Those who have had enough to eat will reject even the sweetest dessert. However, those who are hungry will be grateful for even bitter food. It is a way to measure the need of those who request your charity. Those truly in need will take whatever they are offered, those who are picky about what they will accept are perhaps less in need than they would like you to believe. Of course, it is also a measure to use when we are in need. If we are too good to take what is offered, perhaps we are not yet in need (or perhaps our pride is still too great).
God has done wonderful things for us, but all too often we quickly forget. When things do not continue to go as we would like we quickly turn away and stop obeying God. Much of the time we lack the patience to wait for God to reveal the next phase of His plan. When things go “wrong”, we forget how He used such misfortunes in the past to bring honor to His name and good things to us. Time and again God disciplines us and welcomes us back. Yet we again and again forget what He has done for us.
The writer pointed to Jeremiah where the prophet declared that God was going to offer a new covenant. He points out that if there were no defects in the first covenant there would have been no need for a new covenant. Jeremiah told us that God would write His laws on our hearts and in our minds. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the new covenant makes the old covenant obsolete. The old covenant is now outdated and will soon disappear. Those to whom that old covenant applies who are faithful to that covenant will be carried over into the new covenant.
Ezekiel tells us that Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, laziness, and an unwillingness to help the poor and needy. It was for these sins that Sodom was destroyed. Ezekiel prophesied that the Kingdom of Judah far surpassed Sodom when it came to sin. By this account of Sodom’s sins, so has this country.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have been convicted to seek to develop a disciplined prayer life. It is still a work in progress. Please pray for me, that the Holy Spirit may show me how to pray in a disciplined manner.
Someone who is full will turn down the most desirable sweet, but someone who is hungry will gobble down food that they otherwise would turn their nose up at. There is great pleasure in receiving sincere advice from someone who cares about us.
God did great things for the people of Israel, yet time after time they turned from Him to worship idols. They were not satisfied with the provisions God had made for them and demanded more. God granted their desires, but plague came with it. They rebelled against the leaders whom God had given them and suffered for it. The psalmist recounts the other ways in which they refused to obey God. How many of those same sins are we guilty of? How often have we suffered the consequences of not obeying God’s will?
Our places of worship here on earth are mere copies of the Temple of God in heaven. Jesus is our high priest in that heavenly Temple. Just as the Temple where Jesus ministers is greater than the earthly Temple, so too is the covenant He established than the one established the high priests of the order of Aaron. Under the old covenant the priests read the law to the people and interpreted it for them so that they would know what God expected of them. Under the new covenant, God will place His law in our minds and write it on our hearts. He will send His Holy Spirit to whisper His commands into our ears. We do not need teachers because we know God and He will speak to us directly.
The message here is not that we should not listen to those whom God has sent to teach us His ways. Rather the message here is that we should not elevate those teachers. It is important that we recognize that the Holy Spirit will speak to each and every one of us. If a teacher we respect starts teaching something which we find troublesome, we are not to just accept it, but to study what they are saying, compare it to the Scripture, and listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us about the teaching in question. We should neither hold someone as an authority who cannot be questioned, nor ask others to so hold us. We each must judge for ourselves whether a teaching is, or is not, of God.
Ezekiel tells us that Sodom was wiped out for the sins of pride, gluttony, and laziness, all while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. The people of Sodom lived a life of wealth and did not help the poor and needy. For this sin, Ezekiel tells us, Sodom was destroyed. I am not positive that Ezekiel is referring to the Sodom of “Sodom and Gomorrah”. That is not his point. His point was that God will destroy those who indulge themselves while refusing to help those who are poor and needy. Are we looking for how we can help the poor and needy outside our “door”?
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Ezekiel lists the sins which led to the destruction of Sodom. The people of that city were proud and haughty. They were gluttonous and unconcerned by the suffering of the poor and needy. Rather than help the poor and needy, they spent their resources engaging in detestable acts. Yet, Ezekiel says that the people of Jerusalem committed even more detestable acts than Sodom or Samaria, despite seeing what happened to those cities. To what degree is our society even worse than this?
Ezekiel then gives a condemnation of the king of Judah for breaking his oaths to the king of Babylon and seeking the support of Babylon’s enemies. The sin for which he was being condemned was for failing to keep his agreements. The king made an agreement, then when he thought he could get a better deal, broke it. I think of all of those who think it is unreasonable to expect politicians to keep their word. God will judge those who enter into a covenant to act in a certain way and then when the time comes to fulfill their side of the bargain choose to act otherwise.
