Day 244, September 1: Bible reading & prayer
Ezekiel 18-19 (chronological); Psalms 148-150, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (OT/NT)
We are reading Ezekiel. Ezekiel the priest actually wrote as an exile in the land of the Chaldeans during the era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. he Lord gave Ezekiel vision of what Jeremiah experienced and spoke about, so Ezekiel fills in a lot of understanding for us. The LORD consistently repeats that even in His wrath and punishment, He will leave a remnant as witness that His word stands, who will then know that He is the LORD.
Reminder that Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah), king of Judah, grandson of Josiah, actually surrendered to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon after only three months of reign after the death of his rebellious father Jehoiakim. He was taken to Babylon with ten thousand other captives. The LORD appeared to Ezekiel and appointed him to speak His word during the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s exile. Nebuchadnezzar had replaced Jehoiachin with his uncle Mattaniah, renaming him Zedekiah. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, like his brother Jehoiakim, had done. This led to the siege and fall of Jerusalem, about which Ezekiel prophesied.
Yesterday, the LORD used a long metaphor for Ezekiel to “make known to Jerusalem her abominations.” He described her as abhorred from birth, from the land of the Canaanite. He saved her and made her numerous, and then entered into a covenant with her so that she became His. Then her fame went forth among the nations because of His splendor that He bestowed on her. But she trusted in her beauty and played the harlot because of her fame, worshiping other gods and sacrificing her children to idols. She went after other nations for help (the Philistines, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea), trusting them instead of Him, and giving them money and treasures (which, He pointed out, is ironic for a harlot because a harlot usually gets paid rather than pays for her harlotries). Because she has enraged Him by not remembering what He has done for her and by committing all these abominations, He will bring these nations against her. He said her older sister is Samaria and her younger sister is Sodom, but she has acted more corruptly than they, making them appear righteous by comparison. He will do with them as they have done, despising the oath by breaking the covenant. But then He will restore the captivity of all three sisters. He will remember the covenant from the days of her youth and establish an everlasting covenant. The she will remember her ways and be ashamed, and know He is the Lord, when He has forgiven all she has done.
The LORD then used a riddle to explain the establishment of Babylon and its interaction with Jerusalem, that can be used to trace what is actually occurring at the time Ezekiel is speaking. “The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king [Jehoiachin] and princes and brought them to him in Babylon. He took one of the royal family [Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be in subjection, not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue. But he [Zedekiah] rebelled against him [the king of Babylon] by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed?…Can he indeed break the covenant and escape?…Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die….My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head….I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the LORD have spoken….All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken and I will perform it.”
An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here.
September 1 chronological reading: Ezekiel 18-19
Ezekiel 18
v1-2 “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,
“The fathers eat the sour grapes,
But the children’s teeth are set on edge”?
v3-4 ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
v5-9 ‘But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live,’ declares the Lord GOD.
v10-13 ‘Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination, he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
v14-18 ‘Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise. He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife, or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.
v19-20 ‘Yet you say, “Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?” When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
v21-23 ‘But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?
v24-29 ‘But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. But the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not right.” Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?
v30-32 ‘Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore, repent and live.’”
Ezekiel 19
v1-14 “‘As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say,
“What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She reared her cubs.
When she brought up one of her cubs,
He became a lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
Then nations heard about him;
He was captured in their pit,
And they brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs
And made him a young lion.
And he walked about among the lions;
He became a young lion,
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
He destroyed their fortified towers
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were appalled
Because of the sound of his roaring.
Then nations set against him
On every side from their provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was captured in their pit.
They put him in a cage with hooks
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.
Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.
And it had strong branches fit for scepters of rulers,
And its height was raised above the clouds
So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
But it was plucked up in fury;
It was cast down to the ground;
And the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branch was torn off
So that it withered;
The fire consumed it.
And now it is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
And fire has gone out from its branch;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is not in it a strong branch,
A scepter to rule.”’
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.”
September 1 OT/NT readings: Psalms 148-150, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
After 52 days, today we are finishing Psalms in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms:
Psalm 148, appears as 137th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 149, appears as 138th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
Psalm 150, appears as 139th/150 Psalms, author unknown, dedication of the temple of Solomon; “A Song of Ascents” (1 Kings 8/2 Chronicles 5-7), Day 166
We’re reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul went to Corinth during his second missionary journey (see timeline of the book of Acts). It was the first place he remained for any length of time (18 months) until a disturbance was formed against him and he moved on. He had met Romans Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, and he took them with him to Ephesus and left them there while he returned to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus at the beginning of his third missionary journey, staying over 2 years. He wrote what we know as the first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 5:9 refers to a previous letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and 1 Corinthians 7:1 refers to their writing a letter in return, containing questions he addresses in this letter.
Paul wrote the church in Corinth because he knew there was both division and immorality in the church. He addressed that in the first six chapters. In the seventh chapter, he turned to answering questions that they had written to him, first addressing marriage and then idol worship. He then went on to answer criticisms about himself. He made clear that he, like others, had freedom in Christ. He also explained he had the right, for instance, to be paid for his service as a minister of the gospel. He never exercised this right, however, because he was under compulsion to preach the gospel. He was willing to be all things to all men so that he might save some. He was willing to discipline himself for the sake of the gospel. Paul gave an example of the need for discipline by reminding the Corinthians of the Israelites who were led by Moses and saw amazing miracles and still sinned, warning “let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” and reminding that the Lord has provided a way of escape from all temptation. We flee idolatry in order not to provoke God to jealousy, to protect ourselves, and not to hurt the conscience of others. We seek the good of others, not pleasing ourselves, so that many may be saved.
At the beginning of chapter 11, which we read yesterday, Paul asserted that we can be imitators of him as he is an imitator of Christ. He then addressed a topic that is culturally confusing to us, that of requiring women to cover their heads while praying. He ends this topic with: “Judge for yourselves…if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.” The important context for Paul’s admonition is the understanding of order and authority in God’s creation: “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ….For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but the woman for the man’s sake…..However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.”
1 Corinthians 11
v17-22 “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.
v23-26 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
v27-32 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
v33-34 “So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you will not come together for judgment. The remaining matters I will arrange when I come.”
Dear Lord,
“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?”
Help us to understand Your mercy, which You offer to all. Help the many to repent and live!
if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
Yes, let us judge rightly that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Thank You for the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. We do proclaim His death until He comes again!
In His name, Amen.
"Help us to understand Your mercy, which You offer to all. Help the many to repent and live!" Amen. Thank you Dr. Milhoan. Peace.