For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
People do not respond well to loud and boisterous greetings when they are first waking up.
It was just a few days ago that I read the writer of Hebrews explain how this passage applies to Jesus.
This passage is one of the great expositions on the importance and value of faith. The writer here points out that faith was what motivated the people he refers to, Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. Without faith, their actions would have been meaningless. However, it is also worth noting that their faith led them to act. All of these people did things because of their faith. It is not enough to have “faith”. That faith must inspire us to take action.
This passage reminds me of a story my father told that illustrated faith (I think he told it to go along with this passage). Here is the story as I remember it:
A tightrope walker had strung a wire across the Niagara Falls and a crowd gathered to watch him walk across. They were impressed by his skill. He then blindfolded himself and walked across, impressing the crowd even more. Then he pushed a wheelbarrow across. Finally, he called out to the crowd, “Now I am going to push someone across in that wheelbarrow. Do you believe that I can do it?” The crowd cried out that yes, they believed he could do it. The walker then pointed to someone in the front of the crowd who had said they believed and told him, “Climb in.”
My father finished the story by saying, “Faith is getting into the wheelbarrow.”
God gives Ezekiel a message for Jerusalem and its people. He compares the city to a cooking pot filled with various cuts of meat. It has cooked over the fire until there is nothing to distinguish the good cuts from the bad. It is all equally bad. In much the same way, the people of Jerusalem had become equally bad. He continues the metaphor by suggesting trying to purify the pot by allowing it to sit on the fire until all of the water had boiled off. The time comes when the pot can no longer be cleaned and it must be thrown away. The same thing is happening today.
Today’s passage ends with a series of messages to Judah’s neighbors. God warns them that His judgment will fall upon them as well for their sins. Ezekiel lets them know that they are making a mistake to rejoice at the misfortunes of the people of Judah, for they will suffer a similar fate. We should never rejoice at the suffering of others because if we do so we may soon experience similar suffering.