|
Heart Preparation:For over half a year, you have been reading through the redemptive story of God. Maybe it’s become a routine to you, maybe it’s become something that you anticipate every day. Whether that’s your view or not, God longs to be with you every single moment. He wants you to enter into His presence and hear from Him. Yet, we have so many distractions in life that want to pull us away. Whether you’ve consistently kept up with the reading plan, or you have missed days, weeks, or even months, this week is a great opportunity to start again, to enter into the plan, but more importantly, to intentionally enter into the presence of God and be in His Word, the words that point to eternal life.
Weekly Reading:
What to ExpectThis week we will be solely in the book Ezekiel. Ezekiel was taken into exile in the 2nd Babylonian deportation of the Jews (597 BC). Jerusalem had not yet fallen, but Judah was becoming weaker and weaker, and it was only a matter of time before Jerusalem would fall in 586 BC. This week, you are going to continue to be reading God’s warnings to Judah and Jerusalem about the coming destruction that they face because of their sins. God is laying the foundation for why the judgement is coming upon Judah, because of her sins against God. With the coming Babylonian invasion, the people were tempted to run to Egypt for help, and so we also see that God is prophesying against Egypt, as well as other nations, showing that they will not be able to help Judah in this time. God has spoken His word, and it is going to come to fulfillment. Ezekiel is finally informed of this in Ezekiel 33:21-33, as he receives word of the fall of Jerusalem. Yet, at the end of this section, in Ezekiel 34, we see hope as God promises His new covenant with His people, a covenant of peace. What to Look ForHere are a couple of themes and repetitions that you will encounter through the reading:
Personal InsightThis week’s reading has one of my favorite passages, what I consider a challenge in my life. Ezekiel 22:30 states that God is looking for a man to stand in the gap on behalf of the land so that He will not have to destroy it, but He finds none/no one. What a heartbreaking thing. God is looking for anyone who will be obedient to Him, who will stand out from the culture, who will live according to His will and lead His people, but He can’t find a single person. This is the challenge that I see in this passage, I desire to be that one. In my Bibles, I mark out the “n” in “none”, so now it says “none”. My desire is that God will find one. That I will be that one. That, though I may not do it perfectly, I will live for Him, regardless of what the culture says or does. That I will rise up as a leader for His cause, that I will stand in the gap on behalf of my family, my friends, my community, and I will fight for the Kingdom of Heaven. In 1873 two Christian preachers were talking about a conference they had just attended. Henry Varley said to his new friend DL Moody, “Moody, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him.” These words so pierced Moody’s heart that he couldn’t get them out of his mind and said these words to himself, “I will be that man. If God is looking for a man of integrity, a man of honour and courage and faithfulness, with God’s help I will be such a man.” That is my prayer, my desire, to be the man that God is looking for. I pray that it is your desire as well. That you will answer the call, and God won’t just find one, but He will find many. He will find a body of believers in Southeast Kansas/Southwest Missouri, who will not go with the flow of culture, but will instead stand up for what is right. Are you willing to be that man/woman? Here’s the other thing too, we will fail. As much as we strive, we will fail. But God sent His Son to ultimately be that man! Jesus is the One who truly stands in the gap between us and destruction. His life, His sacrifice, His conquering the grave, is what allows us to stand before God and not face condemnation. Jesus came and fought the fight that we could never win, and through His work, we are spared from the coming destruction! PrayerGod, thank you for doing what only you could do! Thank you for sending Jesus to fight the battle that I could never win, so that I can now stand in victory. But God, you are still looking for someone to live for you, to stand in the gap on this earth, to fight for the livelihood of our families and friends. God, the battle is real. Give us strength to rise up and fight. Give us courage to do what we need to do, regardless of the worldly cause. God, help us see the eternal impact of this battle. Prepare me for war daily, as I fight, not in my own power or might, but in the power that you give me! This week's devotion was prepared by Andrew Peterman
0 Comments
Heart Preparation: As you read this week’s passages, there is a lot of heaviness. Take a moment before you read each day to remind yourself of the goodness of God, and His holiness. Weekly Reading:
