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Remembering Rule #1

Read

1 On that day, Leviathan,

the sea monster,

will squirm and try to escape,

but the Lord will kill him

with a cruel, sharp sword.

Protection and Forgiveness

The Lord said:

2At that time you must sing

about a fruitful vineyard.

3I, the Lord, will protect it

and always keep it watered.

I will guard it day and night

to keep it from harm.

4I am no longer angry.

But if it produces thorns,

I will go to war against it

and burn it to the ground.

5Yet if the vineyard depends

on me for protection,

it will become my friend

and be at peace with me.

6Someday Israel will take root

like a vine.

It will blossom and bear fruit

that covers the earth.

7I, the Lord, didn't punish and kill

the people of Israel

as fiercely as I punished

and killed their enemies.

8I carefully measured out

Israel's punishment

and sent the scorching heat

to chase them far away.

9There's only one way

that Israel's sin and guilt

can be completely forgiven:

They must crush the stones

of every pagan altar

and place of worship.

The Lord Will Bring His People Together

10Fortress cities are left

like a desert

where no one lives.

Cattle walk through the ruins,

stripping the trees bare.

11When broken branches

fall to the ground,

women pick them up

to feed the fire.

But these people are so stupid

that the God who created them

will show them no mercy.

12The time is coming when the Lord will shake the land between the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he will bring all of his people together. 13A loud trumpet will be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria and Egypt will return to worship the Lord on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
See this passage in other languages or Bible versions

Reflect

The parallels in this oracle between God and his people are strikingly similar to those between a parent and a child. The warning is familiar. We can easily imagine a parent saying, “Things are going very well for you around here and could get even better. The only thing that could make things go off-track is for you to violate Family Rule #1 – Show Respect. As your parent, I’m here to protect and provide for you. Your job is to remember who I am and show respect through obedience.”

The inviolable Rule #1 for the people of Israel was similar. It was the First Commandment – “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Yet the land was filled with altar stones, sacred poles and sun-pillars, all of it damning evidence that Rule #1 was being violated. Worship and allegiance were scattered across an array of unworthy directions. Things were not looking good in respect to the Law.

Rule #1 is the First Commandment because it sets everything else into alignment. It has primacy of place because it takes us to the Ultimate. Jesus declares that Rule #1 is still in force, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” (Matthew 22:37). But where are our hearts, souls and minds so often directed today? What is the ratio between our screen time versus our face time in front of the King of Kings? Perhaps we too have become so scattered that only our own time-out in Exile will gather us back into right thinking and a restored relationship.

Although much can be learned by stumbling through a trial and error process, often it’s at great cost. A wise person can learn from the mistakes of others, saving themselves much grief. May we be so wise.

Respond

Lord God – what foolish creatures we are. We’re so often blind to your blessings and so quick to spurn your promises. We settle for much less than second best when you could be our all. Rule #1 is truly in my best interest because it comes from you and takes me to you. Help me to see that.

Gary Drouillard

Gary Drouillard

Gary is enjoying a post-career afterlife in South Surrey, BC. His greatest professional achievement was pioneering a 10-year mission to make it possible for Canadians to use their cellphones around the world. Today, as a feeble but fascinated student of intellectual history and early church formation, his days are filled with reading, viewing online courses, thinking, and occasionally writing along with involvement with various volunteer work. His life’s journey has been made possible and pleasurable only by the accompaniment of his lovely, long-suffering wife, Pamela, and his two “too good for me” daughters who are now embellished with amazing American husbands.

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