Ezekiel 23:1-49 ~ Hebrews 10:18-39 ~ Psalm 109:1-31 ~ Proverbs 27:13
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Old Testament - Ezekiel chapter 23 is interesting in its use of prostitution and lust as the metaphors for Israel's political alliances with neighboring lands. My thoughts here are that we live in a "sexualized" world in so many ways today - and perhaps things weren't so different back then. Sex is obviously something that was created as a good by God - but can so quickly and easily be twisted into something that is not good. Sex is good in the right context of marriage. Detrimental in the wrong. It seems to me that lust and the selling of sex was as prevalent back in Ezekiel's today as it is in ours. To which we may need to remember well Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 6:18 - "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." And of course James 4:7 - "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Is there an area of our lives related to sex that you must flee from? Will you flee?
New Testament - Hebrews chapter 10 today is amazing! In verse 22 we read: "Let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water." Great stuff! The last few words of this verse remind me of the blessing of Baptism - as an outward sign of our inner transformation and faith in Christ. Verse 24 is just pure joy & goodness: "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds." Outbursts of love & good deeds indeed! Who are you encouraging these days to outbursts of love and good deeds? Can you think of some ways to do this? And verse 25 reminds me of the importance of finding a church community to do life with together: "And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." Do you meet together with others in a local church? Have you found a small group, community group, or prayer group that you can spend some quality time with outside of regular church services? A group where you can encourage, warn, and pray for each other? Verse 26 and the following verses are strong reminders of the one option we have for our faith - the one true God to follow: "Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received a full knowledge of the truth, there is no other sacrifice that will cover these sins." Is there another sacrifice besides Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that will cover our sins?
Psalms - Today in Psalm 109 verse 4 in the NIV we read these words of David – “I am a man of prayer.” Wow. I like that. And I’m not sure I can honestly say that about myself right now. Sure, I will roll out of bed and offer up some prayers. Yeah, I’ll try to say a prayer before meals. And yes, I’ll pray briefly before going to sleep. Oh yeah, maybe in church once a week too I’ll offer up some prayers. But, for me to say “I am a person of prayer” would probably not be truthful. Ouch. Don’t worry – I’m not beating myself up too badly over it. But - if I really want to realize that God is holy and a Rock and if I really want to love God and other people, then I have a hunch that being a person of prayer is a critical part of the equation. I don’t think that prayer is so much talking to God as it is really slowing down and listening to God. Sure, it’s a conversation, but I think in our fast pace world today we would do well to really slow down in prayer and listen to God. Listen for that still small voice within our hearts leading us to God’s kingdom and glory and peace. It’s there. I think it takes prayer to really hear it oftentimes. How about you? Are you a person of prayer? Do you want to be a person of prayer? When you pray, do you talk more or listen more to God? Do you want to live your life as a person of prayer?
Bible.org's commentary on Psalm 109 titled "A Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked" is at this link.
Proverbs - Proverbs 27:13 today teaches us: "Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners." This is a great simple but important reminder to get collateral or security on debts! Particularly if the guarantee is for someone you don't know - though I'd recommend a guarantee on family loans too... :) Otherwise you may see your money "fly away" from you...
YouTube - Today's readings in Psalm 109 reminds me of Third Day's song "Call My Name:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYK_Bemj29s
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Comments from you - What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
Ezekiel 23: I think to truly appreciate the message in Ezekiel 23 we have to go back and remember what has happened with the Jewish nations. The Jewish people had been divided into two nations, Judah and Israel. God blessed each of them, made them strong and rich, and offered them His protection. Both Israel and Judah committed the same sins with other countries. Assyria and Babylon sent representatives to visit with the Jewish leaders and both acted in the same manner.
Sin number one: The Jewish leaders proudly showed them all of their treasures including the gold and silver vessels that were used by the priests during worship services. They strutted their wealth and said, “Look what wonderful things I have.” They wanted to impress the foreign dignitaries with their possessions. They claimed the wonderful things God had as their own. They didn’t have anything because God had told them many times before that they and everything they had belonged to Him!
Sin number two: Because Assyria and Babylon were great Arab warring nations with many victories under their belt, the Jewish leaders and people were in awe of their success to the point that the Jews actually paid Assyria and Babylon to protect them from their enemies. Here were God’s people who had been chosen by God, protected by God, and blessed by God, paying nations that did not even recognize God to protect them and God’s treasures! They sold out God’s protection in preference of the protection of what they saw as strong, handsome earthly Arabs.
What did the Assyrian and Babylonia representatives do? They went back home and reviewed the situation. The Jewish nations had presented themselves as nations loaded with silver and gold who were so weak that they were willing to pay for protection. The Arab nations decided that they wanted more than the protection money they received – they wanted it all. They wanted all of the gold and silver they possessed and they also wanted these weak Jewish people to serve them as slaves and take care of their menial needs. The Jews did indeed prostitute themselves. They strutted “their stuff” just as a lady of the night struts herself to capture the attention of a John on the street corner. They were willing to sell out the protection of their faithful husband who was God in return for laying with first one nation and then another nation for the rewards they had to offer. Time and time again God tried to bring the Jewish “ladies” (Judah and Israel) back home where they belonged and time and time again the “ladies” returned to work the street corners of the world instead of relying on God. Finally God just gave both of these “ladies” to the Johns they preferred and let them suffer the consequences of their sins. They lost it all – they lost their beauty and wealth and they lost God’s permanent protection – for a few brief romps with the joys sin had to offer. There is a strong message here for people today. All that we are and all that we have is because of God’s love for us and the only way for our soul to receive permanent protection, which will allow us to walk on the golden streets of the Kingdom, is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ. If we offer ourselves as prostitutes to Satan for the enjoyment of worldly sinful thrills then we will eventually not only lose everything we have today and will also lose delight in the Kingdom of all tomorrows.
Psalms 109:6 is a very interesting verse, “Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.” In this psalms David is calling out BIG-time for God to take revenge and punish those that are giving him so much grief. However, David is not asking God to arrange for him to execute the revenge himself and David is not asking God to allow other righteous people to execute the revenge. Instead David is asking God to arrange for another evil one to execute the revenge against the evil ones attaching him. This is worth thinking about. Revenge belongs to the Lord and we should not neither seek to take revenge ourselves nor encourage another Christian to act in a revengeful manner.
My apologies for this being so long but for two hours God has told me to write down what He has been talking to me about this, so finally I just gave in and let Him be the boss.
God Bless!
Pat
Posted by: Pat | November 10, 2009 at 08:54 PM
Hebrews 10:19-25 are the "lettuce' verses of the bible--let us draw near, let us hold fast, let us encourage....and the focus in all of this is to towards faith, hope and love, the great virtues of our Christ centered faith. It's interesting that in our drawing near to God, we are told to not forget our brothers and sisters. We can become so wrapped up in a vertical focus of worship that we forget that 'encouraging one another' is also 'part of the worship service'...
Posted by: Luch | November 11, 2009 at 05:38 AM
enjoy bible reading
Posted by: Don Faulder | November 11, 2009 at 07:14 PM