What to Expect/What to Look For Sunday, August 24: Jeremiah 51-52 Jeremiah 51: Throughout Jeremiah, God has been warning Judah to repent, to turn back to Him. Yet, Judah has refused to do so. Because of this, God has promised that Judah (and her capital, Jerusalem), would fall, and He has made known that it would be by the Babylonians. Even though the Babylonians are the vessel of God’s judgement against Judah, they are not innocent in this. In Jeremiah 51, God is telling Judah that even though they are going into judgement by Babylon, that God has not utterly forsaken Judah or Israel, and that judgement will fall upon the nation of Babylon, by the hand of the Medo-Persian Empire (which doesn’t come to a world power for another 50 years) for what they have done to Judah. Jeremiah 52: Jeremiah is recounting, similar to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30, the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonian empire. This is the result of the entire prophecy of Jeremiah, the fulfillment of his warning to the people of Judah. For three years, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, and finally on August 17, 586 BC, he defeated Jerusalem and burned the temple, taking the people of Judah and Jerusalem into exile. The chapter ends with the release of Jehoiachin, which served to give hope to the people that the future blessings that God promised would come true, just as the future judgement that He promised came true. Monday, August 25: Lamentations 1:1-3:36 Jeremiah was a prophet who lived before the destruction of the temple, and he continued to live after the destruction of the temple. He witnessed the downfall of his people. He witnessed the atrocities that happened to his people by the hands of the Babylonians. Upon seeing all of this, he writes Lamentations, a lament for his beloved city and people. Lamentations is a heavy read, full of sorrow and heartache, as Jeremiah (and us) sees the weight and the consequences of our sins. In reading Lamentations, you may look back over and read Deuteronomy 28 real quick. This chapter is where God promises faithfulness and blessing to the people of Israel if they are faithful to Him, but if they disobey, curses will fall upon them. Jeremiah references Deuteronomy frequently, seeing the faithfulness of God to His promise of curses if they are disobedient to Him. The references in Deuteronomy that Jeremiah makes in Lamentations are:
In this reading, you will also see the most beautiful aspect of Lamentations, a hope in God and His goodness in the midst of all the suffering. Lamentations 3:21-24 → 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Even though Judah is suffering the curses of Deuteronomy 28, the same covenant promised restoration for obedience and repentance. Deuteronomy 30:1-10 is the hope that Jeremiah is thinking of. Tuesday, August 26: Lamentations 3:37-5:22 In today’s reading, you are going to continue to see the heartache that comes due to the sin of the people. It can be possible that as you read this, you think that God is being unjust, or going too far. It is important to remember that God is holy, and good, and perfectly just, and if we think He has gone too far, we don’t fully comprehend the weight of sin and the consequences that it deserves. More references from Deuteronomy are:
Wednesday, August 27: Ezekiel 1-4 Ezekiel was a prophet who prophesied after the fall of Jerusalem. His prophecy began in 597 BC (Jerusalem fell in 586 BC), but Ezekiel was taken into exile by Babylon in the second deportation in 597 BC. So technically all of Jerusalem was not exiled yet, but Ezekiel wrote from exile in Babylon. Ezekiel’s message starts out with a warning of judgement upon the people of Judah for their sins. Ezekiel calls out the leaders, the priests, and the people. Every one of them is guilty of turning against God. The first four chapters of Ezekiel are the call of Ezekiel, in which he sees the throne of God, receives the calling, and is warned that he is to speak the words that God gives him to the people. Ezekiel was also called to live out his prophecy as a symbol in various ways, initially by laying down on his side for 430 days to represent the punishment that came upon the nation of Israel as well as the coming judgement of Judah. Thursday, August 28: Ezekiel 5-8 Starting in Ezekiel 5, you will start to see the repeated phrase I am the Lord. This is important to remember. All the things that are coming upon the people are because they failed to honor God as Lord. They went after other gods. They served idols. They sacrificed their sons. They are completely guilty before God. Ezekiel is reminding the people exactly why they are suffering this judgement, because they committed offense against the Lord. Not man. Not king. But the Lord of heaven and earth. Friday, August 29: Ezekiel 9-12 God continues to pronounce judgement upon the leaders and the people for their sin. There is also a heartbreaking section in chapter 10, in which the glory of God leaves the temple. This has been His place of dwelling among them. Since the Exodus, God has resided among His people. Yet they have continually rejected God, and so now He has removed His presence from them. Yet, even among this heartache, God reveals in chapter 11 that He is going to make a new covenant with the people, one in which He will put His Spirit within them, and He will yet again be their God. Saturday, August 30: Ezekiel 13-15 These chapters are yet again more pronouncements of judgement upon the people for their sin. Though this may seem repetitive, it shows yet again the consequences and the weight of our sin. All of these judgements are the very judgements that we deserve, yet God sent His only Son, that if we believe in Him, we