Seder 97: Psalm 52---Trust in God's Faithfulness and Justice

 Most of the psalms do not come to us with information about the original occasion of their composition.  But some do.  In particular, some psalms linked to events in the life of David are clumped together in Book 2 of the Psalter in Psalms 51-52, 54, 56-57, 59-60, 63.

The arrangement of these psalms does not seem to be random.  In his book The Message of the Psalter, David C. Mitchell mentions the observation of medieval commentator David Kimchi (a.k.a. Radak) that  Psalms 52 and 54 deal with trials faced by David when he was fleeing from Saul, while Psalm 53 in between affirms that God made his kingdom stand firm in the face of these trials.  

Psalm 52 expresses confidence that God will judge the wicked and uphold those who place their trust in him.  The song's superscription gives a face to the wicked person described in verses 1-4, associating this wicked man with Doeg the Edomite, whose words and actions were responsible for the deaths of 85 priests and much of the rest of the population of Nob (1 Sa 21-22) during the reign of King Saul.

"Why do you boast of evil. O  mighty man?", David begins his prayer.  I sense that there are implied air quotes around the phrase "mighty man."  Doeg may think that he is mighty in having so many killed, but he should be aware that "the steadfast love of God endures all the day."  

This is not the only place in the Bible that refers ironically to "mighty men."  Isaiah 5:22 says, "Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink."

David continues, "Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit" (verse 2).  He adds in verse 4, "You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue."  Certainly Doeg caused great harm with his words.  

The midrash on Psalm 52 includes reflection on the harm that can be brought about through malicious speech.  The passages quoted include

• Proverbs 18:21---"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."
• Psalm 34:13---"Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit."
• Proverbs 21:23---"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."

The sages observe that those who engage in slander are denying God's authority, based on Psalm 12:4.  They also say that slander is more damaging than murder, since slander destroys three people---the speaker, the listener, and the subject of the slander.  Doeg's speech is given as an example.  It led to the deaths of Ahimelech (1 Sa 22:16), Saul (1 Ch 10:13), and Doeg (Ps 52:5).

Seder 96: Joel 3---A Harvest of Judgment

A number of biblical passages speak of harvests of salvation.  Jesus used this kind of metaphor in John 4:34-38 and Matthew 9:35-38.  

Harvest imagery is also used in the Bible in prophecies of eschatological judgment.  For example, Joel 3 looks ahead to Israel's restoration in the Day of the Lord and the judgment of nations that have oppressed her.  In verse 13 we read, "Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.  Go in, tread, for the winepress is full.  The vats overflow, for their evil is great."  Commentator David A. Hubbard explains, "The wickedness...of the nations is so great that they are as ripe...for judgment as grapes would be for harvest at the peak of their season."

Other passages that use similar imagery for judgment are Isaiah 63:1-6 and Revelation 14:14-20.  In his Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Joel and Amos (1989), Hubbard notes that the passage in Revelation 14 "draws heavily upon this scene in Joel."

Seder 95: Questions about Leviticus 22:28

 Leviticus 22:28 states, "But you shall not kill an ox and a sheep and her young in one day."  Since this commandment appears in the middle of a section of rules on sacrifices, one question that has been raised about it is whether it applies to all slaughter of animals, or just to animals that are sacrificed.  Jewish halakhic tradition says it is the former. (b. Hullin 78a).   

Another question has to do with the rationale for this rule, which appears right after the stipulation that a sacrificial animal must be at least eight days old (verse 27).  One proposal to explain both verse 27 and verse 28 is that the love of a mother animal for her offspring is one of the highest and "most human" aspects of the life of an animal, and that human use of animals should honor this aspect and not blot it out.  An animal sacrifice should not disrespect the animal's self-sacrifice for her offspring.  

In general, the Bible teaches kindness toward animals.  In Proverbs 12:10 we read, "Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel."  Midrash Tanchuma  sees in Proverbs 12:10 a contrast between God's mercy in Leviticus 22:28 and the cruelty of the wicked as exemplified by the Assyrian Empire.  Hosea 10:14 states that  "mothers were dashed in pieces with their children" by Assyrian military forces.  We are to imitate God and not the cruel Assyrian monarchs.  

Provisions like those in Leviticus 22:28 and Deuteronomy 22:6 may also have sustainability in mind.  If some kind of animal is overharvested, there is danger of its becoming extinct.  This is not just a trendy concern of the present moment.  Such concerns were raised, for example, by Ramban (Nachmanides) in the thirteenth century AD.  This is all part of man's "working and keeping" the Garden (Ge 2:!5).

Seder 95: 1 Peter 2:3-4---Affirming the Deity of Jesus

 One way in which the writers of the New Testament epistles affirm the deity of Jesus is by applying passages from the Tanakh about the God of Israel to Jesus.  We see one example in 1 Peter 2:3-4, where Peter brings together two passages of scripture.

First Peter 2:3 references Psalm 34:8 ("Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!), a verse about the God of Israel.  

Then in verse 4, Peter says that the Lord is "a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious." Here Peter is thinking of Psalm 118:22, which he later quotes in verse 7, as a reference to Jesus.  Jesus had been rejected by Jewish leaders in Jerusalem (Mt 21:42; Ac 4:10-11) but was resurrected to eternal life.  

So Peter makes an identification between the God of Israel and Jesus the Messiah, as the New Testament writers often do. 

Seder 95: 1 Peter 2:5---Spiritual Sacrifices in a New Temple

 Peter probably wrote his first epistle in the early 60s AD, several years before his martyrdom and within a decade of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.  Peter must have known at that point that the temple soon would be destroyed, since Jesus had told him about 30 years before that this would happen within a generation (Mk 13:3, 30).  

Peter wrote to congregations in northern Asia Minor that would have included both Jewish and Gentile believers.  He encouraged them to live faithful lives in an environment that was often hostile to their counter-cultural beliefs and practices.  

