SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/2/2014
8:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Declaring
the Word of the Lord PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel
3:10-15
Message of the
verses: We will look at the second
sub-point from this third main point from the outline of Warren Wiersbe on his
first chapter of his commentary on the book of Ezekiel.
The Sufferer (Ezekiel 3:10-15): “10 Moreover, He said to me, "Son of
man, take into your heart
all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely. 11 “Go to the
exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether
they listen or not, ’Thus says the Lord GOD.’" 12 Then the Spirit lifted
me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory
of the LORD in His place." 13 And I heard the sound of the wings of the
living beings touching one another and the sound of the wheels beside them, even
a great rumbling sound. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I
went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me. 15 Then I
came to the exiles who lived beside the river Chebar at Tel-abib, and I sat there
seven days where they were living, causing consternation among them.”
We see a number of things that happened to Ezekiel in
these six verses and we will try and make them understood. In verse ten the Lord tells Ezekiel to take
into his heart the Words that the Lord will speak to him that day. We must remember that this was part of the
commissioning of the priest turned prophet by the Lord. We mentioned yesterday that it is so important
to make sure we take the Word of God into our hearts, to meditate upon it and
to live out what God is saying to us. As
you may see I have been trying for many weeks to memorize Colossians 3:1-11,
and as I slow down and think about these verses I am learning many things about
them and I think that this is what the Lord is telling Ezekiel about what to do
with His Word.
In verse eleven the Lord directs Ezekiel to go and tell
the exiles the things that He is telling Ezekiel and then adds “whether or not
they believe him.” Ezekiel had the
responsibility to tell the people the Word of God and if they did not listen
then that was not his fault for he did his part by telling it to them.
There is much to say about verse twelve, as Dr. Wiersbe
has an endnote on this verse that we will look at first of all. “Was this experience a vision or did God
actually transport Ezekiel to Tel-Abib?
The scholars are divided in their interpretation. That this was a literal moving of the prophet
and not merely a vision seems to be the plain reading of the text. The fact that the prophet sat among the
exiles for seven days suggests a physical move.
(See 8:1, 24; 43:5).” The
Scripture speaks of God moving others, so this is not difficult for me to
understand that God moved Ezekiel physically.
There is also a difference of opinion as to whether or
not someone spoke to Ezekiel as seen in the following words from verse
twelve: "Blessed be the glory of
the LORD in His place." Dr. Wiersbe
points out that it is possible to translate this without the quotations that are
around it as in the KJV and also in the NASB.
Some think that it was Ezekiel himself who spoke these words. Dr. Wiersbe writes “However, it could also be
translated ‘as the glory of the Lord arose from its place,’ a description
rather than a declaration. As we shall
see in chapters 8-11, the movement of God’s glory is a key theme in this book.”
God now brings Ezekiel to Tel-Abib and we should not
think that this is the city that is in Israel today, or the location of it, but
this was a settlement in which the Babylonians placed some of the exiles along
the river Chebar. The people there were
a disappointed lot as they were mourning the fact that God has allowed them to
be captured and taken there. Take a
moment and read Psalm 137 to understand the emotion that these exiles were
feeling. It is a good possibility that
they were praying when Ezekiel went there and they could have been praying that
God would bring revenge upon the Babylonians, but perhaps they should have been
confessing their sins, which was the reason they were there in the first
place. As we read the prayers from both
Nehemiah chapter nine and Daniel chapter nine we see confession on their part
even though they were not actually the problem, but both realized that they
were born sinners, and both of them had sinned in their lives, but they were
also confessing the sins of the people.
I want to end this portion of this SD with a quote from
Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary that has to do with how we as believers should live
our lives, as we see an example from Ezekiel’s life. “Ezekiel sat there with the people,
overwhelmed by what the Lord has said to him and done for him, he realized the
seriousness of his calling and how great was the responsibility God had placed
on his shoulders. It’s a good thing for the servant of God to be among his
people, to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, for he
can better minister to them when he knows their hearts and feels their
pain. It isn’t enough simply to proclaim
the message of God; we must also seek to have the caring heart of God.” In another endnote Dr. Wiersbe points out
that many believe that Ezekiel was silent among the people for seven days, and
seven days was also the time that it took for a priest to be ordained, and now
Ezekiel the priest was being commissioned as a prophet.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I have mentioned
that this past week has been a very difficult time for me spiritually, and
today is the beginning of a new week and we are having what is called a full
communion service at our church this morning, a chance for a new beginning, a
chance to confess my sins before participating in the elements of the Lord’s
table, a chance for a new beginning. I
must remember that the successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings,
something that I have seemed to forget.
Ezekiel had seen the glory of the Lord, was called to be a prophet of
the Lord and we leave him sitting with the exiles for seven days about to begin
his service for the Lord, something I want to continue to do too.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be ready for the communion service.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-11.
1 Therefore if you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on
the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will
be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore consider the members of your
earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,
which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath
of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once
walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you also, put them all aside:
anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie
to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10
and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according
to the image of the One who created him- 11 a renewal in which there is no
distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Nathanael” (John 1:46).
Today’s Bible question: “Naaman
was an army captain in what country?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/2/2014 9:28 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment