As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Why do some children’s authors wish to promote sex, orgies, drugs, and violence? Is there not enough such obscenity in our adult culture – our movies, our music, and our books – without letting it ooze over into children’s literature?” - Intellectual Takeout
“Bulverism, in all my experience, is never satisfied. Those who resort to it have never given me any evidence that they think their opponents can be won over, only derided, defeated, and destroyed. In fact, resorting to Bulverism is itself a declaration that efforts at persuasion have been judged useless or unnecessary.
The other day I was driving in downtown Kokomo and saw a comical sight—comical for me, at least. A man in pickup truck was backing into a parking space, tapped the streetlight pole with his truck’s bumper, and—boom! Down she went. Although he did not hit the pole hard, one weighty tap was all it took.
“If I were asked this question, and I have been asked this question in the past, I would respond with a very qualified, ‘I’m not sure.’” - John Ellis
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God instructs Ezekiel to respond to the people’s complaint, and the Lord’s response has two parts: first, God makes an oath-bound affirmation; second, he issues an impassioned entreaty. Let’s consider each of those in turn.
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The first vision in Ezekiel 37 is the best known in the book. If people are ignorant of everything else in the book, they are often aware of the valley of dry bones, though frequently they have no idea what it means. It surely doesn’t help when commentators apply the whole passage to the Christian church.
“Bavinck’s theological approach to ethics is divided into two books: Humanity before Conversion (Bk. 1) and Converted Humanity (Bk. 2). Chapter One introduces terms, definitions and Scripture overview for the essence of humanity (i.e. Imago Dei), The Good, freedom of the will, work, and vocation… Book Two begins with the essence and origins of the spiritual life of believers” - Ref 21
“Shatzer challenges the notion that our technological tools are in and of themselves neutral and that their impact depends entirely on how we use them. The reality and significance of our (especially digital) technologies are that they ‘are shaping us.’” - Baptist Standard
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The setting of Ezekiel’s prophecy in general and of our text in particular is the exile. The first phase of the exile took place around 605 B.C. The second phase of the exile took place about 7 or 8 years later, around 597 B.C. And the final stage of the exile took place in 586 B.C. This is when the Babylonians destroyed the walls and temple of Jerusalem.
Discussion