Ezekiel

Ezekiel chapter 17.

Father help us as we read your holy word, apply it to our hearts by your spirit in Jesus name, r m. The word of the lord came to me son of man, set forth an allegory, and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. Say to them, this is what the sovereign lord says. A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers, and full plumage, or varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, he broke off its topmost chute and carried it away to a land of merchants where he planted it in a city of traders.

He took 1 of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soar soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine. Its branches turned towards him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy bowers. But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage.

The vine now sent out its roots towards him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water. It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit, and become a splendid vine. Say to them. This is what the sovereign lord says. Will it thrive?

Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers or its new growth will wither? It will not take a strong-arm nor or many people to pull it up by the roots. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it wither away in the plot where it grew? Then the word of the lord came to me.

Say to this rebellious people. Do you not know that these what these things mean? Say to them. The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles. Bringing them back with him to Babylon.

Then he took a a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land. So that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty, but the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape?

Will he break the treaty and yet escape? As surely as I live declares a sovereign lord, he shall die in Babylon in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke. Pharo, with his mighty army and great horde, will be no help to him in war when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives. He despise the oath by breaking the covenant because he had given his hand in pledge and yet all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore, this is what the sovereign lord says, as surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.

I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught. In my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him because there has it because he was unfaithful to me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds, then you will know that I, the lord have spoken. This is what the sovereign lord says.

I, myself, will take a shoot from the very top of a seeder and plant it. I will break off a tender sprig from the topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel are planted, will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar birds of every kind will nest in it. They will find shelter in the shade of its branches. All the trees of the forest will know that I, the lord, bring down tall trees, and make the low trees grow tall.

I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I, the lord, have spoken. I will do it. Well, good morning, everybody. Nice to see you.

And, if you could keep that passage open in front of you. My name's Tom. I'm 1 of the pastors here at the church, and, it's a privilege to be opening up ezekiel 17 with you, this morning, and to anyone online who's watching 2. So let's come now to ezekiel 17 and, let's bow our heads and pray. Heavenly father, we thank you for how you have spoken to us through this book.

Over these months that we've been looking at it, we thank you that you've, surprised us, that you've challenged us, that you've exposed our sin to us, that you've pointed us to the lord Jesus as the great savior that we need, and we pray that you would do all of those things for us again this morning. Please help me as I seek to explain, this passage, and please help all of us speak to every 1 of us we pray in Jesus' name. Our men. What did you think was going to happen? What did you think was gonna happen?

I've had to, ask myself that question a number of times throughout life when things have gone wrong. Like, for instance, and this is probably the most most memorable and most clearest memory I have. In the moments, after I'd, crashed a friend's car, I was serving as a leader on a Christian camp, and I thought it would be fun to drive a friend's car around the campsite. The problem was it wasn't my car, And I was not insured on that car, and perhaps worst of all, this happened in the days before I even had a driving license. And so a few minutes after getting in and starting the engine, and after having shunted the car repeatedly into Rory's mother's car, I asked myself, Tom, what did you think was gonna happen?

Did you think you were gonna be able to get into a car that you've never driven before? Unlicensed and uninsured and just be able to have a happy time driving around the site and that nothing would go wrong. I mean, what did you think was gonna happen? What just explained to me what the vision was behind the decision? What is your what what possible good could have come from that?

It's a disaster. What did you think was gonna happen? And maybe you found that yourself, not that exact thing, I hope, but maybe you found that yourself in the moments or the days after a really bad decision. Perhaps a decision that you've made in the Christian life, something you know that you shouldn't have done. And you say to yourself, did you think was gonna happen?

What was the vision behind that decision? Did I really think that would go well? I went against the lord's word that way or didn't do that thing. I know I should have done. Do you think that was gonna go well?

Why did you do that? What was the what was I thinking? What was I thinking? And I would guess that in the years after the exile, as god's people read this story, which as we'll see in a minute, is mainly about king Zedekiah. They were probably asking exactly that question.

What did he think was gonna happen? What did he think was gonna happen? He'd break his promise to god. He'd rebel against the king of Babylon who he swore to obey under oath. He turned to Egypt instead looking for help and consolation in them, He turned away from his covenant promises.

He got judged for it. I mean, come on. What did he think was gonna happen? Did he think he'd be able to get away with that? What was the vision behind that decision?

Did he think that was gonna go well for him? I wonder. That is in some ways the big question that I want us to have in mind this morning as we come to this passage. What did he think was going to happen. But as we're gonna see, that question applies on many different levels.

It applies to Zedekiah. I mean, what did he think was gonna happen? If he turned away from the lord like that, it applies to the people of god who would have been reading this story. I mean, what did they think was gonna happen. They treated god in the way that they did, but it also applies to us.