God has promised to put His laws in our minds and write them on our hearts. God will make His will known to anyone who seeks to know it. As I read this passage it is one of great hope and joy. God will make us His people. He will be our God. He will forgive our wickedness and no longer remember our sins. However, it is somewhat scary as well, because we have no excuses. We cannot say, “I did not know.” Fortunately, we have Jesus as our mediator.
Today’s portion of this psalm tells us the key to why Israel sinned in the wilderness. “But they…did not wait for His plan to unfold.”(NIV) This is where all too often we go wrong. God has put His law in our minds and written it on our hearts, so we know what He wishes us to do, but we get impatient. We want what we think are the good things NOW. We refuse to wait to see what God has in store for us. So, we become rebellious and fail to believe that God will overcome the obstacles for us. We do not do as God has told us because we do not trust His promises.
Those who have completely satisfied their needs and wants will turn down even a very desirable offer, but those who are desperate will take whatever they can get. Running away from those who love you because they hurt your feelings (or for any other reason) is like a fledgling bird who leaves its nest before it can fly. When a friend gives advice they are firmly convinced is in our best interest it should make us happy.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I am sorry if my posts are not posted in a timely fashion for the next little while. Well, I have my power back, but I am still not able to get online in my normal routine because my Internet service has not been restored. I am able to post by using either the Internet at a friend’s house or by going to someplace that has free Wifi access. I am going to try to get something closer to my normal routine by writing down the passages for the next day and writing the blog offline. In addition, I usually compose these on my desktop PC and typing them on my laptop is a different experience. Please bear with me until I get back into my usual routine.
The Bunny Who Shared His Home With Us for a Few Days
Ezekiel declared that Jerusalem has been worse than her sisters, Samaria and Sodom. He said that Sodom’s sin was that she was arrogant, had abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not care for the poor and needy. Yet the people of Jerusalem were guilty of the same sins and even greater abominations. God destroyed both Sodom and Samaria for their sins. Yet Jerusalem made both appear righteous by comparison. Are we today guilty of the same sins as Sodom? God has provided for my every need, and most of my wants, yet I do not do as much as I should to help the poor and needy. God, I ask that your give me the self-discipline to husband my resources so that I can do more for those in need. Show me how I can be of more service to others.
Ezekiel said that God would destroy Jerusalem for her sins, just as he had destroyed Sodom and Samaria. But God would also restore her. God would make a new covenant with the people, so that they might remember Him and follow His ways.
Ezekiel then condemns Zedekiah. The king of Babylon had put Zedekiah on the throne of Jerusalem and Zedekiah had sworn an oath of fealty to Babylon. But Zedekiah broke his oath and turned to Egypt for support. Ezekiel declared that God will bring Jerusalem down because of Zedekiah’s unfaithfulness, his oath-breaking.
Ezekiel then said that God would take a sprig from a tall tree in Lebanon and plant it in Israel. This sprig would grow to greatness and all the birds of the field would shelter under it. Thus everyone would know that God is Lord, when He brings the mighty low and lifts the weak to positions of prominence.
Jesus is our high priest and mediator with God. He serves in the true tabernacle set up by God, not by man. He serves not in the earthly tabernacle, but in the heavenly one of which the earthly tabernacle is but a copy. God has set up a new covenant with people, a covenant that is served out of the heavenly tabernacle as the first covenant was served out of the earthly tabernacle. If salvation could have been obtained through the first covenant, there would have been no need for a new covenant. Yet while the first covenant was in force, God spoke through the prophets of the new covenant He was going to enter into. God has now written His Laws into our minds and His words in our hearts. We no longer need earthly priests and prophets to tell us the will of God, we can access His word and His will for ourselves. If we accept this offer He will be merciful and forgive our iniquities and remember our sins no more.
God had done great things in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt and they sang His praises. But they quickly forgot them and rebelled against Him. Time after time one or another leader would rise up to lead some of the people in rebellion against the leaders God had established and God would bring judgment against them. God brought plague amongst the people because of their rebellion, until Phinehas stood up and interceded with God on their behalf. In response to that righteous man God stayed the plague. Will we be like Phinehas and intercede with God on behalf of our fellow countrymen? Have we striven to serve God, and taught others to do so, in such a manner as gives us standing to intercede for our countrymen? If not, are we not partially to blame for the judgments that God is bringing against our people? Yet I believe that there is still time for us to turn to the Lord and seek His face.
Provide aid to your friends when they are in need and maintain friendships with those that your parents had befriended. Maintain your relationships with your neighbors so that when you are in need you can turn to them rather than having to rely on your family which may live distantly.
