Wed.’s Devo - The Four Beasts

Read: Daniel 7:1-28; 1 John 1:1-10; Psalm 119:153-176; Proverbs 28:23-24 During the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel had a dream. Belshazzar would be the last Babylonian king to rule before the Medes took over. Daniel dreamed of four huge beasts that came out of the water. Daniel was told later that these beasts represented kings. The first was like a lion with wings like eagles. Its wings were pulled off and it was left standing on its feet like a man. It was given a human mind. This creature represented King Nebuchadnezzar who was called the lion because of his strength and courage. He was the chief among the kingdoms like the lion is the king of the beasts. The wings symbolized his widespread kingdom and how rapidly he acquired it. His wings or land was plucked away under Evil-merodach. When Nebuchadnezzar was deranged he was lifted from the earth and finally humbled to stand as a man and not a self-proclaimed god. The next king was represented as a bear that reared up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. He heard a voice telling it to get up and devour the flesh of many people. It represented the Persian kings who were Cyrus, Cambyses II, Darius 1,2&3, Xerxes 1, and Artaxerxes. The Persian princes were known to be extremely cruel. Bears are all-devouring animals. The bear raised itself up on one side showing its domination on one side with the Medes on the other side. (They were the shoulders of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed about.) The Medes were an ancient people who lived on the lower side of Babylonia and were passive people. The Persians were a modern tribe that came from the upper side of Babylonia. They were much more aggressive. They were both roused from rest to conquer. The three ribs represented Egypt, Lydia, and Babylon which were all seized by the Mede-Persian kings. The next beast was like a leopard which had four birds’ wings on its back and four heads. Great authority was given to this beast. A leopard is smaller than a lion, swift, cruel and untamed, who springs suddenly at its prey. It is also spotted. This beast represented Alexander the Great. He was a small king of a small kingdom named Macedon. He attacked Darius when he was king of a huge empire. In 12 years he captured part of Europe, and all of Asia with very little fighting. It had four wings to show how fast it conquered its foes. Its spots represented its cunningness and other scattered nations that it conquered. The first three beasts take up a few centuries but the fourth kingdom would take up thousands of years. It would represent Messiah’s Kingdom. Of the fourth beast, no animal was given to describe it. The forth kingdom was the Roman Empire. It was fiercer than all the other kingdoms. In Nebuchadnezzar’s statue it was the feet of clay and iron. It had ten horns representing kingdoms into which Rome will be divided into when the Antichrist comes. One of these kings or horns will oppose God and have the haughty spirit of the world. He will become the Antichrist. He will rise up three and a half years before Christ’s return. He will be well aware of what he is doing in opposing God. He will be intelligent. Antiochus Epiphanes from Greece was a picture of the Antichrist who produced the first modern civilization. He will be crafty and try to look like a Christian only to defy everything about God. He will offer the things Christ offers (miracles, healings, power, etc.) without the cross. It was everything that Satan offered Jesus when he tempted him. As Daniel continued to watch he saw thrones placed for judgment. God is the Judge and he will judge the Antichrist and all his power will be taken away and given to the holy people of God. This kingdom of God’s will last forever and all rulers will obey him. Peter proclaimed that he worships the king who existed from the beginning and he saw with his own eyes and is the Word of life. He was with the Eternal Father and they actually got to see him. Jesus told them that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all so to have fellowship with God, we have to live in the light. We have all come from darkness but now can walk in the light with Jesus. Lord, may we walk with you in the light and not be deceived by the world’s light. You are the true light and in You there is no darkness. Thank you for your everlasting kingdom.

Tues.’s Devo - The Lion’s Den

Read: Daniel 6:1-28; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Psalm 119:129-152; Provers 28:21-22 When Darius took the kingdom he decided to divide it up into 120 provinces and to appoint officers to rule each province. He chose Daniel and two others to administer his personal interests. Daniel soon proved himself to be greater than the others so Darius was planning to put Daniel over his entire empire. The other officers were jealous of Daniel and met to plan his fall. They examined all his dealings to find something to find fault with and couldn’t find anything. Daniel was honest and conscientious in everything he did. The only thing they could use against him was his religion. They went to Darius with their plot. They used flattery to make Darius proclaim that for the next thirty days any one who prayed to anyone except to Darius would be thrown into the den of lions. They had it signed and sealed so it couldn’t be revoked. Daniel heard of the decree and didn’t change anything he was doing. He went home and opened the window like before and knelt and prayed to God. The officials went to his house and found him praying and went straight to the king to tell him. They reminded him of his law and the consequence he had signed. Darius was caught in their trap and couldn’t come up with a plan to save Daniel though he sincerely wanted to. He thought about it all day but that night they pressured him to carry out his promise. Darius gave the command to arrest Daniel. When they took him to the lion’s den, Darius told him that he prayed that his God would rescue him. Darius spent the night praying and fasting. Early the next morning, Darius ran to the lion’s den and called down to Daniel asking him if his God would able to rescue him. Daniel answered that God had sent angels to shut the lion’s mouth and God had found him innocent. He also had not wronged the king. Darius was overjoyed and ordered Daniel to be taken out of the den. The men who had maliciously accused Daniel were then thrown into the lion’s den and were torn apart by the lions before they hit the floor. Darius made a proclamation that everyone in his kingdom should fear the god of Daniel. He is the living God who will never die and his kingdom will never end. Daniel prospered during Darius’ reign and through Cyrus’ reign. Peter sent a second letter to his churches scattered across the land into Asia. He wrote to stimulate them towards holiness and remind them of what the prophet had said about the Lord and what Jesus had taught his disciples. In the last days there will be those who mock the truth and follow after their own desires. They will mock us for still believing that Christ will come agains since he hadn’t come yet. At creation, God had called the earth to come forth out of water, then surrounded it with water. He used the water to destroy the earth. In the same way he will destroy the ungodly people by fire along with the earth and the heavens. As far as the Lord coming back, a day is as a thousand years and vice versa. When Jesus said that these were the last days he meant that these were the last thousands of years. He is giving man a long time to repent and choose life, over destruction. He has promised us a world filled with God’s righteousness. Peter’s warning was so that none of them fall into the category of the ones judged for destruction. Lord, thank you for your wonderful promises. We look forward to a world filled with your righteousness.

Mon.’s Devo - The Writing on the Wall

Read:Daniel 5:1-31; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Psalm 119:113-128; Proverbs 28:19-20 Years after Nebuchadnezzar died Belshazzar became king. He held a great feast, and to impress his guests he ordered the gold cups to be brought to him which were taken from the Temple of Jerusalem. They drank from them as they praised their idols. Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the wall near the lamp stand. The king was so frightened his knee knocked. He called for his enchanters, astrologers and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He told them that whoever could read the words and tell him what it meant would be dressed in purple robes and given a gold chain for his neck. He would become the third highest ruler in the kingdom. None of them could read it. The queen mother heard what was going on and came running to tell Belshazzar that she knew someone who could tell him what it said and meant. She told him of Daniel who was famous during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign for having the wisdom of the gods. He was filled with divine knowledge and understanding and he could interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Daniel was brought in and told the problem and what the reward would be. He told the king that he could keep his reward but he would tell him what the words meant. He reminded him of Nebuchadnezzar and what he had to go through to be humbled by God, yet he, Belshazzar had not humbled himself. He had brought in the gold cups of God’s Temple and drank from them while he worshiped his idols. The words on the wall were “Mene” which means “numbered”; “Tekel” which means “weighed”; “Parsin” which means “divided.” The interpretation was that the days of his reign had been measured and this was the end. He had been weighed in God’s balance and had not measured up. His kingdom would be divided. Belshazzar rewarded Daniel with everything he had promised then that night, he was killed and Darius, the Mede took over his kingdom. History tells us that Belshazzar was also known as Marduk-sar-uzar which was another name for Baal. In one of these contract tablets, dated in the July after the defeat of the army of Nabonidus, we find him paying tithes for his sister to the temple of the sun-god at Sippara. Nebuchadnezzar had been his grandfather. Peter warned the church that there would be false prophets and false teachers among them. They would cleverly teach destructive heresies and deny Jesus who had bought them with the price of his blood. Their teaching would bring sudden destruction on themselves like what happened to Belshazzar. Their teaching would lead their followers to participate in shameful immorality. They would extort their followers of their money. God has already condemned them long ago when he condemned the angels who came down and taught the people how to sin in Genesis Six. God threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness where they are being held until the day of judgment. This will be the same reward for these teachers. God destroyed the earth through the flood because of the sin produced by their lies. God used the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to show what will happen in the end to those who continue in sin. God is especially hard on those who practice perverted sex and despise authority. The false teachers are like animals who only follow their sinful instincts and have no remorse. They do their sinful acts in broad daylight and disgrace God’s people. Their reward for what they have done will be destruction. They have trained themselves in sin and will reap the blackest darkness. Those who are saved out of that life style are saved only if they stay away and never return. If they do return to a life of sin the will be worse off than before. Lord, may we live according to your Word and discern between good and evil. Thank you for your Word, your Spirit and your Truth.

