Such As Set Their Hearts Came

“And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.”

- 2nd Chronicles 11:16

Photo credit: Giorgio Parravicini via Unsplash

In 2nd Chronicles 11 we find Jeroboam, king of the ten northern tribes of Israel leading his people into apostasy by setting up pagan idolatry and expelling the Levites and priests of the Lord. God’s people throughout the land heard the calling, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins (Rev 18:4).” They would not touch the unclean thing and instead forsook their earthly inheritance and followed the Lord. The Spirit cries out to us, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come to me (Exodus 32:26).” There is no concord between Christ and Belial. The Prince of Peace comes bearing a sword. His sheep hear his voice (that joyful sound!), and are willing in the day of His power.

The Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and the Lord’s temple is built stone by stone as they set their hearts to seek the Lord their God.

Selah.

The Walking Dead (Part 2)

Zombie horror is in a way revealing what we truly are – the walking dead. Unable to see, hear, or think properly. Mindlessly shambling through the world consuming everything upon our lust. But like the horror genre in general, it presents a world of fantastic events without the presence and power of God.

Zombie horror has a false gospel embedded in its core. In zombie films, people begin alive and when they are infected by a zombie bite they turn into a zombie. And once they die there is no hope. They will become a walker/zombie/undead thing no matter what and there is no curing them once bitten. So in zombie horror we begin originally alive and good and then become dead and evil.

This is all law without grace. In some zombie stories like The Walking Dead for example, victims can stave off the infection if they amputate a bitten limb quickly enough. Does this not remind you of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5?

“And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell…”

Image copywrite Skybound/Image Comics

But the Bible says the opposite, that we all begin spiritually dead, and by grace some of us are regenerated into eternal life.

Here lies the paradox: all that seek God shall find him when they turn to him with their whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7-8). And yet…none seek after God. (Rom 3:11, Ps 14:2-3).

So how does anyone find that which no one ever seeks?

The Lord asks Ezekiel: Can these bones live?

Can these bones live? Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)…

Look at what God shows us in Ezekiel 37. In verse 4 he commands Ezekiel to prophesy (which is to say, preach) to the dry bones.

“Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezek 37:5-6)

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

The whole world lies in wickedness, and yet these sleepwalking corpses can live and breathe and sing praises to Lord and inquire in his temple forever.

"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

-1st Corinthians 1:-21

Can these bones live?

O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

Selah.

The Walking Dead (Part 1)

Image credit: Zhuzhu

I’ve been obsessed with the zombie horror genre since my teens. Zombies serve are an apt metaphor for our materialistic culture. A zombie shambles around mindlessly, consuming everything in its path. Without pity, without thought, reacting on instinct to base impulses and stimuli.

The Bible likens our unregenerate state to this living death. We were dead in sins and then raised up together and made to sit in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1-6).

Ephesians 2:1-2

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

1st Timothy 5:

“Now she that is a widow indeed and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” (5-6)

Luke 15:

“And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the Father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him...…For this my son was dead, and is alive again…” (21-24).

By default we are all walking according to the prince of the power of the air. The children of the flesh will always persecute the children of the spirit as Cain did to Abel. And so, the zombie genre illustrates albeit in a skewed and unbiblical way that “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1st John 5:19), and only a small remnant on earth has the spirit of life in them, and their days are full of tribulation.

Selah.