Day 249, September 6: Bible reading & prayer
Ezekiel 32-34 (chronological); Proverbs 9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-32 (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. The 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 He 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.
In our reading yesterday, the LORD had Ezekiel speak to the king of Tyre saying that he will die at the hands of strangers because of his arrogance, even claiming himself to be a god. The LORD had Ezekiel take up a lament about the king of Tyre. Its symbolism could seem to apply to Satan’s fall: “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, You were in Eden, the garden of God….You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you….And You sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God….Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground.” The LORD also has Ezekiel prophesy against Sidon that He will execute judgment in her. “And there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling brier or a painful thorn from any round about them who scorned them; then they will know that I am the Lord God.” When the house of Israel is gathered from the nations and lives securely in the land, then they will know that He is the LORD their God.
In the tenth year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, the LORD had Ezekiel prophesy against Pharoah king of Egypt for his arrogance. He will make Egypt a desolation. He will make Egypt uninhabited for 40 years and scatter the Egyptians among the nations. Then He will gather them again to Egypt, making it a lowly kingdom that will never again rule over nations so Israel will be reminded of their sin for depending on them. In the twenty-seventh year, He told Ezekiel that Egypt was wages for Nebuchadnezzar and his army for his action against Tyre, because they acted for Him.
Then the LORD had Ezekiel prophesy, saying, “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near.” He repeated that Egypt and all those who support her will fall by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, and that all will know He is the LORD when His word is fulfilled.
Then in the eleventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, the LORD had Ezekiel prophesy against Pharoah. He compares Egypt to Assyria whom He brought down, warning that He will do the same to Egypt.
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 6 chronological reading: Ezekiel 32-34
Ezekiel 32
v1-2 “In the twelfth year [of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah], in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,
“You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations,
Yet you are like the monster in the seas;
And you burst forth in your rivers
And muddied the waters with your feet
And fouled their rivers.”’
v3-8 “Thus says the Lord GOD,
‘Now I will spread My net over you
With a company of many peoples,
And they shall lift you up in My net.
I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you on the open field.
And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you,
And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.
I will lay your flesh on the mountains
And fill the valleys with your refuse.
I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood
As far as the mountains,
And the ravines will be full of you.
And when I extinguish you,
I will cover the heavens and darken their stars;
I will cover the sun with a cloud
And the moon will not give its light.
All the shining lights in the heavens
I will darken over you
And will set darkness on your land,’
Declares the Lord GOD.
v9-10 ‘I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known. I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.’
v11-14 “For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall; all of them are tyrants of the nations,
And they will devastate the pride of Egypt,
And all its hordes will be destroyed.
I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters;
And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore
And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them.
Then I will make their waters settle
And will cause their rivers to run like oil,’
Declares the Lord GOD.
v15 ‘When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
When I smite all those who live in it,
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
v16 ‘This is a lamentation and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it,’ declares the Lord GOD.
v17-19 “In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth of the month, the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;
“Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised.”
v20-21 ‘They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is given over to the sword; they have drawn her and all her hordes away. The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol, “They have gone down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.”
v22-23 ‘Assyria is there and all her company; her graves are round about her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
v24-25 ‘Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit. They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.
v26-28 ‘Meshech, Tubal and all their hordes are there; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised, though they instilled their terror in the land of the living. Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised, who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads; but the punishment for their iniquity rested on their bones, though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living. But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword.
v29 ‘There also is Edom, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
v30 ‘There also are the chiefs of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
v31-32 ‘These Pharaoh will see, and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his hordes,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel 33
v1-6 “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, “If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.”
v7-9 ‘Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, you will surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
v10-16 ‘Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, “Thus you have spoken, saying, ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?’” Say to them, “As I live!” declares the Lord GOD, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?” And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, “The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.” When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. But when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.
v17-20 ‘Yet your fellow citizens say, “The way of the Lord is not right,” when it is their own way that is not right. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.’
v21-22 “Now in the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, ‘The city has been taken.’ Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless.
v23-29 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, “Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.” Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?’” Thus you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her power will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.’”
v30-33 ‘But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, “Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.” They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain. Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. So when it comes to pass—as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.’”
Ezekiel 34
v1-6 “Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.’”’
v7-10 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.’”’
v11-16 “For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.
v17-19 ‘As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!”’
v20-22 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
v23-24 ‘Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.
v25-31 ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
September 6 OT/NT readings: Proverbs 9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-32
We are reading Proverbs in the Old Testament reading plan. We first read Proverbs 9 in the chronological reading plan on Day 156, and Proverbs 10 on Day 157.
We’re reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament reading plan. 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. He turned from this discussion to a criticism of how the Corinthians came together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Just as we need to understand our place in the hierarchy and authority of God’s creation, we need to judge ourselves rightly that we are sinners in need of a Savior. That is the proper way to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. He then turned to the consideration of spiritual gifts, reminding us that there are different gifts, ministries, and effects of the Holy Spirit in different individuals, given for the common good, as we are all different and necessary members of one body. Our spiritual gifts are worthless, however, if we do not have love.
In chapter 14, over the last two days, Paul taught that we should desire edification of the church in our spiritual gifts: “one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation…greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying….tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.” All things done when we assemble are done for edification. “If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment….For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” Women are to keep silent in church for the sake of subjection. “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.”
1 Corinthians 15
v1-2 “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
v3-11 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
v12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
v20-28 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
v29-32 “Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.”
Dear Lord,
“I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD. “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.”
You are just. And You are gracious and merciful. Help us to fear Your judgment so that we may partake in Your grace and mercy. Thank You that You judge those who mistreat Your sheep, even with false teaching, and thank You that You protect Your sheep. May we hear and follow the voice of our Good Shepherd.
I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me?
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead changes everything for us. We have hope. And we, by Your grace and according to Your will, can endure all in this life because we have the hope of eternal life with You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
"The fact that Jesus rose from the dead changes everything for us. We have hope. And we, by Your grace and according to Your will, can endure all in this life because we have the hope of eternal life with You." Amen! Thank you Dr. Milhoan. Peace.