Sun.’s Devo - God Rules the Kingdoms of the Earth

Read: Daniel 4:1-37; 2 Peter 1:1-21; Psalm 119:97-112; Proverbs 28:17-18 Today we have the speech that Nebuchadnezzar gave his people after he had learned his lesson. It all started with a terrible dream that he knew was foreboding of his kingdom. He first asked the wise men for the interpretation and when they could’t give him an acceptable answer, he called for Daniel. It had been years since Daniel had interpreted his last dream. He told him that he dreamed of a very big tree loaded with fruit. The birds made nests in its branches and the wild animals rested in its shade. All the world was fed by this tree. This was a picture of the Babylonian kingdom which he ruled the whole earth at the time. In his dream, a watcher from heaven was called to cut down the tree, shake off its leaves and scatter his fruit. The wild beasts and the birds would flee, and all that would be left was the stump with its roots in the earth. God would let the stump lie in the grass of the field with the beasts till seven times passed over him. Daniel explained that the root was Nebuchadnezzar. He wold be driven from men to live in the field. He would eat grass like a wild animal for seven years. Then his kingdom would be restored to him and he would know that God rules the world. Daniel then implored the king to turn from his sins and live righteously, shewing mercy to the poor and maybe God would continue to prosper him. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t turn from his sins. Instead, he built a new palace in 15 days. The outer wall of Nebuchadnezzar's new palace spanned six miles with two other walls inside it. There was also had a great tower, and three bronze gates. One year from the time of Daniel’s prophesy, Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his royal palace proclaiming the greatness of his city. He was saying that by his own mighty power, he had built this city and his new palace. Before he could finish his sentence, God spoke from heaven. He told him that he was no longer the ruler of this kingdom. He would be driven to the fields where he would be like a wild animal. He would stay there until he learned that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to whoever He chooses. This happened within the hour! He was put to pasture until his hair grew like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. After seven periods of time, he looked up to heaven and his sanity returned. He was restored to his kingdom and given greater honor than before. He now glorified and honored God as the King of heaven. In Peter, we read that God has given us all we need to live a godly life. Because of his glory and excellence he has given us the promise that we can share in his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption which is caused by human desires. We can add to this great promise: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, patient endurance, godliness, brotherly affection and love for everyone. If this procession of righteousness is our goal, we will never fall away. Jesus had shown Peter that he would not live much longer so he was adamant about reminding them about the truth about Jesus. He had heard GOd’s voice with his own ears on the Mount of Transfiguration. God said, “this is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” Peter experienced God’s words just like the prophets did, so we can trust what they said. We can read in our Psalm that David was determined to keep God’s decrees to the very end. We can make this same choice. Lord, thank you that our power against sin was settled at the cross. We can choose not to follow our worldly desires and choose to follow your Word instead. Thank you for the Holy Spirit that gives us all we need to walk a godly life with power and authority. Thank you for inviting us to be a member of your family and your kingdom.

Sat.’s Devo - The Kingdoms of the World

Read: Daniel 2:24-3:30; 1 Peter 4:7-5:14; Psalm 119:81-96; Proverbs 28:15-16 Daniel went straight to see Arioch whose job it was to execute the wise men of Babylon. He told him that he knew the king’s dream and the interpretation so he was brought before the king. Daniel made it very clear that no man could do what the king had asked but there is a God in heaven who can reveal secrets and he had told Daniel the dream and its interpretation. God wanted him, Nebuchadnezzar to know what was in his heart and what his destiny was. In his dream, he saw a huge statue of a man. The head was made of gold, its chest and arms were made of silver, its belly and thighs were bronze and its legs were iron with feel made of iron and backed clay. A rock cut from a mountain struck the feet of the iron and clay smashing it to bits. The whole statue crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bonze silver and golds. Then the wind blew them away with out a trace, but the rock became a great mountain that covered the whole earth. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that each medal stood for a different kingdom starting from the head down. He was the head of gold. The last kingdom, the rock would be God’s kingdom and it would crush all the other kingdoms into nothingness. It would stand forever. Daniel was promoted to rule over the whole province of Babylon. He appointed Sadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be in charge of all the business affairs of the province of Babylon while Daniel remained in the king’s court. King Nebuchadnezzar’s response to his dream was to build a gold statue of himself. At the dedication he set up the command that whenever the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, apes and other instruments, they were to bow to the ground in worship of the king and his statue. Anyone who refused to bow would be thrown into the fiery furnace. It was reported that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t pay any attention to the sound. They were brought before the king and questioned about it and they had no defense. They would never bow or serve his gods or worship the gold statue he had set up. This made Nebuchadnezzar so furious that he had the furnace turned up 7 time hotter than usual. They bound the three and threw them into the fire. The men that threw them in died because the flames were so hot. As the king watched he saw four men walking in the fire totally dressed and not burning. He called the men out and they came out untouched by the fire. The king proclaimed that there was no god like their god. He promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to an even higher position. We are of that last kingdom that is about to crush the other kingdoms. Jesus is the rock but we are subjects of his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was a man who as the symbol of gold. I see President Trump being like the rock that is crushing the other kingdoms of evil on the earth. Of course, Jesus is the power behind him just as God controls the course of world events like we read yesterday. We are living in a most exciting time. We don’t need to lose hope. Peter reminds us that the end of the world as we know it is coming to an end one day. So we need to pray more earnestly and let God’s love cover a multitude of sins. We have all been given gifts to use to help others. We should not be surprised by the fiery trials that we go through because they help us identify with Christ and his trials. If we share in his sufferings we will surely share in his glory in the end. If we suffer for doing wrong things like murder, theft or hurting people then we will be judged for our actions. If we suffer for our stand with Christ then he will never fail us. Peter appealed to the elders to watch over the flock they were given and to lead by example. The younger were told to be humble and listen to the wisdom of the elderly. If we trust in the Lord, he will restore us and strengthen us and place us on a firm foundation. Lord, thank you for the peace you give us to trust in you and your Word.

Fri.’s Devo - Daniel was Chosen

Read: Daniel 1:1-2:23; 1 Peter 3:8-4:6; Psalm 119:65-80; Proverbs 28:14 Daniel was among the first exiles taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar attacked King Jehoiakim in Judah. God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple and people from the noblest families. Daniel and his friends were in that category. It was the Lord’s plan to preserve certain people and objects from Jerusalem’s Temple since Jerusalem would be burned to the ground. Once the exiles were settled in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar had his chief of staff, Ashpenaz, select the strong, healthy, good-looking men, and test them. He was to find the smartest of them and bring them to the king. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were chosen. They were put through a training period, then, they would then be tested by the king to see if they were worthy of working in his royal palace. They were given food from the king’s menu which defiled Jewish laws. Daniel went to Ashpenaz and asked him if they could eat kosher food instead for 10 days as a test and if they were still healthy, they could continue. He agreed and after the 10 days, he found Daniel and his friends healthier than the rest, so he allowed them to stay on their diet. At the end of their schooling where they learned the language and literature of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar tested them and found Daniel and his three friends to be ten times more capable than his own magicians and enchanters. They were promoted to royal service and continued in that capacity until Cyrus came to be the king. One night during Nebuchadnezzar’s second year of his reign, he had a most disturbing dream. He called in the astrologers, sorcerers, magicians, and enchanters and told them to tell him his dream and what it meant. They begged him to tell them his dream but he refused. He was testing them to see if they really were magicians. He threatened to kill them and burn down their houses if they couldn’t tell him the dream and its interpretation. Daniel was not called to this meeting as he was probably still in training. When Ashpenez came to kill him and his friends, Daniel asked him why they were being killed. When he found out the reason, he went to the king and asked for more time. He was given more time and he and his friends prayed to God for the answer. That night, Daniel saw the dream in a vision and woke up to thank the Lord for hearing his prayer and answering it. He made the statement that God controls the course of world events which is good for us to remember in the light of what is going on in our nation. Daniel was chosen by God to be preserved to be a beacon of his light in a heathen land. He would be used to see into the future of the whole world and bring those mysteries to us. He is an example of how God can protect us in hostile circumstances and give us favor and honor in the presence of our enemies. In Peter, God gives us the secret to enjoying life and being happy. It is to see our tongue from speaking evil and from telling lies. When we are insulted, we should return it with a blessing. If our enemies want to do harm to us we shouldn’t worry or be afraid but instead, we should worship Christ. If we keep our lives pure, they will have no reason to attack us and instead be ashamed. It is better to suffer for going good, than to suffer for doing wrong. Jesus suffered having done nothing wrong, He was killed, then rose from death. He went and preached to the spirits in prison in Sheol under the earth. Then he rose from the dead and went to heaven where he is seated in the place of honor next to God. All the angels, authorities and powers are under his command. We must suffer like Christ did on this earth but we will also be raised like he was into heaven. We will all have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone dead and alive. Those who suffered for Christ will live forever with God. Lord, may we joyfully accept the sufferings of this world to obtain the glory of your kingdom beyond this realm. May we be like Daniel who refused to comply with the world around him but trusted God to make a way for him to remain righteous.

Thurs.’s Devo - God’s Plan for his City

Read: Ezekiel 47:1-48:35; 1 Peter 2:11-3:7; Psalm 119:49-64; Proverbs 28:12-13 The angel brought Ezekiel back to the entrance of the Temple and showed him a stream of living water that flowed from the altar to the east. He was taken down through the waters which got deeper and deeper until it reached the Dead Sea. This was a picture of the plan of God. Jesus died on this altar (figuratively) and his blood flowed down the altar to the world. His gospel spread throughout the earth and brought salvation to the bitter dead people. The Dead Sea where no fish could live because of the salt would be cleansed and teeming with fish. This is all pictures of what will happen when God pours out his Spirit on all flesh. The curse of the earth will be reversed and there will be life everywhere. Even nature will respond to the revival of the hearts of the people. Trees will grow along the sides of the river who bring food and healing to the people. I think of these trees represent people who will cycle through others lives to help them in the area they need healing. The land would be divided by tribes. Joseph which means “double fruit” would be given two shares of the land because his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim were adopted as sons by Judah. The land was apportioned in bands of land. The top band was given to Dan followed by Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim. Reuben, and Judah. All of their strips of land were the same dimensions. South of Judah was the land apportioned for the city which contained the Temple, the priests, and had land on both sides for the prince. Below this area was strips of land for Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun and Gad. The city had 12 gates labeled for the 12 tribes. Each tribe entered the city through their own designated gate. The name of the city was “The Lord is There”. Peter tells us how to live now in our temporary land we call earth. We are to keep away from the worldly desires that wage war against our souls. We live among people who will wrongly accuse us and the way we honorably face these trials will be a testimony to them of the good ness and holiness of God. It pleases God when we patiently endure unjust treatment. God called to do good even if it means suffering as Christ did. He didn’t retaliate or threaten revenge. He left his case in the Lord’s hands who always judges fairly. He took our sins with him on the cross that by his words, we are healed. Peter gives us the example of how wives should submit to their husbands even if it means having patient endurance. This is a place where we can be severely tested especially if our husband does not know the Lord. They will be won over by watching your lives. As women, our concern should not be our outward beauty as much as it should be our inner soul and spirit. A gentle and quiet spirit is what pleases the Lord. We show that we are putting our trust in the Lord when we trust our husbands since they are types of God’s authority. Husbands should honor and love their wives. She is his equal partner in God’s kingdom and he should treat her with equality if he doesn’t want his prayers to be hindered. Lord, help us to focus on our own lives and what you have called us to do, rather than on our spouses and what we think they should do. Give us patience and wisdom in walking through these days of uncertainty with our trust and hope in You. Thank you for the blessings and revivals you have planned for our futures.

