One Chapter One Thought

Ezekiel sees a vision of God's slaughtering all the people of Israel in Jerusalem. Only those who are marked out will be spared from judgment. 

Ezekiel sees four visions of increasingly worse idolatry.

Ezekiel pronounces that the end is not merely near, but here, for the people of Israel. There will no turning back God's judgment. 

God pronounces judgment on the "mountains of Israel," signifying the total corruption of the people. 

God commands Ezekiel to shave off his and beard to foretell of Jerusalem's destruction. God's anger will be unleashed against his people because of their sins. 

Ezekiel depicts the siege of Jerusalem with a model. He later has to eat defiled bread to symbolize the defilement of the people. 

God commissions Ezekiel to go to the people of Israel. Even though the people won't listen to him, God will supply Ezekiel with the words and the boldness to proclaim the messages God will give to him. 

God calls Ezekiel to the prophetic ministry. Ezekiel will minister to Israel, even though they are a stubborn and rebellious people. 

While in exile, Ezekiel has a vision of divine glory. 

Pastor Chris introduces the book of Ezekiel. For many Christians, the prophetic books of the Old Testament transport them to a strange world filled with bizarre visions and obscure historical details. Because of the complexity of many of these books, many Christians avoid them or completely misread them. And the book of Ezekiel is no exception. In this bonus episode, Pastor Chris provides some imp...

Two competing voices call out every day: wisdom or folly. People should listen to wisdom. 

Wisdom calls out to be heard and followed. Wisdom's origin pre-dates the creation of the world. 

Solomon recounts how the seductions of an immoral woman work. He admonishes his son to avoid her charms at all costs. 

The wise person avoids entanglements with debt and laziness. He avoids adultery because the consequences are dire. 

Solomon's son must avoid the immoral woman. 

Solomon provides wise fatherly advice. 

The wise person trusts in the Lord. 

Solomon explains the benefits of wisdom. 

Solomon shares the purpose of proverbs. He exhorts his son to acquire wisdom. Personified Wisdom calls out to the foolish to gain wisdom. 

Pastor Chris introduces the book of Proverbs and provides tips for reading the book well. He covers who wrote the book and why. He shows how Proverbs fits into the larger story of Scripture. He also explains the differences between English poetry and Hebrew poetry and how it impacts our understanding of Proverbs. 

Instead of expanding to fill the earth, humanity congregates in one place. God confuses their languages to scatter them across the earth. The rest of the chapter provides the genealogy of Abram. 

The second genealogy of Genesis covers the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. 

God confirms his covenant with Noah. The rainbow becomes the sign of God's covenant to spare the world from judgment by a flood. After planting a vineyard, Noah gets drunks. He curses the descendants of one of his sons. 

The flood eventually recedes. After leaving the ark, Noah makes sacrifices to the Lord. 

The rains come and the flood covers the earth. All life perishes, except that which is inside the ark that Noah built.