Daily Thought
God now prophecies, not against Judah, but against the nations surrounding her, for they took pleasure in her pain, yet shared her guilt. The climactic judgment is against Tyre, for she prided herself most of all. "O Tyre, you have said,
'I am perfect in beauty.'
Your borders are in the heart of the seas;
your builders made perfect your beauty" (Ezekiel 27:3-4).
There is a story told of the wisdom of King Canute of England. When entering a room, the flattery began. "Your highness, there is nothing you cannot do," someone would smile. "Great Canute, you are the monarch of all," another would sing. "Nothing in this world dares to disobey you. The world bows before you, and gives you honor." The king answered. "In that case, bring me my chair, and we will go down to the sea. Put it right at the water's edge."
"Sea," cried Canute, "I command you to come no further! Waves, stop your rolling! Surf, stop your pounding! Do not dare touch my feet!" He waited a moment, quietly, and a tiny wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet. Another wave swept forward and curled around the king's feet. The tide came in, just as it always did. The water rose higher and higher. It came up around the king's chair, and wet not only his feet, but also his robe.
"Well, my friends," Canute said, "it seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. My men, there is only one King who is all-powerful; and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. It is he whom you ought to praise and serve above all others."
"Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves" (Ezekiel 26:3). Tyre, a seafaring port on the coast of Phoenicia, boasted of her ship building and sea trade. But a ship serves the sea and the sea serves at the pleasure of God.
Daily Prayer
God, You are God and I am not. That's one of the smartest things I can say. I am not in charge, and the universe does not revolve around me. Sometimes I act like it does. I am sorry.
Almighty God, You are the center of my universe, my King of kings, my Lord and Savior. To live for Your pleasure is to live life to its fullest, because it is what I was created to do.
Amen
Daily Thought
Ezekiel writes of sisters, "Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem" (Ezekiel 23:4); Samaria, the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem of Judah. During the reign of Rehoboam, the Hebrew nation split in half, into two sisters. "To your tents, O Israel!" (1Kings 12:16), cried the older sister as she broke with Judah. Oholah means "her tent," and Israel began worshipping idols and set up her own temple and priesthood. Oholibah means "my tent is in her," and God's temple remained in Jerusalem, but she was no more faithful than her big sister.
Confused yet? The names make this difficult to follow, but here is what happened: "Oholah (Israel) played the whore" (Ezekiel 23:5), and the consequences were terrible. "Her sister Oholibah (Judah) saw this (both the whoring and the consequences), yet she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister" (Ezekiel 23:12). It is baffling! Why doesn't Oholibah learn from the mistakes of her sister and choose to do what is right?
At youth events, speakers often share with teenagers how bad they had been when they were young, and the consequences of their badness. "If the kids hear what I went through," they reasoned, "they won't make the same mistakes." The speakers are often wrong. What teenagers hear is that they can do lots of bad things and end up okay, like the speaker. They hear the consequences and they ignore them. Why? Because they like bad. Oholah liked bad, and Oholibah watched the bad things she did and the bad things that happened and went ahead and did bad anyway.
God created this world and called it good. We chose to do things our way, and it has gone bad ever since. We like bad, and we don't love good again until we love God again.
Daily Prayer
My God, I did not love good, but was delighted with my own way, until You came along and showed me a better way. You loved me and brought me back into a relationship with You, and I found that I needed, my great God and Savior.
Thank You for the righteousness of Your Son Jesus Christ, which became my righteousness when I gave my life to Him. By Your grace, through faith, I can live again displaying Your goodness, serving others with the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. May I, at all times, stand for Your Kingdom and Your righteousness.
Amen
Daily Thought
"The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries'" (Ezekiel 21:1-2). More judgment, and if you're anything like me, you're thinking, "enough with the words already," and the Lord agrees. At last, he draws his sword, "I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again" (Ezekiel 21:5). This is the day God will turn the world upside down, "thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted" (Ezekiel 21:26).
Within God's judgment is a hint of God's heart, and a foreshadowing of things to come. In God's economy, the first shall be last and the last first. Difficult for us to learn, God sends his son to teach us, in word and deed, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you" (Matthew 20:25-26). Kings want people on their knees. Along comes the King of kings, and "he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him" (John 13:5). So does God, "You also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14).
"Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~Matthew 20:26-28
Daily Prayer
Heavenly Father, I praise You and lift up Your Name. All that You do is wonderful and marvelous. All of creation reflects the artistry of my Creator. Because of Jesus Christ, I am now a citizen of heaven. May I live here on earth with the mindset of eternity. May I live a life that reflects Your kingdom. I serve You, God, which means I serve everyone.
Amen
Daily Thought
The people of Israel complained that God punished them for the sins of their fathers, "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Ezekiel 18:2). God's reply is blunt, "the soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). Do good, live and be blessed; do bad, be cursed and die. God's justice is fair, and sin is plain to see. Ezekiel began listing Israel's, "defiles his neighbor's wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, lends at interest, and takes profit" (Ezekiel 18:11-13). He could keep going, but the question became obvious, and Ezekiel asks it, "Why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 18:31). The choice is yours.
The irony is, God is not fair. He appraised Israel's sin and ruled rightly, "I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them" (Ezekiel 20:8, 13, 21), yet repeatedly lifted his hand, "but I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name" (Ezekiel 20:22). Fairness gives way to grace and mercy.
