Psalm 94

WEEK   24                                          Psalms 94

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

The New International Version starts chapter 94 talking about the God who avenges. God isn't a God of revenge, but he is one who practices justice. Justice, at times, requires people to be avenged. The victim isn't protected if the perpetrator gets away with the crime. God wants the wrongdoer to repent and do right, but they will not always do this, leaving God with only one other choice.

 

When we are wronged we often wonder like the Psalmist how long it will be till God puts things right. The other side of this is we need to be careful with this prayer because we might want God to be gracious and longsuffering with our shortcomings. The danger is we tend to think others' actions are worse than ours not realizing that we might be just as guilty as other people just in different areas. This isn't always true, the innocent are often treated wrong, but let's not be too hasty to call for judgment. 

 

The good news we see here in this psalm is if we are trusting God, He will be our defense and our refuge.

Psa 94:1-23
(1)  O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
(2)  Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
(3)  LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
(4)  How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
(5)  They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.
(6)  They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
(7)  Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
(8)  Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?
(9)  He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
(10)  He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
(11)  The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
(12)  Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
(13)  That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
(14)  For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
(15)  But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
(16)  Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
(17)  Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
(18)  When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
(19)  In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
(20)  Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
(21)  They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
(22)  But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
(23)  And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

Photo by Boban Simonovski on Unsplash

Hosea 4

WEEK  24                                             Hosea 4

TUESDAY  Reflections

One of the saddest scriptures in Hosea is chapter 4:6 “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge.”

 

I have often noticed that what gets people in trouble is what they don’t want to know. They don’t want to know if they have cancer, so they die with it. Students don’t want to know a subject and find that they fail in that subject.

 

There seems to be a direct correlation between what we don’t want to know and how it can hurt us or lead us astray. Many who have some knowledge of God refuse to learn more because it would mean they would have to change. Even when that knowledge could save them.

 

Israel had the knowledge of God but didn’t want it. Therefore, this refusal set them up to be rejected by the God who had promised to protect them. It put them in a place outside of God’s protective hand and they didn’t even know it. The reason why? They didn’t want to know.

 

This reminds me of the old saying which says, “No one is so blind as he that refuses to see.”

Hos 4:1-19
(1)  Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
(2)  By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
(3)  Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
(4)  Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
(5)  Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
(6)  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
(7)  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
(8)  They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
(9)  And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
(10)  For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
(11)  Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
(12)  My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
(13)  They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
(14)  I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
(15)  Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
(16)  For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
(17)  Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
(18)  Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
(19)  The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Photo by Elijah Hail on Unsplash

2 Kings 9

WEEK  24                                           2 Kings 9

MONDAY  Reflections

In this chapter, the prophecy of Elijah finally comes to pass. The family of Ahab may have forgotten God's promise or maybe they never believed, because they never did change. God did not forget. When the time was right, God gave the right man the word to move. Considering the quickness of Jehu’s move against the king, it causes me to believe that something had been in the works for a while. The northern tribe had seen rebellion after rebellion and there was a great threat not just from without but from within the nation. If Elisha hadn't sent word to Jehu a rebellion might have happened. God moved to make the death of Ahab's family, not just a result of rebellion, but a clear fulfillment of God's prophecy.

In today's world, we might be tempted to consider many things just happenstance but God is more involved in our world than we realize. 

2Ki 9:1-37
(1)  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:
(2)  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
(3)  Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.
(4)  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.
(5)  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.
(6)  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.
(7)  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.
(8)  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
(9)  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
(10)  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
(11)  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.
(12)  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.
(13)  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.
(14)  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
(15)  But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
(16)  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
(17)  And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
(18)  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
(19)  Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
(20)  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
(21)  And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
(22)  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
(23)  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
(24)  And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
(25)  Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;
(26)  Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.
(27)  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
(28)  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
(29)  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
(30)  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
(31)  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
(32)  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
(33)  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.
(34)  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.
(35)  And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
(36)  Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
(37)  And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

Photo by Mathew MacQuarrie on Unsplash

Ezekiel 4 Legos in the Bible (kinda?)

WEEK  23                                              Ezekiel 4

SATURDAY  Reflections

If Legos would have been around in Ezekiel's day, I imagine God would have told Ezekiel to make a town out of Legos and set Lego siege engines against it. This may sound foolish but this is exactly what God told Ezekiel to do (absent the Legos). After his modeling project, Ezekiel was supposed to lie down on his left side then his right side to represent the iniquity of Israel and Judah.

 

There had to be a lot of people wondering what the prophet was up to doing this day after day. Each time someone would ask it would be another opportunity for Ezekiel to share God's message. It may be strange but God knows what each person and each group needs to experience before they will face their sins. Before you think this is really strange, think about some of the strange props speakers and preachers have used to get their point across. Consider art which is made to describe the artist's concerns or emotions. Maybe this isn't as strange as we may think.

Eze 4:1-17
(1)  Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
(2)  And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
(3)  Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
(4)  Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
(5)  For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
(6)  And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
(7)  Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
(8)  And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
(9)  Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
(10)  And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
(11)  Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
(12)  And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
(13)  And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
(14)  Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
(15)  Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
(16)  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
(17)  That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Photo by HONG LIN on Unsplash

Hosea 3

WEEK 23                                              Hosea 3

FRIDAY  Reflections

Gomer's lifestyle led her into insurmountable debt. By running away from her husband, she didn't find a better life, but one that took everything she had and then even took her freedom. This is the same thing that was happening to Israel. They were on a path to slavery, yet God's plan as he told Hosea to do was to buy back his wayward wife. Hosea's love not only cost him something again. 

On top of the cost which wasn't a lot, indicating she wasn't worth much, the prophet we can assume had the shame of community which knew what was going on. This, however, was probably not discussed much as Hosea's response would have been, Yes, Gomer has treated me poorly but you've done the same to God. 

We may want to thank God we aren't called to this life but aren't we? Love your enemies, do good to those that despise you, turn the other cheek, love as I have loved you. Perhaps we have been called to live more like Hosea than we might originally think. After all, aren't we supposed to be Christ-like?

Hos 3:1-5
(1)  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
(2)  So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
(3)  And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
(4)  For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
(5)  Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Photo by Lea Khreiss on Unsplash