Ezekiel 12:1-14:11 ~ Hebrews 7:1-17 ~ Psalm 105:37-45 ~ Proverbs 27:3
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Old Testament - Ezekiel chapter 12 today reminds me that sometimes in my own life I believe God sends some signs and warnings and I, like the Israelites in exile in Babylon, can be a rebel. I ignore the signs and warnings or think - oh, that won't come to pass for a long time... Do you suppose this is wise? Is there a sign or a warning God may be sending your way in your life currently? Will you listen and obey? Will you pay attention to God's warning signs in your life?
I love the story of Ezekiel packing up his pack in broad daylight and leaving through a hole in his house during the evening in chapter 12 today! In verse 7 we read - "So I did as I was told. In broad daylight I brought my pack outside, filled with the things I might carry into exile. Then in the evening while the people looked on, I dug through the wall with my hands and went out into the darkness with my pack on my shoulder."
It is interesting that in chapter 12 God says three times: "Then you/they will know that I am the LORD!" Why do you think he repeats this three times in this chapter? Should this be a statement we should consider in our own lives? Who is the Lord of your life - yourself or God? Do you know that God is the Lord? Is God consistently in the very center of your life?
Ezekiel chapter 13 verse 2 stood out to me today: "Son of man, speak against the false prophets of Israel who are inventing their own prophecies. Tell them to listen to the word of the LORD." Do we see this in our world today? People inventing their own prophecies? Inventing their own religions? Picking and choosing what philosophies they like the best? Do we do this? Should we be listening instead to the Word of the Lord? Are you actively involved in a church where the Word is clearly taught and Jesus is clearly the cornerstone?
Ezekiel 14 verse 3 I believe can definitely speak to us today: "Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that lead them into sin." This is scary to think about... Have we set up idols in our hearts? Have we embraced things that lead us into sin? Think this is a good idea... ? Can we turn these idols in our hearts over to the Lord? It is my hunch that an idol set up in our hearts is one of the toughest things to get rid of. We need Jesus in our lives to free us idols. Will you let Jesus remove any idol that is in your heart this very day? Please don't let that idol hang around in your heart any longer...
New Testament - Hebrews Chapter 7 is fascinating! It's basically an argument for why Jesus is our High Priest today - even though he is not from the tribe of Levi - the tribe of priests. Instead, the author of Hebrews argues that Jesus is immortal and is a priest in the line of Melchizedek. Most commentators I have read have said that Jesus is not Melchizedek nor vice versa. Basically, the author is making the case for the New Covenant - New Testament - that the Levitical priesthood line is completed by Jesus who is instituting a new covenant with Jesus as our High Priest. We need no other. We can go directly to God through Jesus. Do you believe this? Do you practice this? Do you pray in Jesus' name? The name of our High Priest in heaven!
Psalms - Psalm 105 wraps up the book of Exodus Cliff Notes version today, with a great closing verse 45 - "All this happened so they would follow his principles and obey his laws. Praise the LORD!" Indeed, praise the Lord!
Proverbs - Proverbs 27:3 teaches us today: "A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier." This is a great reminder that carrying resentment in our hearts is a heavy burden we don't need to bear! Are there any burdens in your heart today that you will let Jesus take from you? Will you reach out to Jesus and let Him heal your burden?
Worship God: This beautiful image directly above reminded me of the Jars of Clay song "I Need You." Can you imagine yourself reaching out to Jesus like this woman? Can you sing right now to Jesus "I Need You?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i7kV-K-w0A
Do you need God? Click here to get your need fulfilled!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you from today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
Grace, love, peace, and joy!
Mike
Ezekiel 12:1-14:11
Today it struck me, though I already knew this but really didn’t give it much weight, almost everything Ezekiel is saying up to chapter 12 is about Israel and Judah. Israel already went into captivity and the last remnant of Judah is yet to be taken. Ezekiel stands in Babylon prophesizing about Israel and Judah without the benefit of telegraph, telephone or even smoke signals. Well they could have used smoke but the distance between Judah and Babylon is too great. God is showing that He can give a Word in one geographic location about another location without benefit of modern technologies. To subvert anyone saying the Ezekiel wrote what he wrote and declared what he declared after the fact, God makes sure that the people witness the prophecies by either hearing them described or seeing Ezekiel’s actions.
Ezekiel is not only a “story teller” but he becomes a performance artist—there is truly nothing new under the sun or Son. The people who have ears but no hear and eyes but do not see probably stood around while Ezekiel delivered his message and considered it “free” entertainment; and think, Ezekiel didn’t even leave out a tin cup or hat to collect money for his performance. The power of the Words given to Ezekiel by God is not in the fact that the Words were given but that they happed hundreds of miles a way while the Words were being given.
I don’t know if this has ever happened to anyone else but I have had people call me up at least three times who I had not spoken to or had contact with for years and begin describing to me a crises situation I’m going through even down to the people, calling them person “A,” “B,” or “C.” I knew when we finished our conversation that I had heard from God. What blessing would I have missed or forfeited if I had just blew it off as coincidence?
Proverbs 27:3
Stone is heavy and sand weighty, but a fool's [unreasoning] wrath is heavier and more intolerable than both of them. Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood, but who is able to stand before jealousy? (Proverbs 27:3-4 AMP)
I came across this Proverb in my reading today and was completely blown out of the water. Someone, I don’t remember who, had compared the carrying of certain kinds of people who have fallen because of their own choices which they continue to make, thus they are in the truth sense of its meaning, unrepentant, akin to “Walking with rocks in your pocket. “ Here this text is saying that the burden taken on by those associated with a fool in his anger is more oppressive then the combining of “rocks” and sand. In fact the weight is crushing. Yet greater still in its crippling effects of jealously/envy.
I looked up the Hebrew word translated here in English as fool and this is what I found. Pay close attention to the transliteration.
In Strong’s:
H191 (Strong’s Number) אויל 'ĕvîyl ev-eel' From an unused root (meaning to be perverse); (figuratively) silly: - fool (-ish) (man).
In the Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions we have:
H191 אויל 'ĕvîyl BDB Definition: 1) be foolish, foolish 1a) (substantive) 1a1) of one who despises wisdom 1a2) of one who mocks when guilty 1a3) of one who is quarrelsome 1a4) of one who is licentious Part of Speech: adjective masculine A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from an unused root (meaning to be perverse)
I have a question to believers. If we have associated ourselves with the “fools” described in this Proverb, then we have “yoked” ourselves to someone or some group that will effectively stop us from being effective in God’s Kingdom because we have yoked ourselves to someone who is not yoked to God, thus we are being pulled away in the wrong direction. And their strength is such that unless God shatters that yolk we will allow them to take us to a place where we don’t want to go.
Either way we will in effect sever that relationship by way of us uncoupling ourselves from that yoke or God shatters it. Could I be grieving over a relationship that is leading me down the wrong path when God has unyoked me from that oppressive situation? Yikes!!
Grace and peace and keep thinking about what you are reading. Don’t shoot your brains out.
Posted by: Ramona | November 04, 2009 at 08:16 PM