READINGS FOR AUGUST 14 - AUGUST 20

AUGUST 14

In the midst of all the prophecies of God's judgments against Israel and Judah, Jeremiah now turns to prophecies against the enemies of Israel and Judah.  It is obvious that God will not forsake Israel and will "stir up the spirit of a destroyer" against her enemies.  The exiles must have taken great comfort in that even though many of them will never live to see it themselves.

There are references in today's reading concerning gold cups that are prophetic of the banquet recorded in Daniel 5 in which a hand appears and writes on the wall. Also in the reading for today are several references to Babylon being a heap of ruins, sinking to rise no more, and being desolate forever.  This prophecy has in fact come true.  The physical Babylon located just south of Baghdad was destroyed and will be inhabited no more. The word destroyer comes up again and again as well in reference to Babylon. However, the spirit of Babylon will live on until the Lord destroys it forever. (see Revelation 14,16,17, and 18)

Jeremiah gives us a glimpse of God's creative powers in chapter 51.

Jeremiah 51:15-16
“He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 

These verses remind us of a couple of others that are similar concerning God's creativity.  

Proverbs 30:4
Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!

(Did you get that last line - what is the name of his son????)  Guess the writer of Proverbs knew about the Son of God who came down from heaven!

Isaiah 40:12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

The amazing thing is this - the Lord who holds the waters in the hollow of his hand, holds the dust of the earth and weighs the mountains and hills - lives within us.  AMAZING!
Jeremiah 51:51
“We are disgraced, for we have been insulted and shame covers our faces,because foreigners have entered the holy places of the Lord’s house.” 

Application for today:  "Foreigners" are those who are not in the Kingdom of God and who enter and influence churches, Christian organizations, book publishers, etc.

Concerning Babylon, Jeremiah 51 mentions "he will silence her noisy din."

It seems as if silence doesn’t exist anymore. Everywhere we go we hear a noisy din of background noise, leaving people deaf to the still small voice of God.

AUGUST 15

Ezekiel…what a prophet! What a vision! Why was he given such a vision?  Why did God reveal in this way?  If parts of Ezekiel had not been included in our Bible and were part of some of the non-canonized books, it may seem far-fetched to us but because we are accustomed to the imagery and because of the authenticity we accept them.

The four creatures that Ezekiel saw in vision at the Kebar River each had four faces; man, lion, ox, eagle.  Later on as recorded in Chapter 10, when he is taken in vision to the temple in Jerusalem, he sees four cherubim with four faces each; man, lion, cherub, and eagle.  Hmmm...

We found some interesting connections with some of the images Ezekiel saw. It seems that others have seen similar images, namely Moses and John.

Ezekiel 1:26, 28
26 Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.

28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Exodus 24:9-10
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.

Revelation 4:2-3
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.

Ezekiel is given some timely advice, something that is relevant today as well.

Ezekiel 2:5-7
And whether they listen or fail to listen-- for they are a rebellious house-- they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.

We live in a world figuratively full of briers, thorns, and scorpions. As Believers in Jesus we are as lambs among wolves. Many times we may be called to witness or speak out for Him.  He may call any of us to be His watchmen.  We really shouldn't focus on whether or not people listen. The important lesson to learn is obedience to Him. He’ll take care of the rest. 

Why do you think the scroll tasted sweet to Ezekiel? It was full of words of lament, mourning, and woe. Could it be that the scroll is sweet because it's God's Word?  

What strange things God asked Ezekiel to do! But all these things were symbolic of what God was going to do - if they didn't listen.

Whenever there is mention of the sanctuary or the temple, try substituting the church for those words and see if there are connections or similarities.

Again in today's reading is a warning about high places, incense altars, and idols being demolished and destroyed.   They were supposed to have already destroyed these pagan influences. God is telling the people that He is grieved by their adulterous hearts.

This phrase comes up again and again and always follows a warning of condemnation, "Then they will know that I am the Lord."

Why not know that He is the Lord BEFORE the consequences and/or condemnation?

AUGUST 16

Ezekiel is given another very significant vision.  This time he is allowed to see the idolatry in the temple.  He was truly incensed. There were many disgraceful and detestable things being done there. Notice God says it gets more and more detestable to Him the closer it gets to the Holy of Holies. The detestable practices were being done by the seventy elders - high ranking religious leaders of the temple. The son of Shaphan was there among them.  Remember Shaphan?  He was the one who read the law to Josiah which started the great spiritual reforms in the nation.

The priests were worshiping the sun.  Tammuz was worshiped as a mythical Phoenician sun god, the "husband" of Ishtar (from which the name Easter originated)– one of the goddess of fertility and sex. The weeping for Tammuz was for an annual lamentation over his death and later a celebration of his “resurrection”. His death was to typify the long dry summer and his return to life is symbolized in the new life of spring.

