|
"Growth of the Shoot" - Pastor William Seaman |
|
|
July 2 ?± Emmanuel, Asheville
Text: Ezekiel 17:22-24
Title: Growth of the ?¨Shoot?Æ
Ezekiel 17:22-24 (1) Parable of the trees
17:22 Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty
top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from
the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and
lofty mountain. 17:23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble
cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its
branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. 17:24 All the trees
of the field shall know that I am the LORD. I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree
flourish. I the LORD have spoken; I will accomplish it.
I grew
up on a farm and was always asking my father, ?¨What is that??Æ He would
tell me the names of trees, birds, weeds and many other things. Not
having graduated from high school because his father died when he was a
pre-teen, and being the oldest, he dropped out of school to help raise
his brothers and sisters, and so there were many plants and animals
whose names he did not know. I became fascinated with the variety of
plant and animal life on the farm and wanted to know the names of
everything and so began my quest for biological knowledge. While in
high school I entered science fairs and won prizes. In college I
majored in biology and even though studying for the ministry, my
professors noted my interest and recommended me for a scholarship to
advance my studies in biology. During the summers following my
graduation from college, I attended graduate school at UNC, Chapel Hill
to obtain a master??s degree in botany. Therefore you can probably see
the fascination that the Old Testament lesson this morning has for me.
This
is a fascinating text to me. There have been a variety of
misinterpretations of Ezekiel and this text is no exception. One of the
most fascinating is that of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the
Worldwide Church of God, which he put forth in his book The United
States and the British Commonwealth in Prophecy. He believes that the
people of the United States and Great Britain are the lost ten tribes
of Israel. In this book he states that the cedar is Israel; the tender
sprig is a princess; the high and lofty mountain is Great Britain; and
the splendid cedar is the British Commonwealth. I don??t have time this
morning to point out the fallacy of his interpretation, but when I
questioned assumptions he made, he was not able to answer my questions.
Another
misinterpretation is that this is a prophecy of the restitution of the
nation of Israel at the latter day or the millennial kingdom of Christ
on this earth. This is also an interpretation that can be debunked, but
it would take more time than we have in this sermon to do that. Suffice
it to say that Jesus?? words, ?¨My kingdom is not of this world.?Æ Should
be adequate to dispense with this interpretation.
So what does the
prophecy mean? In the context of Scripture as a whole the tender shoot
is the coming of the Messiah. The splendid cedar is the Church of
Christ. This is a prophecy of the movement from the Old Covenant to the
New Covenant. But why is this important? What is the point?
God has
foretold His plan and His actions in the Bible. We know that His
promises are sure ?± we can depend on them. In the days of uncertainty
in which we live, we know that we have a sure foundation.
The Old
Covenant appeared to have failed not because God was unreliable, but
because the people did not trust Him. God will never fail ?± if our
future seems hopeless or when life has no meaning it is because we have
failed to trust our God and His promises. When we look at the
prophecies of the Old Testament and then look at the events of History,
we can see that God has spoken and He has done what he said. That is
the point of this prophecy from the book of Ezekiel. Through the
prophet God made a very explicit promise to His people, which He
fulfilled.
We can trust our God for time and for eternity. What are
the difficult times through which we go? What about the economic
uncertainty in which we live? What about the natural disasters that
seem to be increasing in intensity and frequency? What about global
warming? What about the war or terror ?± not just Iraq and Afghanistan
and the possibility of Islamic nations having nuclear weapons ?± but
also that the war on terror may end up on our shores in new and
terrifying ways? What about cancer, AIDS, bird flu and othr new and
potentially deadly diseases? What about dozens or even possibly
hundreds of other concerns? What about the things we fret and worry
over? Where is God in all of our worries and concerns? God??s people had
plenty to worry about while slaves in Egypt, while journeying through
the wilderness, while attacked by enemies during the period of the
Judges and later, during their Babylonian captivity. But through it all
they had the promises of God who made them a nation, preserved them as
a nation, who protected them against their enemies, who brought them to
the Promised Land, who restored them from their captivity. He fulfilled
His promises to them. He is the same God who promises to care for us,
protect us, deliver us and save us.
He made good on that promise by
sending His Son in human flesh to live His righteous life for us, to
die to suffer the punishment for our sins and to rise to give us the
promise of our own resurrection and the gift of eternal life. We have
no reason to doubt the promises of God but every reason to believe and
trust that he will fulfill His promises as He has in the past, as he
continues to do and as he will through all eternity. Jesus is the
?¨Shoot?Æ. From that shoot has grown His church. And you and I are part
of the fulfillment of this prophecy spoken through Ezekiel so long ago.
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 April 2007 )
|