Caulfield Evangelical Methodist Church
- Weekly Pastoral Message -

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"Continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine" Acts 2:42

Weekly Pastoral Message prepared by Rev. Murray Adamthwaite
for Sunday 23rd November 1997


From the Pastor: Curious Comparisons VIII

"Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart." Proverbs 26:23 (NIV)

One item of kitchenware which enjoyed a renewed popularity in the 1970's, and up to the present time, is the earthenware mug. Personally, I much prefer the bone china teacup of our English tradition, but earthenware mugs can be quite attractive, depending on the quality of the glazing. There is the rub: earthenware by itself is very plebeian stuff, but a good glaze can enhance it considerably.

The text above has to do with glazed earthenware, at least the way it is rendered in the NIV. Older or more traditional modern versions have there "silver dross" instead of "glaze". This is because in more recent times a word turned up in texts in the ancient Canaanite language (very similar to Hebrew), discovered earlier this century, which yielded more sense in the present context. Thus if we run two Hebrew words together to form one word the result is this Canaanite word meaning "glaze", as above.

Two aspects of this phenomenon are worth reflecting on:

    (i) earthenware is rough and thick. Only coloured glaze can make it appealing to the eye or to the touch. So a corrupt mind or evil designs may be coloured over by fervent lips or smooth talk. How deceptive it can be!

    (ii) earthenware is brittle. A good glaze may make it look more solid than it really is, but how deceptive are appearances! So too a seemingly righteous life breaks apart unless the indestructible life from the Holy Spirit gives it real quality. Here we may draw an implication from the older version: we need to be genuine silver vessels - they do not break.

Is your Christian life a solid silver vessel, or merely a glazed mug?.

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Caulfield Evangelical Methodist Church
Please email comments to: cemc@genesis.net.au
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