SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/20/2014
3:56 PM
My Worship Time
Focus:
False Hope PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezekiel
14:21-21
Message of the
verses: In today’s SD we begin
looking at the first part of the last sub-section from Warren Wiersbe’s outline
on Ezekiel, an outline I use to help better understand what is in the
particular book that I am studying.
As we look at this last section we will see again the
four judgments that the Lord is going to bring upon the people of Judah, and
make no mistake there will be no escape from these judgments. Dr. Wiersbe writes “and now He would tell
Ezekiel that the presence of three righteous men whom the Jews revered would
not save the city of Jerusalem. Those
three men were Noah, Daniel, and Job as we will see.
The Judgments described (Ezekiel 14:12-21): “12 Then the word of the LORD came to me
saying, 13 "Son of man, if a
country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand
against it, destroy its
supply of bread, send
famine against it and cut
off from it both man and beast, 14
even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by
their own righteousness they
could only deliver themselves," declares the Lord GOD. 15 "If I were to cause wild beasts to pass
through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one
would pass through it because of the beasts, 16
though these three men were in its midst, as I live," declares the
Lord GOD, "they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered,
but the country would be desolate. 17
"Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ’Let the sword pass through the
country and cut off man and beast from it,’ 18 even though these three men were
in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they could not
deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be
delivered. 19 "Or if I should send
a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off
man and beast from it, 20 even though
Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord GOD,
"they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would
deliver only themselves by their righteousness." 21 For thus says the Lord
GOD, "How much more
when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild
beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!”
As we look at verses 12-14 we see the first judgment and
that is famine, as God would break the staff of bread and cut off the lives of
humans and animals. We have to go back
to that all importan28th chapter of Deuteronomy to see that this was promised
by the Lord if the people of Israel were disobedient to Him. The leaders may have been thinking about how
the Lord destroyed the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham was asking
the Lord if He found ten righteous men would He still destroy it, and the
answer was no He would not. One must
wonder how many righteousness men were in Jerusalem. We do know that Jeremiah was there. Ezekiel states that even if Noah, Daniel, and
Job were there they would only deliver themselves.
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Why did the Lord choose these three
men? For one thing, all three of them
are identified in the Old Testament Scripture as righteous men (Gen. 6:9; Job
1:1, 8; Dan. 6:4-5, 22). All of them
were tested and proved faithful, Noah by the Flood, Daniel in the lion’s den,
and Job by painful trials from Satan.
They were all men of faith. Noah’s
faith helped to save his family and animal creation; Daniel’s faith saved his
own life and the lives of his friends (Dan. 2:24); and Job’s faith saved his
three friends from God’s judgment (Job. 42:7-8). However, the faith and righteousness of these
three men could not be accredited to others.
Noah’s family had to trust God and enter the ark; Daniel’s friends had
to pray and trust God; and Job’s friends had to repent and bring the proper
sacrifices. There is no such thing as ‘borrowed
faith.’
“The responsibility of each person before God is a key
subject in the Book of Ezekiel, and he will deal with it in chapter 18. God doesn’t punish people because of the sins
of others, nor will God accept the righteousness of others to compensate for
the wicked deeds of sinners. This
principle is made clear in the Law of Moses and the covenant God made with
Israel. The only time God abandoned this principle was when Jesus
Christ His Son died on the cross, for He suffered for the sins of the whole
world. When we trust Jesus as Savior and
Lord, we receive the gift of His righteousness and God accepts us because of
His Son (Rom. 3:21-4:25; 2 Cor. 5:19-21).”
As the first judgment was mentioned in the Law, so the
second one, that of wild beasts is also mentioned in the Law, and we see this
judgment described in Ezekiel 14:15-16.
Look in the Law from Leviticus 26:22 “’I will let loose among you the
beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your
cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.”
The third judgment that of the sword is found in verses
17-18 of Ezekiel chapter fourteen. This
was accomplished by the soldiers of the Babylonians army, which was told by the
Lord that this would happen for many years before it actually happened.
The last judgment is described in verses 19-20, and this
is the judgment of pestilence and this usually accompanies famine and war as
described in Revelations 6:3-8 “3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the
second living creature saying, "Come." 4 And another, a red horse,
went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the
earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
5 When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,
"Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had
a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the
center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a
denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil
and the wine." 7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of
the fourth living creature saying, "Come." 8 I looked, and behold, an
ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following
with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with
sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” This too will happen someday just as it is
described in these verses.
The Jews in this day and in the days when Jesus was on
planet earth wanted to do things to make themselves righteous, but this is
impossible to do.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Colossians 2:6
says “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”
and this tells me that I am to walk in the way that I was saved, that is by
grace through faith, trusting the Lord to fulfill in my life the things that He
had planned for me in eternity past. See
Ephesians 2:10.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to give me peace
when trouble comes, His peace.
Memory verse for the
week: 2 Peter 1:5.
5 Now for this very reason
also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in
your moral excellence, knowledge,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Absalom” (2 Samuel 15:1-12).
Today’s Bible
question: “Is Jonah considered a major
or minor prophet?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/20/2014 4:33 PM
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