Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 9-11
“Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?” This was Abraham’s question to God as he was informed of the doom of Sodom and the cities of the plain (Gen 18:23). In Ezekiel 9, the prophet sees the measured wrath of the Lord. Jehovah is not indiscriminate in His punishment of Judah. Rather, those who lament over the putrid spiritual state of the people are marked for their own protection. In chapter 10, Ezekiel returns to his vision of chapter 1 (see v 2, 15). Again, the exact meaning of the imagery is unclear, but the point is clear in verse 18, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple.” I cannot help but think of 1 Samuel 4 and the account of the Eli, the ark, the Philistines, and Ichabod. I also cannot help but think of how many of God’s people are at ease with their own idols in God’s house, not knowing the glory of God is no longer upon them or the destruction that ultimately awaits. Chapter 11 finds us with 25 men who give wicked counsel to the people. They mocked the words of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:5, where he commanded the exiles to build houses and prepare for a long stay in Babylon. God gives a threefold exhortation to Ezekiel to prophesy destruction against them (vv 3-12).
New Testament reading: John 17-18
“Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way” (John 18:8). Even in the midst of His illegal arrest and subsequent detention and interrogation, Jesus was still mindful of His apostles. He well understood the mob mentality of those who had sought Him out in the garden. He knew the situation concerning Him could quickly escalate and get out of hand. The text makes this clear in John 18:9 as the text indicates the imminent danger in which the eleven found themselves. Their lives and their future were too important to Christ, as He had just prayed concerning their safekeeping (John 17:12). Peter did not help matters as he drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant (18:10). Nevertheless, the Lord’s calm demeanor and subsequent healing (cf Luke 22:51) in some ways may be said to have saved the day, for to lose even one disciple at this juncture would have negated the Lord’s claim and done irreparable harm to the very cause for which Jesus was about to die.
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