Advent, Day 11
A LIGHT FROM INSIDE OUT
All seemed lost. The line of David was broken. Judah was in exile. God’s chosen nation was scattered all over the Earth. But the real problem was not all these circumstances, terrible as they were. The real issue was that millennia of history had served to demonstrate that humans could not hold steadily to their partnership with God. Even the best characters of the Bible were abysmal failures. Noah passed out drunk and cursed his grandson, Abraham surrendered his wife to strangers. Judah committed human trafficking. Moses murdered an Egyptian. David committed adultery and murder. The list goes on and on. These people were not moral heroes to be emulated. They were very deeply broken.
God had long sought faithful partners whom He could send as light on a rescue mission, but these partners kept failing! No amount of sugar-coating could disguise the dire situation: Humans were simply too fickle. They were broken from the inside out. If ever there was to be hope of rescue, God would need to solve the human heart problem. So of course, that is what God would do. For as we have learned, God is not afraid of brokenness.
In the midst of the gloom of exile, writing from foreign captivity, the prophet Ezekiel depicted an approaching day when God would deal with human rebellion from the inside out. He would solve the problem of evil at its very source.
“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God… I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”
– Ezekiel 36:24-30
God would place a new spirit within his people—His very own Spirit! God would renew the minds of his people and cause them to cherish his ways. God would go to the very core of human rebellion—to those recesses in our hearts that secretly love darkness. God would perform heart surgery and change people from the inside out.
But when would this happen? How would it happen? The people must have struggled with doubts like, “This again?” or “God keeps making all these promises, but as we look around, everything just keeps getting worse and worse.”
They should have remembered that our God is a master artist. Every artist knows that light will shine most stunningly when set against a dark backdrop. God was not slow or forgetful—He was patiently writing the most beautiful ending to the story of Israel’s hopes and fears.
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.
– Jeremiah 32:37-42
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
– Why do you think God used humans like David and Moses despite their flaws?
– Do you believe that God can use you despite your flaws? Why is this sometimes difficult?
– If humans aren’t moral heroes to be emulated, what should we take away from the successes and failures of Biblical characters?
– If humans weren’t supposed to be the heroes of the story, who is? What Biblical stories can you recall in which God came through as the hero?
PRAYER
Lord, thank you for using broken people to accomplish your good will. You take evil and use it for good instead. You are the only one with such power! Only you can break the power of evil! Lord, we marvel at you. Help us see your faithfulness, your might, your goodness, and your love as we read the Bible. Help us to see you! Thank you for removing our heart of stone and giving us a renewed heart and new spirit. Teach us to love you more every day! Amen.
