On the night Jesus was born, the good news was first announced to a group of shepherds who were preoccupied with their mundane task of guarding the sheep overnight. They hurried off to Bethlehem to make known the message they had received. And undoubtedly they, and everyone else who heard the news, never saw their daily duties the same again.

God will bring to an end every global power that his people cannot trust so that he alone is the hope of their salvation.

Because God promised to restore order to his world through his people, he does not allow them to become like the nations who surround them. God intervenes throughout history to frustrate the progress of human civilization and the dark power that lurks behind it. Freeing his people from evil entanglements, God promises to manifest his holiness in them so that the whole world will flourish and God's glory will shine forever.

The Babylonian siege of Jerusalem is one of the most important events in redemptive history. The God of Israel poured out his wrath on his chosen nation for their refusal to remain faithful to him. As tragic as this event would be, it also signaled the hope that would come when God finally satisfied his wrath against the contamination of sin in his world.

The righteous judgment of God assures his people that God will fulfills his promise to bring justice to the world.

The impending fall of Jerusalem was not to be interpreted as the end of God's kingdom on earth. Instead, God declared that he was replanting his kingdom in new soil so it would grow stronger than ever before. As God's people wait for the kingdom to grow, they must turn from their sins and submit to its righteous demands so they do not die with the powerless ways of the kingdoms of men.

The biblical concept of sin can only be explained in the context of a relationship of love between God and his people. Sin is not just doing something God doesn't like. It is engaging in shameful, dehumanizing acts that bring misery into God's world. God's response to sin is not simply to judge the sinner but rather to cleans his world of all sin's shameful consequences.

With the fall of Jerusalem looming, Ezekiel performs another sign-act in hopes of bringing Israel out of their rebellion against their God. The people have become apathetic toward God's word, deceived and misled by their own prophets. Until their hearts are cleansed of their idols, the people of God will remain estranged from him and his covenant promises toward them.

The announcement of God's judgment on Israel is devastating. God has made plain to Ezekiel that he will wipe out Israel's idolatrous ways. But the redemptive nature of God's judgment is also made plain in the repeated refrain, "And they shall know that I am the LORD."