For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    The heaviest burden you will ever bear is resentment. So, put it down now, or better yet, never pick it up. Resenting others for what they have done, or what they have, only wears you down. Forgive people for the wrongs you perceive them to have done (whether to yourself or others) and turn that burden over to God. If they are truly guilty of wrongdoing, He will repay them. And if your perception was incorrect and they did no wrong, you have been carrying that burden for no good purpose.

    The psalmist concludes his psalm about how God has a plan for all things by noting that after their suffering God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt with great wealth. He led them through the desert to the land He had promised them so that they could worship Him and follow His commands. He will do likewise for us.

    The writer revisits what it means that Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek. He points out that we have no record of Melchizedek’s parents, nor of his death. Metaphorically, Melchizedek is eternal. This means that a priest of the “order of Melchizedek” is eternal. Jesus is indeed an eternal priest. Further, the writer points out that Aaron metaphorically tithed to Melchizedek, meaning that Melchizedek was greater than Aaron. This means that Jesus is a high priest who is greater than the high priests of the order of Aaron. Finally, the writer tells us that the very fact that God created an order of priests other than those of the order of Aaron indicates that the law established through Aaron was inadequate to God’s purposes. The whole point of this is that Jesus brought about a change to the law which God commands man to follow in order to receive salvation.

    In this passage Ezekiel condemns those who prophecy out of their own imagination. I think that this passage is truly a warning for many leaders in the Church today. God will bring judgment on those who encourage the sins of our society rather than calling on people to turn from their sins. We, as Christians, should be striving to build up the wall of righteousness which stands between our nation and destruction. Instead of repairing the wall by carefully putting back the stones of righteousness, many are covering the holes with fabric and painting the fabric with whitewash to give it a semblance of righteousness. Others are warning the righteous against things which are not wrong and telling the wicked that their evil is righteous. God will strike them all down.

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.

    It is harder to bear up under the resentment triggered by the foolish things people say and do than under a weight of stone or sand. Give careful thought to what you say or do so that you do not foolishly provoke others to resentment and anger.
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    God shows His power in wonderful and marvelous ways so that we will honour Him and follow His commands. God does not do these things because we follow His commands. He does them so that we will follow His commands. Christ did not die for our sins because we were righteous. He died for our sins in order to make us righteous. Thus it is with all of God’s great deeds.

    Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. As the author here points out, Melchizedek means “king of justice”. In addition, Melchizedek was king of Salem, and Salem means “peace”. This connection reinforces what we read in other places where we are told that Jesus is the King of Justice and King of Peace. One thing the author does not point out is that Salem was the city we now know as Jerusalem, so Jesus was also King of Jerusalem (which also follows from His being the descendant of David).
    The take away from all of this is that the priesthood of Aaron has been superseded. The priesthood of Aaron interacted with God on behalf of the people. Under that structure, the high priest approached God and made offerings on behalf of himself and the people. But even after the high priest had made his offerings, the people still needed to go through the priests in order to approach God. However, under the new priesthood, our High Priest has made offering on our behalf once and we can now approach God with only Jesus as our intermediary.

    Ezekiel speaks out against prophets and religious leaders who, rather than call on people to give up their sins and turn to God, tell the people that all will be well. He warns against encouraging people to make cosmetic changes to their lives when what they need is fundamental transformation. It is not enough for us to show the appearance of righteousness, we must live righteous lives, doing what we can to help the impoverished and oppressed. Going to Church on Sunday is just not going to cut it. God is calling us to do more than that. We need to live our lives each day to bring healing to those around us who are suffering.
    Further, Ezekiel speaks out against those prophets who offer We must also call others to make genuine changes in their lives. It is not enough to offer them “charms” and rituals for them to follow. We must call people to turn from the sin which is causing their suffering. God is bringing judgement against those who do not turn from their sin. He is also going to bring judgement against us if we tell the sinners that they can avoid the judgement by making cosmetic changes when what they need is the fundamental transformation of accepting Jesus and the Holy Spirit into their lives.