September 4, 2012

Judgment Against the Nations (9/4)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 24-27.

After prophesying about judgment against God’s people for their sins, Ezekiel reveals the coming divine judgment against the surrounding nations. In Ezekiel 25, the prophet mentions four nations: Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. In each instance, he explains why judgment was coming.

“And say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God, “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the sons of the east for a possession…”‘” (Ezekiel 25:3-4).
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October 14, 2009

More Righteous than the Religious

Jesus and the Pharisees

The title of this article may sound a little odd. But let me begin by stating that this article is not about how organized religion is wrong – it is not. The point of the article is not to say that religious people are not righteous – many of them are, and they should be. So what is the purpose of this article?

The title is based on one of Jesus’ statements from the Sermon on the Mount:

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

The scribes and Pharisees were regarded as the religious leaders of that day. Jesus’ point was that in order to follow Him, we must live up to a higher standard than what is commonly accepted – even commended to us – among the religious world. Doing just enough to blend in with those who are religious is not enough to be part of His kingdom.
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