For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rom. 10
How did the Israelites seek to become righteous and how does the gospel differ from that? How can we be saved? Paul was speaking from personal experience here. He himself was once without knowledge in his zealousness for God. He sought his own righteousness, not recognizing the righteousness of God. Thank God, He set Paul straight! Thus Paul, though God sent him as a messenger primarily to the Gentiles, still longed for his people to come to the same knowledge he had received. That is the knowledge that Christ came to us as the culmination of the law so that we can all receive His righteousness by faith.
Though Paul grieved for the Israelites, he understood what I mentioned from yesterday’s Ezekiel passage. The Israelites were the fuel for God’s fire. God used Israel’s rejection of Him to pass His invitation of grace to nations that had not known Him. He will then use those nations to drive Israel back to Him. After reducing Israel to charred up, useless vine wood, “the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not” (Rom. 4:17b) will restore His remnant through the very one they rejected.
Ezek. 17-18
What is the meaning of the allegory of the two eagles and the vine? What is the hope embedded in the end of the prophetic message? This allegory seems like it is one of those multi-layered prophecies. On the surface, it speaks to the immediate situation of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Babylon and Egypt are the two eagles. Jerusalem, specifically her king, Zedekiah, is the vine. Zedekiah was on the throne only because of a covenant of servitude to Babylon. Yet he turned to Egypt in rebellion against that treaty. Thus, the prophetic allegory promises, Zedekiah would be uprooted and brought to nothing.
Interestingly, however, toward the end of the chapter God shifts the rhetoric slightly. He says, “As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.” (Ez. 17:19b). No longer is the covenant Babylon’s. It is God’s. Which makes me think that the whole situation with Zedekiah, Babylon, and Egypt is a mini picture of humanity’s situation with God and sin. It is God who established us; we have and are nothing without Him. Yet we were unfaithful to our Creator. Thus, we are the vine of which God says, “Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers?” (From Ez. 17:9).
That image then leads to the final promise of hope in this prophetic message. God says that He Himself will start something new; He will plant a new shoot. This isn’t simply the promise to restore Jerusalem. It is the promise of God’s new covenant in Jesus; the restoration of the whole world. And it is a reminder of who God is. “All the trees of the forest will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.” (Ez. 17:24). God alone is God.