Daily Notes & Observations is a 365-part series that follows a chronological daily Bible reading schedule and contains a short article based on something found in the text for each day. This material is also available in paperback.

August 28, 2012

"The Lord Does Not See Us" (8/28)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 5-8.

When the people of God sinned with their idols, they justified their actions like many try to justify their sins today – they convinced themselves that God would not notice or pay attention to their sin.

“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, “The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land”‘” (Ezekiel 8:12).

Because God did not do what they thought He should do, they concluded that He had forsaken the land and would not see their acts of idolatry. People today have many ideas about what they think God ought to be doing. When He does not do those things, they reject God. They then act as they please, believing that God will not see their evil deeds. Yet the vision revealed to Ezekiel makes it clear that God does see. Other passages make this point as well:
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August 27, 2012

Whether They Listen or Not (8/27)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 1-4.

During the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel was among the captives when God called him to prophesy. But He warned Ezekiel that this would not be an easy task.

“Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them’” (Ezekiel 2:3-5).

The reason why the people were suffering at this time was because they had been stubborn and rebellious against God. Being taken captive to Babylon did not change their attitude. Yet God sent Ezekiel to them anyway.
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August 26, 2012

Why Should Any Man Complain in View of His Sin? (8/26)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Lamentations 3:37-5:22.

The people of God were suffering rightly for their sins. God gave them His law, showing them what they should do; yet they rebelled against Him. God then sent His prophets to warn them to return or face punishment, yet they refused to listen. They were to blame for their sins and the suffering they were enduring as a result.

Yet man often has a tendency to complain that circumstances that exist in life are not fair. Even when he is suffering for his own actions, he will often complain that his actions did not warrant the consequences he is now facing. Jeremiah warned the people not to have this attitude as they faced God’s punishment for their sins.

“Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord” (Lamentations 3:39-40).

When we sin, we are in no position to complain about the consequences and punishments that come as a result of our sin.
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August 25, 2012

False and Misleading Oracles (8/25)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Lamentations 1:1-3:36.

The book of Lamentations is a lament over the state of God’s people. They had rejected God for so long and departed so far from Him that His patience had run out and He was punishing them for their sins. But how could these people – who should have known better – fall so far? One major factor was the false prophets among them.

“Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions; and they have not exposed your iniquity so as to restore you from captivity, but they have seen for you false and misleading oracles” (Lamentation 2:14).

There were two fundamental problems with the message of these false prophets:
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August 24, 2012

"Neither Israel nor Judah has been Forsaken" (8/24)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 51-52.

Israel had been punished by God at the hand of the Assyrians. Judah had been punished by God at the hand of the Babylonians. At the end of Jeremiah’s prophecy, the Lord told of the coming punishment by God of Babylon at the hand of the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11). In all of this, there was an important point for God’s people to remember:

“For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of hosts, although their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel” (Jeremiah 51:5).

The people of Israel and Judah were God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6). The above passage is talking about God not forsaking a nation as a whole. While we do not live under the same time of collective national identity before God, there are some lessons to be learned.
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August 23, 2012

"The Lord Has Opened His Armory" (8/23)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 49-50.

“‘How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut off and broken! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon, while you  yourself were not aware; you have been found and also seized because you have engaged in conflict against the Lord.’

“The Lord has opened His armory and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation, for it is a work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. Come to her from the farthest border; open up her barns, pile her up like heaps and utterly destroy her, let nothing be left to her. Put all her young bulls to the sword; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment” (Jeremiah 50:23-27).

There are several important lessons we can learn from the prophecy against Babylon:
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August 22, 2012

"Cursed Be the One Who Does the Lord’s Work Negligently" (8/22)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 46-48.

“Cursed be the one who does the Lord’s work negligently, and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10).

Much of the book of Jeremiah focuses on the sins of the people of Judah and their coming judgment at the hands of the Babylonians. Yet Jeremiah indicated that God was going to use the great Babylonian army to punish more than just the inhabitants of Judah. The Babylonians would devastate other nations as well. As these prophecies indicate, this was also the work of God. The verse above can be found in the prophecy against Moab.

Those doing the Lord’s work in this context were the Babylonian soldiers. God was sending them to punish the Moabites. In executing this punishment, the soldiers were not to be negligent of their task, or else God would curse them.
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