won’t suffer this judgement, but instead be eternally with Him in ultimate bliss. Personal InsightWow. There is so much here. I feel like one thing that popped out to me is my own inclination to downplay sin. Through reading these passages, they all show the judgement of Judah because of her sin. I can read it and see the terrible things that come upon the people, and think God, that seems a bit extreme. Yet, as Paul states in Romans 3, there is no one who does good, we are all sinners and fallen short of the glory of God. The question we should be asking isn’t why did this have to happen to them, but rather why doesn’t this happen to me? That question then points me to the goodness of God, in which He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for me, so that I might become the righteousness of God. He sent His Son to be the ultimate sacrifice, to be forsaken by God on the cross so that I can be adopted in eternally. When we read these passages, we see the true love of God that brought us in, deserving of the exact thing they went through, yet receiving complete grace in that He does not hold our sins against us, but makes us completely clean. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old (sinful self) is gone, the new (Christ’s righteousness) has come. — 2 Corinthians 5:17 Prayer God, thank you for your grace! Thank you for forgiving a sinner like me. I am deserving of eternal hell, yet you sent your son to go through hell on earth, so that I could have eternal life. Thank you for that gift and sacrifice. Help me see the weight of my sin. Help me hate what is responsible for the death of your son, so that I can live holy for you. Amen. This week's devotion was prepared by Andrew Peterman Heart Preparation:
Every week, we take time to intentionally be in the Word of God. But, week after week, this can become routine. It can potentially become just “something we do”. We can enter this time looking at our clocks or just breezing through the text. Yet, this is God’s Word to you. This is the Creator of all things, who Isaiah says “holds the universe in the span of His hands”. Yet, He desires a personal relationship with you. His Word is true (John 17:3), His Word is active (Hebrews 4:12), and His Word is profitable for all things (2 Timothy 3:16). Fight the urge this week, as you enter into your time with God, to be distracted by the things of this world, and set your heart truly on Him. Week’s Reading Plan:
What to Expect: 2 KINGS 24-25/2 CHRONICLES 36 This is the historical account that is setting the context for the prophets that we will be reading this week. As you have been following along, Judah has been deteriorating in their morals and faithfulness to God. Josiah issued reforms and had a revival in his heart, but we see that it didn’t stick in the hearts of the people. After Josiah dies, his son becomes king, but does evil. The events that you are going to be reading this week are the fulfillment of what God has been speaking about to the people of Judah through the prophets this whole time. You are about to read the near-term “day of the Lord” as Zephaniah prophesied about, the coming of the Babylonian invasion. Jehoahaz is taken into exile by Egypt, and his brother Eliakim/Jehoiakim becomes a puppet king in his place. Behind the scenes, Babylon has been increasing as a world power. They have defeated the Assyrian empire in 609BC and are now the world power. After defeating Assyria, they turn their eyes towards Judah, and in 605BC they begin attacking Judah and take into exile youths of nobility and royalty. Daniel is one of those youths that is taken into exile in this time. Jehoiachin, Johoiakim’s son, reigns in his place and experiences the second attack from Babylon. This time Nebuchadnezzar makes it to Jerusalem, taking into captivity the king and all his mighty men of valor. The poorest of the land are left in Jerusalem. After Jehoiachin is taken to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar leaves Zedekiah as a vassal king. In 588BC, Nebuchadnezzar again turns towards Jerusalem and attacks it for 2 years, before finally destroying Jerusalem and the temple on August 15, 586BC. He took into captivity all those who were left that escaped the sword, completing the prophecy of God that He would remove Judah from the land. All of this came as a result of the people being unfaithful to God, as He promised would come upon them in Deuteronomy 28. In this reading, you also see the beginning of the 70 Year Period that God proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25. JEREMIAH 35-50 Jeremiah was a prophet who was called to prophecy leading up to the fall of Jerusalem, and then continue to prophecy following their captivity to Babylon. Jeremiah sees the atrocity of Judah, and calls them to repentance, and then sees the fallout of their disobedience. In the passages of Jeremiah that you will read this week, you will continue to see Jeremiah warning the final kings of Judah of their impending judgement. The word that he shares is unpopular, and so his own people respond, not by repenting, but by taking it out on Jeremiah. The final chapters of the prophecy are Jeremiah prophesying to the nations, that their judgement is going to come as well. HABAKKUK 1-3 Habakkuk is a conversation between the prophet and God, taking place during the first deportation of Judah to Babylon