“They put the branch to their nose” is supposed to mean some branch or branches, which they carried in succession in honor of the idol, and with which they covered their faces, or from which they inhaled a pleasant smell, the branches having a strong odor.  This pagan practice came from ancient Babylon, and was devoted to worshiping Baal. To honor Nimrod, a great-grandson of Noah "reborn" as the infant Tammuz, Semiramis (Nimrod’s widow) claimed that a beautiful evergreen tree sprang overnight from a dead tree stump! The ancient Babylonians then began to utilize the evergreen tree during the winter-solstice to celebrate Nimrod reborn as the sun-god! This tradition lived through the centuries, manifesting in ancient Egyptian winter solstice festivals. That the heathens carried branches of trees in their sacred ceremonies is well known  and it is probable that the heathen borrowed those from the use of such branches in the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. (The time of the year when Jesus was actually born!) One commentator said concerning putting "the branch to their nose" that he was reluctant to even soil the paper with writing about the detestable things the people were doing behind the branches.   There are many connections we can make to today from Ezekiel chapters 8-11.

It was because of all of the detestable practices being done in the temple in Jerusalem that the glory of the Lord left the temple.  The people including the priests had the mistaken notion that they were somehow hiding from God by covering themselves with the branches and hiding in closed rooms. They thought that God, who lived on the other side of the curtain, could not see what they were doing. 

When judgment came upon those who were participating in the pagan practices, some people were spared.  God told the "man clothed in linen" to put a mark "on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things..."  These people were not touched by God's wrath.  How can we apply that to today?  Are there people now who are grieved about all the detestable practices going on in supposedly Christian circles?  

Again God reminds them about conforming to the standards of the nations around them.

Ezekiel 11:12
And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you."

The people were building on pagan foundations.  In Ezekiel 11 God promises that He "will give the people an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them".  This promise of blessings from God transcends time and is just as applicable to today if we would destroy the pagan infiltrations, high places and idols, even in our Christian organizations.

God calls us as Believers to be different from the standards of the world. He calls us to be transformed.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ezekiel 10:7-8
And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubs to the fire between the cherubs, and he lifted it and put it into the hands of the one clothed with linen. And he took it and went out. And the form of a man's hand was seen under the wings of the cherubs. 

Revelation 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant, and there occurred lightnings and voices, and thunders and an earthquake, and a great hail. 

Ezekiel 11:23
The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.

Did the Lord take the Ark of the Covenant with Him when His glory left the temple?  It seems likely that He did since it isn't mentioned again in Scripture as being in the temple, until John writes about it in Revelation as being in the heavenly temple.

The mountain east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. It is here that the glory of the Lord departed and it is at this same place that Jesus will return.

AMEN!  Come Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

AUGUST 18

In Ezekiel 16 God compares His relationship to His people as a marriage. God takes care of the woman in the analogy from the time she is an infant providing everything for her until she becomes His bride, yet she commits adultery then turns to prostitution. It applies to Judah and most specifically to Jerusalem and was fulfilled in Ezekiel’s time. It compares the infant in the analogy to the first century church and the falling away of the church today, ultimately leading to comparing the prostitute in the analogy to the false church of the last days.  God uses the sexual graphic details so we could better understand this analogy.

Ezekiel 16:15-19
"'But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for you-- the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat-- you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

The woman has taken all the things that have been lovingly provided for her and turns them into something corrupt.

Ezekiel 16:20 
"'And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

The question is answered in the following. No, her prostitution was not enough.

Ezekiel 16:33
Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

She was worse than a prostitute receiving a fee. She was bribing her lovers to come to her. This prophetic analogy will be applied later to the apostate and false church actively working against the basic foundations of the Christian faith.  Even today, many churches entice people to come luring them in with everything but the gospel. This begins the falling away that precedes the Day of the Lord and God's wrath. (We heard of a church that invited people to come and participate in a lottery in which the prize was a gun, an AR-15.)  

However, as always, God gives us this promise.

Ezekiel 16:63
Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.'" 

Praise God, He made atonement for us through Jesus!

But prior to that promise, God declares, "I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth..."

The covenant made "in the days of your youth" reminds us of the early church and the Followers of the Way.  Oh, how far we have strayed from the ways of The Way!

In Ezekiel 18 reference is made to a proverb that the people were quoting.
"The fathers eat sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge."

They were simply blaming their ancestors for their current situation.  Saying in effect that they were suffering from the sins of their forefathers.

Jeremiah 31:29-31
In those days they shall not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the sons are dull.  But every man shall die in his iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be dull.  Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, 

Things change after Jesus.

The last verses today contain an admonition to repent, turn away from our offenses, and get a new heart and a new spirit.  And maybe go back to the ways of The Way?