Wed.’s Devo - We are God’s Holy Nation

Read: Ezekiel 45:13-46:24; 1 Peter 1:13-2:10; Psalm 119:33-48; Proverbs 28:11 The Temple we are reading about is the last millennium Temple which will be set up with Jesus as the prince and king. Everyone will be required to give the prince a small part of his earnings. For example, the amount to be given is a sixth of an ephah of an homer of wheat. So, if you had 50 gallons of grain, you would take 5 gallons of your 50, and from that 5 gallons you would take a sixth of that. If my math is right it is .16% of the grain, 1% of the olive oil and .5% of the livestock. I wish that was the percentages for our income tax! These will be given to make atonement for the people who brought them. In the first month of the religious calendar the people will bring a young bull to the Temple as a sin offering. The priests will take the blood from this bull and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar and the gateposts at the entrance to the inner courtyard just like Moses told the children of Israel to do the night of the death angel. The blood applied to the doors will purify the people as they enter, from every sin they might have done through error or ignorance. On the 14th of that month they will celebrate the Passover with the prince providing the bull for his own sin and the sin of the people. He will offer a sacrifice every day for 7 days. The prince will repeat this at the Feast fo Tabernacles seven months later. The east gateway of the inner courtyard will be closed during the six work days but opened on the Sabbath and on the days of new moon celebrations. The prince will enter this gateway and stand by the gatepost while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. The prince will bow down in worship inside the gateway and he will leave the way he came. The people will bow down and worship outside this gateway in front of it, but never enter it. On the Sabbath day, the prince will present the offerings to the Lord. He will leave the way he entered, but the people will always leave a different way than the one they came in. On the special feasts and festivals, the people are to bring a basket of flour with each bull and a basket of flour with each ram. The amount is up to the generosity of the giver. The prince will use these offering to offer sacrifices every morning. The prince can give gifts to his sons which are permanent. But, if the prince gives a gift to a servant then it returns to the prince at the Year of Jubilee which is every fiftieth year. Romans 11:29 says that God’s gifts and callings are without repentance or irrevocable. When God gives a gift to one of his children who are saved then they are permanent, but gifts are also given to sinners and these gifts will die with their soul. We will use our earthly gifts in God’s new kingdom. First Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action and to exercise self-control. We are to put our hope in Jesus, not in government or people. We are to be holy in everything we do because God is holy. We will live eternally as God’s people. We don’t stumble as the heathen, but we are God’s chosen people. We are royal priests, part of God’s holy nation and we can show others the goodness of God because he called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Lord, help us to live as your holy people. May we offer our lives as sacrifices for your kingdom.

Tues.’s Devo - The Allotment for the Priests

Read: Ezekiel 44:1-45:12; 1 Peter 1:1-12; Psalm 119:17-32; Proverbs 28:8-10 Yesterday we read where the Spirit of God entered into the Temple by way of the eastern gate. God commended that their gate would remain closed and never be opened again because He had passed through it. Only the prince was allowed to sit inside this gateway to feast in the presence of the Lord, but he had to come and go through the entry room or porch of the gateway. God rebuked them for bringing uncircumcised foreigners into his sanctuary and paying them to take charge of his sanctuary. God’s law says that only those circumcised and have surrendered themselves to the Lord can come into his Temple. The Levites who had turned away from the Lord to worship idols must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness. They may still be guards and gatekeepers and help in the slaughtering of the animals brought for burnt offerings and help the people but that was all. They may not approach the Lord and minister as priests. They may not touch any of my holy things. The sons of Zadok remained faithful to the Lord so they would continue to minister to him. When they ministered as priests they were not to wear any wool, only linen. The wool would cause them to sweat. When they finished and returned to the outer courtyard, they must take their clothes off and leave them in the sacred rooms and put on other clothes so that the holiness of their clothes didn’t transfer to the people. They were to keep their hair trimmed and not drink wine before entering the inner courtyard. They had to choose wives from among the virgins of Israel or the widows of the priests. They were not to mix the holy with the unclean. The priests were not to have property or possessions of common land because God was to be their special possession. Everything they had was to come from the offerings of the people. The priest would have land around the Temple where they would build their homes. Around the priest’s land would be a section set apart for anyone who wants to live there. Two special sections will be set apart for the prince. One section will border with the sacred land of the east and the other land would be on the border of the west. In this way, the prince will have his own land and not be able to take the people’s land from them. God also set liquid and dry measurements so that there would be no more cheating. All of this is happening right now as God is cleaning out all the old system and giving us new government, new money, new laws and new leadership. God’s holiness will be honored on the earth once again. We are God’s holy priests if we have committed our lives to him and we minister to God and to the people. God will always take care of us and provide for our needs. We have no need to worry or fear. Peter wrote a letter to the churches in Pontus, Galtia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bitynia. In his letter he reminded them and us that God, by his Spirit has made us holy. Christ’s blood cleansed us and God continues to give us grace and mercy. We now live with great expectation because we have a priceless inheritance that is kept in heaven. Our final salvation will be revealed in the last day for all to see. Our trials will last for a while and test us as gold is tested that we may show that our faith is genuine. We trust in what we cannot see but our reward will be worth the wait and all the trials of this world. The prophets told of the salvation and the suffering we would endure but they couldn’t comprehend it. They are now watching from heaven as their prophecies unfold through us. Even the angels are eagerly watching also. We really do have a cloud of witnesses cheering us on like Hebrews 12 talks about. Lord, may we do our part in this great story of yours. May we see that our lives are nothing but an offering to you. May we know how to offer it to you in a way it furthers the Kingdom of God.

Mon.’s Devo - The Buildings and the Altar

Read: Ezekiel 42:1-43:27; James 5:1-20; Psalm 119:1-16; Proverbs 28:6-7 Ezekiel was shown the buildings of the Temple. They were constructed to make a huge square with the courtyard in the middle where the altar stood. Three stories of buildings outlined the inner courtyard. Each side consisted of rooms with a hallway in the middle and rooms on both sides of the hallway. The inner rooms were used by the priests to eat the sacrifices and store the grain, sin and guilt offerings. Before the priests left their duties, they had to take off their holy clothes and put on other clothes to meet the public. Ezekiel was then taken to the east gateway where he heard the Lord coming like the roar of rushing waters and the whole landscape shone with his glory. Ezekiel fell flat on the ground and the glory of the Lord entered into the eastern gateway. This was the sound when the Holy Spirit came into his Church by way of the disciples in the book of Acts on the Day of Pentecost. The basic law of the Temple was complete holiness. God had exact measurements for everything about his Temple. The altar was huge. It measured 21 feet square and was 7 feet tall. Its hearth was another 7 feet tall. I don’t pretend to understand all of this but it is a mystery that God will reveal more and more as the time gets closer to the end. Since this is a futuristic Temple, it is not lookin forward to Jesus sacrifice but commemorating it. It seems that these rituals are to be done to remember what Christ did for us. James condemned the rich who got their money by extortion and murder. They will have a day of reckoning where they will face the consequences of their sins. James encourages the saints to have patience and remember Job. In all his suffering, he waited and trusted in the Lord. God blessed his end with kindness and mercy and he will do the same for us. God has an answer for everything we are going through and it all boils down to trust and faith in our creator. Our prayers are powerfully effective. God uses our prayers to speak what he wants proclaimed on the earth. When we pray God’s prayers we are participating with God to bring his kingdom in heaven down to earth. Lord, we pray down peace in our nations, deliverance from evil and the evil one and freedom from tyrannical leaders who want nothing good for us. We declare your righteousness in our government and in our courts. May your kingdom come!

Sun.’s Devo - Humility

Read: Ezekiel 40:28-41:26; James 4:1-17; Psalm 118:19-29; Proverbs 28:3-5 Today’s reading was a lot of measures and numbers which have meaning, but the thing I noticed was what was on the walls of all the rooms. There were carings of cherubim with two faces. A palm tree was between the cherubim with one face looking toward a tree and the other facing the tree on the other side. Everything about the temple was to remind them of the Garden of Eden. The carvings reminded them that there were two trees in the Garden and man had to choose between the trees. They chose the one that brought death so sin entered into the world. Every day we have a choice of which tree we are going to eat from. We can eat of the tree of life or the tree of death. It is interesting that in this Temple, the wood was not covered in gold. The exposed wood represented the temple in its unglorified state. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit but have not changed to our glorified state. Jesus looked totally different when he came back in his glorified state. To me, this temple shows the greatness of the influence of the Church but its humanity and humility also. The Temple of the New Covenant will be one of grace, not self-righteousness. In James, he tells us that our quarrels come from our evil desires that war within us. We have to war against wanting what this world has to offer. To be friends with the world makes us an enemy of God. James gives us the answer to how to please God and that is to be humble. The devil is the one who wants us to be proud and judgmental. When we criticize each other, we are really criticizing and judging God’s law. James ends with saying it is sin to know what we ought to do and then not do it. That is something to ponder. Lord, may we listen to your Holy Spirit and do what you tell us to do. May we have your heart and your mind and see from your perspective about people, the world and our own lives.

