Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 13 November 2021

 Well, no snow.  Yet.  Now, the weathercasters say we will have some tonight and tomorrow.  But may also be in the 50's next week.  I wish that were not only true, but the case until we're well into "official" Spring.  The grim skies, bleak outlook, general aura of hopelessness is all to close to my own "normal" outlook on life.  Unfortunately.

Which dovetails all to well with our current and recent readings in the Old Testament.  We see there how the world that the people had come to regard as "normal" collapsed around them.  We see the hopelessness and terror.  We see the reminders of the "why".  And, on reflection, we see all too many parallels to our own world and time.  Yes, in the midst of it all, some cried out to the Lord.  Some were probably sincere in that.  Some.  But things are little different in our world.  Look, for example, where church houses are located.  Most aren't located in the middle of upscale residential neighborhoods.  Some, long established and such, are concentrated in clusters in "established" parts of towns, often cheek-by-jowl with others.  But in the poorer, sometimes desperately poor neighborhoods, I see instances of two or more in a block.   I can't and shouldn't speculate about the sincerity of the members and leaders there:  I know of examples across a very wide spectrum.  But clearly there are those who ar e desperately seeking, something that is all too uncommon in the "respectable" parts of town.   All too often, it is those desperate conditions that cause people to cry out to the Lord, generally when all else has failed.  That is not always to be seen among "cultural Christianity", and I fear that if/when our own civilization collapses, as I fear it is doing, too many won't know to cry out to Him.  Not good.

We are responsible to "bear fruit".  I for one am not doing that well.  Not good.

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Ezekiel 4

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: 2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. 3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. 7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. 8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. 9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. 10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. 11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. 12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. 13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. 14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. 15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. 16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: 17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Ezekiel 5

1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. 10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. 12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. 13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them. 14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. 15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it. 16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: 17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee: and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 6

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 6 In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. 9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. 11 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12 He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. 13 Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. 14 So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

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Hebrews 10:1-23

1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 12 November 2020

 We are approaching the half-way point in November.  So the first "official" day of Winter is slightly more than a month from now.  Can't say that pleases me overmuch, but it does mark an inflection point at least.  That's worth something, I guess.  Trying hard to find something positive to look at, rather than what I see all around me.  At least there's none of that awful snow stuff on the ground here.  This moment anyway.  The "farmer's almanac" had been predicting an unusually heavy snow season this year.  Comes with the territory I guess.  I have contacts who live in places quite near some active volcanoes, seismically active areas, areas with warfare -- including what looks like warfare in the United States -- and other pleasantries, so I guess this is ok in comparison.

Wife and I spent about all day yesterday "watching" the great-nephew while his mom was volunteering for a "book fair" at daughter's school, and dad was sleeping after a 12-hour night shift.  Fun, but a 3-1/2 year old boy can be quite energetic, and the weather kept us inside.  A challenge.  And we "get" to do it again tomorrow.  More "fun".  And I just got back home:  wife's nephew's wife locked herself and the kids out of their house, with her husband on his 12-hour night shift.   We have a key, so I "got" to run up along the state line and let them in.  She's got plenty on her hands:  a daughter turning 9 and a son turning 14, with all that entails.  And she has a nasty case of breast cancer.  The doctors, when this began, told her that the version she has implies a survival rate of around 13%  or so, perhaps less.  She just completed the bouts of chemotherapy, now goes in next Thursday for surgery.   Several of my one-time friends in this area lost their wives to breast cancer, one lost both his first and his second wife to it.  Bad area for it?  So letting her into her house is a small favor to do, all things considered.  Doesn't help that she was raised in a dysfunctional family of aggressive unbelievers, and is continuing that with her kids.  Outreach is discouraged, to say the least.  Perhaps a window will open.

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EZEKIEL 23

Two Harlot Sisters

1The word of the Lord came again to me, saying:

2“Son of man, there were two women,

The daughters of one mother.

3They committed harlotry in Egypt,

They committed harlotry in their youth;

Their breasts were there embraced,

Their virgin bosom was there pressed.

4Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister;

They were Mine,

And they bore sons and daughters.

As for their names,

Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

The Older Sister, Samaria

5“Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;

And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,

6Who were clothed in purple,

Captains and rulers,

All of them desirable young men,

Horsemen riding on horses.

7Thus she committed her harlotry with them,

All of them choice men of Assyria;

And with all for whom she lusted,

With all their idols, she defiled herself.

