Tommy Mann

The writer of Psalm 137 was singing the blues. This is a sad song, a melancholy tune from a man who was missing the good old days. His country had been defeated, and the survivors were rounded up and taken from their homes. At the beginning of his song he says they sat down and wept by the river in Babylon, and there they hung their instruments in the trees. He may have been one of the temple musicians, the ones who played all the festive worship music. He didn’t see the need in hanging onto his lyre, because, as he put it, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land (v.4)?” It wasn’t just that they were in a different place, but that they were no longer in the Promised Land. The symbol of God’s blessing was that His people would dwell in safety in their land, but God said if they chose to worship other gods, He would ensure they were defeated and kicked out of the land. Now that has happened, so our author wasn’t in the mood for signing. Picking up on this, his captors mocked...

  In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul lists what he called “the works of the flesh,” and among these common sins is idolatry. Obviously in the civilized world we do not see many people bowing down to idols, but I believe recent events demonstrate that politics is a form of American idolatry.   Politics has become a religion. We have made it our idol. We worship at Red or Blue altars. We no longer have a Golden Calf, but we have a Golden Elephant and a Golden Donkey. They are gods to some people, the party platforms are their holy writ, and their followers have waged jihad on those who belong to the other side.   There was a time when two people could have a civilized debate, even when holding very different beliefs. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes were great friends, yet they debated fiercely on TV. Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan used to spar by day, but hang out by night. O’Neill was famous for saying, “Politics ends at 5PM.”   We have to get back to a place where we see the othe...

In Ezekiel 33:7 the Lord appeared to the prophet and told him, “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” In an analogous way, Ezekiel was to serve as a watchman for Israel. Watchmen were a common sight in cities that had walls for protection; they were stationed high atop the wall with a great vantage point to see any would-be intruders. Their job was simple: if they saw any invaders, sound the alarm by blasting the trumpet. Give an alert to everyone inside the city walls. As the Lord’s watchman on the wall, Ezekiel had to decide if he was going to sound the alarm or not. But we couldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to. Who wants to be the bearer of bad news? The message was that the people had sinned so much for so long that God was sending an invading army. The people would be receiving the wages of their sin, and yet Ezekiel would be the one to blame if he did not speak the messag...

  The Lord gave the prophet Ezekiel many interesting visions, including one contained in the tenth chapter of the book that bears his name. In this vision Ezekiel saw the Lord inside the temple, which was where God’s invisible presence resided in Israel. The timing of this was shortly before the Southern Kingdom was defeated and exiled.   After describing the four angels around the throne, the prophet described what he saw next: “Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them (v.18-19).” In a shocking scene, the Lord left the temple. The vision was meant as a warning that the Israelites would not be able to go into the temple for worship because they would not be in their homel...