1 Samuel 1

1 Samuel 1

1 Samuel 1:1  There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

1 Samuel 1:2  He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

1 Samuel 1:3  This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahveh[1] of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were Yahveh’s priests.

1 Samuel 1:4  Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters.

1 Samuel 1:5  But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though Yahveh had kept her from conceiving.

1 Samuel 1:6  Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because Yahveh had kept Hannah from conceiving.

1 Samuel 1:7  Year after year, when she went up to Yahveh’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat.

1 Samuel 1:8  “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

1 Samuel 1:9  On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of Yahveh’s temple.

1 Samuel 1:10  Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to Yahveh and wept with many tears.

1 Samuel 1:11  Making a vow, she pleaded, “Yahveh of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to Yahveh all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”

1 Samuel 1:12  While she continued praying in Yahveh’s presence, Eli watched her mouth.

1 Samuel 1:13  Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk

1 Samuel 1:14  and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

1 Samuel 1:15  “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with hard breath.[2] I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before Yahveh.

1 Samuel 1:16  Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

1 Samuel 1:17  Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.”

1 Samuel 1:18  “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.

1 Samuel 1:19  The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before Yahveh. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and Yahveh remembered her.

1 Samuel 1:20  After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from Yahveh.”

1 Samuel 1:21  When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to Yahveh,

1 Samuel 1:22  Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in Yahveh’s presence and to stay there permanently.”

1 Samuel 1:23  Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May Yahveh confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him.

1 Samuel 1:24  When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to Yahveh’s house at Shiloh.

1 Samuel 1:25  Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.

1 Samuel 1:26  “Please, my lord,” she said, “as surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to Yahveh.

1 Samuel 1:27  I prayed for this boy, and since Yahveh gave me what I asked him for,

1 Samuel 1:28  I now give the boy to Yahveh. For as long as he lives, he is given to Yahveh.” Then he worshiped Yahveh there.

[1] יהוה = Yahveh.1 Samuel 1:3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28; 2:1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30; 3:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21; 4:3, 4, 5, 6; 5:3, 4, 6, 9; 6:1, 2, 8, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; 7:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17; 8:6, 7, 10, 18, 21, 22; 9:15, 17; 10:1, 6, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25; 11:7, 13, 15; 12:3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24; 13:12, 13, 14; 14:3, 6, 10, 12, 23, 33, 34, 35, 39, 41, 45; 15:1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35; 16:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18; 17:37, 45, 46, 47; 18:12, 14, 17, 28; 19:5, 6, 9; 20:3, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 42; 21:6, 7; 22:10, 17, 21; 23:2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 18, 21; 24:4, 6, 10, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21; 25:26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 38, 39; 26:9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24; 28:6, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19; 29:6; 30:6, 8, 23, 26.

[2]רוּחַ = breath. 1 Samuel 1:15; 10:6, 10; 11:6; 16:13, 14, 15, 16, 23; 18:10; 19:9, 20, 23; 30:12.

1 Samuel 1 links:

Elkanah’s love
giving Samuel back
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, September 6, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 7, 2023
misunderstood at the temple
responding to grace
where did all the spirits go?

The 1 SAMUEL shelf in Jeff’s library

Ruth 4

Ruth 4

Ruth 4:1 Boaz went up to the gate of the town and sat down there. Soon the family deliverer Boaz had spoken about came by. Boaz said, “Come over here and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

Ruth 4:2 Then Boaz took ten men of the town’s elders and said, “Sit here.” And they sat down.

Ruth 4:3 He said to the deliverer, “Naomi, who has returned from the territory of Moab, is selling the portion of the field that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

Ruth 4:4 I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to deliver it, do it. But if you do not want to deliver it, tell me so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to deliver it, and I am next after you.” “I want to deliver it,” he answered.

Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”

Ruth 4:6 The deliverer replied, “I can’t deliver it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of deliverance, because I can’t deliver it.”

Ruth 4:7 At an earlier periods in Israel, a man removed his sandal and gave it to the other party in order to make any matter legally binding concerning the right of deliverance or the exchange of property. This was the method of legally binding a transaction in Israel.

Ruth 4:8 So the deliverer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”

Ruth 4:9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon.

Ruth 4:10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”

Ruth 4:11 All the people who were at the city gate, including the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May Yahveh make the woman who is entering your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you be powerful in Ephrathah and your name well known in Bethlehem.

