Pride and Pedigree

Prayer For REVIVAL in America

 

SCRIPTURE

Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

~Ezekiel 16:3, NLT

QUOTE

Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because He shows us both God and our own wretchedness.

~Blaise Pascal

COMMENTARY

The Jews took great pride in their ethnicity and their pedigree, they were quick to tell you that Abraham was their father and Sarah was their mother. Abraham was not an Amorite and Sarah was not a Hittite so what is Ezekiel talking about? Keep in mind that Ezekiel is a prophet and they often color outside the lines. The Jews of Ezekiel’s day were filled with pride and they refused to acknowledge their sins. Ezekiel is not talking about their ethnicity, he is making a satirical comment about their ethics or lack thereof. The Canaanites were known for their immorality. Hittite women seem to have been especially prone to prostitution. Remember Esau married two Hittite women and his mother and father were very upset with his choices. Bathsheba was a Hittite. Ezekiel’s point is that the Jews have lowered their standard beneath that of the Canaanites. He tells the Jews [who take pride in their family tree]…Your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite and you have two sisters, Sodom and Samaria. I doubt you have been offended when you read Ezekiel 16 but this was very offensive to the Jews. In effect, Ezekiel is saying to the Jews, “You are not better than the Canaanites you despise, matter of fact, you are worse.”

One more note: The Jews who took so much pride in being pure were not pure at all. Boaz mother was Rahab, a Canaanite harlot. I do think she changed her ways when she converted but she was Canaanite by birth. So, Boaz is half Jew and half Canaanite. Boaz marries Ruth and she is a Moabite. They have a son Obed; so what does that make Obed? If my math is right, he is 25% Jew and 75% something else. It doesn’t stop there, where does Solomon get the tendency to worship Canaanite deities? His mother was a Hittite. Ezekiel is just making a viable point: “You are not pure; your ethnicity and your ethics are corrupt.”

EXTRA

• Youth Room beginning to take shape but still a lot to be done. I left around 7:00; they had a good crew but a lot to do. It is going to be nice.
• People keep asking me about the Sunday numbers: they were not bad for a holiday weekend: Lottie Moon was really good and the budget offering was also good. I keep forgetting to look at worship attendance but it was not bad and the service was excellent.
• Chick-Fil-A tonight at 5:30, AWANA at 6:15 with the Gathering at 6:30
• Pray for MY HOPE.