalekites were a ruthless people who had attacked the defenseless Israelites on several occasions through the history of their settlement in the land of Canaan. God made his people a promise to "erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven." according to Ex. 17:14. After giving His people rest from their enemies in the promised land, God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Amalekites. (Deut. 25:19). So, Saul, Israel's first king, was instructed by God through Samuel the prophet to completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation. (1 Sam. 15:3). If Saul had obeyed and destroyed every man, woman, and child of the Amalekites, Haman would never have been born. However, Saul disobeyed God and Haman became a descendant of King Agag. Mordecai, on the other hand, was a descendant of Kish (Saul's father). Many scholars conclude that there was a persisting generational rivalry between the Jews and Amalekites.


At this point in Esther, we can possibly understand why Mordecai would not bow down to Haman even though Xerxes had not only promoted him, he commanded that all his officials would bow down whenever Haman passed by. Surely Mordecai's office at the city gate had given him opportunity to learn of Haman's heritage. And so we read in Esther 3:5-6, "When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. He had learned of Mordecai's nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes." This is "persisting generational rivalry" way out of control!


Timing now becomes very significant. We read in verse 7 that Haman cast lots in the month of Nisan (April) to determine when to destroy the Jews and in verse 12 that the decree was written on the 13th day of Nisan. Most likely it was then dispatched to all the provinces of the empire on the next day, the 14th. Lev. 23:4-5 reveals a connection between that day. It tells us that the Lord's Passover began on the 14th day of Nisan. Beth Moore enlightens us, "From a divine perspective, the chronology was the furthest thing from coincidence. We have no idea how many of the seven annual feasts of Judaism were observed among the exiles of Persia. Of this we can be confident, however: If they celebrated only one, it was undoubtedly Passover. Even today very few people who count themselves Jewish are oblivious to the holiday or its significance, whether or not they commenmorate it."


So the edict hits the provinces that day God's people are preparing their tables for Passover. That evening at dusk, in accordance with God's command, fathers would recount to their wives and children the story of Israel's deliverance from Egypt by God's mighty hand. As they choked backed tears, they rehearsed every detail of the miraculous redemption. Celebration turned to shock and horror. They must have wondered - why must we receive this terrifying news on this - our Passover? To God, the timing was perfect - perhaps His way of giving His people hope. Jews were reminded who they were and what God had done for them. Beth shares, "Decades earlier the Persian Jews had chosen not to take advantage of their deliverance under the decree of Cyrus and their permission to return to Jerusalem. They decided they liked Persian life and stayed put. Then came Haman. Maybe that's one reason God allows "Hamans" to come along in life - so we'll quit being so at home here."


I hope like me you will read over these next declarations several times until they sink in. "Sometimes God uses the winds of a new threat to blow the dust off a past miracle that has moved from our active file into the archives. Remember what God has done for you! Remember who you are!"


You have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven. Eph. 2:6


You are a citizen of heaven. Phil. 3:20


You are an alien and stranger to this world in which you temporarily live. 1 Pet.2:11


You have the mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:16


SO you should set your mind on the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Col 3:1-2


Some say that there are those who are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good.


I say lets become so heavenly minded that it releases us to be our most excellent earthly best!


Press on sisters - I love you!

Verse Discussion #2

I found these two passages quite significant,


Ezekiel 34:2-4  "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves!... You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.  You have not brought back the strays of searched for the lost."

Erin, your blog, undivided heart seems to hinge upon this idea:

Ezekiel 36: 25-27  I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and you a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my degrees and be careful to keep my laws."

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Whoops!

I fell off the wagon, and I am sorry.  I failed to make contact with our faithful post people, and so they got an extra vacation!  Literally, Misty was in China!

Erin started seminary.

We are all busy.  So please pray for the 4 of us, that we can make it through to the end.  We have 3 month and 2 weeks remaining.  I know for myself, I never would have read the bible this quickly if not for the accountability this blog provides.  God has shown me much about himself. 

To fill in the 2 week hiatus, I thought I would post 2 separate verses and just ask you to post comments.  Then I think we can muster the energy to complete this crazy ride through God's holy word. 

Ezekiel 33: 31 With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.  Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

Could Jesus have had this in mind when he said, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

The language haunts me, and echoes the reflection that Sandra encouraged in her post.