Ruth 4:12 May your house become like the house of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring Yahveh will give you by this girl.”

Ruth 4:13 Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He had sex with her, and the Lord granted conception to her, and she gave birth to a son.

Ruth 4:14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Yahveh, who has not left you without a family deliverer today. May his name become well known in Israel.

Ruth 4:15 He will renew your life[1] and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

Ruth 4:16 Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nurse.

Ruth 4:17 The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:18 Now these are the genealogical records of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron,

Ruth 4:19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab,

Ruth 4:20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon,

Ruth 4:21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed,

Ruth 4:22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

[1] נֶפֶשׁ = throat. Ruth 4:15.

Ruth 4 links:

baby Obed
greater Son, greater blessing
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, April 23, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, April 7, 2016
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, September 7, 2021
remembering an old shoe
the elders’ blessing

The RUTH shelf in Jeff’s library

Ruth 3

Ruth 3

Ruth 3:1 Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, shouldn’t I find a resting place for you so that you will be taken care of?

Ruth 3:2 Now isn’t Boaz our relative? Haven’t you been working with his girls? This evening he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

Ruth 3:3 Wash – put on perfumed oil, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.

Ruth 3:4 When he lies down, notice the place where he’s lying, go in and uncover his feet, and lie down. Then he will explain to you what you should do.”

Ruth 3:5 So Ruth said to her, “I will do everything you say.”

Ruth 3:6 She went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had charged her to do.

Ruth 3:7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the pile of barley, and she came secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

Ruth 3:8 At midnight, Boaz was startled, turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman!

Ruth 3:9 So he asked, “Who are you?” “I am Ruth, your servant,” she replied. “Spread out your wing, because you are a family deliverer.”

Ruth 3:10 Then he said, “May Yahveh bless you, my daughter. You have shown more kindness now than before, because you have not pursued younger men, whether rich or poor.

Ruth 3:11 Now don’t be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you say, since all the people in my town know that you are a powerful woman.

Ruth 3:12 Yes, it is true that I am a family deliverer, but there is a deliverer closer than I am.

Ruth 3:13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he wants to deliver you, that’s good. Let him deliver you. But if he doesn’t want to deliver you, as Yahveh lives, I will. Now lie down until morning.”

Ruth 3:14 So she lay down at his feet until morning but got up while it was still dark. Then Boaz said, “Don’t let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

Ruth 3:15 And he told Ruth, “Bring the shawl you’re wearing and hold it out.” When she held it out, he shoveled six measures of barley into her shawl, and she went into the town.

Ruth 3:16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?” Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her.

Ruth 3:17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.'”

Ruth 3:18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, because he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”

a quote:

“I shall call chapter 3 “Waiting.” Naomi tells Ruth to present herself to Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Boaz can redeem them, pay their debts and set them free. Ruth, in a great act of faith and love, goes to Boaz and lies at his feet. This act is the turning point in the book. You find her at the feet of Boaz when she is gleaning (2:10), but at that time she is thanking him for his generosity. She does not know who he is or what he can do for her. She simply realizes that he is providing food and protection for her. But in chapter 3 she knows who Boaz is. She lies at his feet, and he says to her, “Fear not;I will do to thee all that thou requirest” (v. 11).”

Wiersbe Warren W. Put Your Life Together : Studies in the Book of Ruth. Victor Books 1985.p.10.

Ruth 3 links:

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, April 22, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, September 5, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, September 6, 2023
sleeping on a threshing floor

The RUTH shelf in Jeff’s library

Ruth 2

Ruth 2

Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a powerful[1] man of noble character from Elimelech’s clan.[2] His name was Boaz.

Ruth 2:2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?” Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

Ruth 2:3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the section of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s clan.

Ruth 2:4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “Yahveh be with you.” “Yahveh bless you,” they replied.

Ruth 2:5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose girl[3] is this?”

Ruth 2:6 The servant answered, “She is the Moabite girl who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab.

Ruth 2:7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters? ‘ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”

Ruth 2:8 Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my girls.

Ruth 2:9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”

Ruth 2:10 She fell face down, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, even though I am a foreigner?”

Ruth 2:11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know.

Ruth 2:12 May Yahveh reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from Yahveh, God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Ruth 2:13 “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, because you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”

Ruth 2:14 At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.

