August 30 - Ezekiel 13-15: God vs. Israel's Prophets

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 13-15

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Judah would need to clear out their hearts and their houses to receive forgiveness.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

God told me Israel's prophets would be punished, "I'm dead set against them. These women prophets are especially bad. They kill souls to become rich and famous. They will know I am God.
"Israel's leaders have idols in their hearts. When they remove them I will listen to their prayers. Otherwise both idolaters and prophets will be punished.
"Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were here they could not save this nation. Jerusalem will get four types of punishment—war, famine, wild animals, and disease. Then they will ask for salvation and you will understand why I allowed their punishment."

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God will punish those who speak in His Name without consulting Him.

Israel loves prophets who speak only good things; therefore, these prophets knew their income depended on how positive they were. Consulting God would only lessen their income and ultimately cost their careers. Jeremiah did this and almost lost his life. God protected him, though, and would protect any prophet willing to consult Him, too. These prophets who told Judah to continue doing whatever they wanted, as long as they kept the contributions coming would be punished, thrown off their land, and shamed in public. Their advice would lead to death. God will not stand for people speaking for Him without first speaking with Him.

Israel has a heart problem.

God realizes the issue is not the physical idols set up in the city, the squares, and the Temple. The problem is that they have installed idols in their hearts. God will not listen to their prayers because they refuse to listen to His Command—be wholly God's. Our relationship with God is never severed because of a physical act. Our relationship with God is always severed by something becoming more important in our heart than God. The physical act comes as a result of the idol set up in our heart.

God wants everyone in the land to give up their gods.

God, though Ezekiel, while telling the leaders to take down the idols in their hearts He includes this:

To every last person from the house of Israel, including any of the resident aliens who live in Israel—all who turn their backs on me and embrace idols, who install the wickedness that will ruin them at the center of their lives and then have the gall to go to the prophet to ask me questions—I, God, will step in and give the answer myself. (14:7, The Message)

God's punishment would extend out to those who were not part of the Promise of Abraham. They were part of the punishment because God expects holiness from anyone who lives with His Chosen People. No one is excused.
What does this mean for today? If churches who have issues with holiness want to regain God's favor, they cannot allow people who are "living" with them to slide by. Everyone must be on the same page—even if they are not "members". What does "living" mean? It means anyone who wishes to be associated with them, even if they do not want to be affiliated with them.

No one could save Judah and Jerusalem—even Noah, Daniel, or Job.

What an interesting grouping. When you think of Old Testament stories of a person standing up to defend another I would think of Abraham or Moses, not Noah, Daniel, or Job. But these are the three God places together. What are they known for? I think they are known for steady, non-compromising faith. Because of their faith they prevented God from destroying their family, their people, or themselves. That is what makes this section so depressing—God's exclaims to Ezekiel that no single, steady, non-compromising faith could help Israel. They had gone so far away from God that they would be unwilling to learn from the example of a strong, faithful person. Beware idols which infiltrate the heart because they will eventually lead you past the point of no return.

God punishes with hopes of saving His Chosen People.

All along I have mentioned that God's Reputation is salvation and He punishes Israel to clean out bad influences from the land. In Ezekiel's vision God tells him,

When they come out to you and their salvation is right in your face, you’ll see for yourself the life they’ve been saved from. You’ll know that this severe judgment I brought on Jerusalem was worth it, that it had to be. (14:22, The Message)

God's punishment is meant to help us see how we can live better with God setting all things right.

Do you have idols installed on your heart?

January 3 - Genesis 8-11: Man Populates the Earth

Today’s Reading: Genesis 8-11

The Message

English Standard Version

Hint: When you reach the genealogy section, don’t pronounce the names in your head. That way you will read the important parts without feeling overwhelmed by the Hebrew names.

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Every major culture in the world has a story about a catastrophic flood with one family surviving.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

God makes the flood waters recede from the earth. Once out of the boat, Noah and his family made an animal sacrifice. Smelling the sacrifice, God promised not to destroy the earth again because of man’s sin. God blessed Noah and his sons and gave them responsibility over the earth.
Many years later, all people living on the earth decided to make a great tower which would make them famous forever. When God saw what they wanted to do he decided to confuse their language to scatter them around the world. Because of this the place was named “Babel."

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God decided to no longer punish the whole world because of man’s sin.

It is difficult to say that God “changed" as a result of the flood. However, God decided no longer to punish his creation because of the sin of man. The earth would continue to be under the curse given because of Adam and Eve’s sin, but it would no longer be collateral damage to punish humans.

God gave all animals for humans to eat.

Compare Genesis 2:29-30 and Genesis 9:2-3. At first God did not give meat for man to eat. After the flood God allowed Noah to kill and eat animals.

Noah cursed Ham because he did not make things right.

Shem, Japheth, and Noah were angry with Ham not because he saw his father naked in his tent but because he saw him and did not cover him. Instead he went to his brothers to tell them of what he saw. If he had covered his father he would not have been cursed.
Foreshadowing: Ham became the father of the Canaanites. These would be the people who the Israelites, the children of Shem, would later conquer and force to be their slaves.

God confused everyone’s language at the tower of Babel because they wanted to make themselves famous.

God’s reason for changing their language came from their attempt at becoming famous apart from God. Becoming famous (or making a name for yourself) because of God is something Christians could aspire for. However, even this is dangerous.

January 2 - Genesis 4-7: Sin Overtakes the World

Today’s Reading: Genesis 4-7

The Message

English Standard Version

Hint: When you reach the genealogy section, don’t pronounce the names in your head. That way you will read the important parts without feeling overwhelmed by the Hebrew names.

Thought to Guide Your Reading

See how each generation cares less and less for setting things right.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Adam and Eve give birth to two sons: Cain and Able. Both sacrifice to God. Cain’s was not approved, which angered him greatly. God warned him this anger would overtake him. Cain instead killed Able. As punishment, God required Cain to spend his days cursed from the earth. Adam and Eve had another son Seth who became like his father.
Year after year, each generation grew further and further away from God. Eventually they thought only of evil. So God chose the one man whose family followed Him and saved them from a flood which wiped out the entire world.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

God’s warning to Cain was to keep things right between Cain and his brother.

Even God’s warning to Cain was not focused on his actions. God did not tell Cain, “Don’t kill Able. That would be wrong." His answer is a warning—your anger will make sin (taking control from God) overcome you. Cain’s sin did not start at the murder. It started when he allowed his anger to control him.

Cain was protected by God even after murdering Able.

What is strange is that God protected Cain with a mark instead of leaving him out on his own. God did not want to punish Cain with death. Why would God do such a thing? Because God’s intentions are to make all things right, not exact punishment on all. God could make things right through sparing Cain.

Seth called on the name of the Lord.

This was much more than saying the word “Lord." If sin is taking control from God, calling on the name of the Lord means giving control to God. True conversion means giving control of all things to God.

God chose Noah because he was “a good man, a man of integrity in his community" (6:9, The Message).

I find this definition interesting. Not only was Noah understood to be good by God but a good man by his community also. What a great statement for anyone, especially someone who calls on the name of the Lord. We as followers of the Creator of the universe should naturally be people of integrity among our community.