What do we think is gonna happen if we turn away from the lord? And I think reading all of this, you get to the end and you think, well, what did god think was gonna happen? Did he have a plan in all of this? So that's the question. What did you think?

What did I think? What did he think was going to happen? Let's first have a look at Zedekaya. Here's the first point. King Zedekaya.

What did he think was going to happen? And to tell this parable I mean, I don't know how you found it having it read to you. In in 1 sense, when you look at it slowly and break it down, it is actually quite straightforward parable. But when you hear it read, it's hard to to make sense of it. And so what I wanna do is to take you through it with this illustration.

Now this is an illustration that a member of our congregation, Clara, did for me this week. And it's I think it's absolutely beautiful. It's fantastic. I don't know if Claris here, I haven't actually seen it this morning. Oh, she is here.

Yes. Right at the back there. Yeah. Thank you for doing that. She, knocked this up based on ezekiel 17, and it's brilliant.

It's got all the the main elements of the parable. So we're told this parable in the opening verses, and we're introduced, first of all, to this big powerful eagle. This is the first eagle that we're introduced to. And we're told it's got big wings, and it's very powerful. And we're also told that it's got plumage of varied colors.

So there's something opulent about this eagle. It's a a big player on the world scene. It's got money and texture and diversity and power and influence. It's that kind of thing. If you were to see it flying across the sky, you would stop and look and raise your eyes and think there is a a spectacle.

There is a great creature of the earth. This is the eagle, and this first eagle stands for the king of Babylon and the Babylonian Kingdom. It is a city full of traders It's a market area. It's a world dominating force with great texture and diversity and buzz and idol worship and all kinds of things. It's the place to be.

And we're told in chapter 17, that in the talents of this great eagle Babylon is the topmost chute or the topmost branch of a cedar of Lebanon. Now the cedar of lebanon in this parable stands for the city of Jerusalem. It's a big impressive tree And we're told that the king of Babylon comes and he breaks off the top of the Cedar of Lebanon, which represents the nobility of Jerusalem. So king Jahoya King was king at the time when Babylon, invaded for the first time, And the king of Babylon, nebuchadnezzar snapped the top off. He took the nobility and the kings, and he took them away into exile.

But then we're told that this seedling was planted by Willow trees and waters in a flourishing land. And that seed at the bottom there stands for king Zedekiah and those who were left behind in Jerusalem. And we're told that this eagle plants Zedekiah as a kind of puppet king under his rule and to remain under him. And to begin with King Zedekiah kind of grows up under the influence of Babylon. And so he submits to the king of Babylon and he's fruitful in a sense.

His his leaves start to grow and fruit starts to get produced because he's doing the right thing. He's he swore to obey the king of Babylon, and that's what he's doing. It's not an ideal situation for god's people by any stretch, but this is where they are now. And so Zedekiah begins to grow. But then we're told that at some point, he makes a decision.

And instead of continuing to extend his branches and direct his roots, towards the king of Babylon as he swore on oath to do, he begins to grow this low spreading vine begins to grow towards a second eagle, and that second eagle is Egypt. And so instead of submitting his life to the king of Babylon, he starts to reorientate himself towards pharaoh and Egypt, hoping that the horses and the chariots of Egypt will be able to come and deliver him from the influence of Babylon that he'll find a kind of new freedom and identity and power, not in Babylon, and definitely not in yahweh, but in Egypt. And so just kinda see what What is happening there? Yeah? You've got this eagle, Babylon.

You've got the nobility snatched off into exile. You've got this low spreading vine, Zedekaya, meant to grow towards Babylon, but changes direction and instead rebels against that and grows instead. Towards this eagle of Egypt. Okay? That's what's going on.

And then the lord puts the question to the people. Okay? Have a look at verse 9 and 10 of chapter 17. This is what the sovereign lord says, and he's talking now about Zedekiah and the people who remain back home. Will it thrive?

Will it thrive? If it makes this decision, will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither, It will not take a strong-arm or many people to pull it up by the roots. It will just become 1 of those tiny little weeds that grows in just a few crumbs of soil on the edge of a building.

You can just just pick it just pick it up. That's what it's gonna become. It has been planted, but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east winds, and that's a metaphor for the returning judgment of Babylon when the east wind strikes it? Wither away in the plot where it grew.

In other words, if Zedekiah and those who remain break the oath that they took to submit to Babylon and grow instead towards Egypt, is nebuchadnezzar likely to put up with that? Is he likely to put up with that rebellion? Will he not instead come again like a hot wind and cause Zedekiah and all those rebels? The wither. What did he think was gonna happen?

