Zerubabbel's Ruin

What will do I have that has not already been broken?

What strength do I have that has not already been stolen?

And so, this mountain yet lies before me, a heaping pile of rubble. My rubble.

My ruin.

---

But I rejoice in the days when I manage to lay claim to one speck among the hoard- when a single pebble is able to be moved

from here

to there.

What great cause for remembrance!

What purposed jubilation! -

that my creaking tendons could bring to bear enough momentum to sustain locomotion mighty enough to ascribe such a glorious feat!

Come and marvel!

Behold the fourteen shards of earth I have so arduously relocated these fourteen long years!

One-by-one, inch-by-inch, placed with unmatched precision; not one step was left unconsidered, not a single contingency left unaccounted for.

Be struck with awe in the shadow of this monument whose stony knuckles defiantly cut the horizon on upthrust fist!

---

One tickle of the wind and Babel joins its former heap.

---

These bones of mine are dryer than the dust I lie in:

a more pitiful heap than the piled pebbles before me; more reduced than its razed glory, echoes of it ever clattering down from pillaged peaks.

No

thing,

strength,

will,

power,

might,

help,

or plan

have I;

this one

Hope

has me.

---

And so again,

I will dare to place myself in it!

---

How?

Hope is not asked

"Oh Lord God, You know."

it is breathed!

And from the four winds, I am thusly established!

Like a tower racing skyward,

lost fragments are now founded in bedrock,

flesh and sinew like brick and mortar

contend to climb ever higher,

ever stronger,

streaming upward,

to fortify,

to form,

to become lofty parapets,

gleaming steeples-

with raised colors that stir and dance with the clouds.

---

Grateful I am now for that former husk , its empty carapace lying next to the ruins that remain.

It is a reminder that my own power and might is steadfast only in the inevitability of its own failure. To depend on it is to depend on ruin.

Rather, let this mountain, yes, this mountain that indeed lies before me, be leveled plain by the Spirit of the Living God, founded, capped and crowned in His immutable grace.

---

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”

Lamentations 3:19-26 NLT

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“And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’”

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’””

Ezekiel 37:3-14 NKJV

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“So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!

And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands shall also finish it.

Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.””

Zechariah 4:6-10 NKJV

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“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Philippians 1:6 NKJV