In 1 Peter 2:4-10, he told these believers that they were "living stones" in a spiritual temple, a temple in which the resurrected Messiah is the chief cornerstone.  Furthermore, they constituted a holy priesthood whose purpose was to "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

A spiritual sacrifice presumably is once carried out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Other passages in the New Testament epistles say more about these sacrifices.  Paul says in Romans 12:1-2 that our bodies should be "living sacrifice," transformed by the Holy Spirit to obey the will of God. Hebrews 13:15-16 adds that acceptable sacrifices include praising God, doing good, and sharing what we have.

Peter added in verse 9, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."  

Here Peter brought together two passages, Isaiah 43:20-21 and Exodus 19:6, which describe Israel's priestly mission to be a light to the nations.  He told these believers that their spiritual priesthood would be carrying on with that mission, representing God with their words and their lives.  They would not be replacing Israel but assisting Israel in that mission.  

First Fruits of Zion has a good way of describing the New Testament people of God with its proleptic radial ecclesiology.

Seder 94: Luke 9:57-63---Setting Priorities

 In chapters 9-19 of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, where he will face his crucifixion.  On the journey, he prepares his disciples for what lies ahead.  

Jesus lets his disciples know that following him will mean facing rejection.  "Foxes have holes, and bird of the air have nests," he tells a potential disciple, "but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (9:58).  

Disciples will also have to make God's Kingdom their highest priority.  One potential disciples responds to Jesus' invitation by saying, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father" (v. 59).  Jesus responds, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God" (v. 60).

Different explanations have been offered for what Jesus means by the saying, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead."  Perhaps Jesus is saying, "Leave the spiritually dead to bury the dead."  Another explanation is based on first-century burial practices in Jerusalem.  If a family had a family tomb, they placed the body there.  A year later they gathered up the bones and placed them in a stone ossuary.  In this context Jesus may be saying that the other bodies in the family tomb should take care of these details.  

In any case this is one of Jesus' "hard sayings," because taking care of a parent's burial was an important part of honoring a parent.  Jesus is saying that one's commitment to God is even more important than that commitment to parents. 

The following exchange is similar to this one.  Another potential disciple says, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home" (v 62).  Jesus answers, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (v 63).  

This answer reminds us of an incident from the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha (1 Ki 19:19-21).  When Elijah picks Elisha to succeed him, Elisha is doing some plowing.  Elisha asks Elijah for permission to first wrap up some details, including saying farewell to his parents.  Elijah agrees, and Elisha quickly settles his affairs.  Here Elisha is not trying to delay; he is clearly committed to accepting his calling.  Disciples of Jesus can look to his example and imitate his commitment.  Jesus is not telling us to neglect our families, but to have our priorities in order.

New Testament scholar Paul Sloan points out that in Jewish tradition, if one is authorized to carry out some important task, the things needed to carry out that task take precedence over other Torah obligations.  Jesus had been sent by the Father as a herald of the Kingdom of God to the nation of Israel (see Luke 4:43).  People's lives depended upon their response to his message (Lk 13:3).  So the task of proclaiming the kingdom was even more important than the responsibility of burying one's father.  Jesus was not showing disdain for the Torah here, as some commentators have claimed.  

Seder 93: Luke 13:6-9---The Parable of the Unproductive Fig Tree

 In the parable of Luke 13:6-9, a man has a fig tree in his vineyard that has not borne fruit for three years.  When he asks his vinedresser to cut it down, the vinedresser recommends giving the tree one more year while he applies some additional fertilizer.  

In Luke's narrative, the parable appears right after a discussion of people in Judea and Galilee who have suffered misfortune.  Jesus explains that those people were not worse than anyone else; they had not been singled out for punishment.  But anyone who did not repent would be subject to judgment.  

The parable reminds us of John the Baptist's words in Luke 3:9 as part of his call to repentance:  "Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

The context of the parable in Luke 13 and some elements of the parable suggest that the parable is, at least in part, saying something about national judgment.  Certainly a fig tree and a vineyard can be symbols for Israel in the prophets (Isa 5:1-7; Jer 24:1-8; Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1).. 

It is possible, though, to take the search for symbolism too far, trying to find some kind of symbolic meaning in every detail of the parable.  This is a hermeneutic inappropriate for the parable genre.  Scholar Allan W. Martens gives an example, noting that some have stretched things too far in proposing that

• vineyard = Israel
• fig tree = Jerusalem
• vinedresser = Jesus
• three years = Jesus' ministry

But we can say that the parable is about the need for repentance, a message applicable to all readers of the parable.   

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 22, 2025, Kyle Kettering asked another question about the parable:  Is the parable implying that the interceding vinedresser is more merciful than the fig tree's owner?  In other words, is the one symbolized by the vinedresser more merciful than God?  

Certainly the answer is no.  Those who have played the intercessory role, like Abraham (Ge 18:23-33), Moses (Ex 32:10-12), and Jesus (Lk 23:34), do so because God is merciful (Lk 6:35-36).  Kyle urged us to bear fruit and help others to do so.  

Seder 93: Leviticus 19:23-25----More on "Uncircumcised" Fruit

  When the Israelites planted a new tree in the Promised Land, they were not to eat any fruit that happened to grow during the first three years.  This initial fruit was considered to be "uncircumcised."  

The adjective "uncircumcised" (Hebrew arel) is applied in a figurative way to several things in the Bible:

• fruit (Lev 19:23);
• lips (Ex 6:12, 30);
• hearts (Lev 26:41; Jer 9:26; Eze 44:7, 9);
• ears (Jer 6:10).

In each case there is some "blockage" that needs to be removed or improvement that needs to be carried out. 

Jewish teacher Sharon Rimon relates a midrash in which a Roman official asks Rabbi Akiva why boys are not born circumcised.  Akiva observes that there are a number of instances where God gives people things to do.  He gives us grain, from which we make bread; he gives us flax, from which we make linen, etc.  In general, God gives us these things to do so that we can be partners with him in creation and grow in the process.  

Seder 92: Understanding the Case in Leviticus 19:20-22

 A number of the legal cases presented in the Torah are challenging for today's readers, since they were presented to a culture much different from ours.  

