May 14 ▪ Day 134

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 17:14
Ezekiel 18–20
I Thessalonians 1–3
Psalms 134

Verse Focus (Proverbs 17:14)

Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
     so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

Meditation

Today’s proverb gets translated a number of different ways into English. The word for word translation doesn’t include all the nuances of the Hebrew, so different translations take a slightly different approach as to how to convey that meaning. As the NIV puts Proverbs 17:4, “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.” There is not actually a reference to a dam in the original Hebrew. In this, the ESV is closer to the original wording when it says, “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” However “letting out water” is on the mild side for the Hebrew verb. It actually speaks more of water “escaping” or “bursting out” — which is why referencing water coming from a dam, while not technically accurate, is very much in the spirit of what the verb means. I like how the CSB translates this proverb: “To start a conflict is to release a flood; stop the dispute before it breaks out.” I thought the NABRE also gives clarity as it says, “The start of strife is like the opening of a dam; check a quarrel before it bursts forth!”

So, we have the beginning of a quarrel or strife being compared to water that is bursting out. It may only be a trickle to begin with, but the power of water will deepen cracks and widen any passageways so that soon a deluge is coming forth. Likewise, the power of strife may also turn a small misunderstanding into a full-blown controversy. The Hebrew word has a number of meanings — dispute, quarrel, strife, controversy, or even lawsuit. Obviously, we are to understand that the point is to stop the contention before it all becomes bigger and out of control.

Wise advice for us! It’s hard to let go of being right — as we think we are — and then to just let a topic drop. But if we wish to avoid an escalation of matters, then we need to stop. Quit, as the ESV says.

Father God, help us to put an end to the beginning of a quarrel and not let the strife escalate into full-blown controversy. Give us humility and grace; let us be peacemakers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ezekiel 18 is an important chapter in helping us to understand how we each bear personal responsibility for our sins. As the LORD declares through Ezekiel in verse 4 and verse 20, “The soul who sins shall die.” The Israelites had developed an understanding of sin being passed through families. I suspect it had to do with misinterpreting verses like Deuteronomy 5:9-10:

I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

How does a verse like this reconcile with what we read today in Ezekiel 18? I believe that when God “punishes” sin to the third and fourth generation, He is speaking about the consequences of sin. If a man gambles and loses all his money, his children and grandchildren will be affected by that poverty. That does not make the children and grandchildren gamblers themselves, but they do suffer materially for the sins of their father or grandfather. According to Ezekiel 18:19, the Israelites believed it was right for a son to suffer for the iniquity of his father. Suffer consequences, yes. Suffer judgment and die for your relative’s sins? Absolutely not!

The entire chapter is a dissertation on the idea of personal responsibility. The one who sins, dies. If one repents and sins no more, one lives. If one who has been doing right now does what is wrong, that one dies. However, you do not die for the iniquities of your parent or your child. As God says in verse 29, “O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?”

In verse 23, God tells us that He does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. As the chapter ends, He repeats this idea and goes a step further — He does not delight in any person’s death. “Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone,” declares the Lord God; “So turn, and live.”

Ezekiel 19 is a lament for some of the last kings of Judah. Verses 1 through 4 speak of Jehoahaz. He is the “young lion (v. 3)” taken “with hooks to the land of Egypt (v. 4).” Verses 5 through 9 speak of Jehoiachin. He is the next young lion who was taken to Babylon. (Jehoahaz, who reigned between Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin was not taken away by a foreign power, so he is not mentioned in this elegy.) Indeed, the lament is less about the kings that died in foreign lands than it is about the humiliation that the nation experiences at having their “lions” captured.

After using the imagery of a lioness and her young lions, the imagery switches in verse 10 to compare Judah to a vine in a vineyard. As verse 12 says, “But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off and withered. As for its strong stem, fire consumed it.”

The chapter ends with a somewhat puzzling phrase. Verse 14 says, “This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.” I didn’t really understand what this meant, so I dug into it a little further. Apparently the verb — translated here in the ESV as “has become” — can also be translated with a future sense — “shall be” is how many translations put it. This is a lamentation that is both past and future. When Ezekiel wrote this, Zedekiah was still reigning in Jerusalem — but like Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, he too will be taken captive by a foreign power. I like how the Good News Translation (GNT) translates the phrase since it captures a sense of that past and future tense of the verb form by saying: “This is a song of sorrow; it has been sung again and again.”

Ezekiel 20 begins on “the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day” — it has been almost a full year since Ezekiel had his vision of the temple in Jerusalem. It is about 590 BC. Once again, the elders of Israel have come to Ezekiel to consult with the LORD. As in Ezekiel 14, the LORD does not want to let the elders consult him because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors. Instead, Ezekiel prophesies against Israel’s continuing rebellion. He cites a number of examples from their history where Israel turned away from God. But as the chapter progresses, it turns from looking at their rebellion and speaks instead of how Israel will be restored.