Sat.’s Devo - Measuring the Temple

Read: Ezekiel 39:1-40:27; James 2:18-3:18; Psalm 118:1-18; Proverbs 28:2 God told Ezekiel to prophesy against Gog, the Lord’s enemy. Yesterday we read that God would draw them back with a hook of six teeth (Eze. 38:22). These six teeth are the six plagues he would bring on them: pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone. In Ezekiel’s time Gog was Egypt and their leader was Antiochus. He came to his death when he left Egypt to fight against Palestine. He was a type of the Anti-Christ in the end of days. He and his men would die in the mountains of Israel and be fed to the vultures and the wild animals Fire and brimstone would rain down on Magog and all their allies. The people of Israel would burn their weapons as fuel for seven years while they cleaned up the land. There were so many dead corpses in the valley it would take seven months to bury the bodies and cleanse the land. It will be a great victory for the people of Israel. The birds and the wild animals were called to the valley to eat the bodies of the dead in what Revelation calls the “Feast of Leviathan”. In the end, while this is going on, the saints will be at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. God will pour out his Spirit on his people. On the Day of Atonement, the twenty-fifth year of Israel’s captivity, fourteen years after Jerusalem fell, Got took Ezekiel in the Spirit to the land of Israel and set him down on a very high mountain. He was taken to a city where he met a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside the gateway entrance. He was holding a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod. He told Ezekiel to pay close attention to everything he was going to show him and then return to the people and tell them every detail. A wall completely surrounded the Temple area. It was as thick as it was tall. The area given was so much larger than the Temple area in real life that it would be a literal impossibility unless the typography was changed. The measures were mostly taken from the human body. The greater cubit was the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, a little more than two feet: exceeding the ordinary cubit (from the elbow to the wrist) by an hand-breadth, that is, twenty-one inches in all. The palm was the full breadth of the hand, three and a half inches. When you think about the fact that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it makes you wonder. Nothing of the old temple was left remaining. He was brought to the eastern gate where the presence of God left through and would return through. This temple would be so much more glorious than any of the Temples ever built because Haggai 2:9 tells us that the latter house will be greater than the former house. This will be the place where God will give his people peace. In Hebrews, we are told that faith has to be experienced and tried by our actions to be called faith. Abraham proved his faith by offering Isaac. Rahab proved her faith by putting her life on the line and hiding the Hebrew spies. We will be tested many times to prove our faith by the way we respond. We are warned that not many people can be teachers. They are responsible for the things that come out of their mouths because their students are affected by them. James tells us that no one can tame the tongue. He explains the harm the tongue can have and also the power it can do for good. We are given a description of God’s wisdom. It is pure, peace loving, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and it bears the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. If we plant the seeds of peace we will reap a harvest of righteousness. Lord, may our lives bring glory to your kingdom today. We pray for wisdom to walk in truth and love.

Fri.’s Devo - The Valley of Dry Bones

Read: Ezekiel 37:1-38:23; James 1:19-2:17; Psalm 117:1-2; Proverbs 28:1 God took Ezekiel in the spirit to a valley filled with dried bones and led him around among the bones. He asked Ezekiel if these bones could live again. Ezekiel told God that He was the only one who knew the answer to that. God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones and tell them to listen to what God says. He was to tell the bones that God was going to put breath into them and they were going to live again. As Ezekiel spoke, the bones started rattling as they came together and made complete skeletons. Muscles and flesh formed over the bones then skin appeared. Then, Ezekiel was told to speak to the wind and tell it to breath into the bones. He did, and life came into the bodies and they stood up and made a great army. God explained that these bones represented the people of Israel who had become like old dried bones. They had lost their hope. God told Ezekiel to tell them that He would open the graves of the exiles and cause them to rise again. They would return to Israel and God would put his Spirit in them and they would live. Later, another message come to Ezekiel to take a piece of wood and carve the words: “this represents Judah and its allied tribes.” Then he was to take another piece and carve “this represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.” He was to hold them together in his hand as one because they would return home as one nation. One king would rule over them and no longer would they be divided into two kingdoms. They would never pollute themselves with idols or vile images and rebellion. God would cleanse them and they would be his people. David would be their king and they would obey God’s regulations. They would live in the land for generations under a covenant of peace. God’s Temple would be among them forever. Another message came concerning the last war against Gog and Magog, joined by Persia, Ethiopia, Libya and Gomer and all their allies. They would swoop down on the land of Israel while Israel will be enjoying peace after their years of exile. While the whole world is watching, God will display his power and holiness. In his fury, God will turn their swords against each other and punish Israel’s enemies with disease and bloodshed. He will send rain, hailstones, fire and burning sulfur and make himself known to all the nations of the world. They will know that he is God. We will have types of this happening on the earth but ultimately this is talking about the time of the last millennium when Jesus will be king. After the thousand years of peace, God will release Satan from the pit and he will come with a vengeance to attack God’s people and his kingdom. Satan will gather his army against God’s people but God will win this war for us. In James, we are told to listen patiently and not get quickly angered. Our anger doesn’t allow us to produce God’s righteousness. God is the one who will avenge our enemies for us; we are to love them. God’s Word is like a mirror that we have to constantly look at as our example of what we want to look like. Pure and genuine religion makes us care for orphans and widows in distress and refuses to let the world corrupt us. We are not to discriminate against people who are poor because some of them are rich in faith. To favor some people over others is a sin. If we choose to live by the law then we are not allowed to break one law, but if we choose to live by the law that sets you free, you must learn to have mercy. The way you show mercy is the way mercy will be give to us. Our faith causes us to produce good works. Lord, help us to have mercy on those who need mercy. May our hearts love others as you love us. Thank you for your salvation and your steadfast love.

Thurs.’s Devo - For God’s Name

Read: Ezekiel 35:1-36:38; James 1:1-18; Psalm 116:1-19; Proverbs 27:23-27 God told Ezekiel to prophecy against the people of Mt. Seir. These were the descendants of Esau, the son of Isaac who despised his birthright and lost his blessing to his brother Jacob. Seir represents all the people who were enemies of God and his people everywhere throughout the ages. Their eternal hatred for God’s people led them to butcher them when they were helpless and God had already punished them of their sins. God would make them desolate forever and their cities would never be rebuilt Then Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the mountains of Israel which would represent the leaders of Israel. They had been taken by surrounding nations but God would bring shame to those nations that took them. The mountains of Israel would once again be Israel’s. They would be prosperous. Their people would grow and their ruined cities would be rebuilt and be filled with people. The people said of Israel that she was a nation that devoured their own people and robbed them of their children but they would not be mocked again. They had defiled their own land by the evil way they had lived. They polluted it with murder and the worship of idols. God scattered them to other nations because the shamed his holy name. God would bring them back, not because they deserved it but because of his own name. God promised to wash their sins away and give them a new heart and put a new spirit in them. They will want to follow my decrees and obey my regulations. They will repopulate and one day be like the Garden of Eden. All the nations will know that this is the Lord that did this. James was the brother of Jesus who didn’t become a believer until Jesus died. He became a bishop in the church in Jerusalem. He wrote to all the churches this letter that became the book of James. He was martyred a year after he wrote this at Passover, 69 years to the date of when Jesus died. He was taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and questioned for this faith then thrown off the Temple roof and stoned by the Pharisees. So when he tells us to endure trials, he was putting his life on it. James tells us to count our trials as joy because they are a test to produce patience in us. If we lack wisdom all we have to do is ask for it from God. He will liberally give it to us. Our faith needs to be strong and unwavering and we need to rejoice in where God puts us in life. Life is fleeting but our faith is eternal. James explained that they were Christ’s first fruits because they were the first followers of Him. As followers and examples of Christ they were to hear the truth and live it. They were to examine their own souls and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse their thoughts and their speech. They were to help the orphans and widows and keep themselves unspotted from the world. Lord, help us to be like James who finished strong and counted his life as an offering to the Lord and whose reward awaited him in heaven. May we live for eternity. May we bring honor to your name.

Wed.’s Devo - The Watchmen

Read: Ezekiel 33:1-34:31; Hebrews 13:1-25; Psalm 115:1-18; Proverbs 27:21-22 God said that when an army is coming against the people, the people of the land are to choose a watchman to see when the enemy is coming and sound the alarm to warn the people. If the people refuse to take refuge, then it is not the watchman’s fault. But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm, then what happens to the people is his fault because he was suppose to warn them. Ezekiel was the watchman that God had selected to warn the people that the enemy was coming and they needed to repent or they would die in their sins. It was very simple. God didn’t want any of his people to die, but the choice was theirs. Righteous living would bring them life and sin lead to death. On the fifth day of the tenth month of the twelfth year, the word came from Jerusalem that the city had fallen. God told Ezekiel what the people were saying back in Jerusalem. They believed that if Abraham, being only one man gained possession of the entire land then surely they being many would be able to keep it. God asked them how they thought they deserved it since they were murderers, idolaters and adulterers. Their fate would be either death by the sword, wild animals, or disease. They had chosen death by their lifestyle. God told Ezekiel what the people were saying about him behind closed doors. They acted like they wanted to hear what he had to say, but had no intention of doing it. They spoke of lust and money. Ezekiel was entertainment to them. God had a message to the shepherds and leaders of Israel. They should have been the ones teaching them God’s laws and encouraging them to worship the Lord, but instead they preyed on the sheep and let them starve physically and spiritually. They only looked after themselves. Now God would hold them responsible for what happened to the people. To the people, the flock, God said he would judge them individually, separating the sheep from the goats. He would made a covenant of peace with the sheep and shower them with blessings in every way. They would have bumper crops, they would live in safely and they would no longer be a prey to other nations. They would know that they were God’s people and He was their god. Hebrews encourages us to love others as we love ourselves and treat people the way we want to be treated. We are to honor marriage and leave judging to God who sees everything. God is our source of supply, not money. We are to follow the example of good leaders and not be attracted by strange new ideas - God has not changed. Our example in life, death and worship is Jesus. He showed us how to die, how to live and how to please God. We are to obey our spiritual leaders whose job is to watch over our souls. They have to give an account over our souls like Ezekiel was responsible as a watchman over Israel’s soul. We should pray for our leaders like Paul asked for. We pray that their conscience is clear and that they live honorable in everything they do. May the God of peace equip us with all we need for doing his will. May he produce in us, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to God forever and ever!

