StephenBarkley.com

Primarily, God is not bound to punish sin;
he is bound to destroy sin.
— George MacDonald (Unspoken Sermons)
At last, a glimmer of hope! I hope you have not been depressed by the repeated messages of judgment. More importantly, I hope you have not been desensitized by the repeated warnings of wrath. Only against that ugly black [...]

It’s easy to vilify the enemy
and claim that we are on the side of God and good.
But repentance is better.
— Jim Wallis (God’s Politics)
The parody of Israel’s history is over. Israel was rebellious in Egypt, as well as the first and second generation of desert wanderers. Now Ezekiel has skips over large tracts of Israel’s [...]

This drama of human history
is indeed partly our construct,
but it stands under a sovereignty
much greater than ours.
— Reinhold Niebuhr (Justice and Mercy)
Some elders of Israel decided to ask God for help. We don’t know what caused them to inquire, especially since every word out of Ezekiel’s mouth seemed to be judgment! Some scholars point out [...]

It is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery
in every nation and every family
since the world began.
— C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)
The second half of Ezekiel’s dirge jettisons the imagery of lions and takes up another familiar metaphor: a vine and branches.
Like the first half of this lament, the specific referents to the [...]