Proverbs 27 reminds us that some uncertainty in life is certain. In verses 5-14, we read ten proverbs that are mostly about friendship. True friends – unreservedly, unashamedly, and unfailingly – hold each other accountable because they know by deep personal and proven experience that they can trust each other and they have repeatedly certified their dependability to each other. The writer says that “open rebuke is better than hidden love, and that wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (verse 5-6). The open honesty of a dear friend is the product of an agenda that loves and cares more about the beloved friend and his or her needs than oneself. Such honesty is not deceitful. But the kiss of a friend – as in the case of Judas – is a form of devious flattery than comes from a hidden agenda which favors the one who gives the kiss. True friends are entirely open, loyal, honest, and frank with each other because “to those who are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet” (verse 7). True friends overlook each other’s individual faults, quirks, etc. Based on a commitment to each other, they resolve never to abandon or forsake each other for the sheer love of being together, sharing together, and finding a rare uniqueness in each other. Their relationship is unbreakable – separable only by death. Genuine friends love and respect each other too much to “bless each other loudly and early in the morning,” which the writer says is actually "a curse" (verse 14).
In Ezekiel 16, we see the allegory of Jerusalem as an “adulterous wife who prefers strangers to her own husband” (verse 32). In verses 1-7, Ezekiel presents her as an orphan – “despised, kicking about in her own blood, and thrown out into the open field” (verses 5-6). In verses 8-14, she becomes “old enough for love – taken in and cared for, dressed and adorned as a young beauty” (verses 8, 11, and 14). But then she “trusted in her beauty to become a prostitute” (verses 15-19). Finally, she became “degraded – slaughtering and sacrificing her own children” (verses 20-31). Shocking even the Philistines, she “engaged the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians for illicit favors” 26-34). Nevertheless, in spite of God’s harsh rebuke toward Jerusalem, we observe God’s special love and care for her. Jerusalem, which is metaphorically representative of the Jewish people (thus, of all mankind), has been unfaithful to the nth degree. But in the same way that God would lift Jerusalem and restore her to her previous heights, our loving and patient God promises to lift us up from the ash heap of sin, to promote and advance us to beauty, and to stay with us forever.
In Hebrew 9:1-15, we see how the Old Testament tabernacle (which is a picture of Christ) served as the place for man to come to meet with God. The text states that the “way into the Most Holy Place” was complex, limited, and mysterious (verses 7, ff.). Only the high priest could enter the inner room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance” (verse 7). Interestingly, the writer of the book of Hebrews gives us some special insight here. He says, “The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing” (verse 8). We learn all this from the Old Testament, so here, the writer is confirming that the Holy Spirit is the voice of the Old Testament law and the prophets (cf., Hebrews 3:7; and 10:15). “When Christ came” (verse 11), all this complexity changed. Once for all, Christ shed His own innocent blood for all who are guilty - “thus obtaining eternal redemption” (verse 12). The complex became simplified; the limited became unlimited; and the mysterious was revealed.
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