FIRST TIME VIEWS

I'm still intrigued with the realization that God actually protected Ezekiel by allowing him to be captured and whisked away from Israel. It wouldn't seem like a blessing when it occurred, but +-7 years later when Israel fell to the Babylonians and the country endured hideous carnage, Ezekiel was safe. It is a new thought with reading Ezekiel this time around - and I'm grateful for that insight. It will serve me well when things don't 'feel' like they are a blessing at the moment.

Another completely unrelated new thought that occurred to me for the first time with reading I was doing yesterday in preparation for a Kids' Ministry meeting, was the potential humor in the communication process that occurred when Zechariah came home from his annual temple duties and couldn't talk - yet had to communicate to Elizabeth that they were going to have a baby. The humor in their reality had never occurred to me before. I've always focused on the surprise of learning she was going to be a first-time mother in her older years, but I've never thought about how Zechariah conveyed the message without words. It may have been one of the earlier games of charades.... The most likely answer is that she knew how to read - something probably not common among women, but since she and Zechariah were childless, perhaps he taught her, if she didn't already know.... Just conjecture - but even that brings up all kinds of thought possibilities. For the 9 months of her pregnancy, she could talk - tell him anything she wanted, and the only way he could reply was to write a note on a tablet or gesture - and I imagine they perfected their sign language skills rather quickly! A fun bunny trail for me....

I love that reading and studying rewards us with insights - even the seemingly trivial ones. In my study of Ezekiel I just completed Chapter 33. It is refreshing in the midst of all of the horror of what was being prophesied and coming to pass in the past several chapters, that there can be a little tender insight along the journey. God's Word is rich, and exciting, and sharper than any two-edged sword. If those who question His existence would only read His Word, He could and would speak to them through the long-ago written pages...pages that are timely for us today!

LORD, thank you for your written Word, which cultivates our ability to hear Your Word spoken to our hearts and minds. Amen.