Psalm 121; Ezekiel 17-18; Hebrews 9:16-28
Psalm 121 simply tells us to “look up!” The Psalmist begins this passage with, “I lift up my eyes to the hills” (verse 1). In order to do that, we need to turn our heads upward – an activity that should always remind us to direct our attention to our heavenly Father. God is the sovereign Source from Whom all our help comes. Notice further that the Psalmist also writes – “our help comes from the LORD Who is the Maker of heaven and earth” (verse 2). God sees and knows our needs, and this Psalm indicates that His help is possible for us. Unlike ordinary human sentries, who frequently fall asleep on their watch, “the LORD never slumbers nor sleeps, nor will He let our feet slip” (verses 3-4). Sleeping at one’s post is a common – sometimes dangerous – failure among human beings, and it represents one of the most characteristic of all human frailties. Only God can fully protect “us from all harm – watching our lives, our comings, and our goings – now and forevermore” (verses 7-8). Trusting anything less than God – especially another human being – is futility. What an assurance of comfort and a joy is ours to know God’s watch-care over us!
In Ezekiel 17-18, we see the Lord’s allegories of two great eagles and a cedar shoot, prophetically revealed to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel. The two eagles represent [1] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and [2] Pharaoh Psamtik II, of Egypt. The latter formed a coalition with Zedekiah, king of Judah, against the former (cf., Jeremiah 27). These eagles represent God’s dealings with those nations at the time of the Jewish exile to Babylon. In this prophecy, Egypt was “of no help” to Judah, and the Jews would most certainly “not escape” God’s wrath (17:18). “All the fleeing troops would fall by the sword, and the survivors would be scattered to the winds” (i.e., to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar; cf., verse 21). The cedar shoot portrays the future coming kingdom of Jesus Christ Whom God promises to “raise up and plant on a high and lofty mountain – the heights of Israel. His kingdom will become a splendid cedar … and “birds of every kind will nest in it and find shade” (verses 22-23; cf., Matthew 13:32-33). The birds nesting in the tree picture the Gentiles who come to Christ. Only God could accomplish this. In chapter 18, the LORD deals with man’s accusations against God, and He sets forth His just requirement that every individual is a responsible agent before Him and will be held individually and personally accountable by Him.
In Hebrews 9:16-28, the writer explains that God established a better sacrifice than those that were required by the Old Testament law; the previous sacrifices were merely temporary, tedious, and endlessly repetitious. Yesterday, we pointed out that God revealed the mysterious, He simplified the complex, and He delimited the limited. Here, we read that He made the transitory permanent. Notice that the expression “Once for all” is repeated four times (verses 9:12; 9:26; 9:27; and 9:28). How emphatic is that? By offering His own blood, Christ did away with the blood sacrifices of “goats and calves” (verses 12 and 19), and then He entered into heaven itself” (verses 24, ff.). We want to accentuate that this redeeming act is clearly something that no man or animal could ever accomplish – only God could do it. This is a good reason for us to look up!
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