One example is the case given in Leviticus 19:20-22.  Commentator Jay Sklar gives a possible explanation for the scenario under discussion.  

Sklar proposes that the master in this case has promised a slave woman to another man in marriage.  But before the betrothal is finalized, the man has sexual relations with the slave woman.  This scenario would be rather similar to the one in Deuteronomy 22:28-29, since the woman is not yet betrothed at this point.  The Deuteronomy passage suggests that the master should marry the slave woman if she consents to the marriage.  

The master has also broken his promise to the other man, a promise that may have been made with an oath.  So the master brings a guilt/reparation offering because of the broken promise.

Seder 91: Paul's Use of Leviticus 18:5 in Galatians 3:12

 In his epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul tells Gentile followers of Jesus that they should not make a full conversion to Judaism.  They have already been baptized and received the Holy Spirit.  Like Jewish followers of Jesus, they have been saved by grace through faith (Acts 15:7-11).  

In Galatians 3:10-14, Paul quotes several scriptures in making his argument.  Here are the first three:

• Deuteronomy 27:26 is quoted in verse 10.  Paul points out that making a conversion to Judaism means joining the Sinai covenant community, which collectively faces curses when it is disobedient (see Deuteronomy 28).  Sadly, over the centuries that community had too often suffered those curses.
• Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted in verse 11.  The Gentile Christians in Galatia are already part of the new covenant community and should continue to walk in faithfulness to God as part of that community.
• Leviticus 18:5 is  quoted in verse 12:  "The one who does them shall live by them."  In its original context, this verse tells members of the Sinai covenant community that they can enjoy abundant life in the Promised Land by being faithfully obedient to God.  Too often Israelites had missed this opportunity, and over the centuries Leviticus 18:5 had come to be a reminder of that unrealized potential (Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21; Neh 9:29).  New Testament scholar Joel Willitts suggests that Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 in Galatians 3:12 with that connotation in mind.  Making a full conversion to Judaism would not add anything to the current status of the Gentile believers.

Seder 91: Paul's Use of Leviticus 18:5 in Romans 10

 In Leviticus 18, God cautions the Israelites at Mount Sinai not to follow the ways of the peoples around them, in particular the Egyptians and Canaanites.  In verse 5, he states:

"You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them:  I am the LORD."  

The sentence "I am the LORD" is repeated often during the Exodus.  It is a shorthand form of Exodus 20:2:

"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the household of slavery."

Because God has delivered Israel from slavery, the Israelites have exchanged masters.  Now they owe allegiance to God.  Leviticus 18:5 says that if the Israelites are loyal to him, then they will enjoy abundant life in the Promised Land.  

This isn't a matter of the Israelites earning God's favor.  God is committed to his covenant with Israel.  But whether particular Israelites and generations of Israelites experience the full blessings of the covenant will depend on how well they follow its stipulations (see Lev 26 and Dt 28, which contrast the blessings and curses that will follow from Israel's obedience or disobedience).  

In the context of Leviticus 17-20, the implications of Leviticus 18:5 actually go beyond the nation of Israel.  The principles stated in these chapters are not just for Israelites, but are also for people from the nations who choose to live among them (Lev 17:8, 10, 13; 18:26; 20:2).  Remember that God called the Israelites for the ultimate goal of blessing the nations (Ge 12:3; Isa 42:6; 49:6).  

In this context, the reference in Leviticus 18:5 to "a person" is not restricted to Israelites, but refers to "any person."  Rabbi Meir, a famous second-century rabbi, took such a view, arguing that "even a Gentile who engages in Torah study is considered like a high priest" (b. Sanhedrin 59a).  

The apostle Paul seems to be emphasizing this universal aspect of Leviticus 18:5 when he quotes the verse in Roman 10:5.  In Romans 10, Paul asserts that the ultimate goal of the Torah is the sending of Jesus the Messiah for the salvation of all nations.  In verses 5-13, he quotes several passages from the Hebrew Scriptures to emphasize the accessibility of salvation to all.  

I think that Paul's use of Leviticus 18:5 in Romans 10:5 is often misunderstood, as evidenced by the fact that the conjunction in Romans 10:6 is rendered "but" in almost all of our English translations.  It is widely believed that Paul is contrasting a "righteousness that is based on the law" and a "righteousness based on faith" in Romans 10:5-6.  However, in that case Paul would be pitting two scriptures against each other.  He would also seem to be saying that Leviticus 18:5 is about salvation by works, or at least that some first-century Jews thought so.    

I would argue that "moreover" (as in the CJB) or "and" (as in YLT) would be a better translation than "but" in Romans 10:6, with Leviticus 18:5 intended to contribute to his argument.  In this reading, the "righteousness that is based on the law" is the "righteousness first announced in the Torah" that blessing is available for all who trust in the God of Israel.  

Seder 90: Leviticus 17-18 as Precursor of the Apostolic Decree in Acts 15

 At the Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15, the leaders of the early Jesus movement decided on basic requirements for Gentiles whom God had added to their ranks.  In a letter to congregations, the council stated, 

"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:  that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.  If you keep these, you will do well.  Farewell" (vv 28-29).

The four basic requirements are stated in shorthand, and the Jerusalem church sent emissaries along with its letter to unpack for congregations what was entailed in these four items.  It seems that these requirements had two basic purposes:  

• to enable unified fellowship between Jewish and Gentile members, who would be eating meals together.
• to lay out basic moral principles, cautioning against sinful behavior that was considered to be acceptable in the Greco-Roman world.

Scholars have looked for antecedents of this list in biblical and Jewish tradition, as scholar David Instone-Brewer discusses in a 2009 paper.  One possible precursor comes from Leviticus 17-18, a section of Leviticus that lays out instructions for holy living for both Israelites and resident aliens in the land of Israel.  Those instructions include prohibition of 

• idolatry (17:1-8);
• blood (17:10-16);
• sexual immorality (18:1-20, 22-23);
• child sacrifice, a form of infanticide (18:21).

