July 2024 – Page 2 – What Does This Mean?

Ezekiel: The Prophet In Exile

Ezekiel was a prophet during the age of exile. His name can be translated as “Strength of God; whom God will strengthen; God is strong; the man of God strengthens.” And really, his name plays a role in the man’s nature. He needed the strength of God, like his contemporaries, to grasp and trust in the work that God was accomplishing before the eyes of all the nations.

We see Ezekiel mentioned by name twice in the Bible (Ezekiel 1:3; 24:24). The same name also appears in 1 Chronicles 24:16, but there the man is a priest during the days of David and translated as Jehezkel. All we know of the exilic prophet comes from the book attributed to him.

Ezekiel and his life are inseparable from the political upheaval of the seventh and sixth centuries BC. It is likely that Ezekiel was a young contemporary of Jeremiah. If Ezekiel was in his “thirtieth year” when he experienced his inaugural vision and received his call to be a mouthpiece of the Lord, he would have been a boy when Hilkiah the priest discovered the Book of the Law in the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22). It is conceivable since Ezekiel was of a priestly family (Son of Buzi, of the line of Aaron), he may have witnessed his own family members carrying out the idols at Josiah’s command, only to return a generation or two later.

In 605 BC, Ezekiel’s world shifted as Nebuchadnezzar II came to the throne of Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar was able to drive Egypt out of region of Israel, and the Babylonian forces carried off the first wave of Judaeans. This likely was the group that included Daniel and his three friends. Ezekiel was carried to Babylon around 597, when Jehoiachin surrendered to Babylon, but remained in place as king. But that was not the end of things for Jerusalem. Ezekiel prophesied in Exile, warning what was to come upon Jerusalem. Jerusalem was sacked in 587 BC. Ezekiel never left Babylon. Early Jewish tradition (The Lives of the Prophets) recounts that Ezekiel died in Chaldea for having rebuked a leader of the Judaean exiles for worshipping idols.

As God’s mouthpiece to those in exile, Ezekiel frequently performed sign-acts to get the message across. Ezekiel carried in his body the oracles he proclaimed. During his ministry as the mouthpiece of God, Ezekiel is rendered unable to speak (Ezek 3:22–27; 33:22), move (Ezek 4:4–8), and mourn his wife’s death (Ezek 24:15–27). He also was made to cook food over human and cow dung (Ezek 4:9-17).

Ezekiel’s message is not simply doom and despair over the coming judgment against Jerusalem that came to fruition in 586 BC. Ezekiel, while bearing witness to YHWH’s leaving the Temple in Jerusalem, shows that YHWH did not leave His people while in exile. Instead, He went to His people, foreshadowing how the true temple of God, the Word made Flesh, would come to seek His people like a shepherd seeking lost sheep and make it known to all that He is God. Ezekiel proclaims both God’s Law and His beautiful Gospel for all believers. In the final chapters of his book, Ezekiel writes about the end, prophesying of the glorious temple to come and the water that flows out of it to water trees that bear fruit in all seasons. Ezekiel seems to be picking up Psalm 1 and looking forward to Jesus’ proclamation that He is the water of life (John 4:13-14 and John 7:37-38).

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, Indiana

Sunday School: Jonah and the Unforgivable

Encore Post: Nineveh was the ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire, on the Tigris River in what is now modern Iraq. Our story takes place during the years when its power was growing and several events caused the people to focus on the service of their gods. About a century after the events of the Book of Jonah, The Assyrians invaded Israel, carried off all the people of the Northern Kingdom into exile.

Jonah is not a typical prophet. He came from a small town near Nazareth and hated the people of Nineveh for their legendary cruelty. Rather than take part in God’s plan to rescue the residents of the city from their sinful ways, he would rather go to the ends of the earth — literally. Tarshish was in Spain, which was the western edge of the known world at that time. As pagan sailors work to save his life, he seems unconcerned. When the fish swallows him, he comes to his senses and turns to God. Yet even then, he only preaches to Nineveh because God commands it. He is even angry with God when the people repent and God spares them.

Before we criticize Jonah too much, consider how you’d react if God sent you to preach to people that you have no use for. Imagine being called to preach to members of murderous gangs, to Muslim terrorists or even to those who rape or beat up children or women. It’s hard to have any sympathy for them, isn’t it?

