DAY 329

POTS & STONE

Ezekiel 24, 25 & 26 and 1 Peter 2

Today in Ezekiel 24 we are given two graphic scenes—the first seems like a rather innocent boiling pot and the second the terrible death of Ezekiel’s wife. The chapter starts with a rather sweet sounding story of making a nice stew, but in verse 6 we read, “Woe to the bloody city, to the post whose corrosion is in it.” I am told the Hebrew in parts of this chapter are challenging; an older version reads the pot whose scum is still in it. The allegory is that the people are the pot and the meat. The meat is randomly taken out of the pot (instead of being carefully chosen) and then the wood is piled on the pot to destroy it…the siege of Jerusalem. We do not know if Ezekiel is acting out this scene…we do know the next scene is real…the death of Ezekiel’s wife.

Ezekiel’s wife: we read only a few short verses regarding the delight of his eyes. We do not know if this happened the day after the scene above, but it was probably in close proximity…but here is the point and it is a tough point…the death of Ezekiel’s wife is not some historical tidbit thrust into the text…it is a prophecy. How do we know that? Because God gives Ezekiel some rather unusual instructions. Ezekiel is not to follow the patterns of traditional mourning; rather he is to go about his day as normal. Why? To reveal a prophecy: the delight of the eyes of those who live in Jerusalem was Jerusalem—and quite specifically the Temple—and it will be destroyed—it will lay dead in their midst—and they will not be allowed to mourn—rather they will put on their shoes and be marched off to Babylon. If the people whom God has sent Ezekiel to cannot hear this prophecy, then they are certainly doomed.

Which brings us to 1 Peter, it is a little bit like the “positive-negative” idea that I wrote about yesterday. In 1 Peter we read about being Living Stones vice un-cleaned pots. To understand about “stones” I want to take you back to some of the big moments in the Old Testament that we have read about. Do you remember when the Israelites crossed the Jordan—how God stopped the flow of the river? It is in Joshua 3. God had the people dig up stones from the now dry river bed and stand them up on the shore as monuments. When other people would walk by they would see the stones and ask, “What happened here?” Then the answer would be given, how God did a great thing!

The point is somewhat straightforward…you and I are to be Living Stones. When people see us they are to ask, “What the heck happened to you?” Our answer is to tell people about what God has done in our life!

So are you and I un-cleaned pots or a living stones?