Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Hello,  I'm currently studying the Book of Ezekiel.  It's one of the darker books of the Bible; the observations and prophecies of a priest seeing the collapse of what was left of his culture.  A grim view of sin, self-delusion and religious hypocrisy, Ezekiel joins the major prophets in showing what life is like at the end of an age.  When I read this, I ask myself where I would fit in if I lived during this time.

Note:  I should have put this in the other day, but if anyone is looking for a website that defends the notion that one can be rational and still trust the Bible, try www.thepoachedegg.com.


Here's today's note.  I'll try to have one our every few days or so.

Ezekiel 24:7

 For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust.

“on top of a rock”-When I read this I made the awkward comparison to the statement of Jesus, that the church is to be a "city on a hill"(Matthew 5:14). The commentators mention that the blood of animals was to be poured out on earth, and covered with sawdust for sanitary reasons. (Leviticus 17:13)  Here human blood is spilled out on rock. In other words, people have become so brazen in their violence that they make no attempt even to hide the fact that they have committed bloodshed. If I lived in this setting, would I have been part of the problem or an exception to it, for all this was going on with the veneer of religiosity still there.  It could be argued that the fall of Jerusalem was religious hypocrisy played out to the final result. For my life I need to ponder once a Christian, then an example. That is part of the commitment. I will be an example of what a Christian ought to be, or one of what a Christian ought not to be, but an example nonetheless.