Instone-Brewer proposes that "things strangled" may refer to both improper butchering of meat and to infanticide, which was a common birth control practice in the Greco-Roman world.

Three of the four items---idolatry, bloodshed, and sexual immorality---are linked together in several contexts.  In Jewish tradition these are three things that one should not do even if one's life is in danger.  These are also three things that will defile the land in which they are committed:  

• sexual immorality (Lev 18:24-25)
• bloodshed (Nu 35:33-34; Dt 21:1-9)
• false worship, especially idolatry (Lev 19:31; Jer 16:18)

Seder 89: Isaiah 6---The Commissioning of Isaiah

 The sixth chapter of Isaiah begins by describing a vision of the heavenly throne room that Isaiah received in around 740 BC.  This vision brought home to Isaiah the great gulf between him and a holy God, a gulf created by his sinfulness. 

God proceeded to cleanse Isaiah and forgive his sins.  God then asked his heavenly host, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Encouraged by what God had done for him, Isaiah spoke up, "Here I am!  Send me" (v 8).  

God then let Isaiah know what he was getting himself into.  If Isaiah told people what they wanted to hear, he might become popular.  But he would be telling the nation of Judah what it needed to hear.  As a result, many would tune him out, at least in the short run, and the nation would face judgment.  But a remnant would listen, and the nation would be rebuilt from there. 

Chronologically speaking, this may be the earliest part of the book of Isaiah.  We would normally expect the book to open with this commissioning narrative---see Jeremiah 1 and Ezekiel 1-2.  Commentator John Oswalt proposes that this episode appears where it does in order to model what the Israelites must do in order to address the spiritual problems raised in Isaiah 1-5.  If the people would humble themselves and confess their uncleanness, then God would cleanse them in his mercy.

Another unusual thing about Isaiah 6 is that God does not command Isaiah to serve as a prophet.  Instead, God invites him to volunteer.  

The passage from Isaiah 6 that is most often quoted in the New Testament is verses 9-10.  Jesus and Paul would sometimes find their audiences to be just as spiritually obstinate as Isaiah's.  As human beings, we tend to resist listening to the things we need to hear.

Seder 88: Answering Two Questions about Mark 7

 Mark 7 records a halakhic discussion in which Jesus engaged about a ritual hand-washing practice which was popular in his time.  Jesus was asked why his disciples didn't engage in this practice, which was based on the belief that ritual impurity could spread from a person's hands via a liquid to food, which would then make the person ritually unclean.  

Jesus expressed disagreement with this practice, which he classified as a human tradition that obscured rather than amplified the  teaching of the Torah.  He stated, "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him" (v 15).  

Thinking about the rules for ritual purity in Leviticus 11-15, we can see what Jesus was talking about.  It is things that come out of a person---e.g., bodily fluids like blood and semen---that lead to ritual impurity, not anything a person ingests.  

At first glance, though, there seems to be a possible exception in Lev 17:15:  "And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean."

Biblical scholar Logan Williams addresses this question in a 2024 paper in the journal New Testament Studies.  He explains that the uncleanness may be contracted from handling the dead animal rather than from ingesting the meat.  

Williams also looks at another question about Mark 7, the interpretation of Mark 7:18-19.  He says that here Jesus is saying that the human digestive system is a ritual cleansing agent.  Whenever a person eats meat, one has contact with a dead animal, but eating meat does not, according to Leviticus, lead to ritual impurity.  One way of explaining why that is is to see the digestive system as ritually cleansing the meat. 

A number of English translations of Mark 7:19 end the verse with a parenthetical "thus he declared all food clean."  Williams says that it's better to read that final clause as the end of the previous sentence, as in the KJV.  It's a trip through the digestive system that ritually cleanses the food, not a proclamation by Jesus.

Feast of Tabernacles 2025: Comparing 1 Cor 8-10 and Avodah Zarah

 At the Feast of Tabernacles, we look forward to the time when all nations worship the true God, as pictured in Zechariah 14.  

In the first century the Gospel began to be proclaimed to the nations, an effort that eventually will lead to the fulfillment of Zechariah 14.  Former pagans who joined the Christian movement faced some big challenges negotiating the polytheistic environment of the Greco-Roman world.  Here their Jewish brethren in the Diaspora could provide help based on generations of experience.  We see the apostle Paul providing this kind of help in his epistles---for example, in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10.  

In a lecture at Church of the Messiah on October 11, 2025, Kyle Kettering explained that the guidance Paul gave to his congregations has important parallels with the cases discussed in tractate Avodah Zarah ("works of idolaters") in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmuds.  This is not surprising, since Paul 

• was a Pharisee (not an "ex-Pharisee"), as we see in Acts 23:6;
• was a follower of the Torah, as in Acts 18:8; 21:21-24;
• was a teacher of Torah principles.

Both Paul and Avodah Zarah took into account three considerations in navigating the idol-saturated world of the Roman Empire:

1. How a particular thing appeared to others.
2. The significance given to the thing in its setting.
3. How a particular thing was being used.

In regard to appearances, one case discussed by the rabbis involves a coin that is lying on the ground in front of an idol shrine.  Is it OK to pick up the coin?  The sages say no in a situation where doing so would make it appear that one is worshiping the god of the shrine.  Similarly, Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 says that meat that has been offered to an idol should not be eaten if this action would do spiritual harm to a brother---e.g., a Gentile believer who is still struggling with whether to continue in pagan practices that previously were part of his life.  

1 Thessalonians 5:22 as it is translated in the KJV ("abstain from all appearance of evil") may be relevant here, although there is some question about the meaning of this verse.  For example, ESV has "abstain from every form of evil."   

Significance given to an object arose, for example, in the question of the possible use of stones that had been part of an image of a god.  Are these stones still being seen and treated as representing the god?   If so, they should not be reused.  If not, it is OK to recycle them for another purpose. 