AUGUST 19

Ezekiel 20 mentions bringing the entire house of Israel back into the land from the nations. Couldn't help but think of the Messianic Jews again - a fulfillment of prophecy in our day.

Several times in Ezekiel he mentions that the people have "desecrated the Sabbaths" (among many other detestable things, of course).  The purpose of the Sabbath was to rest, refocus, and remember Him.  Sabbaths were not only the weekly Sabbath but the Holy Day (Feast and Festival) Sabbaths as well.  God says that these Sabbaths are "a sign between us".  A sign is a distinguishing mark.

Keeping His Sabbath days holy are a mark that distinguishes us as belonging to HIM!  The important thing to remember is that before Jesus the people were required to observe the Sabbath days through very exacting rules and regulations.  After Jesus we are told only to honor His fulfillment of those feast days, without all the rules and regulations.

Romans 14:5
One indeed esteems a day above another day; and another esteems every day alike. Let each one be fully assured in his own mind. 

Ezekiel 20 mentions that the people had vile images and idols they had brought from Egypt. Their hearts were devoted to their idols, breaking the first two commandments. Even though God brought them out of captivity in Egypt, they rebelled against Him in the desert.  They wanted to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world.

An attitude of false teaching and false prophecy was a condition that existed in the days of the prophets of the Old Testament and is written to give us warning for what will happen as time draws closer to the last days.  There is a current connection today.

Ezekiel 22:25-30
There is a conspiracy of her princes (government officials, politicians?) within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. Her priests (ministers, pastors, preachers?) do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her officials (church staff and leaders?)within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. Her prophets (teachers?) whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'-- when the LORD has not spoken. The people of the land (people in church congregations?) practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. "I looked for a man (an individual – you, me???) among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. (very sad words - I found none.)

The previous verses in Ezekiel show us that the princes, priests, officials, and prophets were leading the people astray by their ungodly leadership. The people were looking to their leaders for the example. The leaders were not teaching them in a God-directed way. The leaders accepted as normal some practices that were strictly abhorred by God, telling the people that it was okay. That same attitude can be found today in many church congregations. New Christians expect church leaders to be theologically sound in doctrine and well versed in God’s Word. If these church leaders are not teaching them Biblically based doctrine the new Christians will be led astray. (Matthew 24) But praise God there are some godly teachers and pastors who are speaking, preaching, and teaching Biblically based doctrine. They CAN be found!

Matthew 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Today's reading ends with a profound message to the church today.  We have noticed a theme that runs throughout the last few months' readings.  Research and find out everything pagan that is done in the name of the Lord and get rid of it!!!  Cut ties with anything that even resembles the pagan.  

AUGUST 20

If ever there was any doubt of the spiritual marriage relationship between God and His people, Ezekiel’s words in Chapter 23 put that doubt to rest! In this allegory the two nations, Israel and Judah (Oholah and Oholibah) have taken all aspects of a marriage relationship and abused it in every conceivable way including adultery and prostitution.

These words to our tender ears may appear offensive but it illustrates the extent of the damage to this spiritual marriage relationship. It illustrates how offensive these behaviors are to God. This is God speaking to make His point. He turned away from them in disgust. 

In reading these passages again, some more thoughts come to mind.  The description of "warriors in full dress, mounted horsemen, young men", etc. seem descriptive of sexual power and prowess, something that the people then and now revere. It seems to be a lusting after what they perceive as human sexual perfection.  Seems they were lusting after the power and might and wealth of the Babylonians and of the Assyrian Empire.  

Ezekiel 23:35 "Since you have forgotten me and thrust me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution."

What powerful words.  The people had thrust God behind them.  How about us as believers today? How about the church (the bride of Christ) today?  Have we thrust God behind us?  Have we devalued the Word of the Lord?  Do we depend on opinions of others?  It seems that the actions of the apostate church fall into these two categories of lewdness and prostitution.

1. lewdness - sexual perversion, adultery, homosexuality, abortions

2. prostitution - selling out to the ways of the world, compromising the truth, and practicing pagan traditions - all for the sake of feeling good or gaining something for self.

Instead of giving themselves wholly to the Lord, they were giving themselves to false gods and benefiting materially.  They participated in every manner of sexual perversion led by worship of false gods.

God warns Judah (Oholibah) saying, "You will drink your sister's cup, a cup large and deep; it will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much."

God's cup of wrath can be large or small and filled to capacity or only partially filled depending on the sins of the people.

God does indeed feel the shame and disgrace from His people, then and now.  Concerning the people of Israel, the spiritual marriage relationship with God was damaged.  Today, the spiritual marriage relationship has been damaged.  But it can be repaired.  God has done His part.  It's up to us, those of us who are called by His Name, to do our part.