Yet that is what we are called to do. American Lutheran pastor Henry Gerecke had volunteered as a chaplain in World War II. He served as a chaplain in an army unit and visited the Dachau death camp. When the Army asked him to be the chaplain for the Nazis on death row during the Nuremberg war crime trials, he volunteered. How do you minister to monsters? He approached the eleven Nazi leaders that conducted the holocaust through their childhood faith. He did not gloss over their crimes. When they asked to be communed, he refused unless they truly repented and confessed faith in Jesus. It is not a surprise that seven did not. Yet four did. He prayed a childhood prayer with one as the Nazi went to the gallows.

We must never forget that we, too, are sinners and unworthy of God’s mercy. Yet God, in his love, sent Jesus to see and to save the lost — both respectable people and the monsters, too. He calls on us to rejoice, for he has found his lost sheep and brought them all home.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emertitus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Sunday School: Jeremiah, The Weeping Prophet

Encore Post: Jesus, when he asked the disciples who the Son of Man was, got some interesting answers. His disciples gave him the answers, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

It is striking that Jeremiah was mentioned by name. Jeremiah is best known as the weeping prophet, and that at first glance has little to do with the Son of Man, which we see coming on the clouds in triumph and judgment. He wept for Jerusalem because her disobedience led to destruction. Jeremiah truly suffered as he witnessed Jerusalem’s fall. Jeremiah was a prophet who suffered mightily for the words that the Lord had him utter. His scroll was burned. Jeremiah was also jailed and even thrown into a cistern.

So what does it mean that some said the Son of Man was to be Jeremiah? Did they know something about the Son of Man that the disciples did not? Did not the Son of Man come into the world to suffer? To suffer the awful fate of the cross, that was on the agenda of the Son of Man. Jeremiah is perhaps the best type we have in the Old Testament that points us forward to Jesus’ sorrow over Jerusalem and Jesus’ suffering at the hands of his own people because of his message.

The book that bears Jeremiah’s name and the next book in our Bible, Lamentations, speaks a lot about suffering. But this is not the only thing, nor it is the last word. There is hope; there is Gospel. Jeremiah is given some of the sweetest words of the Gospel that we have recorded for us in all of Scripture. The mourning of the believer will be turned to song. The Lord’s love is never ending. Great is His faithfulness. In Christ, the true Son of Man, the one who suffered even worse than the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, has set us free from sin and death by his own death and resurrection.

So yes, Jeremiah should have been in the conversation of the Son of Man because He is a type and figure of the very Son of Man, Jesus, who suffered and died and rose to win salvation and everlasting life for us, poor, miserable sinners.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville Indiana

Sunday School: Elijah’s Mantle on Elisha Cast

Encore Post: Elijah knew his ministry was nearing the end. At Mount Sinai, he complained to God that all his ministry, including fire called from heaven, was useless. He believed he was alone. God showed his prophet his glory in wind, earthquake, and fire. As Moses did in the same place, Elijah hid his eyes from the glory of God — this time with his cloak, the symbol of his call as a prophet. Yet even after seeing the glory of God, Elijah was unmoved. So, in a quiet voice, God told his faithful prophet he was far from alone. To Elijah, he gave a final commission: to appoint his successors.

God sent Elijah to call Elisha to be his successor. Their names sound very close in English, but are very different in Hebrew. Elijah means, “Yahweh is God.” Elisha means, “God saves.” Elisha’s name is very close to Joshua’s name. Joshua means, “Yahweh saves.” Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha, who did not miss the meaning of that gesture.

When it was time for Elijah to go, he and Elisha went to Gilgal. There, the people of Israel had first camped when they came into the promised land, were circumcised as God’s people, celebrated the Passover, saw the end of the coming of Manna and the departure of the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. There, the Angel of the Lord commissioned Joshua. Then they went to Bethel, where Jacob had dreamed of the angels coming and going from heaven. Finally, they went to Jericho, where Joshua struck the first blow against the gods of Canaan.

When the two prophets arrived at the Jordan River, Elijah rolled up the cloak into a staff like Moses’. He struck the River, and it parted — just as it did in the same place for Joshua. Like Moses, Elijah would depart this world from just outside the promised land. As the chariot of fire carried Elijah into heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha caught his cloak. The new prophet struck the Jordan with it and it parted. God had made Elisha the heir of Elijah’s ministry.