Tues.’s Devo - Egypt’s End

Read: Ezekiel 31:1-32:32; Hebrews 12:14-29; Psalm 113:1-114:8; Proverbs 27:18-20 On the first day of the third month of the 11th year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, God gave Ezekiel a message for the Pharaoh of Egypt and all his horde. He likened Egypt’s kingdom to a great cedar tree in the midst of the earth. Egypt had become the greatest kingdom on the earth and towered over all the other kingdoms. Egypt was full of wealth and wickedness which made her arrogant and proud. God was ready to destroy her because of her evil. She would be brought down to the pit with all the other evil nations. Seven months later to the day, God spoke again to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Egypt saw herself as a lion, but God saw her as a sea monster stirring up mud with her feet. God would catch her in his net and haul her out of the water and leave her stranded on the land to die. She would be eaten by the wild animals. People all over the earth would hear of her downfall and be amazed and shudder in fear for their lives. God would use the sword of the king of Babylon to do this. He would shatter Egypt’s pride and destroy its hordes. Fifteen days later, Ezekiel received another word from God about Egypt. They would be sent to the world below to lie in company of the many other evil people who lived in the pit. The ones in the pit will mockingly welcome’s Egypt and their allies when they come. Elam was also going to end up in the pit to share the shame of those who had died before them. Meshech and Tubal would also join them in the pit. Edom is in the pit with its kings and princes also with the Sidonians and the princes of the north. In Hebrews we are told to work at living at peace with everyone and live a holy life. He speaks to two mountains: Mt. Sinai and Mt. Zion. The people of the Old Testament came to Mt. Sinai and saw the flaming fire and hear the loud trumpet false which scared them. Mt. Zion is the mountain of the New Testament and it is our destination. It is the city of God and the heavenly Jerusalem where countless thousands of angels are meeting in a joyful gathering. Only those whose names are written in heaven will come there. Jesus mediated a new covenant with us and God and sprinkled his blood for us which speaks of forgiveness not vengeance. We are being offered an unshakable kingdom if we obey the terms of the covenant. Lord, thank you for leaving the best for last. Help us to enter into your gates with thanksgiving and into your courts with praise.

Mon.’s Devo - Egypt’s Fall

Read: Ezekiel 29:1-30:26; Hebrews 11:32-12:13; Psalm 112:1-10; Proverbs 27:17 This word came to Ezekiel in the 10th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, the 12th day of the 10th month. God told Ezekiel to face Egypt and prophesy against the Pharaoh. Egypt had successfully taken Gaza and Sidon and also Phoenicia and Palestine. He had recovered much of what Nebuchadnezzar had taken from him in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. Pharaoh had become so proud after all his successes that he said not even a god could deprive him of his kingdom. God took up that challenge and showed him who was God. Ezekiel compared him to a sea monster that God was going to catch with a hook and bring on dry ground. He would die in the wilderness. This was to show that his people would be displaced to a distant land where they would die. God would bring a powerful army against Egypt to destroy her. Egypt’s Pharaoh had boasted that the Nile was his, but God made it; it was his. The cities of Egypt would be completely uninhabited for 40 years and its people scattered to other nations. At the end of the 40 years, God would bring them home again and restore their prosperity but it would remain an unimportant minor kingdom and never rise above their neighbors. Israel would never be tempted to trust in Egypt again for help. The judgment on Egypt was the beginning of a world-wide judgment on all the heathen enemies of God. On the first day of the first month of the 27th year God spoke to Ezekiel again. He commended Nebuchadnezzar for being his instrument of punishment against Tyre. They had caused much damage to her city yet they had brought away no plunder for all their effort so God would pay them by giving them the land of Egypt for their pay. On the seventh day of the first month in the 11th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, God spoke about Egypt and its Pharaoh. He gave him the picture of Egypt and a broken arm. This referred to the defeat brought by the Chaldeans when they tried to besiege Jerusalem. His other army of power would be broken depriving him of making war. All of this was to make Egypt know who was the Lord of all. Hebrews completed its list of faithful followers of God who did great exploits and won great battles. Then he told of others who were tortured and didn’t end up victorious in this life, but they placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Both groups earned a good reputation in heaven because of their faith. They didn’t receive perfection on the earth because God had a better plan. He didn’t want them to reach perfection without us. Now, they are our witnesses in heaven cheering us on to finish the race that they started. To run well, we have to strip off every weight that slows us down. We can do this by keeping our eyes of Jesus, our champion. He initiates and perfects our faith. He went before us to show us how to endure shame in this world to be exalted in the next. God disciplines us as his beloved children. We should welcome his discipline and conform to his ways because he only wants good for us. Lord, we choose to keep our eyes on you. You are the one running ahead of us. Help us not to let the distractions of our lives derail us or slow us down. We welcome your discipline and wisdom.

Sun.’s Devo - Tyre and Sidon

Read: Ezekiel 27:1-28:26; Hebrews 11:17-31; Psalm 111:1-10; Proverbs 27:15-16 God told Ezekiel to sing a funeral song to Tyre, that mighty gateway to the sea, the trading center of the world. The word “Tyre” means to “distress”. There were two parts of the city. The Old Tyre was built on a Rock a half mile out to sea. The New Tyre was on land. Ships came from all over the world to trade everything from ivory tusks of elephants to wine and white wool. Tyre exported silver, iron, tin, lead, purple dye, embroidery, fine linen and jewelry. God compared Old Tyre to a ship that was going to sink. Shalmaneser, who was helped by the Phonecians besieged Tyre for five years. Then in B.C. 586-573, Nebuchadnezzar besieged it for 13 years without success. It finally fell to Alexander the Great after being sieged for only 7 months. It continued it commercial trade until the Christian era. In A.D. 1291 it was taken by the Saracens and has remained a ruin ever since. The way I see it is that the first 10 verses of Chapter 28 deals with the “prince of Tyre” which was the physical king of Tyre and the verses after that deal with the spiritual prince of Tyre who is a picture of Lucifer in Genesis. The physical leader of Tyre was Ithobal or Ithbaal II whose name implies his connection to Baal who was their supreme god. He claimed to sit on his earthly rock in the midst of the sea like God sits on his throne in heaven. This leader was a type of the king of Babylon and the Antichrist. The island of Tyre was called “the holy island” and the colonies looked to Tyre as the mother city of their religion and politics. The army that would come against them would not see them as a holy city but as a city to be conquered. The would not see the leader as a god but as a man to be killed. Lucifer was one of God’s archangels along with Gabriel and Michael. Lucifer was in the garden of Eden clothed in every precious stone. He was the might guardian who had access to God’s holy mountain and walked among the stones of fire. Evil was found in him because of his pride and was banished from the mountain of God and the stones of fire. He, like the king of Tyre was filled with pride and his wisdom was corrupted by his love of splendor. He was destroyed by fire which will be his fate in the end. He will be thrown in a lake of fire. The city of Sidon was 20 miles north of Tyre. Both were cities of wealth and prosperity. Sidon was in the land of Asher but was never subdued by the Israelites. It became a thorn in Israel’s side and when Solomon came to rule, Sidon shared its idolatrous worship of Ashtorah with Solomon bringing shame and judgment upon Israel. God would send a plague against Sidon to punish her for what she did to Israel. The people of Israel would one day live in their land again to reveal to the world the holiness of God. In Hebrews we continue God’s list of the faithful. Abraham had been told that Isaac was the child that his descendants would be counted through. But by faith, he offered Isaac reasoning that God would raise Isaac from the dead. By faith Jacob in his old age, blessed each one of his sons prophesying their future. Joseph was the youngest of his sons who would preserve the family line. He knew that their lineage would one day leave Egypt and go to their promised land in Canaan so he made them promise to take his bones and bury them there. This was a precursor of the redemption of God’s people through Jesus. It was God’s promise that he would not leave us in bondage to sin but deliver us through salvation. Moses, another type of Jesus led the people out of Egypt teaching them the principle of the cross through the act of the Passover. These men and women played their role as types that would teach us about God’s ways many years later. How important it is to live your lives for the Lord because we are all living epistles. Lord, may we live our lives not only for the here and now but for those who will come after us.

