The Lord, God the Son, appeared to mankind throughout HIStory.
Genesis 26:-6 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” 6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
Genesis 46:1-6 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” And he said, “Here I am.” 3 So He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.” 5 Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.
God is sovereign and His will is always in our best interest. We may not understand we just need to listen and obey.
Genesis 32:20 also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. Wrestling with God 22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” -4And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.
After his face to face meeting with the Lord Jacob was never the same. His life changed and he was no longer a deceiver but a follower of God.
Ezekiel 40:1-4 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me; and He took me there. 2 In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. 3 He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. 4 And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.”
Christ showed Ezekiel His glorious Kingdom to come. During this thousand years the temple will be established and Jesus Christ will reign as King.
Genesis 47:3-12 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. 9 And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12 Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”
This was the Lord’s description of the glorious Kingdom of God on earth which is to come. Everything that was created for Adam and Eve will be restored to perfection. The nations will be healed. Only in Christ is there peace! Carla
Ezekiel’s temple tour concludes at the entrance of the temple proper, where he finds a stream of water coming from beneath the temple and flowing east. Ezekiel’s guide walks him through the water, measuring the growing river and testing the depth until it becomes impassable just over a mile from the temple. The water flowing from the temple gives life and renews the land it flows through. If this holy district and sacred city represents Jerusalem, the life-giving power of the river would be significant in restoring the region east of Jerusalem—a dry, lifeless wilderness approaching the salty waters of the Dead Sea. Ezekiel seems to envision a river of life that heals the waters of the Dead Sea and turns the wilderness into a lush orchard. This imagery recalls the book of Isaiah, where the deserts bloom under Yahweh’s redemptive hand (Isaiah 35:1). Faithlife Study Bible
The water becomes a river of healing and the source of abundant life for everything and everyone (Genesis 2:8–10; Zechariah 14:8; John 4:13, 14; 10:10; Revelation 22:1, 2). It continues flowing southeast: through the dry, rocky region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea—that is, the Arabah or eastern region—and south along the Jordan valley and the Jordan Rift, as far as to the Dead Sea. When it reaches the sea (the Dead Sea), the salty sea becomes fresh and able to sustain life so that fishermen can fish there: its waters are healed. This is an amazing picture—the Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water (approximately 25 percent saline content) and is presently unable to support life. It is also the lowest point on earth, with its surface 1,300 feet below sea level and the water itself 1,300 feet deep. The living water that God will provide has immeasurable power to renew, restore, and resurrect life. This sea which is dead will teem with life all along its shores—from En Gedi to En Eglaim. Great volumes and variety of vegetation, everlasting and perpetually productive, will result from this river which flows from the sanctuary (verse 1). Read John 7:37–39 for Jesus’ use of the image of living waters for the life that He gives to those who believe in Him. The NKJV Study Bible
John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Revelation 22:1–2 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Psalm 1:3
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
Ezekiel 47:7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other.
Jeremiah 17:8
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
There’s a beautiful Irish phrase from West Kerry, “Mo sheasamh ort lá na choise tinne.” It means, “You are the place where I stand on the day when my feet are sore.”
That makes my heart smile real big.
But here’s the deal: Trust has never been easy for me. And this is a conundrum, I know, because we are not on this journey alone. And being human means being in relationship. Bad or good, it’s still a relationship. (And these past years have been a wee bit dicey in terms of our sense of community.)
But this is undeniable: We all need (and yearn for) places of safety, sanctuary, and restoration when our “feet are sore”.
So. How do we find such places, in a world splintered, wounded and cynical?
In a world inundated, where we lose track and our fuel for conversation is reactive, even combative?
When our equilibrium is catawampus, how do we hit the reset?
When asked about my ministry years as a young pastor, I have answered with a smile, “It was quite pleasurable, you know, except for the people.” And I get nods of agreement.
So yes, maybe it’s a good time to rethink how we see relationships, as it seems that we have lost confidence in love.
Meet poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama. He reminds us that we don’t always have to agree with each other to love (or trust) each other. Disagreement and belonging can be embraced at once.
Ó Tuama has seen firsthand the transformative power of living through disagreement in community. He’s about to finish a five-year term as the leader of Corrymeela, a community in Northern Ireland working to heal the culture of division and history of conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants.
Here’s his invitation; What might it look like to enter into disagreement from a place of trust rather than fear?
And if we know that we are vulnerable to being transformed by one another, can we change in ways we might not yet understand?
How scary and strange and meaningful can that be?
“We’re constantly making each other,” John Powell writes. “And if we do it right, we’re going to create a bigger ‘we,’ a different ‘we.’”
Let us begin here: Disagreement is not a disqualifier.
And I love the phrase, “working to heal”. It would be a great book title. An even better life mission.
“What do you do?”
“I work to heal.”
From Jewish tradition we learn our job title; Tikkun olam. Literally, repair of the world.
The word olam also means hidden . We need to repair the world so that its Creator is no longer hidden within, but shines through each thing in magnificent, harmonious beauty.
As a gardener this makes perfect sense. It’s all about the dirt. Nutritious or nutritive soil creates and generates life. Toxic soil does not. Fertility is stifled, because the nutrients have been leached.
Tikkun, to repair the soil of the world with nutrients: kindness, a balm of generosity, a capacity to accommodate fragility, and a softness of spirit. What Eve Ensler called, “The daily subtle simple gathering of kindness.”
Working to heal (Tikkun olam) isn’t only for the spiritually or intellectually inclined.
Working to heal is in our DNA. As children of our creator, we are healers.
In kindness, we affirm dignity.
In empathy, we see value and build connections.
With compassion and justice, we right wrongs and create sanctuaries.
Sabbath Moments
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