May 22 ▪ Day 142

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 18:2
Ezekiel 35–36
John 5
Psalms 142

Verse Focus (Proverbs 18:2)

Fools find no pleasure in understanding
     but delight in airing their own opinions.

Meditation

Have you ever been so eager to express your thoughts that you didn’t finish listening to what someone else was saying? It’s easy to be self-centered and so focused on your own ideas that you stop paying attention to what others are saying. And, yet, according to Scripture, this is foolish behavior. Proverbs 18:2 says, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” It takes maturity to listen fully to others. It takes maturity to set your opinions aside, or to set your own self aside.

But this proverb isn’t just about how you handle a conversation with another person. It’s also about your motives when speaking up in a group. And it’s about how you approach the news. Do you read to learn and increase your understanding, or are you only looking for what will validate your current thinking?

There’s a little bit of a fool in all of us. But as we grow in faith, we should seek to grow in understanding too. Yes, we want our beliefs to be based in Scripture and in our knowledge of the LORD. But we should also be humble enough to recognize that we don’t have perfect understanding. We definitely have things to learn from the righteous, but we also have things to learn from the wicked. In our relationships with one another, we will be better served by humility than by arrogance.

Father God, forgive our arrogant and selfish hearts. Keep us from delighting in our own opinions and instead give us a deep desire for wisdom and understanding. Thank you for being the source of all wisdom. May we grow in our knowledge and understanding of you and your word as we also grow in obedience to your will. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.

Ezekiel 35 gives a prophecy against Mount Seir and all of Edom. However, all of us should take warning from the charges God files against them. Verse 5 says that God will make Mount Seir a desolation and a waste, “Because you cherished perpetual enmity.” Verse 6 goes on to say, “Because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you.” Verse 11 also speaks of Edom’s “anger and envy.”

There are nations and peoples in conflict today that “cherish perpetual enmity.” Indeed, such enmity can seem justified. But it is not the reasons for the enmity we need to consider. Rather, we must ask what kind of people do we want to be? Do we want to be people who love conflict and bloodshed? Or do we want to pursue peace, even if it means forgiving the unforgivable?

Again, the LORD charges Edom with rejoicing over Israel’s misfortune. He says in verse 15, “So I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

In Ezekiel 36, the prophet is commanded to prophesy to the “mountains of Israel.” It is a prophecy of consolation. The nations that surround Israel shall “suffer reproach (v. 7),” and the people of Israel “will soon come home (v. 8).” Indeed, as verse 11 says, “I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

I find it curious that this prophecy is directed to the land rather than to the people. Clearly, by having Ezekiel prophesy to the mountains it parallels the previous prophecy against Mount Seir. And, obviously, the mountains of Israel personify the people of Israel. But I still find it odd. I’m sure there are deeper meanings that I’m just not quite grasping. To some extent, I think God is trying to tell us that He cares for the earth just as much as He cares for the people. But there is also a lesson here because the mountains are truly blameless in what has happened, and yet the land suffered because of the people’s iniquity. It reminds me of the passage in Romans 8 that says all creation groans for the day of redemption. Why should we find it surprising to think that the land might actually need this prophecy on a spiritual level?

As Ezekiel 36 continues, Ezekiel receives another prophecy from the LORD — but this one is for the people of Israel. For “the sake of my holy name (v. 22),” God will act to restore the people. He will gather them and cleanse them. Verse 26 promises, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Indeed, this is the very promise that we rely on today with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The LORD makes it clear that when He fulfills this prophecy He does so because of His own glory and not for the sake of the people. The people are lacking. “Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel,” says verse 32. But when God gives the people new hearts and a new spirit, then — not just they, but “the nations that are left all around you (v. 36)” — shall know that the LORD is God.

John 5 begins with the story of Jesus healing a man who has been an invalid for 38 years. Although there is no comment in the text like there was with the first and second signs, this miracle is considered the third of the seven signs that authenticate Jesus’ identity. There are several curious features to this story. First, Jesus initiates their interaction by asking the man if he wants to be healed. Usually, it is the one who needs healing who approaches Jesus. Of course, considering he was an invalid, it’s not too surprising that he didn’t know who Jesus was. But instead of answering, “Yes, I want to get well,” the man says that he doesn’t have anyone to help him get into the waters when they are stirred. To me, this sounds like an excuse more than it sounds like someone who wants to get well. Perhaps he’s just having a pity party — after all, he has been an invalid for a very long time.

So Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk. And he is cured. He does exactly as Jesus tells him to do. But this occurs on the Sabbath, so soon the man is questioned as to why he is carrying a mat on the Sabbath. He tells them that the one who healed him gave him these instructions, but he didn’t know who Jesus was so he is unable to tell the Jewish leaders who had healed him.

Later on, however, Jesus finds the man and speaks to him. “See, you are well!” he says to the man in verse 14. “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” Verse 15 tells us, “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.” This seems like spite to me. He didn’t appreciate being told that his sin may have been responsible for his illness, so he made sure to find out who Jesus was so that he could tell the Jewish leaders all about him. He knew very well that the Jewish leaders were upset about this happening on the Sabbath. He wanted to get Jesus in trouble. It’s not just that he gives in to spite, but that he showed no gratitude at all for being freed from his infirmity. Even if he didn’t want to thank Jesus, he could have thanked God.

Again, I find it curious that Jesus chose to heal this man. I’m sure Jesus could see the bitterness in his soul. He knew this man would not be grateful. He knew this man’s heart was as sick as his body had been. Of course, this just raises another question for me. Why didn’t Jesus heal this man’s heart? Does healing require willing compliance? Jesus could only heal this man’s body because that’s all the man would allow him to heal?

Jesus’ response to the Jewish leaders who criticize him for healing on the Sabbath is also fascinating. He tells them in verse 17, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” Of course this answer just incenses them even more, since it puts Jesus and God on equal footing.

But I think it’s interesting because of what it tells us about God. We know that God created the world in six days, and He rested on the seventh day. We know that He established work as something good and positive, something that we are meant to do — after all, He put Adam and Eve to work in the garden even before the Fall. But somehow, in my mind, I think of God as resting, not working. But Jesus tells us that God is still working. Think about that for a bit. What kind of work does He do now? What is He creating?

Each “sign” that we get tells us something different about who Jesus is. In the first sign, when Jesus changes water into wine, we learn that he is the source of abundant life and all blessing. In the creation story, after creating light God’s next act was to separate water from water. Indeed, water is one of the basic necessities of life. In this first sign we also learn that Jesus is Lord over water and over the physical universe. In the second sign, the healing of the official’s son, we learn that Jesus is Lord over physical life and death. With the short discussion as to whether one needs signs and wonders to believe, it also talks about the role of faith in salvation. The incident also symbolizes Jesus as Lord over spiritual renewal. Now, with this third sign, we again see Jesus as the one who is able to heal us, but we also see him as Lord of the Sabbath and as a co-equal worker with God. Some also find significance in the location of where the invalid was healed. Since the pool was by the Sheep’s Gate in Jerusalem they see this as corresponding to Jesus’ “I am statement” in John 10:7 that he is the door of the sheep.

The inscription for Psalm 142 tells us that David wrote this prayer “when he was in the cave.” We know of two instances when David hid in a cave while on the run from King Saul. 1 Samuel 22:1 talks about David hiding in the cave of Adullam with his family and his fighting men, while 1 Samuel 24:3 records the time that David spared Saul’s life in the cave in the Desert of En-gedi. Surely David had many more instances of hiding in caves than these two incidents. But the reference should remind us of what David must have felt like as a fugitive.

Indeed, David is very distressed in this prayer. Whether he is actually by himself or not, David clearly feels very alone — burdened and isolated. In verse 4 he prays, “There is none who takes notice of me… no one cares for my soul.” Verse 6 is also plaintive: “Listen to my cry, for I am very weak. Rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.”

We may not be on the run for our lives like David was, but we know what it feels like to feel completely alone and without resources. This is a prayer for such times of extremity. We too can hold on to the faith that David has that God will free us and then the righteous will surround us because of how God has dealt with us so bountifully.

Father God, thank you that you are always there, even when we feel most alone. Thank you that you are able to rescue us from those who are too strong for us. Lord, we do need your healing. Not just physically. We need new hearts and the Holy Spirit. Transform us so that we abound in gratitude and joy through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.