Ruth 2:15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t shame her.

Ruth 2:16 Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.”

Ruth 2:17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley.

Ruth 2:18 She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.

Ruth 2:19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May he be blessed who noticed you.” Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”

Ruth 2:20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May Yahveh bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family deliverers.”[4]

Ruth 2:21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.'”

Ruth 2:22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his girls, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.”

Ruth 2:23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s girls and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

[1] חַיִל = powerful. Ruth 2:1; 3:11; 4:11.

[2]    מִשְׁפָּחָה = clan. Ruth 2:1, 3.

[3] נָעֲרָה = girl. Ruth 2:5, 6, 8, 22, 23; 3:2; 4:12.

[4] גָּאַל = family deliverer. Ruth 2:20; 3:9, 12-13; 4:1, 3-4, 6, 8, 14.

a quote:

” In chapter 2 we find Ruth serving in the field as a gleaner. She picks up the grain that the reapers drop as they gather the harvest. This is not a very lofty position, is it? But then Boaz comes to her aid and falls in love with her. From that point on everything starts to change, even though Ruth does not realize who Baaz is until she goes home and talks to her mother-in-law.”

Wiersbe Warren W. Put Your Life Together : Studies in the Book of Ruth. Victor Books 1985. p.10.

Ruth 2 links:

already rewarded
Boaz loves Ruth
gleaning in a field
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, April 21, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, April 5, 2016
will you let me …?

The RUTH shelf in Jeff’s library

A BARBER’S RAZOR

A BARBER’S RAZOR

Ezekiel 5:1-8 NET.

1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 3 But take a few strands of hair from those and tie them in the ends of your garment. 4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire, and burn them up. From there, a fire will spread to all the house of Israel. 5 “This is what the sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around her. Indeed, they have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes. 7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: Because you are more arrogant than the nations around you, you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even carried out the regulations of the nations around you! 8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: I — even I — am against you, and I will execute judgment among you while the nations watch.

Who was Ezekiel?

He was a prophet during the exile, and his life story is mostly contained in his own writings, which have been preserved in the Bible. Ezekiel’s name means either ‘God is strong’ or ‘God strengthens,’ and he was the son of Buzi, a priest from the Zadok lineage.

His writings reveal that he was among the exiles who journeyed to Babylon with King Jehoiachin following Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem in 597 B.C.

Ezekiel mentions living on the banks of the river Chebar at a place called Tell Abib. That is not the same as modern-day Tel-Aviv. The word simply means “mound of the flood.”

Josephus reports that he was very young when the Jewish exiles left Jerusalem, though this might be an overstatement. His prophetic journey appears to have begun around 593-592 B.C., as seen in the visions and oracles in the first two chapters. These early visions do not seem immature at all.

Ezekiel’s records are precisely dated, which helps us trace more clearly the development of his teachings compared to prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, whose writings lack a strict chronological order. The structure of Ezekiel’s prophecies shows a clear sense of organization and artistic design, making it easier to follow the historical background and the prophet’s learning as God’s watchman, responsible for delivering God’s messages during turbulent times.

The last recorded date appears in 29:17, specifically the month of Nisan in the twenty-seventh year of the captivity. This places us in the year 570 B.C. How much longer he lived and worked is unknown. Since his first recorded prophecy is definitively dated to 593-592 B.C., his prophetic activity must have spanned at least twenty-two years.

During his time by the Chebar River in Babylon, he lived in a house (3:24, 8:1) and was happily married. The year 588 B.C. brought a double sorrow for the prophet. That year marked the beginning of the final, devastating siege of Jerusalem, which led to the fall of the Jewish kingdom and the destruction of the Temple. Right after this painful event, his wife passed away. He was advised not to weep loudly for the dead but to mourn quietly. This silent period lasted for over a year, allowing him time to grieve in his own way. 

Today’s text reveals that the title the LORD used for Ezekiel was “son of man.” From Daniel’s prophecy, we learn that the title “son of man” would be one held by the Messiah. Sure enough, Jesus came and introduced himself as the Son of Man. Like Ezekiel, our Lord served as both a prophet and a priest. As the Son of Man, Jesus served as the one mediator between God and men. Ezekiel prefigured the coming Messiah in the many ways he communicated God’s message to his people.

The LORD’s instructions to Ezekiel (1-4).

