[Highway To Heaven, 2010, DJohanson]
Ezekiel 37:24-28 " David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 "Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 "The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." ' "
This excellent photo taken by my friend Dave Johanson is of a site on the West Coast. Aptly named the Highway to Heaven it is the kind of image and evidently was the kind of scene that arrests the attention and draws us into meditation. The converging lines of cloud and horizon, the precisely spaced trees, all point to order and procession to eternity. The detailed foreground is the present... the limitless sky is eternity, blue with promise. Somewhere... out there... it all comes together... it all makes sense... and it will ALL be worth it.
Certainly that is God's message through Ezekiel in the passage above. In some Scripture's most glorious language, the most precise foretelling, it conveys to us a Day, a Person, and a Promise.
There is that "Day", the "then" of God's foretelling. It will be specific. It will be historical. It is coming. The Present, the "now", which arrogantly insists on our complete focus, our complete attention, is a passing instant... full of sound and fury though we cannot say that it signifies nothing (sorry, Shakespeare). It is a "ladder rung", one of uncountable many such, but spaced equally and finitely, all joined together through God's providential control. Some "nows" are tougher than others, but seen in perspective, they all are steps along a path. The "Day" is coming and the lines will converge.
There is that Person, the specifically claimed, uniquely defined "David" for whom a Throne is prepared. A throne that once ascended will never be vacant again. We shall have a King and He shall reign in truth and justice, having mercy on all who love Him and keep His commandments, even forever. Glory and honor and privilege belong to Him and He is pleased to share it with His servants.
And the Promise, that sin will be abolished. In perfect harmony the people of God will possess pure hearts that love without selfishness, that give without restraint, that obey without compunction, that rejoice with sincerity. A purified people ... in every aspect of their being. Able again to think clearly without impediment and to build flawlessly. When complexity yields to simplicity and elegance is natural. The blue skies are infinitely inviting of further contemplation and God's people will spend eternity delving into their secrets. We shall know as we are known but the delight of discovery shall not end.
What a glory .... Easter... the day that heralds the Day... the honor that crowns a King... the hope that attends the Promise.
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