Read: Ezekiel 13-15
Marked: Ezekiel 14:3, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
Idols come in many forms. What an idol does is replace God in our hearts and causes us to stumble.
What we likely consider not to be an idol is the very thing that will cause us to stumble and keeps us from hearing God and being heard by Him.
Read: Ezekiel 9-12
Marked: Ezekiel 12:25, “For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”
God is not just God of the word, but God of His word. What He says He will do.
The evidence of this truth is seen again and again in the pages of scripture. He said I would find Him if I sought Him with all my heart. And I did and proved Him right.
Read: Ezekiel 5-8
Marked: Ezekiel 5:7-8, Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you—therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.
Interesting verses. We should expect the judgment of God for not obeying His statutes. But here God makes a specific mention that His people did not even keep the judgments that the other nations did.
As His people God expects us to be good citizens and representatives of God and walk according to His word. His word tells us we are to obey the statutes (laws) of the land as long as they don’t overrule the statutes of God.
God takes note of how we live our lives. Hebrews 12:14-15 tells us, Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.
Read: Ezekiel 1-4
Marked: Ezekiel 3:3, And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.
The scroll of God’s word is be consumed, not just read. It is to feed me and fill me so that when I speak, I speak God’s word; not simply the words of man.
As real food can’t be experienced just by looking at it, exploring God’s word brings a sweetness that can’t be experienced any other way except by tasting it and ingesting it.
Read: Jeremiah 51-52
Marked: Jeremiah 51:15, He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
The might of God displayed in the creation of heaven and earth. By His power and wisdom the earth was established and the heavens stretched out by His understanding.
I read recently that the universe is continuing to expand as if it is being stretched out. This is something the Bible has said for eons. How great is our God who works His will in us.
Read: Jeremiah 49-50
Marked: Jeremiah 50:13, Because of the wrath of the LORD She shall not be inhabited, But she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified And hiss at all her plagues.
The end of Babylon. a harsh chapter. The power and might of this great city laid waste, never to be inhabited, and wholly made desolate is hard to imagine.
I can’t comprehend the power of God. With a word He made the heavens and earth. And with a word, a thought, a whole city is destroyed by His wrath.
Better the mercy of God than the wrath of God. Yet many will reject His mercy thereby bringing wrath on themselves.
Read: Jeremiah 46-48
Marked: Jeremiah 48:10, Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
In context, the Babylonians were unknowingly God‘s instrument to bring judgment in Judah. They were to use their swords to accomplish the work of the Lord.
They would be cursed if they failed to do this because they would be deceitful in carrying out the Lord’s work.
The Lord has commanded His church to go out and make disciples. We are to use the sword of the Lord, the Bible, to faithfully carry out the work of God. Am I deceitful in this work if I don’t?
Matthew 29:18-20 is a clear command to Christians to go and make disciples. It’s the purpose to which the church has been called. Disobedience is not an option.
Read: Jeremiah 42-45
Marked: Jeremiah 44:15-16, Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!”
These are difficult chapters and these verses should make us think about the days we are living in.
Under pretense they had asked Jeremiah to seek the Lord on their behalf. But God revealed they had no intention of doing what he said.
They admitted their sin saying they wouldn’t do what God instructed. Willful disobedience.
So it is today where many say listen to this or listen to that. Or, whatever information You’re getting is wrong. There is lots of I, me, and my, but little, if any, of what God says.
We are walking a dangerous path when we listen to the world instead of the Word of God.
Read: Jeremiah 38-41
Marked: Jeremiah 39:1, In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.
Everything that God told Jeremiah to say to Zedekiah came to pass. You can trust Scripture. The things the Bible says will take place, will happen. If they have not yet happened, they will.
Therefore, the instruction it gives should be obeyed because there are real and lasting consequences for not obeying, and there are real and lasting blessings for obeying.
Read: Jeremiah 35-37
Marked: Jeremiah 36:23, And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
We have the option of being hearers of God’s word, or doers. It’s in the doing of God’s word where transformation takes place. I can receive God’s word for my betterment or reject it to my detriment.
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