The question about how a thing was being used arose, for example, in the question of whether one should go to a Roman bathhouse in which there were idolatrous images.  In one famous ruling, Rabban Gamaliel II said that it was not a problem to go to a bathhouse in which there was an image of Aphrodite.  Gamaliel reasoned that people went to a bathhouse to bathe, not to worship idols.   The idol at the bathhouse was just a decoration, not an object of worship. 

Kyle gave some current examples in which these principles can be applied.  For example, the image on a Starbucks cup is not a part of pagan worship, so there is no reason to abstain from Starbucks coffee.  Similarly, there is no reason to avoid the use of Christmas trees; the people who use them do not do so to follow a false god.  There is no reason to worry about the origins or past use of the "Star of David;" the current intended use of the star has nothing to do with paganism. 

Seder 87: Spiritual Lessons from a Moldy House

 If a house in ancient Israel was hit with a persistent fungal infestation, then the building materials---mainly stones---would have to be discarded and the house rebuilt (Lev 14:43-45).  Stones were free and readily available, but significant time and effort would have been expended in the rebuilding project.

The rules on moldy houses carried some spiritual messages.  As with other ritual purity rules, they were a reminder of our human imperfection and mortality.  Houses, like other material possessions, are temporary, so one should not place too much emphasis on them and make their acquisition one's primary goal.  

Other biblical passages express this lesson---e.g., the prophecy in Isaiah 5:8-9 and the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21.  

Seder 87: Isaiah 5---The Parable of the Vineyard

 Isaiah 5:1-6 presents the story of a vineyard owner who carefully plants and tends a vineyard, only to have it produce bad fruit.  The owner finally decides not to waste any more time and effort on the vineyard and allows it to become overgrown.  

Isaiah gets to the point in verse 7.  Israel is God's vineyard, and it has not been producing good fruit.  

Isaiah goes on to describe the fruit that Israel and Judah have been yielding, giving five "woes".  Commentator John Oswalt summarizes them this way:

1. Greed (vv 8-10), with the rich buying up houses and fields and pushing others off their land.  God had meant for plots of land to stay in families (Lv 25:23-28) to help people avoid poverty.  In a measure-for-measure judgment, those who engaged in these practices would lose their houses and go into exile.
2. Self-indulgence (vv 12-17)---people living for pleasure rather than rejoicing in God.  Feasting is a blessing (Isa 25:6; Rev 19:7-9), but not a proper life goal.  The self-indulgent would go hungry in exile. 
3. Cynicism (vv 18-19) of those who sin and dare God to do something about it, confusing grace for license.  
4.  Moral perversion (vv 20-21) of those who are so wise in their own eyes that they reject all moral authority.  
5. Social injustice (vv 22-24) practiced by those who exploit others for the sake of material gain. 

Isaiah declares that if Judah does not repent, God will use foreign powers---Assyria and Babylon---to punish the southern kingdom.

Seder 86: Isaiah 57-58---Repentance Precedes Restoration

 The "second half" of the book of Isaiah, chapters 40-66, has an emphasis on offering comfort to Israelites in exile.  There are prophecies of the Messiah and the messianic era, looking ahead to the coming of a new Exodus and the restoration of Israel in the Promised Land.  

The main focus in these chapters is not correction and rebuke, but these features are still present.  Isaiah foresees that Israelites returning from exile will still be clinging to some syncretism (e.g., chapters 57 and 58).  In Isaiah 58:3, people are pictured fasting in order to gain God's favor.  This is an attitude from paganism, where religious practice is about trying to manipulate the gods.  

Isaiah also makes clear that God invites his people to come to him in repentance.  Isaiah 57:14-21 pictures a highway on which the humble and contrite can return to God.  Instead of fasting to try to influence God, Isaiah says that worshipers should show "fruits meet for repentance" by helping the needy (Isa 58:5-6).

Seder 85 and Seder 86: Prayer in a Time of Suffering

 In discussing Leviticus 13, commentator Jay Sklar notes some things that the chapter does not mention.  Most notably, there is no explanation of why certain skin conditions lead to ritual impurity.  Moreover, there is also no discussion in Leviticus about how people dealt with the great suffering that can go with skin conditions.  

Sklar observes that we can get a sense of this suffering from another part of the Bible---the Psalms.  There we find prayers made in times of suffering.  Sklar lists Psalms 6, 13, 38, 41 as examples.

These psalms give a sense of the magnitude of suffering involved.  They also show a firm trust in God's help---see 6:8-10; 13:5-6; 38:15; 41:11-12.

Another lament of this type is in Psalm 88. At Church of the Messiah, Kyle Kettering gave a sermon on this psalm on September 27, 2925.

Psalms of this type remind us that life includes lots of suffering, and in our worship we should not ignore this part of life.  As Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, there is a time to mourn.  

Feast of Trumpets 2025: What is Memorialized?

 The Feast of Trumpets is introduced in Leviticus 23:23-25 as "a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets" (ESV).  There is no mention in these verses of what is being memorialized.  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on September 20, 2025, Kyle Kettering surveyed the important things that may be memorialized by this festival.  

Since harvest festivals like Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles are prominent in the annual cycle of celebrations, the fall harvest is one thing to celebrate in this season.  

There are a number of themes associated with the Feast of Trumpets in Jewish tradition.  These include 

• creation
• the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, partly because of the horn of the ram that was a substitute for Isaac.
• a spiritual wake-up call and announcement of coming judgment.
• the coming of the King (Ps 98:6).
• future redemption, including the coming of Messiah (Zech 9:14) and the ingathering of exiles (Isa 27:13).  

Several of these themes are continued in the New Testament, especially that of future redemption.  The imagery of trumpets is prominent in the book of Revelation and in descriptions of the return of Jesus (Rev 11:15-18; Mt 24:29-31; 1 Co 15:51-57; 1 Th 4:13-18).  

Seder 84: A Question about Psalm 72:20

 Psalm 72 concludes with the statement, "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended" (verse 20).  

Psalm 72:20 sometimes raises questions, because Psalm 86 carries the superscription, "A Prayer of David."  So it appears that Psalm 72 is not the final prayer of David in the psalter.  Are Psalm 72:20 and Psalm 86:1 in contradiction?  