God told Ezekiel to take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. He said to shave off some of the hair from his head and your beard. The hair was to symbolize the lives of the people who would go through the exile. Even the act of cutting his hair was significant because a priest was not allowed to do so under the law (Leviticus 21:5). This was a shock and shame moment for Ezekiel.

He was to take scales and divide up the hair he cut off. This showed that not everyone would face the same troubles during the exile. It is important to recognize that the whole nation deserved the worst, but not everyone would experience it. As a nation as a whole, the Hebrews had broken their covenant with God, and all of them deserved the consequences of breaking that covenant. But even as they were being judged, God showed grace and did not give all the Israelites everything they deserved.

God told Ezekiel to burn a third of the hair in the fire inside the city when the days of his siege were completed. He was reenacting the siege of Jerusalem. His actions were intended to serve as a visual aid for the people watching. The act of burning the hair reminded the people of the ascending offerings they had been commanded to sacrifice in the temple. It was a reminder that sin is a serious matter and requires complete sacrifice. Sin requires atonement. The burning hair would also be a reminder in their nostrils.

Ezekiel was to take another third of the hair and slash it with a sword all around the city. The sword was a symbol of the armies that would come and put the citizens of Jerusalem to death by the sword. This act of slashing the hair with a sword was meant to visually depict that there would be nowhere to hide. No place was a safe sanctuary.

But those who would be lucky enough to escape the sword in the city would still not be safe. Ezekiel was told to scatter a third of the hair to the wind, and God would unleash a sword behind them. Notice that God said that he was the one doing this. The soldiers wielding swords would be Babylonian, but God is the one sending them. He is sending out soldiers to hunt down and kill even those who thought they had escaped the judgment by fleeing Jerusalem.

Ezekiel is also told to take a few strands of his hair from those he had scattered and tie them to the ends of his robe. These represented the few who would be preserved through this whole ordeal.

Finally, the LORD told Ezekiel totake more of the hair and throw it into the fire to burn it up. He said that from there, a fire will spread to all the house of Israel. The conflict, suffering, and dying would spread across the whole nation, not just the capital.

The LORD’S explanation to Ezekiel (5-8).

The LORD explains the symbols by telling Ezekiel that they begin in Jerusalem: God placed that city at the center of the nations, with countries all around it. Then it defied his regulations and his statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around it.

So, because it was more arrogant than the nations around it, God declares that he is against it. He will execute judgment from that city while the nations watch.

Some would die during the siege from starvation or disease. Others would die when the foreign soldiers took the city. Others would find a way to escape and go into exile. But even there, the sword will follow them. Only a very few, a remnant of survivors, will escape this calamity. Ezekiel’s robe would have a few stray hairs attached to its tassels. These would represent the few who escape. They will not escape because they are righteous. They will only escape because God has a plan for that nation, so some must remain.

How should we apply this text?

I know it’s hard to read these Old Testament passages. The symbolism is difficult to figure out. The stories are less familiar. The historical background is more challenging. But God gave us the whole Bible because its message is important.

So, here is something to consider as we mull over the message in today’s text:

God wanted Israel to represent his righteousness. But when they refused to do that, God allowed them to represent his wrath. Those of us who call ourselves Christians have the same option. Matthew chapter 25 is all about those who claim to be saved, and the fact that many will discover that their faith is not real, and Jesus does not know them.

In the parable of the ten virgins. There was going to be a wedding, and they knew that they would have to wait a long time for the bridegroom to show. The intelligent ones prepared themselves for the wait. They brought extra oil for their lamps, so that the bridegroom would recognize them and invite them to the feast. The thoughtless ones did not bring extra oil. When the oil in their lamps ran dry, they had to go to the market to replenish it. That is when the bridegroom came, and they were not allowed into the party.

In the parable of the talents, each servant was praised who took what he had been given and invested it in his master’s service. But the lazy one was thrown out.

The sheep and the goats story reminds us that our genuineness will be proven not by what we profess but by how we treat others. He did not say that our good works will save us. He said that how we treat others will demonstrate whether or not our profession is real.

The gospel message is that salvation is always by grace. We are all represented in today’s text by the few stray hairs attached to Ezekiel’s robe. When we stand before the judge on Judgment Day, not a one of us will be able say that he should let us in because of how good we were. What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.