Have a look at the summary of his reign, and it's a sorry mess of a summary. His 2 chronicles 36. Hopefully, we can get that up. 2 chronicles 36. Verse 11 to 14, Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.

And he reigned in Jerusalem 11 years. He did evil in the eyes of the lord, his god, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah, the prophet who spoke the word of the lord. And it's very interesting if you go to the book of Jeremiah, you see that Jeremiah, who was something of a contemporary with ezekiel, but he was back home, was telling Zedekiah, don't do it. Don't do it. Don't don't go looking to Egypt for help.

Don't do it. Don't do it. It's gonna go bad for you. If you do it, it's gonna go bad for you. But Zedekai refused to listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah.

He also, and here's the focus of our chapter, he rebelled against king nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in god's name. So he took an oath in god's name to submit to king the king of Babylon, which as I say was never the original vision for god's people to be under that kind of leadership, but they are where they are, and he swore an oath that he would obey his authorities. Furthermore, rather 13, he became stiff necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the lord the god of Israel. Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. Following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Do you see the catalog of failures? And so we've come now to a point in the Zekiel where the priests are completely corrupt. We saw that in chapter 8 and 9, where the prophets are corrupt. We saw that in chapter 13. And now even the king, prophet, priest, and king, all corrupt, all rebellious, all hard hearted, all turning away from the lord.

And so I guess In later years, as people sat down, perhaps families sat down and studied the book of chronicles and the book of ezekiel, they were meant to read this chapter, look at 1 another, and shrug their shoulders with a frown and say, What did he think was gonna happen? What did he think was gonna what did he think was gonna happen? What was the vision behind that decision to rebel against nebuchadnezzar? Did he think that would go well? What did he think was gonna happen?

But there's something more here. Have a look back with me at verse 1. And this is the second point, Zedekyre, what did he think was going to happen? But secondly, god's people, what did they think was going to happen? First 1, the word of the lord came to me, son of man, set forth an allegory, and tell it to the Israelites as a parable.

Now in more literal translations, it's clearer that there are 2 distinct ideas going on there in verse 1. So verse 1 could literally read and the word of the lord came to me saying, son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable. So he's actually called to do 2 distinct things there, pose a riddle and speak a parable. So we've looked at the parable. It's the 1 with the Eagles and the vines and the branches and the hot wind.

The par there's a parable there about King Jahoyukin in Jerusalem and the exile and King Zedekyll is a parable, but within that parable, there's also a riddle. There's something that ezekiel wants his heroes to decipher in the parable. It's not just a historical commentary on something going on a thousand miles away. He wants them as he tells the story to have a sense in which this story is also being told to them and about them. They've gotta decipher the riddle within the parable.

Now what is that riddle? Well, it's actually quite simple. The story of Zedekiah is their story. Their story. Have a look with me at Exodus 19 verse.

4. Let me introduce you to a third eagle. You yourselves, the lord says to his people, have seen what I did to Egypt. And how I carried you on Eagles wings and brought you to myself. Many of you will know that story.

God's people were there in Egypt for hundreds of years. Suffering under pharaoh, enslaved to build his antichrist kingdom generation after generation after generation in the darkness of slavery in Egypt. But then god in great mercy, heard their cry for help, and like an eagle, he came swooping down in order to save them. And just like that topmost branch, it was if he scooped up his people in Egypt into his talons, and he carried them gently on his wings. And he took them into a land that was to be their very own.

And like that seedling, he planted them in a land flowing with milk and honey. This was a land of abundance and prosperity and goodness, and they were to be planted by that Willow tree and by those waters and there with god in their own land, they were to grow. And as they grew, they were to extend their branches and their roots, not to the gods of the nations, but to him, They were to abide in the god who had saved them and to live with him and extend like the flower in the conservatory, which moves its face towards the sun. They were to be ever moving their face towards the son of the lord who had saved them. And in there and in his words, they would find all the prosperity and blessing and help that they were made for.

And in kindness, God said to them over and over again, if you don't do that, if you do the opposite, then will you thrive? Due toonomy 29 18, it's not on the screen. I'm afraid, but here is what the Lord says. And note the similarity of language make sure there is no clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the lord. Here they are.

They just they they're being plant this is Moses's' sermon as they're getting planted in the soil. Whose heart turns away to go and worship the gods of those nations, make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. See the language Don't allow your roots to grow in any other direction. Abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches and you abide in me and you will bear much fruit.

