Oct 22, 2022
EZEKIEL 20:
In
yesterday’s reading in Ezekiel, the Lord refuted the saying that
the Israelite’s were using, “The parents have eaten sour grapes,
but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.” And then Ezekiel
conveyed two poems about the kings of Judah, spoken of symbolically
as two lion cubs and like a vine.
ISAIAH 3:24—4:
Isaiah, like Ezekiel, also spoke of Israel like
a vine, and in yesterday’s reading the Lord and Isaiah
characterized Israel as a pampered, vain, and spoiled
woman.
HEBREWS 1:
In heaven, I hope to find out who it was who
wrote the book of Hebrews. The book doesn’t show signs of Pauline
authorship. Important in this, there is no salutation like in all
of Paul’s letters. Also, the writer does not claim to have been an
eyewitness of Christ (2:3), as Paul claimed. The letter was
probably written somewhat before AD 70, because even though the
author talks much of the temple, he never mentions its
destruction.
Mears points out that the word ‘better’ occurs 10 times, signalling a theme that Christians have been given a better way. In the first chapter the theme is that Christ is supreme and far superior to angels.
For many years I wondered why the writer did not return to his theme of our ‘place of rest’, which he gives in chapters 3-4. Now I think that he does in fact return to that theme! See if you can find it as we read through! And here’s a hint: Note that Israel’s ancestors failed to enter the place of rest because of their refusal to believe God. Hebrews 11 (which is called the Faith Chapter) shows that we enter that place of rest through fully believing God. (That is what faith is!)