| Day 61 |
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 The reading for day 61 was Ezekiel 24:1-35:15.
The first half of chapter 24 speaks of God's judgement of Israel as Him boiling them in a pot. Thats a fun picture huh? No? I didn't really think so either. The purpose of the "boiling" is to melt away all of their "filth", but God says that it is so bad that they will "not be cleansed...until I have spent My wrath..." (NASB). 24:13 In thy filthiness [is] lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. 24:14 I the LORD have spoken [it]: it shall come to pass, and I will do [it]; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
The second half of chapter 24 God kills Ezekiels wife as a sign to His people. 24:16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
24:18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
I can't imagine what he must have felt like for God to use his wife in that way. Can you? If there was ever a demonstration that God's people should have taken notice of...it was this one. They should have said, "Hmm...if God is willing to put His prophet's wife to death to prove a point, maybe we should listen." God is righteous and just, but I don't know that I could have obeyed God in the way that Ezekiel did. May God break my heart to be useable to Him in any way He sees fit. It is, after all, His. This is a hard lesson to learn and I don't know that I have fully learned it yet. It is hard to love God more than anything else. I can only do it through Him. So...its really like God is loving Himself through me. He's the only one who knows how to truly love, so He's the only one who can truly love Himself. I hope that made sense...
Chapters 25-32 are judgements pronounced against various kingdoms and kings. The most interesting one to me is chapter 28. First God speaks about the leader of Tyre (a man) and then he speaks about the king of Tyre (not a man). What do you think of this passage?
At the end of chapter 28, in verses 20-26, check out the way that God "manifests" His holiness and tell me what you think.
Chapter 33 is kind of a throw-back to chapter 3. So...if you have problems interpreting chapter 3, read everything between it and chapter 33, and then read chapter 33. Hopefully you will make some sense out of it :)
In chapter 34 we see the refreshing promise of the Messiah. 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it]. 34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 34:26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
God is good. |
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