Don't turn it away, but as time went on and as we saw so powerfully last week, that is exactly what they chose to do. God's people had been planted by the great eagle of heaven. Taking them and planted them in the land for their very own. They chose to turn their roots away, and at some point, they had just stopped believing that their god of their salvation was enough for them. And so they turned away towards the gods of the nations hoping I suppose to find in them some kind of freedom or power or fruitfulness.

That they thought the lord could not provide them with. So chapter 17 in the first case is about Zedekiah, but within that parable is a riddle. And ezekiel is saying to this group of exiles, a bit like Nathan the prophet said to David, you are the man. You are the man. And so here's the question, what did god's people think was gonna happen?

What did they think was gonna happen? What did they think was gonna happen? When they've been told so much and saved so gloriously and warned so soberly, what did they think was gonna happen? Zedekiah, firstly, what did he think was gonna happen? God's people, what did they think was gonna happen?

Thirdly Cornerstone Church. What do we think is going to happen? In chapter 17, as I've tried to show, we have a parable, and we have a riddle, but we also have an enduring word of application for all of god's people across the ages. And can I suggest for a moment that we just rehearse our story? Because it is not so different to the story of god's people in the old testament, is it?

At 1 time, you and I were living in slavery, not to a pharaoh, but to master sin. We were living in the darkness and the ignorance of our sin enslaved by the passions of this flesh and the world and the devil. That was our life, a slave's life. And yet at the time of his choosing, in every 1 of our lives, Christ came like a kind eagle. And he died for us, and then he chose by his spirit to make us alive and he carried us on his wings, and he has planted us now into a new life no longer in the kingdom of darkness, but rooted and planted in the kingdom of light and in the kingdom of the church.

And that same eagle, the lord Jesus says to us abide in me abide in me. Put your branches and your leafy bows and your roots put them towards keep them in me, remain in me, and you will bear much fruit. It's our story, but like the people in this story, we have all together turned our roots away from him. Not really believe sounds mad to state it this way, doesn't it? But not really believing.

That the Jesus of our salvation is actually enough for us that we have to turn towards something else, which we think will give us a life and a fruitfulness and a freedom that he can't give. And that's why the question in verse 9 is 1 we must face up to here this morning. My child, if you do that, will you thrive? Will you thrive will you thrive? Will it deliver?

At the beginning, I asked if you've ever, had those moments following a very bad decision perhaps in the Christian life. Maybe you've gone after some money sin or some power sin or some *** sin, but you knew you shouldn't have done, but you made the decision anyway. And and in the moments afterwards, have you ever found yourself asking a question like that? Felt hollow? Wizard on the inside, and it hasn't given you any of the peace and the joy that you thought it would, just a sense of emptiness and alienation.

And you've asked yourself that question again. What on earth did I think was gonna happen? Did I really believe that this time would be different? What did I think was gonna happen? Tim Keller in his book on, on idolatry makes this observation.

If we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, the hope, and the happiness, that only god himself can give. It will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts. Ideometry, he says, is not just looking to a created thing as part of it, but it is looking to a created thing to give us the meaning and the hope and the happiness. That only god himself can give. That's why the vine language, I think, is really helpful, because you grow towards the thing that you think is gonna give you life.

And you extend your leaves towards the thing you think is gonna make you happy. And so idolatry, he says very rightly, he's not just worshiping a created thing. It's looking for what only god can give you in a created thing. Open, happiness, and meaning. And that's gotta be right, isn't it?

So you think about king Zedekiah in chapter 17. It's it's not it's not really the horses and the chariots that he wanted to worship. It's not those things in and of themselves. It's what he thought those things. Just freedom from Babylon and joy and peace and perhaps power and pride of being a a new sort of king.

We didn't have to submit to anyone. It's not literally bowing down to a chariot. There's something the chariot can bring him, which he thinks god can't. And it's for the same reason. That even people who have been redeemed by the lord Jesus Christ will move their branches away time after time after time because we're basically not that persuaded that the god of our salvation is really enough for us.

And so that's why when we do feel the emptiness and the withering and the disappointment of yet another failed experiment with an idol. We are to see that as the kind discipline of god, saying to us, my child, what did you think was gonna happen? What did you think was gonna happen? You're withering. What did you think was gonna happen?

Isn't that a kindness of god to even bring that sort of conscience and feeling to us following our sin? My child. What did you think was gonna happen? And so we've seen it for Zedekiah, and we've seen it for god's people then, and we've seen it for god's people today. And lastly, fourthly, the sovereign god, What did he think was going to happen?

What did he think was going to happen? And here's the good news. He knew exactly what was going to happen. I want you to compare with me now 2 passages The first is here in ezekiel 17. So just look down ezekiel 17 verse 22, and then we're gonna compare it with another parable in mark chapter 4.

