Read the Bible in a Year (06SEP19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 6’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 23-24.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 7’s Bible reading is Ezekiel 25-27. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

EZEKIEL MOMENT – (06SEP19) “Son of man, once there were two sisters who were daughters of the same mother. They became prostitutes in Egypt…. The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 23:2-4). The Lord had chosen Israel to be His special people with whom His name would be attached. They were to be an example to the other nations and serve as a witness to there being only one true God. The Lord had told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, but they were going to be enslaved for four-hundred years. After which, He would free them from bondage and give to them a land flowing with milk and honey. The Children of Israel, unfortunately, were not faithful to the Lord while they were in Egypt. They had come to be in Egypt during the great famine that had spread across the land, which the Lord had allowed for Joseph, Jacob’s son, to prepare for. During their time there, the Lord blessed them to increase in numbers, but they were unfaithful to the Lord and worshiped the Egyptian gods. This displeased the Lord greatly. Although Abraham was told that the Amorites had not reached the fullness of their iniquity, for which they would be punished, the Lord allowed His people to be enslaved by the ones whose gods they worshiped; therefore, the Lord was referencing Samaria and Jerusalem through the analogy of the two sisters who were unfaithful to Him because they both belonged to Him.

Oholah was the eldest of the two sisters consisting of the ten tribes of Israel. She knew to do right and what the Lord’s decrees were, but she followed her own path and was destroyed and taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Then there was Oholibah, the sister representing Judah who also knew the laws of the Lord and had seen what had taken place with her sister’s judgment. She, however, remained defiant and continued in her sins; therefore, the Lord was going to punish her as well. She would drink from the same cup of the Lord’s wrath that her sister had to drink from. The very ones that she committed adultery with would be the ones to take her captive.

During the reign of Hezekiah, he had shown the Babylonian envoys all that he had been blessed with throughout his kingdom. He did so with a prideful heart instead of telling the visitors of the Lord’s goodness. Following the Babylonian envoys’ visit, the Prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah that Babylon was going to one day strip Judah of all they had and make his descendants slaves. We can see from this prophetic parable, which the Lord gave to Ezekiel, that Isaiah’s prophecy was about to be fulfilled.

It is important to understand from the many messages the Lord had given to His prophets that He desires faithfulness and obedience. We are His bride, and the Lord expects us to remain true to our covenant with Him. When we seek after and make people and/or things our god, we are likened to an adulterous wife in the sight of the Lord. The Bible says: “He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27). When we love the Lord completely, we do not put anything above nor before Him. We are to place Him first in all areas of our lives – above family, friends, money, fame, or material possessions. The Lord wants us to choose Him above all else and then we will be blessed. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (06SEP19) What would you do if you were told that you could not grieve the loss of a loved one? How do you think your reaction would be? Do you even think that it would be possible for you to follow through with such a command? Ezekiel was given such a command by the Lord and He was obedient to do as the Lord said. The Bible says: “Then this message came to me from the LORD: ‘Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears.  Groan silently, but let there be no wailing at her grave. Do not uncover your head or take off your sandals. Do not perform the usual rituals of mourning or accept any food brought to you by consoling friends’” (Ezekiel 24:15-17). This seems like a harsh command from the Lord, but He wanted to teach Israel a lesson. There were certain customs that the people observed when they suffered the loss of a loved one. Ezekiel, however, was not allowed to follow any of the norms because this was a sign to the people of how they would react to being told about the deaths of their loved ones left behind. Judah’s day of judgment had come, and the people would hear of her destruction and waste away. 

There is a great price to pay for sin. Thank God that Jesus came to pay the debt on our behalf. Sin causes the sinner to waste away even though many who participate in it are unaware of its consequences. It may seem delightful at the time, but the end result is less than desirable. One day, the wicked will be judged for their failure to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, but we will be like Ezekiel and not weep about their destruction. The Bible says: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). The time to weep and cry out over the lost is now. The time of the end is near, and all who failed to turn their hearts over to God will be eternally lost. “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy" (Revelation 22:11). Something to ponder….

EZEKIEL MOMENT – (06SEP19) “Then give these rebels an illustration with this message from the Sovereign LORD: “Put a pot on the fire, and pour in some water. Fill it with choice pieces of meat—the rump and the shoulder and all the most tender cuts.  Use only the best sheep from the flock, and heap fuel on the fire beneath the pot. Bring the pot to a boil, and cook the bones along with the meat.  “Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers! She is a cooking pot whose corruption can’t be cleaned out” (Ezekiel 24:3-6a).  Ezekiel was told to mark the date because the destruction of Judah had come on that very day. The Lord gave to Ezekiel a parable about a pot that was to be used to boil meat inside. Jerusalem was like an encrusted pot that could not be cleaned. She had shed innocent blood and even though the Lord tried to cleanse her, she refused to be cleansed just as the pot was unable to be clean, so the Lord was going to purify the emptied pot of its impurities with the coals of His wrath. They would once again be clean, and He would not have pity nor relent.

Judah’s day of judgment had come. There was nothing that could change it nor was the Lord going to change His mind. He was giving them the penalty for what they had done. Despite His many warnings and messages given through His prophets, they refused to listen and take heed of them. The end result was death, famine, and plague. None of her allies were able to rescue her, and her foreign gods had proven to be useless against the wrath of the Lord.

The Lord does not like having to punish His people. He is a loving God, but He is also a God who is holy, righteous and just. He cannot and will not allow sin to thrive forever. One day, it will all come to an end. This is why we should always be mindful that our lives are right before the Lord, and that we do our part to witness to those still bound by sin. God’s judgments are meant to redirect and correct. Unfortunately, the day is coming where there will be no more chances to do either of the two and the decision will be final as to the sinner’s destination. Something to ponder….