Read the Bible in a Year (31AUG19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, August 31’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 5-8.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 1’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 9-12. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

EZEKIEL MOMENT – (31AUG19) “They will throw their money in the streets, tossing it out like worthless trash. Their silver and gold won’t save them  on that day of the Lord’s anger.
It will neither satisfy nor feed them,   for their greed can only trip them up” (Ezekiel 7:19). The prophet Ezekiel had been shown visions concerning the judgments that the Lord was going to bring against Jerusalem. The people had been very defiant and even when they were warned by the prophet Jeremiah, they refused to listen. The same warnings that God gave to Jeremiah were being repeated through the prophet Ezekiel. These were warnings of famine, plagues, death by the sword, and those who managed to get away would still be in danger of their lives. The people would resort to cannibalism by eating their own children and the children by eating their parents. The wrath of God was going to be so fierce upon the land that they could never have imagined how horrible their conditions would be; yet, the Lord warned them of what was coming but to no avail. They thought their money, idols, and walls could save them, but they were going to find out that their money would be utterly useless against the wrath of the Lord.

Many people today are trusting in their own might instead of being submissive to the Lord. We see fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes that are warnings of larger things to come, but many take for granted God’s mercy. As long as there is food on the shelves, money in the banks, 401k’s for retirement, gas in the vehicle, people think that all is well. Unfortunately, all is not well across the landscape of America and the world. We have angered the Lord with our idols and lack of justice for all. We have violence in the streets and the blood of the innocent is being shed every day in abortion clinics across the land rather the mother is six weeks along or nine months. Life begins at the moment of conception and all lives matter to God. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Nevertheless, time is winding down, and Jesus is soon to return. The Lord’s wrath will be poured out on mankind, but those who are saved do not need to be afraid. We are not destined for His wrath although we may go through persecution. He will protect us in the end. “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.  But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true….” (2 Timothy 3:12-14). Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (31AUG19) Will there ever be a time when prophecies will cease? The Bible says: “They will look in vain   for a vision from the prophets. They will receive no teaching from the priests   and no counsel from the leaders” (Ezekiel 7:26b). Ezekiel had been given an inside view into the sins of the elders, priests and people. He witnessed first-hand in a vision what the people were doing in Jerusalem to defy the Lord. They had idols in the courtyard of the Lord’s house, and they bowed and worshiped the eastern sky where the sun was placed. The people had no regard for the Lord, and He was not going to have any regard for them once His judgments fell on them. They were going to look for prophecies, but there would be no prophecies to give. They would want to know the law of the Lord, but there would be no law for them to find. When they were able to listen to rebuke, they refused to do so. Therefore, God would not incline His ear to them during the time of His wrath.

The Bible lets us know that there will be a time when prophecies will be no more. “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The day is coming that the work of the watchmen sounding the alarm, the prophecies of the prophets, the cries of the pastors, and the pleadings of the evangelists will cease. There will be no more altar calls and no new member classes. Those who are righteous will remain so, and those who are wicked will continue in their lost state. The Lord would have done all that He could to save them, but the day is coming when His servants will have rest, and everyone’s fate will have been determined by the choices that they made. The Bible says: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).  Until such time, we must be the Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel of our day to warn the lost to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Something to ponder….