Chicken Run was on...now Christmas Vacation..."You can't see the line, can you Russ..."....dont know but this might be the best depiction of what life is like for the modern male ever made!...this one and Funny Farm are my favorite Chevy Chase movies!!
But back to Ezekiel...I read half the book..then skimmed the second half...looking for that depiction of a place like the Valley...couldn't find it and finally googled: bible waterfall...to see if anything shows up...not much!...but then the Middle East hasn't much High Country...that's wet.
But there were some passages that caught my attention...Ezekiel wasn't in the Sunday School curriculum..so this is a first reading!...this from Chapter Sixteen..
quote
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
.
2 'Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem: Thine origin and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water for cleansing; thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field in the loathsomeness of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee wallowing in thy blood, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live;
7 I cause thee to increase, even as the growth of the field. And thou didst increase and grow up, and thou camest to excellent beauty: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
unquote
It goes on...and needless to say it reads cruel nowadays for it's imagery...but when I read this passage, which is very striking in it's succinctness...and I'm not sure where Adam and Eve have gotten too!...I thought that it resembles evolution in Nature...and how people have been given a special...what to call it??...song...in the sense that each species is singing, being, it's own song...and we are unique and favored with intelligence and awareness and skills far beyond the other species...and here God is telling Jerusalem that among the Nations He has given them gifts...
And then of course they squander them and become wayward...which is self similar to what people are doing...and have done...
In Ezekiel the task ahead for Jerusalem is to get back into God's good graces...and God's not the least bit shy about trimming away the wayward...lemesse if I can find that...brb...
quote
21 For thus saith the Lord GOD: How much more when I send My four sore judgments against Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast.
.
22 And, behold, though there be left a remnant therein that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; behold, when they come forth unto you, and ye see their way and their doings, then ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it;
23 and they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings, and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.' {P}
unquote
It's a grim chapter, 14, but it reminds me of what is actually happening in Nature, has happened, and always will I suppose...it's a struggle and survival is tough...sword famine pestilence and evil beasts!
In Point Reyes non native Deer are being gunned down by a contractor....part of the Park Service effort to keep native fauna and flora to California around....these non native Deer if allowed to thrive will push out the native ones..lemesee if I can find that...
quote
In its 2001 Management Policies, the National Park Service instructs parks such as Point Reyes National Seashore to “re-establish natural functions and processes in human-disturbed components of natural systems.” The Management Policies include non-native species as an example of a human-caused disturbance that can have severe impacts on natural biota and ecosystems.
unquote
This kinda jargon just drives one up the wall!...the story I read in the paper tell of residents finding dead deer with stomach wounds...of a stench over the landscape for days...such is "re-establish" and "severe impacts".
The struggle for survival in Nature has an "innocence" to it until people come along and start tinkering with it...there are 16 million deer hunters in the US...lemeget that...well, it was in the paper story...which was about camouflage...how hunters now have a variety to choose from...but that many hunters might be construed as a "severe impact on natural biota"!
Oh, the comeback here is hunter's are conservationists...and deer are thriving...well...some critters used to keep those populations in balance...and are they thriving!
At this point one should see the nature flic 'Counting Sheep'!
Once the environmental problems of today can be seen in these passages in Ezekiel the whole thing takes on a much larger import...I cant get it across very well...but feel the sense of it.
One more part I wanted to quote and consider...
quote
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered; for his trespass that he trespassed, and for his sin that he hath sinned, for them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is not equal? is it not your ways that are unequal?
כ2 When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall die therefor; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. {S}
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, is it My ways that are not equal? is it not your ways that are unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so shall they not be a stumblingblock of iniquity unto you.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD; wherefore turn yourselves, and live.
unquote
That's chapter 18...and that bit sounds so Christian..so much like something Jesus would say...lemego google jesus and ezekiel..
Well, that was an easy and good search...as I found a whole sermon about just the thing I was trying to get at...
quote
Ezekiel is a strange and disturbing book, from a strange and disturbing man, someone called to prophesy at the age of thirty, prone to ecstatic visions, inflammatory remarks and very weird behaviour. Rabbis of old wouldn’t introduce the book to their students until they too had reached thirty years of age, for fear they get the wrong end of the stick. (Notice, by the way, and I’ll come back to Luke later, that Luke is quick to tell us that Jesus was thirty when he began his ministry…)
Ezekiel, Jesus and the Spirit of God
Sermon preached at All Hallows by Annie Heppenstall-West on 25 September 2005
http://www.allhallowsleeds.org.uk/worship/sermons/AnnieHW050925.shtml
unquote
That bit about age thirty could explain a lot!
But what in the world end of the stick have I got!...read Ezekiel with a sense of how it can be speaking of Nature and how people are living with Nature.
God may seem merciless...and that question is addressed...God answering that there is a reason for it all...sorta like that favorite Allison Kraus song!
"I have not done without cause all that I have done..." -God
Oh, and the why I title this post evolutionary science in Ezekiel....well..I'm thinking Darwin read this too..lemgolook...
This site gives a history of Darwin's own journey of the spirit...
quote
In the last year of his life, when the Duke of Argyll suggested to him that certain purposes seen in nature "were the effect and the expression of mind," Charles looked at him very hard and said, "Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times," and he shook his head vaguely, adding, "it seems to go away."