This is what the sovereign lord says. I, myself, will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it. I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel, I will plant it. And it'll produce branches, and it will bear fruit, and it will become a splendid cedar.

Birds of every kind will nest in it. They will find shelter in the shade of its branches and his mark 4 verse 30. Again, Jesus said what shall we say the kingdom of god is like or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted.

It grows. And it becomes the largest of all garden plants with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade. Now there's a lot of similarities there which we'll come to, but firstly, do you notice the differences there? What is the kingdom of god like? What is the kingdom of god like to what can we compare it?

A tender spring and a mustard seed. In other words, it may not have all the colors and the trading power of Babylon. And it may not have the horses and the chariots and the military strength of Egypt because it is like a mustard seed and like a tender sprig. The sort of little sprig that you would just tread underfoot as you walked in the park and think nothing of it and not even notice it. And yet by the sovereign action of god, that little seed, and that fragile shoot.

Becomes bigger and more powerful and more life giving than any of the kingdoms of men, good ever dream of being. It's interesting, isn't it? When you come to the end of ezekiel 17, and the lord kind of picks up this parable again. Do you notice what is missing from it at the end? Where are the eagles?

The eagles are gone. Beagles are gone. In this prophetic vision, all that remains is the kingdom of god, offering this worldwide shelter and abundance and life to any person who will come and take shelter in its branches. But there's more going on here. This isn't even just about the kingdom of god.

This is about the king who sits on the throne of the kingdom. Have a look with me at verse 22 again, of ezekiel 17, verse 22. Now there's a word in there which we've got translated tender sprig, a tender sprig. And it can mean, as I've tried to show exactly that. Think of a very tender little topmost spring, but the root word there is also used for an infant child.

And most famously, that same word is used in Isaiah 53. Have a look with me on the screen, Isaiah 53 verse 1. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed? He grew up, like a tender sprig. Same word.

And like a root out of the dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him because he wasn't like, babylon. Or Egypt. It wasn't like those eagles. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

And then later in the chapter, yet it was the lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer. And though the lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the lord will prosper in his hand. And after he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. And by his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many. So different from a pharaoh, isn't he?

He's so different from a pharaoh, and he's so different from a nebuchadnezzar and he's so different from everything Zedekiah wished he could be. He is a tenders shoot, small and unimpressive, nothing desirable about him. Hanging on the cross in the place of his people in misery and shame as he bears a world's weight of idolatry upon his shoulders. And yet in the lord's will, This tender sprig who did for his people what no eagle would do, no nebuchadnezzar or pharaoh would do that for his people. This tender shoot has grown to become a resurrected mighty seeder.

And he sees the light now, and he's justified many, and he is prospering and bearing fruit down through the ages. And even today, brothers and sisters, how many of us have taken shelter in his branches from around the nations, and we have found in Christ, a life and a fruitfulness that nothing in this world could offer. Where are the eagles? They're gone. Where is the tender spring?

It is the mighty cedar on the great heights that reigns over everything today. That is our lord, Jesus Christ. And so what did god think was going to happen? God knew exactly what was going to happen, his people would fail him. But he would come in flesh to look their failure in the face, and he would die for it.

Then he would adopt them into this life giving kingdom. And so the last words of ezekiel 17 take on such beauty, all the trees of the forest will know that I, the lord, bring down the tall tree. And make low make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and I make the dry tree flourish. In other words, I invert your expectations year after year after year.

I, the lord have spoken, and I will do it. Brothers and sisters, the lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He has established this kingdom. And if you stretch out your roots towards him, I don't mean this morning, just mentally agree that that would be the right thing to do. But by his grace, in the moment of temptation and battle, which is coming our way in the hours to come, if we will stretch out our roots and our branches towards him.

You will discover that he will never ever break your heart as the idols of this world do, but you will find just an ever deepening life and joy and peace and this sense in which that you are living the life that you were made to live for, which is to be plugged in to this true vine abiding in him for all of our days. Should we pray that god would help us to do it. The lord Jesus said I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me, grow towards me. Extend your roots towards me.

Set your flowers to face my sunshine. Then you will bear much fruit. Apart from me. You can do nothing. And so lord Jesus Christ our great life giving vine.

We pray that you would help us to remain in you to abide in you. To grow the roots of heart and mind and will towards you and in doing to find life. We thank you lord Jesus that in those moments when you give us the grace to trust and obey your word, We never have to put our heads in the in our hands and think, what did I think was gonna happen? It never, and we know it from experience, to go your way is never to be left hollow and withered and empty, but to be strong and fruitful and happy. Forgive us lord Jesus that this lesson takes us so long to learn and give us grace to abide in you, we pray in Jesus name, amen.