Here it is important to recognize that Psalm 72:20 is not just the end of Psalm 72; it is also the conclusion of Book 2 of the Psalms, which consists of Psalms 42-72.  So Psalm 72:20 may just be signaling the end of the prayers of David in Book 2, or in Books 1 and 2.  The compilation of Book 3, which includes Psalm 86, may have occurred later.  

There is also no reason to assume that the canonical order of the psalms reflects a strict chronological order.  There is a tradition that David in Psalm 72 was praying for Solomon, the next king.  If David composed this psalm shortly before he died, it could well be his final psalm, chronologically speaking.

Seder 83: The "Forbidden Impurity" of Leviticus 11:42-43

 Like chapters 12-15 of Leviticus, Leviticus 11 mentions some ways of contracting ritual impurity.  Specifically, touching or carrying the carcass of an impure animal, or a pure animal that had died of itself, resulted in a minor ritual impurity that could be dealt with by washing one's clothes (verses 24-25,27-28, 31).  Such rules on ritual impurity are connected with protecting the tabernacle or temple from defilement.  

Leviticus 11:42-43 speaks of a different kind of defilement associated with eating meat from impure animals.  Scholar Roy Gane points out that this kind of impurity is associated not with the holiness of the sanctuary, but with the holiness of the people themselves (see verses 44-45).  Gane also observes that the distinction between pure and impure animals predates the covenant at Sinai (Ge 7:2-3, 8-9; 8:20).

This kind of impurity can't be remedied with a simple washing, and it can't be passed along through contact with another person. Assuming this sin was not carried out in a defiant or "high-handed" manner, presumably it could have remedied with a purification offering.  

Gane, a Seventh-day Adventist, also argues that since Christians are also a holy people in covenant with God, the dietary rules of Leviticus 11 continue to have relevance for Christians.  That's a topic for another time.

Seder 82: Ezekiel 44---Envisioning a Holy Priesthood

 In the vision recorded in Ezekiel 40-48, Ezekiel is shown a picture of twelve tribes brought back to the Promised Land, with God dwelling in the midst of his people and true worship conducted at a new temple.  

The Aaronic priesthood serving at this temple is described in Ezekiel 44:15-31.  The holiness of these descendants of Zadok is emphasized, with specific mention that they follow instructions for priests laid out in the book of Leviticus.  They would

• carefully "distinguish between the holy and the common" (Lv 10:10; Eze 44:19).  
• not engage in pagan mourning rituals (Eze 44:20; Lv 10:6; 21:5, 10).  
• not drink on duty (Eze 44:21; Lv 10:9).
• observe marriage restrictions for priests, even for high priests  (Eze 44:22; Lv 21:7,14).
• faithfully carry out teaching responsibilities (Eze 44:23; Lv 10:11).
• make judicial rulings to settle disputes (Eze 44:24; Dt 17:7; 19:17; 21:5).
• follow priestly restrictions on mourning and deal appropriately with corpse impurity (Eze 44:25-26; Lev 21:1-3).  

One difference between the vision and previous practice was that these priests would serve strictly in white linen garments (verses 16-18).  Apparently the high priest would not wear the colorful royal garments described in Exodus 28, but would follow the restrictions used on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16).  Perhaps these details are intended to emphasize the humility of these priests.  

There are some differences between practices described in the Torah and those pictured in the vision.  The clothing in Ezekiel 44:16-18 is one of them.  Another is the burnt offering for a new moon---two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs in Nu 28:11; and one bull, six sheep, and one ram in Ezekiel 46:6-7.  

Apparently the early rabbis puzzled over such differences.  The Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 13b) mentions a sage named Hananiah ben Hezekiah who saved the book of Ezekiel's status in the canon by laboring to explain the differences between the practices in the vision and those laid out in the Pentateuch.  I personally am not troubled by these differences, which seem minor.  A new temple can come with some new customs.  

Seder 82: Ezekiel 44-45: Who is "the Prince" in Ezekiel's Vision?

 In Ezekiel's vision in chapters 40-48, one figure mentioned several times is "the prince" (nasi in Hebrew).  This is a righteous human leader who will sponsor worship at the Temple described in the vision.  Too often in ancient Israel's history there was corrupt leadership, but Ezekiel looks forward to a time when there would be godly leaders (Eze 45:8-12).  

It seems reasonable to view the prince as a type of the Messiah; on the other hand, the vision also seems to distinguish the prince from the Messiah of Christianity.  For one thing, the prince will provide purification offerings for himself and the people--Eze 45:22---while Christ requires no such offerings (Heb 7:27-28).  Moreover, the priest is someone who may have physical descendants---Eze 46:16.

Seder 81: Ezekiel's Temple Vision and the Torah

 The vision of Ezekiel recorded in Ezekiel 40-48 is one of the most mysterious sections of Scripture.  In this vision, Ezekiel is escorted by a heavenly guide around a restored temple compound, with lots of measurements given for gates, courtyards, a sanctuary, and quarters for priests.  God's presence comes to this temple, where he will be present with his people forever.  Worship at the temple is then described, and finally an apportionment of the Holy Land among the tribes of Israel.  

Ezekiel received this vision in about 573 BC, during the time of Judah's exile in Babylon.  The vision was a comforting one for the exiles, assuring them that there would be a future restoration of Israel in the land, with God dwelling among his people and true worship reestablished.  

But how literally are we to take the details of the vision?  Is this a literal description of a millennial temple, as dispensationalists tend to believe, or is it more a symbolic description of true worship in images meaningful to the original readers of the book of Ezekiel? 

In any case, there are a number of parallels between the book of Ezekiel and the things revealed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, as commentator Daniel Block points out.  In both accounts,

• God commissions a human agent---Exodus 3-4; Ezekiel 33.
• God separates Israel from the nations and delivers her from bondage---Ex 5-13; Eze 34-37.
• Attacking enemies are defeated---Exodus 14-15; Ezekiel 38-39.
• God appears on a high mountain---Ex 19; Eze 40:1-4.
• God provides for residence among his people---Ex 25-40; Eze 40-43.
• God prescribes the appropriate response to his grace---Lev 1-Num 21; Eze 44-46;
• God provides for apportionment of land to the tribes---Num 34-35; Eze 47-48.