Nearly two thousand years later, Moses and Elijah met with Jesus as those he would send watched. The new Joshua (Jesus’ name is the Greek form of Joshua’s name) would suffer, die and rise again to defeat sin, death and the power of the devil. Rising from the dead, he breathed the Holy Spirit on his appointed prophets. From generation to generation, one generation’s prophets have laid their hands upon those who would take up their stoles after them. God of the prophets, bless the prophets’ sons, Elijah’s mantle on Elisha cast. Make each one nobler, stronger than the last.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Sunday School: Elijah, The Man of God when There were Few

Encore Post: Elijah is not credited with any of the books of the Bible, but he is remembered as one of the most powerful prophets of the entire Old Testament. His stories are legendary for those of us who listened to our moms and dads read bible stories before bed. He was the prophet who prophesied a 3 year drought. He was the prophet who worked the miracle of flour and oil, and raised the widow’s son from the dead. He was the prophet who called down fire on Mount Carmel in the midst of the Baal priests. And we can’t forget about him being taken up to heaven by a whirlwind and a chariot of fire.

Elijah was the Lord’s man. But even after great triumph and acts of the Lord, Elijah shows himself to be afraid. I should say, it is difficult to determine if Elijah is afraid or he is tired of preaching to people who do not believe. You can read Dr. Maier’s great commentary on Kings from CPH for that answer. But what we do know is that Elijah runs to Mount Horeb wishing to die because he thinks he is the only prophet of the Lord left. The Lord is merciful to Elijah. The Lord tells him the truth of the situation. The Lord has 7,000 men who have not bowed down to Baal.

What a great comfort to Elijah! He is not working in vain. The Lord worked to bring about repentance and faith in the time of great apostasy then, and He still works now through the preaching of His Word. What great comfort for us now! The Word of the Lord remains the same.

In the days of Malachi, the Lord promised to send Elijah prior to the great day of the Lord. Jesus plainly tells his disciples that John was the Elijah. And we must not forget that Elijah was on the mountain of transfiguration with Jesus and Moses, speaking about Jesus’ own exodus.

What a man of the Lord! Elijah was used by the Lord to bring about repentance and faith when there were few who believed and worshiped the true God of Israel. Thanks be to God that in these days, where the world appears to be going in that same way, there are those who preach the same message of Elijah.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
Christ Lutheran Church
Noblesville, IN

Sunday School: Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Encore Post: When God invited Solomon to ask for a blessing, Solomon asked for wisdom. Solomon’s request pleased God for several reasons. First, he was humble, realizing his limitations. He was still very young and had little experience governing. Second, he sought to serve God first. He asked for wisdom — the ability to use knowledge well to meet needs and discernment, — the ability to tell right from wrong. He sought first God’s kingdom and righteousness. God granted him what he asked for — and riches, fame and a long life as well.

King Solomon was the son of King David and Bathsheba. His life shows how completely God forgives, since David committed great sins with and because of Bathsheba. They deserved to die, but God forgave them, let them live and gave them a second son. Solomon would be an ancestor of the Messiah.

Under Solomon, Israel became a prosperous and powerful nation. Solomon was a superb organizer. He reformed the kingdom’s bureaucracy, making it more efficient and channeling its prosperity effectively. He built God’s Holy Temple and numerous other buildings. He became a collector of proverbs, many of which appear in the Book of Proverbs. According to tradition, the Books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs are written by the King, although much debate about this exists among scholars.

As great as he was, Solomon was a sinner also. He married hundreds of wives, mainly to secure treaties. He allowed them to worship the gods of their fathers and even constructed temples for them. For this reason, God caused the kingdom to be divided during his son’s reign. Yet, for the sake of the one greater than Solomon, his sins are forgiven, along with ours.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sunday School: David Anointed King

Encore Post: In ancient times, people poured oil on themselves for various purposes, — as perfume, as medicine, and to show that something or someone was to serve God only. Doing this was called anointing.

Anointing was a part of the ceremonies to make a king the ruler of Israel or a priest to serve God in performing sacrifices. The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word that means “anointed one.” It was translated into Greek with the word “Christ.”

As the prophets God sent to Israel predicted more and more about the coming of Jesus, they began to use these words as the title for God’s Son. When the prophet Nathan promised that a descendant of David would be the Messiah, they also came to call this promised savior “The Son of David.”

Jesus is the Messiah promised. He did not come to be served, but to serve others and give his life for us. In this way, he truly is the man after God’s own heart.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sunday School: David and Goliath

Encore Post: When Saul and David lived, war was very personal. Most of the fighting was done with swords, shields, and other weapons in hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes it was very hard to predict who would win a battle. Yet everyone knew hundreds to thousands of soldiers on both sides would die. To spare the armies of such losses, the two sides would sometimes agree to have their two best soldiers fight the battle for their armies. These soldiers were called champions.

