Post 92 / The Next Language
May 31, 2022
Tale of Three Sisters
At 8 AM every day the Indonesian team meets for prayer and normally reads a chapter of the Bible.
Last Wednesday it fell to Ezekiel chapter 16. Jopi led us in a discussion about where we fit in this chapter.
This amazing parable is a prophesy about the very imminent destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon and probably encompasses the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It could also be a parable about most of us sinners that have been scooped out of the slime of our sin. It is also very prophetic and still future looking to the relationship God and these three sisters.
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity [is] of the land of Canaan; thy father [was] an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. …And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blood, Live; …. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it [was] perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. … Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. [Is this] of thy whoredoms a small matter, That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through [the fire] for them? … How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these [things], the work of an imperious whorish woman; … Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; … They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. … So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. … Thou [art] thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou [art] the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother [was] an Hittite, and your father an Amorite. And thine elder sister [is] Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, [is] Sodom and her daughters. … When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: … When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. … Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD. For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. [Eze 16:2-3, 6, 14-15, 20-21, 30, 36, 40, 42, 45-46, 53, 55, 58-63 KJV]
What a story. And what a future.
Our God shows both His grace and justice in dealing with Jerusalem’s unfaithfulness. While the lovers- Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, and even the Philistines are used to judge Jerusalem, the Sisters are already suffering the results of their punishment.
They are all waiting to move back center stage when God brings back the captivity of all. A “bringing back” that leaves behind the addictive powers of idolatry, and pride, and promiscuity, and arrogance. It is a bringing back that borrows language from the original Exodus. It is a bringing back that changes the relationship of the three sisters to a relationship of “daughters”. Daughters that are related under a new everlasting covenant.
I can’t help but jump to Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Purely coincidental of course the woman had many husbands. It is here that Jesus announces the dynamics for the “daughter” relationship with Jerusalem. [Jhn 4:21 KJV] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Here the elder sister is told of a day when as “daughters” they will worship the Father.
What about the younger sister- Sodom? Everyone then and now know that she was destroyed- obliterated. How does she return from captivity?
Our discussion with Jopie, and Chandra, and Vera, and Ronni concluded that we are the younger sister and that the children of that relationship includes people from every language, people, tongue and nation.
In Romans 9 Paul takes up the family image and says- [Rom 9:23-26 KJV] And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee (Hosea), I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
In Romans 10 Paul addresses the new family relationship and the message that comes with that news. It is central to the heart of this mission. [Rom 10:12-17 KJV] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In Romans 11 Paul changes the image but not the primary teaching point. The middle sister (once queen mother) becomes the vine. [Rom 11:17-21 KJV] And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest he also spare not thee.
Thus the daughters come into the family. May we find them all.
We concluded the LRI morning praying for indigenous local languages by viewing some of the pictures drawn from a pile of hundreds that the staff cycle through for prayer every day. In this context the younger sister becomes visible and by faith part of the family.
God Bless,
Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director
Global Recordings Network USA
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