Sat.’s Devo - By Faith

Read: Ezekiel 24:1-26:21; Hebrews 11:1-16; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 27:14 God told Ezekiel to write down the date of that day because on that very day, Babylon was beginning his attack against Jerusalem and they would soon find this out. Jerusalem had boasted of being in an iron caldron because of how safe they were, but God was saying that the caldron was going to be set on fire and they would be the meat in the pot. They had so much corruption in their city that it couldn’t be cleaned out, it would have to be burned out. Jerusalem was a city of murderers. Later, God said that he would take away Jerusalem’s greatest treasure and to illustrate this, God took Ezekiel’s wife in her sleep that night. He was not to mourn her outwardly. This was the same way God would take away the Temple, the source of their pride and delight. Their children who had stayed in Jerusalem would be killed and they would not be allowed to mourn them in Babylon. Survivors from Jerusalem’s fall would come to Babylon and tell them what happened. Then they would realize Ezekiel’s words are true. God had a word for many of the nations who hated Israel. Ammon delighted in hearing Jerusalem’s fall so the would be overran with nomads from the eastern desert. They would take over their land and they would no longer be a recognized nation. The people of Moab would experience the same fate. God would wipe out the people and animals of Edom using the people of Israel. God would take revenge on the Philstines and wipe them out also. Tyre, the gateway to international trade routes would be destroyed by many enemy nations and be reduced to a rock by the sea. It would come to an end by the king of Babylon. All the nations of the seaports would tremble in horror to see the destruction of Tyre. In Hebrews we are given God’s definition of faith: the reality of what we hope for; the evidence of the things we cannot see. We were not there when God created the world but faith gives us the ability to believe it happened just like the Bible says. God gives us specific people to showed us examples of faith. Abel offered the perfect sacrifice as a type of Jesus who offered the perfect sacrifice of himself. It cost Abel his life just as Jesus’ sacrifice cost him his life. Enoch went to heaven without passing through death to get there. He is a picture of those who will one day be taken in the Rapture and not experience death. Noah endured the flood in the ark as a picture of those who will endure the Great Tribulation in a safe ark while the flood of God’s anger is raging all around them. Abraham, the Father of nations was told to go to a land he had never been and it would be his inheritance. God has given us a picture of this new earth he is going to establish in which we will have citizenship in. Sarah believed that God would give her a child when it seemed her time of bearing was way over. She is a picture of long-suffering hope in God’s promises that seem late and impossible. She had been promised a nation with so many people it would be like the stars in the sky. We have been promised a revival of souls that will far surpass any revival the nations have ever seen. All of these people mentioned died before they saw their promise completed but God was faithful in completing it after their death. God’s promises for us are activated when we die to our old man and allow God’s spirit to raise us up to new life. In this new life we experience his promises activated. Lord, thank you for all the promises you have given us. We activate our faith to believe you will complete the good works you have started in us.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Parable

Read: Ezekiel 23:1-49; Hebrews 10:18-39; Psalm 109:1-31; Proverbs 27:13 God gave Ezekiel a parable to share with the people of Israel and Judah. In the parable there were two sisters: Oholah who stood for Israel and Oholibah who represented Judah. Oholah was the older sister and both became prostitutes at a young age. Oholah was attracted to men of Assyria so God turned Israel over to her Assyrian idols who she defiled herself with. They stripped her and took her children as slaves, then killed her. Ohlibah followed her example with the Assyrians but then saw pictures of the Babylonian soldiers and lusted after them. She soon prostituted herself with them, thus Judah worshipped the idols of the Babylonians. God would punish Judah by sending her lovers against her. They would rob her and leave her with nothing just like what happened to Israel. God told Ezekiel to proclaim their sins and declare what will happen to them. Their enemies would come to terrorize and plunder them putting an end to their spiritual prostitution. Hebrews tells us that once sin has been forgiven, we no longer need another sacrifice for sin. Jesus did this on the cross. Now, we can boldly come into God’s presence rejoicing because he has cleansed our bodies and our consciences with his pure water. To keep strong in our hope we need to encourage others to acts of love and good works. If we do what Oholah and Oholibah did after we have know Christ and his love then we will experience God’s judgment but if we keep our eyes on Jesus and our hearts pure, we will see the salvation of our Lord. Thank you Lord, that in just a little while we will see your coming. We are your faithful ones, who will endure till the end. Thank you for your grace to believe.

Thur.’s Devo - God’s New Order

Read: Ezekiel 21:1-22:31; Hebrews 10:1-17; Psalm 108:1-13; Provers 27:12 God told Ezekiel to stand and face Jerusalem and prophesy. God was about to unsheath his sword and destroy Jerusalem’s people, the righteous and the wicked. God would do this three times. The first time would be when he took Zedekiah to Babylon, the second time was when Jerusalem was taken, and the third was when those who remained were removed under Gedaliah. God had Ezekiel make a map and trace out two routes for Babylon’s king to follow. He was to place a sign on the road at the place where it forked. One road went to Ammon, and its capital, Rabah, and the other went to Judah and Jerusalem. He would cast lots and Jerusalem would fall in his right hand. He would choose to go with battering rams against the gates of Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s day of reckoning was here. The old order was about to change and the lowly would be exalted and the mighty brought down. It would not be restored until the righteous judge, Jesus appeared. The other road led to Ammon and God had something to say to them. They would be judged also. They would be utterly wiped out and their memory lost to history. Chapter 22 turned back to Jerusalem, “that city of murderers”. They were being condemned not only for murder, but also idolatry. Their leaders treated fathers and mothers with contempt, charged foreigners for protection, wronged and oppressed the orphans and widows, despised God’s holy things and violated his Sabbath days of rest. The people falsely accused others, sending them to their death and sexually abused women. They extorted money from the and there was no justice. The priests defiled God’s holy things and had no discernment about good and evil. The leaders destroyed people’s lives for money and the prophets covered up for them with lying predictions. Even the common people oppressed the poor, robbed the needy and deprived foreigners of justice. (Sounds like America.) God had looked for someone to stand in the gap for the nation but could find no one so they would receive the full penalty for their sins. Ezekiel prophesied a change in the old order and Hebrews did too. The old order of sacrificing over and over again while not cleansing the people of their sin was over. It would be replaced with an order that would take away their sins once and for all. God cancelled the old order to put in the new when Jesus offered his body as a sacrifice. Christ has taken the place of honor at God’s right hand where he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. Now his laws are written on our hearts and our minds. God chooses to forget our sins. How wonderful is that?!!! Lord, thank you for the new covenant that is so much better than the old. As we watch the old guard taken down in our nation and in our churches, may righteous government and holy worship be restored. May we be a nation who honors you in heart, word, and deed.

Wed.’s Devo- God’s Message

Read: Ezekiel 20:1-49; Hebrews 9:11-28; Psalm 107:1-43; Proverbs 27:11 In the seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, the fifth month and the tenth day, the leaders came to Ezekiel to ask them what God was saying. They waited till God gave Ezekiel a message. God did have a message for them. He reminded them that He was the one who delivered them from Egypt’s oppression and brought them out and gave them a new land. When they were living in Egypt, he had sent messengers to tell them to rid themselves of the idols of Egypt or his fury would be poured out on them. God brought his people out of Egypt and into he wilderness where he could teach them his laws and the way he wanted them to worship him. He gave them his sabbaths which would be a sign between God and them. But they rebelled against him in the wilderness and wouldn’t follow his rules and they polluted his sabbaths. He wanted to pour out his anger and kill them in the wilderness but for his name sake, he spared them by giving the land to their children. The parents all died in the wilderness. The children then did the same thing and worshipped other gods. For God’s name’s sake, he didn’t want his name to be polluted in the sight of the heathen so he allowed them to live and be scattered throughout the nations. God gave them over to their idols and allowed them to make their firstborn pass through the fire. How different was this from the day he delivered their firstborn from the death angel and the heathen lost their first-born in Egypt. Egypt mourned over the loss of their first-born while Israel freely gave their first-born to foreign gods. How perverse things had gotten. The name of the place they worshipped their foreign gods was called Bamah where we get the name O-Bama. Ezekiel asked the leaders why they would continue to worship these abominable gods and then come and ask him to inquire of God, who they had abandoned. They had argued that they wanted to be like the nations around them who served idols of wood and stone, but God said that He would not allow it. He would discipline them with his strong iron fist and bring them back to him. He would hold them to the covenant that they made with him and take them back to the wilderness where he would judge them face to face. There they would be examined and held to the terms of the covenant. They would be purged and brought out of the countries they were held in exile, but they would not be allowed to return to their own land of Israel. One day, when their ancestors were brought back to their land, they would they would know that He was their Lord. God would have mercy on them even though they didn’t deserve it. God told Ezekiel to turn toward the south to the brush lands of the Negev and prophesy that it would burn with fire. The leaders told Ezekiel that he spoke in riddles. He had made it plain as day, but their minds were so deceived they couldn’t understand. They had eyes but couldn’t see and ears but couldn’t hear. Hebrews tells us that when Jesus died, he became our High Priest in heaven. He entered the Holy of Holies in heaven with his own blood and secured our redemption forever. The old covenant could only cleanse a person’s body, but the blood of Christ purified our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the Lord. His blood set us free from the penalty of sin. Christ offered his body the first time to bear our sins but when he comes again he will remove all sin and bring salvation. Lord, we earnestly look forward to that day. May we be strong during these final days and not forsake your covenant or your Words. You have the Words of life.

Tues.’s Devo - God’s Funeral Song to Judah

Read: Ezekiel 18:1-19:14; Hebrews 9:1-10; Psalm 106:32-48; Provers 27:10 God had much to say about the fact that the sinner would pay for his own sins, not his children. And, the sinner that turned from his sin would receive life. The righteous person who turned from his righteousness and chose to sin would end in death and judgement. It was how you ended up at the end of your life that determined your reward after death. If they didn’t think that was fair then they needed to be the one to change. It was their decision. Chapter 19 was a funeral song for the kings of Judah. It begins speaking about Jehoiachin’s mother as if she embodied Judea. She has a son named Jehoahaz with her husband Josiah. Jehoahaz was pompous and taken to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho. He was succeeded by his son, Jehoiakim who was “another of her cubs”. He was as reckless and ruthless as his father and was attacked by the Chaldeans, the Syrians, Moab and Ammon. He was eventually taken to Babylon. Judah was also likened to a vine which was the chief fruit-bearer of the trees. She became a powerful and prosperous nation in the land. Her sins would lead God to pour out his fury on her and she would be uprooted to the wilderness and her fruit devoured. This would happen in Zedekiah’s reign. In Hebrews, the old system was described with rooms and furniture for their rituals. The presence of God was reserved to a special room in the back of the Tabernacle and only the high priest could enter that room once a year. It was separated from the other room with a curtain. The room in front of it was only to be entered into by priests. The people stood in the outer court. That was the old covenant rules. Nothing the priest did could cleanse the consciences of the people. The purpose of that system was to point to their sin and a need for a savior. It was only in effect until a better system could be established. Jesus would bring that new covenant and at his death the curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place would be rent so that all who wanted could enter into God’s presence. Lord, may we not take lightly the fact that we can enter into your presence at will. May we enter into your gates with praise and adoration, bringing our sacrifice of praise to You.

