The Lord Keeps His Promises

I can’t believe it is December already, with Christmas but a mere two weeks away. My mind is still stuck in October, with thoughts of Halloween.

When I was a child, we annually watched, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

 

If you’ve watched it, then you know that Linus skips trick-or-treating and the ensuing Halloween party to sit in a pumpkin patch. Linus is waiting for the Great Pumpkin to come and bring him toys and other fun stuff. Sadly for Linus, the Great Pumpkin never comes.

 

Today’s reading is Ezekiel 34:7-16. Ezekiel and a large group of exiled Jews were living in Babylon. During their exile, Jerusalem was a vassal state to Nebuchadnezzar, a  Babylonian king. Nebuchadnezzar tore down the walls of Jerusalem and leveled King Solomon’s Temple to squash a rebellion against him in 586 BC.

 

The Lord, speaking through Ezekiel, tells the Jews that he will come to his people, rescue them and take care of them.

 

History tells us that Cyrus, a Persian King, defeated the Babylonians and returned the Jews to Jerusalem in 539 BC, just as the Lord promised.

 

Ezekiel spoke words of comfort to the Jews 2500 years ago, yet these same passages speak comfort to us today. The Lord tells us that he will tend his sheep, a reminder that he sent “The Good Shepherd” to take care of us. The “lost” sheep will be found and not suffer the eternal ravages of sin, a reminder that the “Good Shepherd”, also was a “Sacrificial Lamb” who suffered for our sin.

 

Yes, God came to the Jews and took care of them. In the person of Jesus, God also came to us for our eternal benefit! History and the Bible tell us that Jesus lived on earth and died for us, just the Lord promised.

 

We also know that Jesus, our Good Shepherd and Sacrificial Lamb, will come again to rebuild a new creation for us. We know that we will live with him in eternity.

 

History tells us that the Lord keeps his promises.

 

Unlike the Great Pumpkin!