Once again, today’s Proverbs (27:15-22) contain several important truths and practical principles for us to apply in our daily Christian walk. For example, some people are quarrelsome, but a quarrel – especially between a husband and wife – is neither encouraging nor edifying, and ultimately, it serves no good purpose. Here, the writer simply states that “a quarrelsome wife (or husband!) is like a constant dripping on a rainy day, and that restraining her (or him!) is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand” (verse 15). Such a hope for restraint is basically impossible. Moreover, we know that a dull knife is useless – even dangerous – so we must “sharpen” each other unto effectiveness by our encouragement – not our criticism. God honors those who honor their “masters” (i.e., leaders – particularly – employers and supervisors). The writer suggests that we ought to be careful with any compliments we receive – flattery is misleading and instigates pride that leads to sin. Finally, we must realize that, no matter how much we try, fools cannot be separated from their folly. Only God can do that.
Today we come to Ezekiel 22:23-23:49 where we see how deep and disgusting was Israel’s deliberate fall into sin against God. In chapter 22, we see that Israel’s princes were “like a roaring lion tearing its prey … devouring people, taking treasures, and making many widows” (verse 25). Some of those who were involved with this were priests among whom there was no distinction between the holy and the common or the clean and the unclean (verse 26). The sins of idolatry, violence, injustice, deceit, false visions, divination, robbery, extortion, and promiscuity were rampant (verses 26-29). God said that “He looked for a man who could stand in the gap, but He found none” (verse 30). We are reminded of God’s command to Jeremiah to find just one honest man in the city, but to no avail (cf., Jeremiah 5:1-9). Turning to Ezekiel 23, we see the most sordid behavior committed by Jerusalem and Samaria – two adulterous “sisters” who engaged in international prostitution (i.e., especially idolatry) with Assyria and Babylonia. God promised to “deliver them into the hands of those they hated” (verse 28), and the record of history shows that He did exactly that. We should understand that God means business, and after He has conducted His business, people “will know that He is the Sovereign LORD” (verse 49).
Hebrews 11 contains a list of the Bible’s heroes of faith - men and women whom we ought to emulate. In verses 1-16, we see right away that faith begins with the confident belief in God’s existence, and it assures us of our hope in all that God has promised. God has wired into every human being both the ability and the necessity to believe; thus, faith is a normal activity for everyone. We emphasize that absolutely no one does not live by faith in something. The central key to living properly by faith rests in placing one’s faith in the right object. That object ought to be Christ. With respect to one’s eternal destiny, faith in anything else is misplaced and wasted. Here in our reading for today, we see the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah – spiritual giants all. In fact – the first in this list – Abel, was such a man of faith that, “he still speaks, even though he is dead” (verse 4). Think of that for a moment. The writer says, “All these people were living by faith when they died … and God was not ashamed to be called their God” (verses13-16).
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