Day 171 – April 12, 2024: Ezekiel 6-10 and Proverbs 27

Let’s start at the verse in Proverbs which is used consistently as a proof text. Caveat, what is a proof text? It is a Scripture that is lifted up, often out of context, to prove a specific point. It is very dangerous to take a single verse, or in this case just a part of a verse, in order to make a point which you want to make. It is necessary and important to understand the whole context of what has been written. So let’s look at our text, Proverbs 27:17 where we read “iron sharpens iron”. This text is often used, and in these cases rightly so, to describe how important it is to surround ourselves with other believers because when we do then our own faith can increase. The faith of one helps to sharpen, or increase, the faith or another. It is a great thought and in this case no harm is done in using this as a proof text.

Back to Ezekiel where we find that the righteous are given a mark which protects them from the wrath and the destruction to come. It is a very similar scenario that is seen in the Passover where the people of Israel have a mark placed over their doorways and that mark protects them from the angel of death. In that situation it is the people of Israel themselves who place the mark. In this scenario it is a man with a briefcase that does it. We also see a similar scene in Revelation 13:16-18 which describes a negative, the mark of a beast that each person will have placed upon their right hand or their forehead. This mark allows people to buy and sell and to move about society. Not the same as the other marks which protect people from the wrath of God. This mark allows people to be sucked into society.