So Ezekiel, a new Moses figure, describes a new exodus with a renewed covenant and Torah.

Seder 80: 1 John 2:18-27---Anointed Followers of the Anointed One

 In his first epistle, John wrote to a community that was experiencing division.  Some people had left them.  John describes them as "antichrists"---opponents of Christ.  

John recognized this kind of opposition as characteristic of the "last hour"---i.e., the time after Christ's resurrection and before his return(1 Jn 2:18).  Jesus had predicted in his Olivet Discourse that such conflict would occur  (Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21), and so the apostles were not surprised by it (e.g., 1 Ti 4:1; 2 Pe 3:3-7; Jude 18).   

John describes some of the beliefs of those who are antichrists.  They deny that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Anointed One or Messiah (2:22-23).  In particular, they do not believe that Jesus is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:1-18; 1 Jn 4:2-3; 2 Jn 7).  

Those who do believe in the Jesus the Messiah as portrayed in John's Gospel "have an anointing from the Holy One," John says (1 Jn 2:20).  Believers are themselves "anointed ones."  They have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides believers into all truth (Jn 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13), and so they have no need for some alleged "new truth" that their opponents might be offering.  

Bible Thinks Workshop with Baruch Kvasnica: Walking with God

 The first Christians referred to their movement as "the Way" (Acts 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:22).  They were people who walked with God, following in the footsteps of Jesus the Messiah.  

The expression "walking with God" is a familiar one in the Bible.  In the early chapters of Genesis, Enoch "walked with God" (Ge 5:22, 24), as did Noah (Ge 6:9).  Similarly, the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob "walked before God" (Ge 24:40; 48:15).  So did King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Ki 20:3).  

Jacob described God as his shepherd who guided him from behind (Ge 48:15).  God was also said to walk in front of (Ex 13:21) and among (Lv 26:12) his people.  

This kind of language pictures a close relationship between God and his people.  Moses instructed the children of Israel to walk in all the ways of God, following his commandments (Dt 11:22).  In the same sentence, he spoke of "loving the LORD your God" and "holding fast to him."  

The metaphor of walking with God, a prominent one in the Bible, isn't found in other ancient cultures.  Neither is the idea of repentance, where one who has strayed from God's way returns to it.  For most ancient people, the gods were mysterious and arbitrary.  People weren't sure what the gods required of them or how to appease the gods when the gods were offended.  So pagans didn't really think of themselves as being on a journey with the gods.  

On August 9, 2025, Sherry and I attended a workshop at Hope College in Holland, Michigan on the metaphor of walking with God.  The workshop was sponsored by the Center for Hebraic Thought and En-Gedi Resource Center.  The main speaker was Baruch Kvasnica, founder and head of Jerusalem Seminary.

Kvasnica reported on his doctoral research, where he looked at the appearance of the metaphor of walking with God in ancient Greek sources.  

He explained that in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Hebrew Bible, the language of "walking with God" is translated in a few different ways.  In the Genesis passages about Enoch, Noah, and the patriarchs walking with God (Ge 5:22, 24; 6:9; 24:40; 48:15), the LXX says that they were pleasing to God.  

A Greek word for "going," poreuomai, appears frequently (almost a thousand times) in the LXX.  This word is often used to render "walking with God" language---e.g., in Leviticus 26:3, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 40, 41 and Deuteronomy 10:12; 11:22; 13:4; 19:19; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.  

A Greek word for "walking," peripateo, appears 26 times in the LXX.  Usually this word is used in situations where someone is walking somewhere.  In a couple of cases, it is used figuratively for walking with God (2 Ki 20:3) or walking in the way of righteousness (Pr 8:20).  

So at the time when the LXX was produced, Greek-speaking Jews may have just been starting to speak of "walking with God" with the word peripateo.  By the time that the New Testament was written, though, such an expression was often used.

Kvasnica observed that this language is seldom used in the Synoptic Gospels.  The one exception is in Mark 7:5, where Jesus is asked, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders?"  The Synoptics speak more often of following Jesus.  

In John, "walking with God" language appears in John 8:12; 11:9-10; 12:35.  John uses this language in his epistles in 1 John 1:6,7; 2:6,11; 2 John 4,6; and 3 John 3,4.  In Revelation, we see it in 3:4 and 21:24.

Paul uses "walking with God" language frequently; Kvasnica counted over 30 instances, including Romans 6:4; 8:1,4; 13:13; 14:15; 1 Corinthians 3:3; 7:17; 4:2; 5:7; 10:2, 3; 12:18; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:2, 10; 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15; Philippians 3: 17, 18; Colossians 1:10; 2:6; 3:7; 4:5; 1 Thes 2:12; 4:1, 12; 2 Thes 3:6, 11.  

In a survey of ancient Greek literature, Kvasnica found that "walking with God" language only appears in "Jewish Greek."  Outside of the New Testament, such language appears, for example, in Philo and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.  Josephus, writing from Rome to Gentiles, does not use such language.  

Why then, Kvasnica wondered, does Paul use this language so often in his epistles to churches with large Gentile populations?  The answer may be that many of the Gentiles in his audiences were "God-fearers" who had some familiarity with the Bible through contact with synagogues.  

When we hear the Greek word peripateos, we think of the English word peripatetic.  Kvasnica was asked if the language of walking in a certain way of life could have also been influenced by the "Peripatetic school" of philosophy.  He explained that this school got its name not from the fact that its teachers "walked around" or lived in a certain way, but from the place where the school met, the Peripatos.  (Similarly, he said, the Stoics got their name from the stoa where they met.) 

This was a stimulating workshop that helped us think about what it means to walk with God.  

