Those Who Sigh Over All the Abominations (8/29)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 9-12.

Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, ‘Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.’ Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.‘ But to the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.’ So they started with the elders who were before the temple” (Ezekiel 9:1-6).

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"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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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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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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"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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You Turned Around and Took Them Back (8/16)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 32-34.

Though it was permitted under the Law of Moses, slavery was a practice that was strictly regulated. One of the regulations placed a limit on the amount of time in which one could have a slave work for him. The Lord, through Jeremiah, reminded the people of this instruction and the fact that their forefathers had disobeyed it.

At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me” (Jeremiah 34:14).

Because this instruction had been disregarded, God commanded that “each man should set free his male servant and…his female servant” (Jeremiah 34:9). They obeyed this command and set all of the slaves free (Jeremiah 34:10).  Unfortunately, they quickly turned back to their old ways.
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You Too Have Done Evil and Have Not Listened (8/11)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Jeremiah 14-17.

Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,‘ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor” (Jeremiah 16:10-13).

The people could not understand why God would be punishing them. They had been deceived by the false prophets into thinking they were secure, yet Jeremiah spoke of calamity. They were blind to their own sin, so they challenged Jeremiah’s message. But Jeremiah gave them three reasons why God was sending a great calamity against them.
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