A department store in...
Illustration
A department store in Houston, Texas, offered a car in a drawing. When a woman was notified that she had won the drawing, she was thrilled, until she saw the car. Its passenger-side door would not open; its back seat was missing; the headlight knob was gone; the chrome on the driver's side hung loose --assorted troubles plagued the car. When the winner, Sandra Torres, saw her prize, she told the store they could keep it.
Her disappointment was keenly felt: “When someone calls you and tells you you have won a car, you expect it to have all its parts. You expect it to have a back seat and you expect it to be a halfway decent car.” As a result, the store issued an apology and gave her a better car.
In Ezekiel's early years as a prophet, he had spoken of judgment. Later, when the people were in exile and Jerusalem was devastated, he looked ahead to a future time when God would begin a new work; when the people would return from exile; and the city would be restored. The Allegory of the Cedar Tree tells how God will take a branch and plant it on Zion. It's a statement of pure and total grace, a promise that would surely come true. Those who put their trust in what God will do will not be disappointed. He gives grace to people who have no hope.
--Raabe
