Day 253, September 10: Bible reading & prayer
Ezekiel 42-43 (chronological); Proverbs 17-18, 2 Corinthians 2 (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, and which occurred in our reading on Day 249 (Ezekiel 33:21).
After we read about the fall of Jerusalem, there has been a transition in the word of the LORD to Ezekiel to future events regarding the hope of the restoration of Israel. Then there was a further transition to events of latter days involving other nations.
Yesterday’s visions seem to give more hope for those in exile regarding the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple. They occurred in the twenty-fifth year of the exile of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, fourteen years after Jerusalem was taken. The hand of the LORD was upon Ezekiel and He brought him in the visions of God to the land of Israel and set him on a very high mountain, and on it to the south was a structure like a city. A man was there whose appearance was like bronze and who had a measuring rod in his hand. Ezekiel was told to, “Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.”
The man measured and demonstrated the temple with its porch, surrounded by a inner court that was a perfect square. He showed him the walls to the inner court, with its chambers for singers and priests and the sacrifice of offerings, and its gates on the east, north, and south. He showed him a paved outer court, with its walls and guardrooms and gates on the east, north, and south.
The man then brought Ezekiel to the nave of the temple, saying, “This is the most holy place.” He showed him the altar of wood outside the nave, within the sanctuary, saying, “This is the table that is before the LORD.” He measured and demonstrated the nave, the sanctuary, the temple wall, and the chambered three-story structure attached to the temple wall, with doors in the north and south leading to the inner court. He demonstrated the inside and outside of the building paneled in wood, carved with cherubim (each with the face of a man and a face of a young lion) and palm trees.
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 10 chronological reading: Ezekiel 42-43
Ezekiel 42
v1-9 “Then he brought me out into the outer court, the way toward the north; and he brought me to the chamber which was opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north. Along the length, which was a hundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits. Opposite the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery corresponding to gallery in three stories. Before the chambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north. Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building. For they were in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones. As for the outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits. For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was a hundred cubits. Below these chambers was the entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.
v10-12 “In the thickness of the wall of the court toward the east, facing the separate area and facing the building, there were chambers. The way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings. Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the wall toward the east, as one enters them.
v13-14 “Then he said to me, ‘The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy chambers where the priests who are near to the LORD shall eat the most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy. When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”
v15-20 “Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faced toward the east and measured it all around. He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds by the measuring reed. He measured on the north side five hundred reeds by the measuring reed. On the south side he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He turned to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, the length five hundred and the width five hundred, to divide between the holy and the profane.”
Ezekiel 43
v1-5 “Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. And it was like the appearance of the vision which I saw, like the vision which I saw when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
v6-9 “Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die, by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever.
v10-12 ‘As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan. If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the house, its structure, its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its whole design and all its statutes and do them. This is the law of the house: its entire area on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
v13-17 ‘And these are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a hand breadth): the base shall be a cubit and the width a cubit, and its border on its edge round about one span; and this shall be the height of the base of the altar. From the base on the ground to the lower ledge shall be two cubits and the width one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge shall be four cubits and the width one cubit. The altar hearth shall be four cubits; and from the altar hearth shall extend upwards four horns. Now the altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide, square in its four sides. The ledge shall be fourteen cubits long by fourteen wide in its four sides, the border around it shall be half a cubit and its base shall be a cubit round about; and its steps shall face the east.’
v18-21 “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, “These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. You shall give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, who draw near to Me to minister to Me,” declares the Lord GOD, ‘a young bull for a sin offering. You shall take some of its blood and put it on its four horns and on the four corners of the ledge and on the border round about; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. You shall also take the bull for the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the house, outside the sanctuary.
v22-27 “On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. You shall present them before the LORD, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. For seven days you shall prepare daily a goat for a sin offering; also a young bull and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be prepared. For seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it; so shall they consecrate it. When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall offer your burnt offerings on the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,” declares the Lord GOD.’”
September 10 OT/NT readings: Proverbs 17-18, 2 Corinthians 2
We are reading Proverbs in the Old Testament reading plan. We first read Proverbs 17 & 18 in the chronological reading plan on Day 159.
Yesterday we started the apostle Paul’s second 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.
During his time in Ephesus, when he wrote what we know as his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul resolved to travel through Macedonia and Greece to take a contribution to the saints in Jerusalem. He spoke about this collection in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians was written during these travels at the end of his third missionary journey. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:1, “This is the third time I am coming to you,” so there was another visit by Paul to Corinth about which we don’t have details.
In our reading in chapter 1 yesterday, Paul greeted the church in Corinth on behalf of himself and Timothy. He ended 1 Corinthians asking the Corinthians to protect Timothy if he came and to send him on to him (1 Corinthians 16:10-11), so we see this happened. He talks of his intending to “come again to Corinth” (2 Corinthians 1:23) on his way to Macedonia after leaving Ephesus, but not doing so (2 Corinthians 1:15-16). Paul wrote 1 Corinthians reprimanding them for divisions in the church, immorality, and incorrect handling of communion. It appears he visited them after he wrote this letter. He knows the reprimand of his letter and of his visit caused sorrow, so he decided to delay visiting again so as not to cause sorrow again. He refers both to their suffering due to his reprimand and the suffering of himself, and those with him, in Asia (likely Ephesus, which he had to flee) due to persecution which caused them to despair “even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:18). This suffering allows him to teach a reassuring purpose in suffering: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” Suffering, even under risk of death, occurs “so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope.” And he reminds of the importance of prayer: “He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
2 Corinthians 2
v1-4 “But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again. For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful? This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
v5-11 “But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
v12-13 “Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia.
v14-17 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.”
Dear Lord,
“Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings.”
All of us have been separated from You by our sin, but You will be merciful and You will dwell among us. Thank You for You promises to Your people Israel. You do not forsake Your covenants. You have spoken and You will do it.
one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also
What a convicting statement. Do we have enough faith in our brothers and sisters to forgive who they forgive? Do we love mercy as You do?
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
"What a convicting statement. Do we have enough faith in our brothers and sisters to forgive who they forgive? Do we love mercy as You do?" Amen. Thank you Dr. Milhoan. Peace.