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| Myrtle Beach, SC - at a work-related conference on the Carolina coast this week |
My Meditations on Today's Readings
(Ellipses are mine and are used for contemplation.)
Key Words: Judgment - I will repay (x3), the end
has come (x 9), My eye will not spare
(x3), My wrath, My anger, Sin – wickedness, great and greater abominations, your ways, pride, violence,
Efficacy of God’s Word – Jesus Christ our Apostle and High Priest,
living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, dividing,
discerning, nothing hidden, all naked and open before Him,
Judgment in Jerusalem
– Ezekiel 7 and 8 – (Facts: What It
Says – Summarized) Judgment has come
to Jerusalem. The end has
come. It will not turn back. Sword, pestilence and famine will devour with
mourning, desolation, and trembling. God
will “do to them according to their way.” Nothing and no one will save those appointed
to death.
Reasons for judgments: Idolatry, harlotry, wickedness, love of
money, abominations. Results: “They
will throw their silver into the streets…and their gold will be like refuse; their
silver and their gold…will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath
of the LORD; they will not…satisfy their souls…nor fill their stomachs…BECAUSE…it…became their stumbling block of
iniquity.” The sacred places of worship will be
defiled, robbed. The land is filled with
“crimes of blood…of violence…the law will perish from the priest…the
vision from the prophet…and counsel from the elders.” As Ezekiel sits before the elders of Judah, the hand of God falls upon him there…took him up by a lock of his hair…and the
Spirit lifted him up between earth and heaven and brought visions of God. Visions of God: God shows Ezekiel the great and
greater abominations: 1) Idols (images of
jealousy) are set up in the house of God within the inner court and at the
entrance to the north gate. 2) Ezekiel
is commanded to dig a hole in the wall of “My
sanctuary.” There on the walls were
“every sort of creeping thing, abominable
beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel.” And there…in God’s sanctuary…70 of the elders
stood before the idols offering up incense (prayers)…in the dark…for they say…’The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.”
3) At the door to the north gate, “the
women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.” 4) “In the inner court of the LORD’s house…there at the door of the temple
of the LORD…between the porch and the altar…were about 25 men…with their
backs…toward the temple…and their faces…toward the east…and they were
worshipping the sun…toward the east.”
God’s response to Ezekiel: “Have
you seen this, O son of man? Is it a
trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations, which they
commit here? For…they have filled the
land with violence…then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Therefore…I
also will act in fury. My eye will not
spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice.
I will not hear them.” Yet: God
will stay true to His covenant promise to spare a remnant. Principle: God will not be mocked. He is a loving God…full of mercy, grace,
compassion and faithfulness. But..He is
also a jealous God and a God of judgment.
His Word…His covenant will stand…the blessings and/or the curses.
Prayer for God’s
Judgment Against Tormentors – Psalm 120: 1-7 (Facts: What It Says Summarized)
David’s Distress: Lying lips, deceitful tongue, false tongue, “Woe
is me... My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. I am for peace, but when I speak…they are for
war.” How David Reacts: He cries to the LORD, and the LORD hears him.
David’s prayer: “Deliver my soul, O LORD…from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” Principle: Even David, “a man after God’s own heart”, prayed for
deliverance from people who responded to his attempts to live peaceably with
lies, deceit, and continual contentiousness and attacks. Being godly does not mean a life free of
difficult human relationships. Consider
the lives of Jesus and the apostles and prophets. Jesus reminded us of this. (Matthew 10:22 and
John 15: 18-25)
Judgment Through God’s Word –
Hebrews 4 (Facts: What It Says –
Summarized) Remember the Reward of Obedience: Believers are
admonished to remember His promise that we will enter His rest…if we do not
come short of the gospel preached to us.
The Chosen People of the OT fell short and did not enter the rest,
except for the saved remnant. Remember the Power of His Word to Judge Rightly: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as
well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in those who heard it…because
of disobedience. Let us…therefore…be diligent…to enter that rest...lest anyone
fall according to the same disobedience. FOR…the word of God is…living…and
powerful…and sharper than any two-edged sword…piercing…even to the division of...soul
and spirit…and of joints and marrow…and is a discerner…of the thoughts…and
intents…of the heart. And there is no
creature…hidden from His sight…but all things…are naked and open…to the eyes of
Him…to whom…we must give account.
Remember our Confidence Because of Jesus
Christ (the Word Made Flesh) “Seeing
then…that we have a great High Priest…who
has passed through the heavens…Jesus the Son of God…let us…hold fast…our
confession. For…we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are…yet without sin. Our Privilege, Honor and
Duty: Let us…therefore…come
boldly…to the throne of grace…that…we may obtain mercy…and find grace…to help
in time of need.” Principle: God, in His mercy and
grace, has given us all things. His Son
(“the Word made flesh” – John 1:14)
to die on the cross for our sins that we may stand in Our Savior’s
righteousness before Holy God; His Word that is living and powerful to
instruct, guide, protect, empower us; His Holy Spirit indwelling us to
interpret and enable us to live His Word to His glory; and His faithful promise
of eternal rest with Him – all because we are…in Christ.
My Lessons and
Applications: Has the Word of
God changed and transformed my life through the work of the Holy Spirit? Because I am…in Christ…and He is in Me…how
does that impact my life for the benefit of others…for the glory of God? How
does the sure knowledge that nothing is hidden from God - that even we as
believers must give an account to Him – affect my life and my actions?
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."Hebrews 4:16
“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is
the greater work.”
- Oswald Chambers
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