Sun.’s Devo - God’s Roll Calls

Read: Ezekiel 24:1-26:21; Hebrews 11:1-16; Pslam 11-:1-7; Proverbs 27:14 It was the 10th day of the 10th month of the 9th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. God told Ezekiel to write down that date because if was the very day that the king of Babylon would begin attacking Jerusalem. He was to give the exiles the news in an illustration. *** He was to put meat in a pot and boil the meat over intensely hot flames. The meat was to still have the bones in it. Then he was to tell them that the cooking pot represented Jerusalem. The meat was the people and none was to be treated any different than the other. Since they had slashed babies on the rocks for all to see, their bodies would be slashed on the rocks. God called Jerusalem a city of murderers. *** After he had cooked the meat and taken out the pieces he was to bury the bones. Then he was to set the empty pot on the coals and heat it even hotter to burn out the filth but it would be hopeless, just as their sin was. *** God told Ezekiel that he was going to take away his dearest treasure and he was not to openly grieve her death. The next day, his wife died. This would be a sign to them of what was about to happen to them. He was about to take away their joy and glory and their deepest treasure, Jerusalem. He would take away their posterity with it, just as Ezekiel’s posterity was taken from him. *** Then God began his roll call of the nations. Ammon would be destroyed with her capital city, Rabbah because she cheered when God’s Temple was defiled, mocked Israel when she was desolated and laughed at Judah when she went into exile. Her land would be turned into a pasture for camels, sheep and goats. Ammon would no longer be a nation. *** Moab said that Judah was just like all the other nations so the would be handed over to nomads from the east. *** Philistia would be wiped out because they took out revenge upon Judah. ***Tyre rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem because their competition was now gone and they would have a monopoly on the trade. God would destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down its towers. Tyre was an island that had been made a great city. God would strip away its soil and leave it a rock for fishermen to spread their nets. God would bring the army of Babylon against it to first destroy its mainland villages then destroy the island with battering rams. *** Tyre’s riches would be taken and its treasures would be dumped into the sea. It would never be rebuilt. *** In Hebrew, we have a definition of faith. Faith in the Greek is “pistis” which means persuasion, credence, moral conviction of the truthfulness of God, especially reliance upon Christ for salvation. Another definition is assurance. Hebrews says that it is the substance of the things we hope for and the evidence of the things we cannot see. *** God gives us a roll call of the people of the Old Testament that were remembered for their faith. Abel expressed his faith in his offering he gave to the Lord. He was a picture of Jesus who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice. It cost Abel his life also. *** Enoch was translated to heaven by passing death which is the last enemy that Christ will destroy. (1 Co. 15:25-26) *** Noah was told to prepare an ark which would save his family. Another word for “ark” is “box” which was a picture of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant held the Word and the presence of God and his mercy seat. Noah’s ark was a picture of all of this. It saved his family from the wrath of God on sin. *** Abraham as well as Isaac and Jacob were given a land they didn’t know as an inheritance, just like we have been promised in heaven and on earth. *** Sarah who was barren was given the promise that she would have a child. A whole nation came from her and Abraham’s faith. *** All of these people died before what they saw their promise manifested on the earth. Their promised lived on and did manifest on the earth. They saw it from a distance, by faith and rejoiced in it. They lived as strangers on the earth knowing that God had a better plan for them in heaven. *** Lord, may we have the faith that is counted as righteousness and pleases you. Thank you for the people who have gone before us as examples of faith. Thank you most of all for the life of Jesus who was our greatest example of faith.