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/darwin.html
unquote
It would seem he read the Bible and thought over it much...pic is from William Blake.
DavidDavid
Tree in the Door
But back to Ezekiel...I read half the book..then skimmed the second half...looking for that depiction of a place like the Valley...couldn't find it and finally googled: bible waterfall...to see if anything shows up...not much!...but then the Middle East hasn't much High Country...that's wet.
But there were some passages that caught my attention...Ezekiel wasn't in the Sunday School curriculum..so this is a first reading!...this from Chapter Sixteen..
quote
1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
.
2 'Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem: Thine origin and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water for cleansing; thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field in the loathsomeness of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee wallowing in thy blood, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live;
7 I cause thee to increase, even as the growth of the field. And thou didst increase and grow up, and thou camest to excellent beauty: thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.
unquote
It goes on...and needless to say it reads cruel nowadays for it's imagery...but when I read this passage, which is very striking in it's succinctness...and I'm not sure where Adam and Eve have gotten too!...I thought that it resembles evolution in Nature...and how people have been given a special...what to call it??...song...in the sense that each species is singing, being, it's own song...and we are unique and favored with intelligence and awareness and skills far beyond the other species...and here God is telling Jerusalem that among the Nations He has given them gifts...
And then of course they squander them and become wayward...which is self similar to what people are doing...and have done...
In Ezekiel the task ahead for Jerusalem is to get back into God's good graces...and God's not the least bit shy about trimming away the wayward...lemesse if I can find that...brb...
quote
21 For thus saith the Lord GOD: How much more when I send My four sore judgments against Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast.
.
22 And, behold, though there be left a remnant therein that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters; behold, when they come forth unto you, and ye see their way and their doings, then ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it;
23 and they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings, and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.' {P}
unquote
It's a grim chapter, 14, but it reminds me of what is actually happening in Nature, has happened, and always will I suppose...it's a struggle and survival is tough...sword famine pestilence and evil beasts!
In Point Reyes non native Deer are being gunned down by a contractor....part of the Park Service effort to keep native fauna and flora to California around....these non native Deer if allowed to thrive will push out the native ones..lemesee if I can find that...
quote
In its 2001 Management Policies, the National Park Service instructs parks such as Point Reyes National Seashore to “re-establish natural functions and processes in human-disturbed components of natural systems.” The Management Policies include non-native species as an example of a human-caused disturbance that can have severe impacts on natural biota and ecosystems.
unquote
This kinda jargon just drives one up the wall!...the story I read in the paper tell of residents finding dead deer with stomach wounds...of a stench over the landscape for days...such is "re-establish" and "severe impacts".
The struggle for survival in Nature has an "innocence" to it until people come along and start tinkering with it...there are 16 million deer hunters in the US...lemeget that...well, it was in the paper story...which was about camouflage...how hunters now have a variety to choose from...but that many hunters might be construed as a "severe impact on natural biota"!
Oh, the comeback here is hunter's are conservationists...and deer are thriving...well...some critters used to keep those populations in balance...and are they thriving!
At this point one should see the nature flic 'Counting Sheep'!
Once the environmental problems of today can be seen in these passages in Ezekiel the whole thing takes on a much larger import...I cant get it across very well...but feel the sense of it.
One more part I wanted to quote and consider...
quote
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered; for his trespass that he trespassed, and for his sin that he hath sinned, for them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is not equal? is it not your ways that are unequal?
כ2 When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall die therefor; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. {S}
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, is it My ways that are not equal? is it not your ways that are unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so shall they not be a stumblingblock of iniquity unto you.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD; wherefore turn yourselves, and live.
unquote
That's chapter 18...and that bit sounds so Christian..so much like something Jesus would say...lemego google jesus and ezekiel..
Well, that was an easy and good search...as I found a whole sermon about just the thing I was trying to get at...
quote
Ezekiel is a strange and disturbing book, from a strange and disturbing man, someone called to prophesy at the age of thirty, prone to ecstatic visions, inflammatory remarks and very weird behaviour. Rabbis of old wouldn’t introduce the book to their students until they too had reached thirty years of age, for fear they get the wrong end of the stick. (Notice, by the way, and I’ll come back to Luke later, that Luke is quick to tell us that Jesus was thirty when he began his ministry…)
Ezekiel, Jesus and the Spirit of God
Sermon preached at All Hallows by Annie Heppenstall-West on 25 September 2005
http://www.allhallowsleeds.org.uk/worship/sermons/AnnieHW050925.shtml
unquote
That bit about age thirty could explain a lot!
But what in the world end of the stick have I got!...read Ezekiel with a sense of how it can be speaking of Nature and how people are living with Nature.
God may seem merciless...and that question is addressed...God answering that there is a reason for it all...sorta like that favorite Allison Kraus song!
"I have not done without cause all that I have done..." -God
Oh, and the why I title this post evolutionary science in Ezekiel....well..I'm thinking Darwin read this too..lemgolook...
This site gives a history of Darwin's own journey of the spirit...
quote
In the last year of his life, when the Duke of Argyll suggested to him that certain purposes seen in nature "were the effect and the expression of mind," Charles looked at him very hard and said, "Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times," and he shook his head vaguely, adding, "it seems to go away."
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/darwin.html
unquote
It would seem he read the Bible and thought over it much...pic is from William Blake.
DavidDavid
Tree in the Door
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