God Cares About Your Pots and Pans

March 3, 2025March 1, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

The book of Zechariah, one of the “minor prophets”, contains many puzzling visions and predictions of the then-coming (and now coming-again) Messiah, Jesus. Zechariah prophesied after the Babylonian exile and God’s purpose through him was to give hope to His people in the form of a glorious future under a perfect King. The book ends with these verses:

“And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.” – Zechariah 14:20-21

While this seems a very strange ending for a book about Jesus, Zechariah’s words give us an amazing expectation of what Paradise will be like. The phrase “Holy to the LORD” references Exodus 28:36-38, where the words were inscribed on the high priest’s turban. The idea is that only very rarely are items recognized as set aside for only Godly use. However, Zechariah is telling us that this was only the beginning. When the King comes again in glory, He will establish a kingdom where even the most mundane household items will put to perfect use. There is nothing He does not care about.

And this concept is not just about bells and pots. While the Old Testament high priest was a sign of the way back to God, eventually the way encompasses every aspect of us. Zechariah promises us that every bit of our lives, even those we may give no thought to – our proverbial bells and pots – are to be perfected in glory. By caring about even these common items, God is telling us He leaves nothing undone. Nothing will be left in us that is set apart for other “gods.”

In Paradise we will be perfected, fully set apart for His glory, and His work in us has already begun. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6

When We Are Faithful, All Failure is Temporary

September 6, 2024September 5, 2024Todd R 2 Comments

In the Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War, Doctor Strange uses a powerful Time Stone to watch millions of possible future outcomes and find one where the Avengers win. The solution involves huge, almost unconscionable losses, including giving the villain, Thanos, exactly what he needs to commit genocide. The movie was part one of two, and the second wasn’t released until a full year later. Infinity War ends with Thanos victorious, and audiences had to wait to see if Strange’s decisions and sacrifices would work. Would the trust the Avengers put in him be rewarded and lead to their deliverance? It didn’t look good at the time, and it was actually a pretty grim movie.

Marvel’s story had cast Strange in the role of a prophet, except that Strange himself saw the future, and decided himself what to report back to the others, who had to trust what he said he saw, his judgement in what to share, and be willing to stick with it no matter what. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah’s call from God to be a prophet in Jeremiah 1:8-10 has some interesting comparisons with Marvel’s story line. The verses are:

“Do not be afraid of them,
            for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
            “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
            to pluck up and to break down,
            to destroy and to overthrow,
            to build and to plant.”

Unlike Doctor Strange, Jeremiah did not have the big picture; he could not pick and choose what to say. God would “put…words in your mouth,” words specifically chosen from perfect and infinite knowledge to be exactly what was needed. Strange was able to act on his plan, although the others didn’t understand and resisted. In Jeremiah’s case, Israel did not listen to him, and God actually told Jeremiah they wouldn’t, but he prophesied anyway. He was created for that purpose, and in the verses above he was assured to “not be afraid of them.”

While Strange promised that his plan would work, we had to wait for the sequel to see it. God promised Jeremiah, who also told the people, that his plan would work, and that the words God gave Jeremiah would determine the fates of “nations” and “kingdoms”, who God would “pluck up” and “break down.” But Jeremiah died waiting for the sequel. During his lifetime, Israel was plucked up by the Babylonians and sent into exile as punishment for their rejection of God, which was also a rejection of Jeremiah. His life was like a pretty grim movie, but his story was not finished, as we now know.

In his lifetime Jeremiah may have looked like a failure, but in the years after and in eternity, his work as a prophet and also his personal experience of God has provided invaluable lessons for millions. God knew this from the beginning because He didn’t have to wait a year to see the sequel. He has already seen them all. Therefore, we can trust what He sees, His judgement in what to share, and be willing to stick with it no matter what, because His story and ours does not end in this lifetime.

“It is not your business to succeed, but to do right. When you have done so the rest lies with God.” – C. S. Lewis

(Prior posts on Jeremiah’s call are here and here)

Love When Bad Things Happen

April 15, 2024Todd R 3 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Sometimes things happening in the world grab our attention and make us assign more significance to them than they deserve. Sometimes these are natural phenomena, like earthquakes, comets, or eclipses, and sometimes they are manmade phenomena, like wars.

One reason we do this is that passages in the Bible like Mark 13:5-23 describe what events will happen before Jesus returns again. We want Him to return! While it’s right to anticipate with excitement that Jesus is coming back, it’s important to sort out such passages by what is describing what will happen (descriptive truth) and what God tells us to do when these things happen (prescriptive truth). In all circumstances, the God’s primary commandments for us are to love God and to love our neighbor, even if they are our enemy. No phenomena should pull us off that path, and Mark 13:5-23 recommends that.

In the table below, I paraphrase and categorize Mark’s message into what is descriptive vs. prescriptive truth:

Descriptive	Prescriptive
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’	See that no one leads you astray
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nation	Do not be alarmed
Earthquakes and famines in various locations	Be on your guard
You will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake	Bear witness before them and do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
Brother will deliver brother over to death and you will be hated by all	Endure
False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders	Be on guard

To Jesus, none of the things in the descriptive column are new information. All were included in His plan from eternity past. The actions He recommends are not new information either. The “Prescriptive” column tells us not to panic, but to endure, to keep doing what we should be doing before these bad things happened – Love God, love your neighbor, even if your neighbor is your enemy.

On the other hand, false christs and prophets will tell us current events are unprecedented and a fulfillment of prophecy and they will tell us what we should do. The false prophet takes the descriptive of evil in the world and creates their own false prescriptive. They recommend an incomplete and inaccurate narrative of current events as an ultimate solution. Their own Babel which God must “come down” from heaven to even see (Genesis 11:5). But the true Christ calmly says, “be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand”. (Mark 13:23). The true Christ comes down from heaven and demonstrates how to create a true ladder back to heaven, offering forgiveness to all, even those who refuse to accept it or practice love. He will be thoroughly and eternally glorified by manifesting His kingdom as the only eternal kingdom, ruled by love, not by panic over current events.

No matter what we see happening in the news or in the world, Jesus knew it was coming and He told us that in any circumstance we should obey and glorify Him, through love for Him and neighbor. He doesn’t panic and neither should we.

Amen.