SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/12/2014
10:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Action
Sermon One: The Siege of Jerusalem
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel
4:1-3
Message of the
verses: “1 "Now you son of man,
get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem.
2 "Then lay siege against it, build
a siege wall, raise up a ramp, pitch camps and place battering rams against it
all around. 3 “Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall
between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under
siege, and besiege it. This
is a sign to the house of Israel.”
One thing that I do notice in this section and that is
that God calls this sign to be for the “house of Israel,” and does not
distinguish between the two kingdoms of Israel.
I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that further on in the book of Ezekiel
we read about when Israel would come back into their land and they would not
realize what to call it that Ezekiel’s takes two sticks and puts them together
as one and the new nation should be called Israel. This actually happened when Israel became a
nation in May of 1948 as they looked to Ezekiel to see what this nation should
be called.
Now back to Ezekiel chapter four and this first of four
action sermons. Ezekiel is told to come
out of his house and take a brick, now this was probably an unbaked brick, and
I suppose that it had to be large so he could draw on it the city of Jerusalem,
but because it was unbaked he would be able to do this. Ezekiel had not been talking to the people
and in Stewart Briscoe’s book he writes a little script of how this may have
happened.
“One day, at the Lord’s instructions, Ezekiel appeared
outside his front door with a large mud brick (4:1). He started to draw a scene on it. A crowd quickly gathered round—people always
want to see what someone is drawing or painting.
“Looks like the Jerusalem skyline to me.”
“Right, there’s the temple.”
“What are you doing, Ezekiel? Trying to earn a buck doing sidewalk art?”
“What’s the point of all this, man? Why don’t you say something?”
I like this book that Steward Briscoe has written as it
make you think, and he also shows his readers how it can be applied to the
church and the people in it today. He
writes that there are times when people get so cold to the things of God that
they need a person who does not actually speak to them, but uses pictures
instead of words so to get their attention.
Dr. Wiersbe calls these action sermons.
Now along with the brick with the drawing of Jerusalem on
it we see he made siege walls around it to show the Babylonians attacking the
city. The people did not need TV or
radio commentaries of this for Ezekiel was showing them what was happening to
Jerusalem, and I am sure this upset them for if Jerusalem fell to the
Babylonians then they would have no place to return. We also see Ezekiel taking a flat iron
griddle which he placed between himself and the city and Dr. Wiersbe states
that “T he iron griddle symbolized the wall that stood between God and the
sinful Jewish nation so that He could no longer look on them with approval and
blessing. Ezekiel the priest could not
pronounce on them the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, for God’s face was
not shining on them with blessing. God
was against them and would permit the pagan Babylonians to destroy the city and
the temple.” The people were so sinful
that not even prayer could aid them. “You
have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can get through (Lam.
3:44).” “8 “Behold, I have made your
face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 “Like
emery harder than flint I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or
be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house’ (Ezekiel 3:8-9).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I never want to put myself in the position
that these people were in.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
“21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore
I have hope. 22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness (Lam. 3:21-24).” The successful Christian life is a series of
new beginnings.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:10-11.
10 and have put on the new
self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the One who created
him—11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew,
circumcised and un circumcised, barbarian Scythian, slave and freeman, but
Chris is all and in all.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Malachi.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Aaron’s rod do to
the rods of the wise men and sorcerers before Pharoah?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/12/2014 10:43 AM
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