Gospel on Every Page

I love the perfect reflections in the Word of God—the imagery carried over throughout the whole story. There is nothing dropped or forgotten. Sure, a surface reader will get a lot out of it, but if you read carefully, you will find unfathomable depths. There is always another detail, always another layer, always another echo of truth waiting to whisper sweetly to those who love God’s voice.

Take, for example, the book of Ezekiel. This is not the easiest chunk of Scripture. The imagery is challenging to untangle and the message is rather heavy at times. But throughout, we see a whisper of the covenant motif of the larger story of Scripture. Three instances are in chapters 7, 8, and 10. 

“Behold the day, behold it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.” Ezekiel 7:3

Hmmmm…where have we read about a blossoming, budding rod before? How about Aaron’s rod, in Numbers 17. God affirmed His covenant and plan, shutting up the murmurers. “And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.” Numbers 17:7-10

Did you catch it? Aaron’s rod, the rod of witness and testimony in Numbers, is juxtaposed with the rod of violence in Ezekiel. Blossoms and buds—and very different fruit. Interestingly, “The Hebrew word for almond is ‘shaqed,’ which is derived from a root meaning ‘to watch’ or ‘to be alert’”. (https://biblehub.com/topical/a/almond.htm) The rod, which blossomed in the court of witness (I love the repeated emphasis on the witness, both through the court of witness and the symbol of the almond), is forever kept in the ark as a symbol that God is watching, alert to keep His covenant. He is there to fulfill His part of the covenant. Remember, unlike the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant had conditions, or more accurately, options. Walk the path of blessing and be blessed or walk the path of curses and be cursed. By the time we get to Ezekiel, the people are miles along the path of curses. They have chosen over and over to reject God. 

Look at the further imagery in Ezekiel chapter 8. We are now in the temple rather than the tabernacle. Ezekiel is told to dig a hole in the wall of the court, and that uncovers a door (v. 7-8). Ezekiel goes in, at the command of God, and beholds abominations and desecrations and idolatry (v. 9-10). “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the hour of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.” Ezekiel 8:11-12 

There is so much to unpack here. For the sake of space, I’ll not pause on the meaning of Jaazaniah’s name or the symbolism of the incense. Rather, the first thing I’ll highlight is the contrast with the rod of Aaron, especially in light of the previous chapter. The rod that symbolized God’s covenant and watchfulness is disregarded. Cursed paths are walked. The 70 elders here claim that God can’t see them any more. Even though they’re in the home of this rod of witness and covenant. Sinning. Corrupting. Defiling. 

We also see the covenant imagery of the 70 elders. Where else have we seen 70 elders? Exodus 24:9-14 details how God established a covenant with Israel with 70 elders in Mount Sinai. And then in Numbers 11:16-30 we see that the 70 elders had the Spirit of God come on them and they prophesied, sharing the burden and blessing of leadership with Moses. 

Let’s dig a little deeper still. There were only 12 tribes of Israel, so why 70 elders? For the meaning of 70, we have to flip back to Genesis 10, which lists the original nations of the world—70 of them. This passage is called the Table of Nations. Because of that, 70 in the Bible symbolizes the whole world.

Back to Exodus, we then see that the covenant God established was given to Israel, yes, but also invited the whole world. Rahab and Ruth and Uriah and others find their place in the covenant. It didn’t have to be a special exception for them—that invitation was always open. The 70 elders had agreed with God on behalf of the world with Israel as the firstfruits of the covenant. And then in Numbers, the 70 elders showed that God’s Spirit would be available to the whole world. And now, in Ezekiel, we find a tragic truth. Represented in the 70 corrupt elders is also the whole world. We all fall short. We have all chosen to pollute God’s sanctuary. We are none of us righteous, no not one. And like those 70 wicked elders, we are all sentenced to destruction. (Romans 3:10, 3:23, 6:23) 

Yes, the 70 elders in Ezekiel are certainly representative of Israel. That is clear from the context. It also whispers the gospel to us. Look for the whispers throughout the whole book of Ezekiel. For example, the innocent are marked to be saved from destruction in chapter 9 (reminiscent of the Passover). Those who grieve sin are set with a seal (Ezekiel 9:1-6), like the Holy Spirit seals believers (Ephesians 1:13-14). The gospel is on every page of Scripture. The New Testament and Old Testament weave a beautiful tapestry together—every thread playing its part in showing us Jesus.

I will never cease to be amazed at the intricate beauty of Scripture. The Bible never gets boring. Every time I open it, there is a new treasure to be found. Edwin Hodder’s hymn, Thy Word is Like a Garden, Lord, comes to mind—
“Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine; and jewels rich and rare are hidden in its mighty depths for every searcher there.”

Dig into the wealthy depths of God’s Word for treasures. Ask questions. Find answers. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the Living Word revealed in the Written Word. 

As you read the Bible this week, keep your eyes open for the gospel. In what unexpected places will you see it?