Goliath proposed to fight for the Philistines. If he won, Israel would surrender to them. If he lost, the Philistines would surrender. All of Goliath’s strength did him no good, since he couldn’t reach David with his sword. David used his sling. Men from the tribe of Benjamin were known for their marksmanship with a sling. Like them, David learned his skill with the weapon fending off animals that attacked his sheep. God guided David’s stone, which killed the giant. He finished off Goliath with the Philistine’s own sword. But the Philistine army did not honor the agreement, but broke ranks and fled. The army of Israel followed them, killing many as they ran.

Saul recognized talent when he saw it. He kept David with him and sent him out on military missions. As David won victory after victory, the people came to love him. David became a good friend of Saul’s son, Jonathan. Saul would eventually give David his daughter Michal in marriage. Soon Saul would become jealous of David’s fame and see him as a threat to his throne.

David’s descendent, Jesus, is our champion. He fought sin, death and the devil for us on the cross, suffered and died for our sins and rose from the grave to defeat them. Because our Champion died for us, we now will live with Him forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sunday School: King Saul

Encore Post: After Joshua’s death, God let each tribe of Israel rule their own lands. When they were needed, God appointed judges to settle disputes and lead them in battle. But the tribes did not act as one people. They were not impressed with the sons of their greatest judge, Samuel. So the people asked God for a king to unite them, fight their battles, and give them a sense of pride. What the people did not see was the downside — kings do whatever they want and take whatever they want. If they do not serve God, then the people would become slaves in their own country. They did not listen, so God granted their wish.

He sent to Samuel a handsome, tall, and charismatic young man named Saul. He was the son of a rich man from the tribe of Benjamin. Samuel anointed him king over Israel. At first, Saul was very successful. He raised a large army and liberated some Israelites from the Ammonites. He won a few victories against the Philistines with inferior weapons. He defeated the Amalekites and killed everyone of them, yet spared their king against God’s command.

So, in the end, King Saul disobeyed God and did what he pleased. So God took the Kingdom of Israel back from him and gave it to a shepherd boy, David. A thousand years later, Jesus, the Son of David, served God and His people. He suffered and died for our sins and rose again to defeat sin, death and the power of the devil. One day, He will return with the armies of Heaven to defeat these forces forever. On that day, we will live under the King of Kings forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Sunday School: Samuel’s Call

Encore Post: Samuel is a unique figure in the history of God’s people. Samuel was the last and greatest of Israel’s judges and the one through whom God would anoint Israel’s first two kings. As a Levite, dedicated to the Lord, he served as a priest. God called him also as a prophet. He was the only figure in the Old Testament who served in all three sacred offices: prophet, priest, and king. In this way, Samuel paved the way for Jesus, Who is the greatest of all: — Prophet, Priest and King.

Samuel’s birth was also unique. His mother, Hannah, was barren and prayed for the birth of a son. When Samuel was born, she gave him to the Lord so that the boy would serve as a priest in the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was Israel’s first temple. It was a tent, whose layout was like the temple that would follow it. Here in its Holy of Holies was kept the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of God‘s law, Moses Staff and other items that witnessed to God’s miracles in the desert years. Samuel’s duty that night was to keep the lamps lit all evening.

While he was sleeping near the sanctuary, God called out to Samuel. Thinking the voice was that of the high priest, Eli, he went to him. Eli instructed him to go back to bed. When God called two more times, Eli told him to say to God: “Speak, Lord, your servant listens.” God gave Samuel the first of many prophecies that night.

When Samuel was old, the people of Israel pressed him to give them a king, like all the neighboring nations. They believed it would unite them. Samuel warned them that substituting a human king for God, their King, would bring only trouble. He would, in a sense, enslave them. They did not listen. God told Samuel to give in. He revealed to the prophet-judge-priest that Saul would be king — handsome, strong and able — everything they thought a king should be.

At first, Saul was very successful. But soon his power convinced him he could do anything he wished. Even though he was not a priest, he personally sacrificed to the Lord. Even when God ordered the complete destruction of an enemy people and not to take plunder from them, he spared their king and took plunder. God deposed him and chose David of Bethlehem, son of Jesse, as his successor. Samuel anointed him king.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana