We live in perilous times. While the current coronavirus pandemic has dominated our cultural attention, we know that the terrible problems of rampant poverty, racial strife, political corruption and personal unrighteousness continue to ravage our country. We see an ever-increasing number of pastors succumbing to all manner of sin and fearlessly embellishing God’s truth to preach cheap grace, politicians with no heart for God destroying peoples’ lives for personal gain, and a general population that have become morally ambivalent and neglectful of the needs of others. In light of all of this unrighteousness, how should God respond?

Rev. Dr. Rich Noble finds an answer in Ezekiel 22 - how God had responded to Israel when her priests, princes and people had become totally corrupted, and Jerusalem had become a city full of violence and crime.

Like ancient Israel, we deserve God’s wrath. But we thank God for His incredible mercy that we have in Jesus Christ. Jesus has gained victory over all of this sin at the cross, and with the power of the Holy Spirit working inside of believers, God is at work in his children, reforming them, reviving them, and renewing them in some very specific ways.

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Rev. Dr. Rich Noble, a former interim pastor of the Penn Hills Alliance Church, serves now as an Elder and Mission Mobilization Specialist at the Allegheny Center Alliance Church, and teaches Communication and Biblical Studies at Geneva College.