in 605BC. Habakkuk is composed of 2 questions from Habakkuk, followed by the response from God. In the end, Habakkuk prays to God in response to the conversation he just had with God. What to Look For: 2 KINGS 24-25/2 CHRONICLES 36 As mentioned, as you read these passages, you are seeing the fulfillment of the prophecies that we have been reading for the past couple of weeks, that Judah would go into exile to Babylon (Isaiah 3:1-8, 5:26-30, 39:5-8, Jeremiah 5:14-17, 6:22-26, Jeremiah 25, Micah 4:9-10). JEREMIAH 35-50 In Jeremiah 35-45, you get sort of a “behind-the-scenes” look at what is going on with the kings of Judah and their attitude towards the prophecies of God. They are warned, yet they fail to listen and suffer the consequences for this as well. HABAKKUK 1-3 As mentioned, Habakkuk is a conversation between Habakkuk and God. Habakkuk looks around and sees the sin of his nation, and asks God how long will you put up with this wickedness(Habakkuk 1:1-4). God responds by telling Habakkuk that He is going to send the Babylonians to bring judgement upon Judah (Habakkuk 1:5-11). This causes Habakkuk to question God, how can you use a nation that is more wicked than Judah to bring judgement upon Judah (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1). God doesn’t answer this question directly, but rather states that Babylon’s time is going to come, they will suffer for their actions as well (Habakkuk 2:2-20). This leads Habakkuk to pray to God, remembering the faithfulness of God to his forefathers, and therefore trusting in the future faithfulness of God. Personal Insight: The closing portion of Habakkuk’s prayer really speaks out to me. I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet, I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.(Habakkuk 3:16). The news of the coming judgement upon Judah by the Babylonians brings a reaction to Habakkuk that he can feel. It’s that news that doesn’t just hit emotionally, but physically. The coming judgement brings fear. A lot of us (I would venture to say all of us) have had an experience, that though it may not be an invading army, it elicited this kind of response, where can feel it in our body. And Habakkuk continues on in his prayer, the way that we should also respond in these moments: yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places (Habakkuk 3:18-19). Habakkuk, in the midst of this fear, turns to faith. Fear is an emotion and a reaction. We can’t necessarily control immediately if we are afraid or not. There are things in this world that are truly scary as well. Having faith doesn’t even necessarily mean that we aren’t afraid, but rather it is the courage to move on and trust God even in the presence of fear. That’s what Habakkuk did. He could feel the fear in his body, yet he turned his focus on God and said even though all this comes upon me, I will rejoice in God, for He is my salvation and my strength. Even if everything terrible happens, I will rejoice in Him! It took Habakkuk looking back at the past faithfulness of God to trust God in His future faithfulness, and therefore He found joy, strength, and salvation. May we do the same thing. Prayer: God, thank you for your salvation! Thank you for being the God who, even in our darkest moments, You are good. You have given us a hope beyond this world. Just as Your word was true about the coming Babylonian invasion, Your word is also true about the coming eternal life that we have in Jesus! Thank You for that! May our eyes always be fixed on You, even in the scary moments. May we have the faith that overcomes our fear, and even in the presence of fear, see that You are good, and You are in control. This week’s devotion was prepared by Andrew Peterman. Heart Preparation:
“I am graven on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him, because He first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, One who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters.” J.I. Packer, Knowing God Week’s Reading Plan:
What to Expect: Reading through the Bible we are getting, for the most part, the highlights. Granted, we are getting what God wants us to get. However, remember that Jeremiah ministered God’s word for roughly 40 years. There is a lot of life that he had to live in the midst of the messages and prophecies he preached from God. And he had to live it. As a single man. Rejected by almost everyone. Including his family. Every day. When God gave him a message he delivered it. And lived his life. How do you do that? Jeremiah knew the God who is God. He did not just know that God is God. He knew God. God was God with Jeremiah when he was preaching in the temple and being arrested and when he made a sandwich. God was and is, always, God. What to Look For: God uses some vivid ways to say to his people “this is who you are to me.” He likens his people to a loincloth that he wears. He says they are like clay in his hands to be shaped as he will. They are like a basket of figs. And as they are his people to do with as he will he tells them how to be his people when Babylon attacks them. When Babylon carries them off. When Babylon keeps them for 70 years. And when God restores and renews them. Through it all God is God and he is God for, and to, his people. Personal Insight: Right now I am sitting on my back patio looking at trees and listening to a bunch of mockingbirds carry on. And God is God. Tonight I’ll go and eat a hot dog and the swim night. And God will be God. I don’t know exactly what will happen tomorrow. But God is and will be God. And God knows me. And I know God. In Columbus or Babylon, in my kitchen or in exile. God is God. God knows me and I know God. Because he made me and in Christ established the covenant he talks about in Jeremiah where he says he will put his law in my heart and I will know him. Prayer: Good Father, help me to know you more. Not just about you. Make it my desire to know you. Hold me up in the truth that you know me, intimately, right now, in this moment, wherever that is and wherever I will be. You are and you will be God. My God. I love and worship you. Amen. Today's devotion was prepared by Justin Coberley. Heart Preparation:
Do you have a time or place that, when you are there, you feel at rest? Real, soul rest? If you are like me that place or time can seem to call to you, inviting you back. Where is that time or place for you? Try to imagine it. Put yourself there. How does that feel? What is it about this place or time that is restful for your soul? The reason for this heart work is that Jeremiah invites God’s people back into the way of soul rest while they are, more often than not, actively choosing ways of soul disruption. Week’s Reading Plan:
What To Expect: I want to start with that invitation from God through the prophet Jeremiah. You’ll find it in 6:16. It says there, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’” What is this way? I think we get examples of soul disruption, and being led back into rest with God, in our readings this week. Let’s consider the 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles readings together. For years and years the people of God had been taught and led ways of soul disruption. God’s law and ways had been discarded and forgotten. Idols were put up in his place. Ways of worship that make your skin crawl have been committed by God’s people. Why? I think the people of God were siding with the “gods” that allowed them to do what they want, and to chase after what they want. This is soul disruption. My desire is my god. How is this soul disruption? My desire is a god whose belly is always growling, always hungry for more. I am never at rest because I am never satisfied. More importantly, I am starving for the One that really satisfies my hunger. I am saying “no” to my kind provider who actually knows what I need and made me to be filled with himself. However, God provides in a good king the way back to himself and to rest for their souls. Josiah goes on a fake god annihilation rampage. At the same time he helps lead people back into the way of worship and life from God that really feeds and nourishes them. The people hear God’s word again. They offer right sacrifice again. They keep the Sabbath again. And God is restoring them into the way of rest in himself. The prophets Nahum and Zephaniah issue the call of God. Nahum lets Assyria know that for all their terror in bringing desolation and soul disruption on their neighbors, they are nothing compared to God. When God moves against them their ways of war will seem like a picnic. God will give soul disruptors their due. Zephaniah warns the people of God in Judah and Jerusalem that for taking up and cultivating these same ways of disorder and disruption that judgment is coming. The Day of the Lord! Yet, at the end of his message, God speaks his mercy and restoration: The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17 What to Look For: The invitation to the Ancient Path, the way made by God to life with him. Even in Nahum’s message to Assyria there is opportunity to realize God is God, not Assyria. You may be living in the desolation of throwing God away but God has not thrown you away! He sends kings, and prophets, and messengers. He invites and pleads with the goodness of life with himself. Not only that, if the people would take the old road, he’s the one who makes the road and plops you down on it. He is there for the taking. But he does not force. There is sadness at the end of Jeremiah’s invitation to the old road, the way of peace and soul-rest: “But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” Personal Insight: If you’re like me, you hear Jesus’s own words in Jeremiah’s invitation: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30 All the invitations, the calls, the messengers, they all point to Christ. Here is their fulfillment. He is our rest. He is our peace. He is the Road. Still, we are learning what that looks like in conflict with co-workers, date night with our spouse, or in the quiet with only our thoughts. Thankfully, we have a gracious master. Lord, how am I making my desire my god? What or who am I asking to fill and satisfy me? It could be something on the surface. But these things go way deep down. Those surface things are probably just the leaf of a root lodged in my heart. Only you can see that to root it out rightly at the right time. Help me to surrender to your confident hand. Prayer: Have mercy on me Jesus. Do your deep work in my heart today. Show me what I need to see. Turn me from my work of desolation and soul disruption. With your kind hand, place your yoke on my shoulders and lead me. I want to walk in the rest you provide my soul. This weeks devotion was prepared by Justin Coberley |
RSS Feed