Mon.’s Devo - The Eagles

Read: Ezekiel 16:42-17:24; Hebrews 8:1-13; Psalm 106:13-31; Proverbs 27:7-9 Ezekiel continued his message to Jerusalem. She would be be fully repaid for all her sins before God’s fury would subside. God gave them a parable, making Samaria Jerusalem’s older sister and Sodom her younger sister. Samaria symbolized the ten tribes to the north that worshiped the two golden calves Jeroboam had set up when the nation split after Solomon’s reign. Sodom stood for the people of Ammon and Edom who were descendants of Lot thus of Abraham. Both Samaria and Sodom were places where their relatives lived. Jerusalem’s sins had surpassed both of them. Judah was held to a greater standard of responsibility because they had the Temple, the priests and the symbolic presence of God (the ark) and they turned away and worshipped detestable idols who required lewd and detestable acts in their worship. They required human sacrifices especially that of children. They had broken their covenant with God and made covenants with these other gods who had no power except the power they gave them. God gave Ezekiel a riddle to give to the people. This prophecy was given between the sixth month of Zedekiah's sixth year of reign and the fifth month of the seventh year after the carrying away of Jehoiachin,. This was five years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He compared kings to eagles. The great eagle was Babylon’s supreme god, Nisroch who was pictured as a great eagle. Nebuchadnezzar would be his representation on earth. This great eagle came to Lebanon which was another name for Jerusalem, the mountain of the Lord. Lebanon was known for its cedars. This eagle, Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, the highest branch and exiled him and all the leaders of Jerusalem to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar took a seed from Judah’s own ground, Zedekiah, to be the king over the people who were left in Jerusalem. Zedekiah was ungrateful to Babylon even though they allowed Judah to have a measure of prosperity and power over their own land. The arrogant pride of Zedekiah caused him to break his treaty with Babylon and hire the Egyptians, the other eagle to help them fight the Babylonians. God would cut off its fruit and let its leaves wither and die. It would be pulled up easily without a strong arm or a large army and transplanted. In other words, it would not take a large army to defeat Judah and exile them to Babylon. The remainder who stayed in Judah would die in the same good soil where they had grown so well. Ezekiel gave the riddle to the people, then he explained its meaning just in case they didn’t understand. None of this had happened yet so he was telling them exactly the way things were about to unfold. He added what will happen in the end. God would take a branch from the top of a tall cedar and plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. It would become a majestic cedar, sending its branches and producing seed. He was speaking of the Messiah who would one day come and bring new life to his people and all the people of the world that chose to find shelter in his shade. Hebrews summed up the priesthood of earth and heaven. The priesthood on earth was a type and picture of the priesthood in heaven. God had shown this heavenly priesthood to Moses and he made a pattern of it when he built the Tabernacle. Jesus now acts as the High Priest in the Temple in heaven. His priesthood is far superior to the priesthood on earth. Jesus mediated for us a far better covenant with God that has better promises. The laws of the new covenant are written on our hearts so that we can all know the Lord. God thank you for your new covenant with us. Thank you, Jesus for being our faithful High Priest who mediated for us a better covenant. May we live on the words written in our hearts and serve you without hesitation or distraction.

Sun.’s Devo - A Better Covenant

Read: Ezekiel 14:12-16:41; Hebrews 7:18-28; Psalms 106:1-12; Proverbs 27:4-6 God gave Ezekiel a hypothetical situation. If the people of a country sinned against him and he cut off their food supply, or sent wild animals to invade their country and kill them, or brought war from enemy armies, or sent an epidemic to kill the people and animals, even if Noah, Daniel or Job were alive, they would only be able to save themselves. Noah, Daniel and Job were three men who had remained faithful to the Lord their whole lifetime. Their righteousness would not save their children, but only themselves. He was looking ahead to the day where salvation would be personal. Then God said that all these four situations would fall upon Jerusalem and yet there would be survivors who would come and join them in Babylon. When they arrived, Ezekiel and the rest of the exiles would see how wicked they are and understand why God had to punish them as he did. God asked Ezekiel to consider the difference between a vine and a tree. A vine was good for nothing but to make a fire and even then, it burned too quickly. But a tree was useful to make many things and also good for burning. The people of Jerusalem were like the vine - good for nothing so God was tossing them in the fire. God told Ezekiel to confront the people of Israel and remind them of their history. They started from nothing and it was God who raised them up, blessed them with wealth and riches and made them a nation. They chose to prostitute themselves with enemy nations who did not serve the Lord but served idols and foreign gods. They chose to worship the gods of their enemies and became more wicked than the nations God delivered them from. Because they chose other gods, God would gather all their allies and enemies together and strip Israel naked before them so they can see their demise. They would be punished for their murder and adultery and turned over to the nations who they had made their lovers. These nations would destroy them. In Hebrews God explained that the old priesthood, Aaron’s priesthood was weak and useless and never made anything perfect. But we have a new covenant and a new system that was sealed with God’s oath. In the new covenant, Jesus was made our high priest forever. His new covenant is a better covenant with God. Jesus is eternal so his priesthood saves us forever from sin. He continually makes intercession for us. The priests of Aaron were limited by human weakness but Jesus is perfect and unlimited. He is our High Priest forever. Lord, thank you for your covenant of grace and mercy. May we choose to worship You alone. Thank you for praying for us and being our high priest who loves us and saves us from death.

Sat.’s Devo - No Delay

Read: Ezekiel 12:1-14:11; Hebrews 7:1-17; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 27:3 God told Ezekiel what he was up against. He was sent to people that refused to see or hear the truth but it was still his job to tell them and show them. God told him to pretend he was going into exile and do everything a person would do to go into exile. He was to pack a bag and take his luggage with him on a march. He was to dig whole through the wall and escape through the wall. He was to cover his face so he couldn’t see the land he was leaving. He was to do this in daylight so all could see what he was doing. Then the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and he told them that what he did contained the message for king Zedekiah and the people. Zedekiah would leave Jerusalem through a hole in the night but be captured and taken to Babylon but he would never see Babylon. That was a riddle in itself. Everything happened as he saw it. Zedekiah was caught trying to escape through a hole in the wall and his eyes were gouged out before he reached Babylon so he went there but never saw it. His warriors would be scattered among the nations but a few would be spared and allowed to live. Next, Ezekiel was to tremble while he ate his food and shake as he drank his water to show the people that the fear that they were about to suffer would make them do these things. The people had a saying “Time passes, and prophecies come to nothing” but God was going to put an end to that saying. It would be replaced with “The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled!” There would be no more delay in what God said would happen. The false prophets would be banished from the community and their names blotted out from Israel’s record books. The would never again set foot in their own land. They had built a flimsy wall and white-washed it to keep them safe. It would all come down in God’s fury. Their words had been like this wall - fake and unable to save them. Jesus told the Pharisees that they were like white-washed walls because of their hypocrisy. God cursed the women who enticed people with their magic and charms. He told the people to turn from their sins and their idols. God was tired of them worshipping their idols then coming to the prophet for advise. God would make them an example by eliminating them from his people. In Hebrews we read about Melchizedek, whose name means “king of justice.” He was God’s High Priest in heaven. He manifested on earth to rule over a city called Salem which meant “king of peace”. He was a type of Jesus who was not subject to the law. Melchizedek was a priest before the law and Abraham gave tithes to him. The law gave the priesthood on earth to Aaron and his sons. The new covenant gave the priesthood to Jesus. The priests in the law died, but Melchizedek never died and Jesus who had a priesthood in his order didn’t die either. Jesus’ priesthood would never die. Lord, thank you that we serve a High Priest who ever lives and prays for us. Thank you for giving your life as the final sacrifice for our sins. May we live in righteousness and love.