Seder 79: Lev 7:12-15---The Thanksgiving Offering

 The seventh chapter of Leviticus describes three types of peace/fellowship offerings.  One was called a toda, an offering of praise and thanksgiving.  It was given in gratitude for rescue or deliverance. 

Some examples are described in Psalm 107.  In one of them, a person receives healing from God:

"He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!  And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!" (verses 20-22)

Other examples in Psalm 107 involve people who have been rescued from the wilderness, released from imprisonment, or safely brought through a sea voyage.  

A thanksgiving offering involved a communal meal that had to be eaten on the day of the offering.  This requirement encouraged the offeror to invite a large group of people to share the feast.  As it says in Psalm 107:32, "Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders."

The feast included lots of bread, both unleavened and leavened (Lv 7:12-14).  Sharon Rimon suggests that the unleavened bread might represent the trial the person had endured, while the leavened bread might represent the fact that the offeror had been completely delivered from the trial.  

Rimon points out that a toda is in several ways similar to a Passover meal, which is a kind of national toda:

• Both give thanks for deliverance.
• Both are shelamim (offerings of peace or wellbeing).
• Both have to be finished by the following morning.
• Both are eaten with bread.

One major difference is that the bread at a Passover meal is strictly unleavened bread.  Rimon observes that Passover celebrates a redemption that has begun but has not yet been completed.  The redemption of the Exodus is completed when Israel receives the Torah at Mt Sinai, inherits the Promised Land, and begins harvesting crops there.  These things are celebrated at Pentecost, when leavened bread is part of the liturgy (Lv 23:15-21).  

Seder 78: Leviticus 5-6 and Zechariah 5---Crime and Punishment in Ancient Israel

 When a crime was committed in ancient Israel---a theft, for example---there would be a public call for witnesses to come forward, with an oath calling upon God to deal appropriately with the perpetrator and anyone who knew what had happened but refused to testify.  

This kind of public call and oath is first mentioned in the Bible in Leviticus 5:1.  Another reference to it is in Proverbs 29:24:  "The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing."  

When there was a lack of evidence in a case, it might have ended up being resolved by an oath.  For example, Exodus 22:10-11 describes a case where one person leaves some possession with another person for safekeeping, and the possession is subsequently lost.  If there is no evidence of what happened and the person who was supposed to be guarding the possession swears that he doesn't know what happened, the owner has to accept his word.  

Underlying all of this is the conviction that God sees everything and is the ultimate Judge.  In some cases where a person failed to testify, his conscience would eventually move him to step forward belatedly, as in Leviticus 5:1.  Or if a person had defrauded another and initially lied about it, he might later confess the truth and make things right (Lv 6:1-7).  God might give such a person some incentive to do the right thing by allowing the person to suffer for his wrongdoing.  That's what Leviticus 5:1 means when it speaks of the reluctant witness "bearing his iniquity."  

One striking affirmation of God's justice appears in Zechariah's vision of a flying scroll.  (Remembering the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, I am tempted to refer to the scroll in the vision as Rocket J. Scroll.)  This huge scroll measures about 30 feet by 15 feet.  It has writing on both sides, like the tablets of the Decalogue.  The commandment against stealing is on one side, and the commandment against bearing false witness is on the other.  The scroll seems to symbolize the whole Decalogue, or more broadly all of God's Word.  

Zechariah 5:3-4 pictures God sending out the scroll, as he sends out his Word in Psalm 147:15; and as in Isaiah 55:11, it accomplishes God's will, carrying out justice in the world.  The scroll makes good on the oath that goes out when witnesses are solicited---see verse 3.  

Although we are not often called upon to be witnesses in a court of law, we have all been witnesses of the goodness of God.  In a sermon on Leviticus 5:1 at Church of the Messiah on August 2, 2025, Kyle Kettering urged us not to be reluctant witnesses, and to speak up about what God has done for us. 

Seder 77: Ezekiel 18---Principles of Divine Justice

The eighteenth chapter of the book of Ezekiel is one of  several examples in the book of what scholars call a "disputation speech."  The discussion begins by quoting a popular saying that gives a thesis.  Ezekiel then responds with a counter-thesis stating God's perspective on the matter.  There are examples in chapters 11, 12, 18, and 33.  

Chapter 18 begins with a thesis accusing God of injustice:  "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."  Ezekiel responds with a counter-thesis from God:  "It is the one who sins who shall die." He elaborates by telling a story of three generations (vv 5-18):  

• A righteous man, one who lives according to God's covenant with Israel, will be rewarded with life.  
• If that man's child turns to wickedness, the child will be judged for that wickedness.
• If the man's grandchild returns to righteousness, the wickedness of the grandchild's parent will not be held against him.

Some have suggested that this example has in mind three generations of kings of Judah.  Righteous king Hezekiah was succeeded by his wicked son Manasseh, who was in turn succeeded by righteous king Josiah.  But Ezekiel is laying out a general principle, not just thinking about these three kings.  This principle has previously been stated in Deuteronomy 24:16.

There is some pushback in verse 19, with a restatement of the original thesis.  Commentator Daniel Block points out that some may be supporting the thesis with a famous passage from Exodus 20, where God states that he is "a jealous [i.e., impassioned] God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me..." (verse 5).  

Block explains that a different issue is being addressed in Exodus 20, which is directed to heads of household.  God wants heads of household to know that their behavior will affect, for good or ill, their entire multi-generational extended families.  

However, Ezekiel makes clear that we cannot use our parents' sins as an excuse for our own.  A person who has been wicked can repent and turn to righteousness.  In that case, that person's earlier sins will not be held against him (verses 20-22).  

On the other hand, a righteous person who subsequently turns away from God will not be able to get by based on earlier righteousness (verse 24).  

Ezekiel closes the chapter with a general call to repentance.  This is a remarkable text, Block points out.  There are a number of cryptic passages in Ezekiel's prophecy, but chapter 18 is crystal clear and speaks directly to readers in all generations.  We all have our destinies in our own hands.  Our eternal futures depend on our own decisions.  God's desire is that all of us choose life.