8She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt,

For in her youth they had lain with her,

Pressed her virgin bosom,

And poured out their immorality upon her.

9“Therefore I have delivered her

Into the hand of her lovers,

Into the hand of the Assyrians,

For whom she lusted.

10They uncovered her nakedness,

Took away her sons and daughters,

And slew her with the sword;

She became a byword among women,

For they had executed judgment on her.

The Younger Sister, Jerusalem

11“Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.

12“She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians,

Captains and rulers,

Clothed most gorgeously,

Horsemen riding on horses,

All of them desirable young men.

13Then I saw that she was defiled;

Both took the same way.

14But she increased her harlotry;

She looked at men portrayed on the wall,

Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,

15Girded with belts around their waists,

Flowing turbans on their heads,

All of them looking like captains,

In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,

The land of their nativity.

16As soon as her eyes saw them,

She lusted for them

And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17“Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,

And they defiled her with their immorality;

So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.

18She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.

Then I alienated Myself from her,

As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

19“Yet she multiplied her harlotry

In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,

When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

20For she lusted for her paramours,

Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,

And whose issue is like the issue of horses.

21Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,

When the Egyptians pressed your bosom

Because of your youthful breasts.

Judgment on Jerusalem

22“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God:

‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,

From whom you have alienated yourself,

And I will bring them against you from every side:

23The Babylonians,

All the Chaldeans,

Pekod, Shoa, Koa,

All the Assyrians with them,

All of them desirable young men,

Governors and rulers,

Captains and men of renown,

All of them riding on horses.

24And they shall come against you

With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,

With a horde of people.

They shall array against you

Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.

‘I will delegate judgment to them,

And they shall judge you according to their judgments.

25I will set My jealousy against you,

And they shall deal furiously with you;

They shall remove your nose and your ears,

And your remnant shall fall by the sword;

They shall take your sons and your daughters,

And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.

26They shall also strip you of your clothes

And take away your beautiful jewelry.

27‘Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry

Brought from the land of Egypt,

So that you will not lift your eyes to them,

Nor remember Egypt anymore.’

28“For thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself. 29They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry. 30I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. 31You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’

32“Thus says the Lord God:

‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,

The deep and wide one;

You shall be laughed to scorn

And held in derision;

It contains much.

33You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,

The cup of horror and desolation,

The cup of your sister Samaria.

34You shall drink and drain it,

You shall break its shards,

And tear at your own breasts;

For I have spoken,’

Says the Lord God.

35“Therefore thus says the Lord God:

‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,

Therefore you shall bear the penalty

Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

Both Sisters Judged

36The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. 37For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. 38Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. 39For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.

40“Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil. 42The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, ‘Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’ 44Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. 45But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

46“For thus says the Lord God: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder. 47The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire. 48Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. 49They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

EZEKIEL 24

Symbol of the Cooking Pot

1Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day. 3And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Put on a pot, set it on,

And also pour water into it.

4Gather pieces of meat in it,

Every good piece,

The thigh and the shoulder.

Fill it with choice cuts;

5Take the choice of the flock.

Also pile fuel bones under it,

Make it boil well,

And let the cuts simmer in it.”

6‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Woe to the bloody city,

To the pot whose scum is in it,

And whose scum is not gone from it!

Bring it out piece by piece,

On which no lot has fallen.

7For 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.

8That it may raise up fury and take vengeance,

I have set her blood on top of a rock,

That it may not be covered.”

9‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Woe to the bloody city!

I too will make the pyre great.

10Heap on the wood,

Kindle the fire;

Cook the meat well,

Mix in the spices,

And let the cuts be burned up.

11“Then set the pot empty on the coals,

That it may become hot and its bronze may burn,

That its filthiness may be melted in it,

That its scum may be consumed.

12She has grown weary with lies,

And her great scum has not gone from her.

Let her scum be in the fire!

13In your filthiness is lewdness.

Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed,

You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore,

Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.

14I, the Lord, have spoken it;

It shall come to pass, and I will do it;

I will not hold back,

Nor will I spare,

Nor will I relent;

According to your ways

And according to your deeds

They will judge you,”

Says the Lord God.’ ”

The Prophet’s Wife Dies

15Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16“Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”

18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.

19And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”

20Then I answered them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 21‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow. 23Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another. 24Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

25‘And you, son of man—will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters: 26that on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears? 27On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

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I PETER 5

Shepherd the Flock

1The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Submit to God, Resist the Devil

5Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Farewell and Peace

12By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

13She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.