Ezekiel 13

WEEK  7                                                Ezekiel 13

SATURDAY  Reflections

Ezekiel and the prophets of God weren't the only voices speaking during this time. There were other prophets both claiming to come from God and some claiming to speak by false gods. Whether men or women, those who spoke false prophecies are going to face judgment. God, specifically, says he will remove them from the land of Israel never to return.

 

The statement that grabbed my attention is when Ezekiel says that the prophets know they aren't speaking on God's behalf, but they still think what they are saying will happen. How can someone who knows they are making stuff up believe what they say is going to happen? The answer is easy: it is by self-delusion and pride.

Eze 13:1-23
(1)  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(2)  Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
(3)  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
(4)  O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
(5)  Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
(6)  They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
(7)  Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
(8)  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
(9)  And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
(10)  Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
(11)  Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
(12)  Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
(13)  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
(14)  So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
(15)  Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
(16)  To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.
(17)  Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
(18)  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
(19)  And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
(20)  Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
(21)  Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
(22)  Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
(23)  Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

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Nahum 3

WEEK   7                                          Nahum 3

FRIDAY  Reflections

"Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?" (Verse 19). This ends the prophecy against the Assyrians and their capital city, Nineveh. There is no hope, no promise of reconciliation. There is no good news for these people (without God). I think the answer to why is found in the rhetorical question asked in the end: Who haven't you hurt? Are there some nations or groups (not single individuals) for whom there is no redeeming value? To me, it seems there are, but God is the judge. For them, relief and joy follow in their destruction.  

Nah 3:1-19
(1)  Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;
(2)  The noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots.
(3)  The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:
(4)  Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
(5)  Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
(6)  And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
(7)  And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
(8)  Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was from the sea?
(9)  Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
(10)  Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
(11)  Thou also shalt be drunken: thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek strength because of the enemy.
(12)  All thy strong holds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater.
(13)  Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.
(14)  Draw thee waters for the siege, fortify thy strong holds: go into clay, and tread the morter, make strong the brickkiln.
(15)  There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.
(16)  Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.
(17)  Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
(18)  Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.
(19)  There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?

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2 Corinthians 3

WEEK 7                                           2 Corinthians 3

THURSDAY  Reflections

Paul says that people can read the Old Testament with a veil that keeps them from seeing Christ. Christ, Paul explains, is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Paul also makes clear that the New Covenant in Jesus isn't just a written law but written in our hearts. This change in our hearts doesn't just save us (implied) but transforms us into the image of Christ. Paul sees our relationship with Jesus as something that is transformational and ongoing. The question we need to ask is this: Is our relationship with Jesus transforming us? If it isn't, maybe we don't have a relationship. 

2Co 3:1-18
(1)  Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
(2)  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
(3)  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
(4)  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
(5)  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
(6)  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
(7)  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
(8)  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
(9)  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
(10)  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
(11)  For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
(12)  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
(13)  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
(14)  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
(15)  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
(16)  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
(17)  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
(18)  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

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Psalm 100

WEEK  7                                            Psalms 100

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

Psalm 100 is a psalm that I often preach during Thanksgiving week in the USA. The psalm is a favorite for many a generation. I can't help but wonder if it might not have been read on that first Thanksgiving. Yes, there is much debate on the morality of the settlers coming to the New World, but on that day Native Americans and Settlers celebrated together.

 

Whatever the past, Thanksgiving and every day is a day to enter the gates of God with thanksgiving.

Psa 100:1-5
(1)  A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
(2)  Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
(3)  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
(4)  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
(5)  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

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Nahum 2

WEEK  7                                             Nahum 2

TUESDAY  Reflections

Jonah preached, and Nineveh repented, but as with many others, they went back to doing exactly as they had. Nineveh may have seen Israel fall before them and Judah fall before Babylon, but God has said they are only marred, not completely destroyed. The Assyrians are going to be wiped out as a nation. This nation of lions will soon be gone. All of their strength and power are going to do nothing to help them since God is going to bring them down. The Assyrians were indeed wiped out by the Babylonians.  

Nah 2:1-13
(1)  He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
(2)  For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches.
(3)  The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.
(4)  The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
(5)  He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
(6)  The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.
(7)  And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
(8)  But Nineveh is of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, shall they cry; but none shall look back.
(9)  Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for there is none end of the store and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.
(10)  She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.
(11)  Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
(12)  The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
(13)  Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.