In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Jean Valjean took shelter in the Bishop's home. He also took the silver. When he was caught by the Constable, Valjean was returned to the Bishop. "He claimed that you gave the silver to him," mocked the Constable. "Yes, of course I gave him the silverware," replied the Bishop. "Thank you for bringing him back. Release him." Then turning to Valjean, the Bishop handed him more, "You forgot the candlesticks, Jean Valjean. They are worth 2,000 francs. Why did you leave them?"
"You shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God" (Ezekiel 20:44).
The Bishop glared with terrifying love, "Jean Valjean, you no longer belong to evil. With this silver I've bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred. Now I give you back to God."
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1Corinthians 6:19-20). The people of Israel complained that God is not fair; they should have been celebrating... "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Daily Prayer
My Lord, my God, You have shown a love unimaginable. You bought me with Your love, a love that sacrificed what is most precious to You. You made Your Son sin. Not sin of His own doing, but my sin and the world's sin. He bore it all, sin and the just consequence. He died, separated and forsaken by You, because You cannot look upon sin. But sin could not hold Him, and He rose again, the first of more to come, of which I am one.
I am Yours, God, bought fully by the blood of Your Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am, therefore, a living sacrifice to You, showing the world Your good, pleasing and perfect will.
Amen
Daily Thought
God speaks to the nation by addressing her capital, Jerusalem, and tells a story of the life of Jerusalem. The Jews were born to Abraham and Sarah, married to God at Sinai, and showered with gifts. The ungrateful nation, however, turned to prostitution and adultery through their treaties with other nations and their idolatry, which led to their state of ruin and exile. Compared to her sisters, Samaria and Sodom, Israel was more the whore and made them look good by comparison.
A joke: two outlaw gunfighters, Pete and Tom, brothers and both bad men, were notorious in the Old West. Tom, alas, was slow on the draw and killed. Pete warned the preacher that at the burial, if the preacher did not call his brother a saint, he would find himself in a grave, as well. Nevertheless, when giving the eulogy, the preacher detailed the bad life Tom had lived, then concluded, "compared, however, to his wicked brother Pete, Tom was a saint."
Israel was Pete. Sodom was Tom. God was saying to Israel, yes, Sodom was bad, but Israel, "You were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen" (Ezekiel 16:13). You were married to the King.
Daily Prayer
My God, may You always receive the glory. In all of creation and in everything I do. Yours is the Name above all names.
What is astounding is I am not only part of Your family, but I am a co-heir with Your Son, Jesus Christ. Not only am I clothed in His righteousness, but I share His eternal treasure. Thank You, Father, because when I make You first, I discover all my dreams and desires are fulfilled. My greatest joy comes in Your glory.
Amen
Daily Thought
The Israelites were not happy with God's prophet speaking judgment, so they employed their own, "saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace" (Ezekiel 13:10). We do the same. Last year, the Oxford University Press removed "sin" from its latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary. "To reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multi-faith society," explained the publisher. Or because we want to sin without calling it sin.
"What's in a name?" asked Shakespeare's Juliet, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." You can smell sin, too. It always smells a little cheap, mimicking what is real, but not quite. We call it ambition, when it is really greed; we speak of a choice, but it is really a life; we share concerns, but we are really gossiping; we call it holiness, but it is really hypocrisy. "When a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall" (Ezekiel 13:11). Paint over it, rename it, or don't name it at all, we can't fool God and we don't fool ourselves; but we make ourselves fools, and it destroys who we are.
God sent his prophet, speaking judgment and calling out Israel's sins, not to destroy them, but to restore them, "I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols" (Ezekiel 14:5). God's Word will restore us, too, should we listen.
Daily Prayer
God, I need You. I try (sometimes) to do what is right, but even then, it's just okay. Way too often, I don't even try. I sin, God. I do wrong, and I know it is wrong. No matter how hard I try, I cannot be good enough. Deep down inside, I know what good is. I know You are good, and You made me to be good, but I keep doing things my way instead of Your way. I need a Savior. I need Jesus Christ and His righteousness.
I am going to stop trying to be good on my own, and I am going to call sin sin, and turn away from it. You have offered me Your goodness, Your righteousness, through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, my God and Savior. I put my life, all of my life, in Your hands. Change me as You will.
Amen
Daily Thought
God had an agreement with Israel, a long-standing covenant that said, "I will be your God and you will be my people." This is Creator making a commitment to creation. Think about that. The Creator owes nothing to creation; creation owes its all to the Creator. And yet, God kept his word and his people broke theirs repeatedly.
Ezekiel is a tough read; judgment is not only terrifying, it seems terrible. When I read God commanding his angel, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion" (Ezekiel 9:5), I shudder. I like the God who is gracious and merciful, the patient and long-suffering Father, and I brush aside that I am the reason he suffers long. I expect patience in others, with no thought of lessening their burden.
Israel used God's mercy and grace to dismiss his holiness and justice. They said of each prophet, "the vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future" (Ezekiel 12:27). They have been satisfied to live in God's favor, even if their children paid the debt. Now that is truly terrible.
Daily Prayer
Lord God, You accomplished salvation, because You were focused on the joy of eternity. You endured the cross because of You loved me. When You call me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, You have already shown a love that strong, that complete for me.
God, I deserve worse, You gave me Your best. I desire to live a life completely sacrificed to Your glory. May I never take advantage of Your love. I am grateful for Your mercy and grace, and committed to Your righteousness, Your holiness, Your goodness. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, that my heart will always belong to You.
Amen