Fri.’s Devo - The Presence of the Lord Leaves Jerusalem

Read: Ezekiel 10:1-11:25; Hebrews 6:1-20: Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 27:1-2 Ezekiel was in Babylon when he had his visions. The Spirit of God would take him back to Jerusalem to show him what was happening there. He would give his messages to the people in Jerusalem and the people in Babylon. Today, Ezekiel met the four cherubim and followed them on their path out of Jerusalem. They started at the south end of the Temple where they met the man in linen again. He entered the Temple at the south end and the inner courtyard was filled with God’s glory. He then walked to the entrance of the Temple where he was told to take some coals from between the wheels of the cherubim. He took the coals and went out. The cherubim flew to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple and showed Ezekiel what was going on there. Twenty-five of the prominent men of the city were plotting evil wicked counsel to the city. Two of these men mentioned by name were Jaazaniah and Pelatiah. They were telling the people to build houses because the city was like an iron pot. They were as safe as meat in the pot. God told Ezekiel to prophesy against these words. The city was like an iron pot but the meat were all the victims of their injustice. They would soon be drug from the pot and the sword they so greatly feared would drive them out of Jerusalem and hand them over to foreigners who would carry out God’s judgments against them. They would be killed by the sword. While Ezekiel was telling them this, Pelatiah suddenly died. Pelatiah means “God’s way of escape”. Dying would be their only way of escape from the Babylonians. Ezekiel fell on the ground praying for the people in Israel. He asked God if he was going to kill everyone in Israel. God explained that the people in Jerusalem were saying that the people that had been taken to exile were the ones who were far from the Lord, and God had given them the city. They had it completely upside down. God told Ezekiel to tell the ones in exile in Babylon that they were the ones that God would bless and bring them back to the city one day. They would have a new heart to worship him and they would rid the land of all the detestable idols that were now in Jerusalem. The glory of the Lord then lifted and left the city and stoped above the mount to the east which was the Mount of Olives. It then carried Ezekiel back to Babylon. The Mount of Olives was where Jesus stood and wept over Jerusalem. He took his disciples here to pray the night he was arrested and from this mountain, he ascended back into heaven. It was definitely a portal to heaven. In Hebrews God wants us to go beyond salvation in our understanding of who he is and his ways. He wants us to understand that it is impossible to bring someone back to repentance if they have once known and experienced the goodness of the Lord, and then chosen to turn away from Him. That man’s heart is the soil that brings forth thorns and thistles. The ground that soaks up God’s rain and bears a good crop is the one who received God’s blessing and his Word and continued in it. The writer doesn’t believe that thorns is what we are destined for. His desire for us is that we keep on loving others and endure in our faith. God’s promise to us is that he would bless us and multiply our descendants. God has bound his goodness to us with a promise and his oath. He is our high Priest who leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Thank you Lord, that you don’t deny your presence from us but invite us into your inner sanctuary and allow us to join us to work with you in the world. May we bring honor to your name.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Mark of God

Read: Ezekiel 7:1-9:11; Hebrews 5:1-14; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 26:28 Ezekiel prophesied their destruction. There was no hope left. God’s fury was going to be released and none of the proud and wicked would survive. All their wealth and power would be swept away and none of them would recover. On the sixth month of the sixth year (of Jehoiachin’s exile) and the fifth day, Ezekiel was at his own house and the elders of Judah sat before him. Ezekiel was taken by the spirit and suspended between heaven and earth and shown evil done in secret by the elders of the nation. Toward the north, Ezekiel was shown the grove where Astarte was worshiped. It was set up by Manasseh as a rival to Jehovah in his temple. It was the Syrian version of Venus which was worshipped with all types of sexual acts. She was called the “queen of heaven” and wife of Baal. What Ezekiel saw could have been scenes of the successive portions of the festival that honored Tammuz but were definite proof of their idolatry. Ezekiel was taken from the north gate beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, then to the door of the Temple courtyard where he was shown a hidden doorway and told to go in. He was shown what the 70 priests were doing in a secret room. They were offering incense to a foreign god. He was taken back to the north gate of God’s Temple and shown women weeping for Tammuz. He was led into the inner courtyard of God’s Temple and at the entrance to the sanctuary there were about 25 men facing east bowing to the ground worshiping the sun. They had turned their backs to the sanctuary just as they had turned their hearts from God. God then summoned the six men he had appointed to punish the city. They were to bring their weapons and appear at the upper gate that faced north. A man dressed in linen who carried a writer’s case was with them. He went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar. The Presence of the Lord that resided in the Ark between the angels moved to the entrance of the Temple. We are witnessing the Spirit of God leaving the Temple. God told the man in linen to walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who wept and sighed because of the sins being committed in their city. He told the six armed men to follow the man in linen and kill everyone who was not marked on the forehead and to show no mercy. He was to kill all of them no matter their age or gender. They began with the seventy leaders. Ezekiel fell on his face crying out to the Lord for the people. God explained how the land was full of murder and the city filled with injustice. They had bragged that God didn’t see them, but this was God’s response. The man in linen returned to say that the job was finished. Hebrews explains the job of the high priest. He is to have compassion and atone for the sins of the people because he is a sinner also and understands their fight against sin. He must offer sacrifices for his own sins first, then the sins of the people. A high priest must be called by God like Aaron and like Jesus. When Jesus was on earth he prayed with earnest for the people of the world. As a man, he learned to obey through the things he suffered. This qualified him as a perfect High Priest and the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. God designated him the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. There was so much more he wanted to teach them but the people were still babies in their faith and hadn’t trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Lord, may we be discerning and mature. May we worship you alone. We acknowledge the sin of our nation. We have murdered the innocent and slandered justice. We pray for forgiveness and your cleansing to wash away our sins. May your Spirit prevail in America. Thank you for your mark of salvation that is upon our foreheads and on our hearts.

Wed.’s Devo - The Watchman

Read: Ezekiel 3:6-6:14; Hebrews 4:1-16; Psalm 104:24-35; Proverbs 26:27 Ezekiel had been guided by the Spirit to Tel-Abib, the chief town of the Jewish colony of captives. Yesterday we left him sitting on the ground trying to process seeing the cherubim that had manifested before him. After seven days, the Lord gave him a message. He was to be a watchman for Israel. He was to receive messages from the Lord for them and if he gave them immediately, then he was released from any consequence, but if he didn’t give the message then the warning of his message would fall on him and he would reap the consequences. Ezekiel had been with the first group of captives taken and Jerusalem was still standing. He was sent to the Kedar River where God showed him to demonstrate a siege that was coming against Jerusalem. He was to bear the sins of Israel by lying on his left side for 390 days - one day for each year of their sin. Then he was to lie on his right side 40 days for the 40 years of Judah’s sin. God would tie him with ropes as he lay looking at the siege he had built. He would eat the barley cakes he had baked with human dung as fuel to show how they would eat their own flesh and blood to survive. Ezekiel begged to use cow dung instead and he allowed it. Next, Ezekiel was to use his own hair and a map of Jerusalem to illustrate what would happen to the people. He divided the hair into three parts with a little remaining which would be used to demonstrate what would happen to the people. One third of them would be burned in the middle of Jerusalem. God had placed Jerusalem in the center of the nations to be an example of how he loved his people and how he wanted to be worshipped. They failed and rebelled against him choosing the gods of the nations around them rather than their creator and God. One third would be chopped with the sword. These were the ones who would die outside the city walls slaughtered by the enemy. One third would be driven by the sword and scattered. These would be the ones who would be taken in exile to other nations until they remember their God and return with all their hearts. The small remnant was thrown into the fire that spread to destroy all of Israel. Disease would strike down those people while they were in exile. Instead of being an example to the other nations of how God blesses his people, they would become an example to the nations of how God disciplines his children. In Hebrews, God makes it clear that his rest is an experience we are invited to have. It was offered to the children of Israel but they didn’t enter into it because they didn’t have faith. God was our example. He rested on the seventh day from all his labor and we are invited into this rest also. The way we do that is by hearing his voice and not hardening our hearts or disobeying him. Since Jesus is our High Priest, he is our mediator. We can go to him for mercy and grace to help us enter into his rest. Lord, we come to you boldly because you made a way for us to enter into the throne room of God and petition our needs. We need your rest and your peace. Help us experience your rest and obey your every command. May we be an example to the nations of a people who obey and worship You as the creator and foundation of our faith.

Tues.’s Devo - God’s Commission

Read: Ezekiel 1:1-3:15; Hebrews 3:1-19; Psalm 104:1-23; Provers 26:24-25 Ezekiel was taken to Babylon with King Jehoiachin with the first wave of exiles. His prophecies began five years later. Ezekiel’s name means “God will Prevail” or “God will Strengthen”. He prophesied where Jeremiah left off. Ezekiel’s father was a priest making him one also. He was 30 years old when he began giving God’s messages and prophesied for 22 years. The people wanted to return to their land but Ezekiel explained that they must first return to their God. Where Jeremiah spoke against Babylon and its fall, Ezekiel spoke to God’s people only. Ezekiel saw wonderful scenes from heaven of extraordinary creatures and beings like Daniel would see and tell us about. Today, we read about his calling to speak for the Lord and his first vision of the four living creatures. It began with a storm coming from the north. Could this be synonymous with the Persians who would come from the north and conquer Babylon one day? Only, this wasn’t Persians he saw coming in a cloud, but four creatures who were like humans with extra heads and wings riding on giant wheels with a smaller wheel inside. The four beasts represented many things. They stood for the kingdoms of the earth: Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome (Da 7:1-28). The Fathers identified them with the four Gospels: Matthew the lion, Mark the ox, Luke the man, John the eagle. Two of these creatures were said to have guarded the gates to Eden and two cherubim stood over the ark in the temple. These same creatures were carved on the columns of Solomon’s Temple, but to see them come to life had to be an awesome sight. They were aflame with something like electricity flowing back and forth among them. The spirit of the beings was in the wheels that were covered with eyes and determined the direction the beings moved. Above them was the crystal floor of heaven and a voice came from the throne that sat on the crystal floor. God in all his glory was seated on the throne. Ezekiel fell on his face when he saw Him. The voice told him to stand and listen to what he had to say. He commissioned him to speak to the rebellious nation of Israel. Ezekiel was given a scroll that was covered on both sides with the words he was to say. It was filled with funeral songs, words of sorrow and pronouncements of doom. He was to eat the scroll so it would be inside him. He was warned that they wouldn’t listen to his words but he was to give them anyway. They would be a testimony against them. When he returned to his senses he was so overwhelmed, he sat in silence for seven days. Hebrews tells us that Jesus was also God’s messenger and his High Priest. Jesus was faithful to the house of Israel just like Moses was but was worthy of so much more honor than Moses. Moses was a servant of God but Jesus was his son. Jesus was the builder of the house and we are the house. He warned them not to be like the children of Israel who saw God’s hand move in signs and wonders and still rebelled. They had seen Jesus move in signs and wonders also, so he didn’t want them to make the same mistake. He wanted them to enter into the rest that he had prepared for the followers of Moses, only they chose not to enter. Lord, there remains a rest for your people and we pray that we would find it in you. You are the only source of peace. You are our refuge and hope. We praise and honor your today.