There were a few verses that stood out to me as I read this chapter today. Verses 11 and 12 say, “I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” Now, we know that God’s law is good. But we don’t particularly like obeying the rules or keeping the law — that’s part of our sin nature. Indeed, we’re extremely happy that because of Christ’s sacrifice and the gift of the Holy Spirit, believers today are not bound to keep the law. But as I read this verse earlier, it struck me anew that the point of the law was so that we might live. We think of the law as restricting us, when really it is there to empower us to live freely and fully. It is meant to bless us. And while we are not required to fulfill the law, those laws that we freely choose to keep will continue to bless us. Likewise, the Sabbath is not meant to take all the fun out of life by restricting our activities on the weekend. It is meant to give us a better understanding of God, and a greater understanding of the process of sanctification.

I also liked verse 44. God promises that we shall know that He is the LORD “when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds.” This is the definition of grace. Pure grace. God restores us and renews us because of Jesus — not because of our sins or iniquities, but for the sake of His own glory.

Paul visited Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, as told in Acts 17:1-9. Many responded to the gospel message, but, of course, there was opposition. After violence broke out, the believers sent Paul, Silas, and Timothy on to Berea. This happened in about 49 or 50 AD. As we learn from the beginning of 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul sent Timothy to visit and encourage the Thessalonians a bit later that same year while Paul was in Athens. Obviously, Paul was worried that their faith might suffer because of the opposition that had forced them out of town. But Timothy returned to Paul with a good report of the Thessalonians.

Paul writes this First Letter to the Thessalonians in thanksgiving and joy for how well the Thessalonians are doing. He wants to encourage them in the faith. He gives practical instruction, but also — in the second half of the letter — he addresses the question of what happens to those who die before Christ returns again. Scholars believe the two letters were written very early on — within a year or two of Paul’s initial visit, possibly even before he began his third missionary journey.

As with many of the Pauline letters, one of the first things Paul does is write about how much he thanks God for the Thessalonians and their faith. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 says, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers.” In meditating upon a similar verse in Philippians, it struck me how much I take the people in my life for granted. When I pray for people, how often do I thank God for them? Certainly it occurs to me to pray for their needs — for illnesses and surgeries or whatever else they might need. But do I praise God for placing these people in my life? In reading of Paul’s thanksgiving for the saints, the Holy Spirit convicted me about my own lack of thanksgiving. So let me encourage you today to be more intentional in your prayers about thanking God for the people He has given to you.

In chapter 2, as Paul writes of their initial ministry among the Thessalonians, I was struck particularly by verse 4. Paul says, “We speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” Because God tests the heart, He is the one who keeps them honest. He refines the motives of the missionaries. And it is because of who God is and what He does that the Thessalonians can trust the gospel message brought by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. I was also reminded of the proverb we looked at only a week ago, on May 7th (Day 127), Proverbs 17:3: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.”

Paul writes of their longing to see the Thessalonians again. As he writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” Indeed, it is the relationships we have and the people we bring to Jesus that will be our crown when Christ returns.

In 1 Thessalonians 3:3, as Paul mentions the suffering that he and the Thessalonians have both been subject to, he writes, “We are destined for this.” To think of suffering as our destiny does not sit well with modern believers. But the problem is that we look at the difficulties rather than at the Hand that moves us and places us in situations where we can do the most for His kingdom. Paul had a view of suffering that was almost foundational to the gospel message. This is striking to me, because I hear about suffering only as an addendum — a by-the-way — not as something that God purposely designs and uses to bring about a revelation of His glory.

Finally, 1 Thessalonians 3:8 impresses me today. “For now we live,” says Paul, “if you are standing fast in the Lord.” The verse resonates. I think one of my greatest joys in this past year has been seeing God at work in the lives of the people around me. I see the Holy Spirit moving. People are excited about Scripture. They exult in the new things they are learning about God. May we all stand fast in the Lord, by His grace!

Psalm 134 is the final song of our Psalms of Ascent. Like many of the others, it is short: only three verses long. The first two verses call for all the servants of the LORD to bless the LORD. Verse 3 reverses that and asks for the LORD to bless us.

Depending on what translation you read, the first two verses may not have said “bless the LORD.” The NIV uses “praise the LORD.” In some ways, saying “praise the LORD” is easier for us to understand. When Scripture exhorts me to bless the LORD, part of me wonders how on earth I’m supposed to do that. How do I bless the LORD? Praise the LORD — yes, I know how to do that.

But the word being used in the Hebrew is “bless” — the same word form is used in all three verses. So how do we bless the LORD? I think part of the reason I have trouble understanding this command is because the LORD needs nothing from us. We understand how we might be a blessing to other people — perhaps by kindness, thoughtfulness, or encouragement. And while I can’t be a blessing to God in those same ways, I can be a blessing to the people He cares about. So part of blessing the LORD is our praise and devotion; another part is loving our fellow man in practical ways.

Father God, teach us how to bless you. I do thank you and praise you for your wisdom and for your word. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the people you have placed in my life. Thank you for what an encouragement the body of Christ is to me. May I walk in ways that please you by the grace of Jesus Christ. In his name, Amen.