PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

Ezekiel is commanded to do a number of things and given a number of challenges as he is to go out and do God’s bidding.  He is first commanded to eat the scroll that the Lord gives to him.  I would interpret that as eating the word of God.  This should remind us of Jeremiah’s calling in chapter 1:9 where we read: “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.”  So Ezekiel also has the word of God put in his mouth at the very beginning of his ministry.

We will find Ezekiel a few times in a valley, and this is one time where he goes and is caught up in the whirlwind that is a part of God’s presence and as a result he has to rest for 7 days before he can catch his breath again.  It is in this valley where Ezekiel receives the Spirit of God.  You will find later probably what I consider the most powerful verses of Ezekiel, about 20 chapters later, that describe the Holy Spirit in a way that is very interactive and present.  Ezekiel could be called the prophet of the Holy Spirit.  I like it.  I just thought of that.

Ezekiel is then bound by cords because God does not want him to wander among the unfaithful of Israel.  But when God speaks again to him then he will be freed to perform the duties that God has placed upon him.  Sometimes God binds us so that we are limited until we find ourselves experienced enough, or full enough of the Holy Spirit to be able to do the work of God.  

We find that Ezekiel the prophet is on the ground because of the image that he saw which caused him to “fall on his face.”  God speaks to him directly and sends him out to the people of Israel.  Now, what I would love for you to do is substitute the word United States in vs.3.  Here is how it would read: “Mortal, I am sending you to the people of the United States, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day.  The descendants are impudent and stubborn…”  He is commanded to say to them that God is still speaking in their midst.  That is pretty daunting.

He tells them not to be afraid of them, he is commanded to speak the words of God and not to be dismayed at their looks.  He is commanded to speak God’s words whether they listen or not.  But as far as Ezekiel is concerned, he is not to be rebellious like the people that he is sent to minister to are rebellious.  He is to hold fast to whom he is in the sight of God.  God then hands him a scroll.

I don’t know about you, but I find this extremely empowering and powerful.  God sends us out to speak the Gospel regardless of the result of our speaking.  God calls us to live out the Gospel, regardless of the result of our life.  The responsibility to live and to speak is on us, the responsibility of the results are on God.  What a breath of fresh air that is.

We find ourselves in a new book of the Bible, and the final book for this 100 Day Challenge.  Ezekiel means in Hebrew: “God strengthens”  Think about that as you begin reading this book, because some have seen it as somewhat problematic in that it is not a simple narrative with stories that astound us.  It is much more metaphorical with many examples which had meaning in the centuries in which it was written, but those meanings may have eclipsed their utilities to us now these many years later.  Ezekiel is considered the last of the three major prophets, with the others being Isaiah and Jeremiah (which we just saw).  

Some background on Ezekiel.  He was a refuge living in the camps of Babylon.  Once again, just like Jeremiah, he is writing in the midst of the Babylonian captivity, but at the time later than Jeremiah was living.  Let’s look at chapter 1

We find the calling of Ezekiel who describes himself as a priest, the son of Buzi as he was in the land of the Chaldeans (remember we said earlier that the term Chaldean is synonymous with the term Babylonian).  Babylon was in the north of Israel.  Below you will find a map which I had shared with you before.  It is important to see it and understand the different countries that are represented there.  

This creature which is depicted may not make any sense to you, but let’s try to figure some of its features out.  There is a sense that these creatures depict those who are part of God’s heavenly reign.  They each had faces of living creatures and the creatures are that of a human being, a lion, an ox, an eagle.  See if these figures below rings a bell.  Each of these is in a corner of the basilica in St. Peters in Rome and they represent the four Gospels.  The lion represents Mark, the person represents Matthew, the ox represents Luke and the eagle represents John.  

We find a synopsis of all that has taken place in the Babylonian captivity which is basically identical to the verses which we find in II Kings 24:18-25:21.  If you read that again, as we already have together, it should sound familiar.  Zedekiah is the last king of Judah and his reign ended tragically with his last sight being the death of his children before he had his eyes gouged out.  There were other deportations mentioned into Babylon, which we touched upon in II Kings.

This is also a description of the assured destruction of the temple and the deportation not only of the people but of all the goods and items that were in the temple, probably including the ark of the covenant which Harrison Ford is still searching.  Jehoiachin is mentioned as the king who cozied up to the Babylonians, just like Jeremiah told the people to do, and he was treated as royalty until his death.

There are times that we are called to fight against injustice.  There are also times when we are called to accept our fate because what we are experiencing is a result of our own doing.  There is a necessity to be able to distinguish when we are called to stand up against injustice, and when we are to take our lumps because we deserve what we are getting.  I would guess that being able to distinguish between the two should not be very difficult.  Think about it.  

Israel was disobedient and so God allowed the Babylonians to conquer them.  In our society there should be an opportunity to see those areas where people are historically downtrodden at no fault of their own.  I would define that as an injustice which we ought to stand against.  If we find ourselves in difficult times because of our own poor decisions, we deserve pity, but this is not an injustice.  We are called to rally around all people for all situations and not to pick and choose whom we will have support and whom we will not.  

This ends our time in Jeremiah.  It has been quite a journey, and what I’m hearing from many of you, a difficult one.  I think it is an important one as the people of Israel felt like God had abandoned them in a very difficult time in the life of the nation.  We find ourselves in a difficult time in the life of the nation.  But God has not, and never will, abandon us.  Believe it!

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.  Chapter 51 contains many, many words.  Thy are all directed, once again, to the destruction of Babylon and the reconciliation between God and the people of Israel as a result of that destruction.  A portion of this chapter that really struck me, simply because maybe I have never read it before, is starting at vs.20 where we find the description of God being defined as a “club” that smashes all that which was an enemy to Israel, including horse and its rider, old man and boy, young man and the girl, shepherds and their flocks, farmers and their teams.  Basically, no one in Babylon is innocent and is caught up in the destruction against them simply because they were opposed to Israel.  God as a club has been my favorite metaphor for God…never.

The dénouement finds itself starting in vs.59 where we find the author, Jeremiah, once again with a very tangible metaphor of a scroll which is to be rolled up and thrown into the Euphrates.  The scroll contained the oracle of the destruction of Babylon, and then the prophet is commanded to throw it into the Euphrates with a rock tied to it so that it would sink to the bottom like Babylon was about to sink to the bottom as well.  These were the words of Jeremiah.

Now Jeremiah is seen historically as speaking prophecies both against Israel and Babylon.  Without a doubt he is not seen as an ally of anyone except God.  That is the way it should be.  

So we are seeing a huge transition here from oracles against the nations that were both allies of Israel and her sworn enemies, to now an oracle on how this is all going to end.  Babylon who was responsible for taking Israel into captivity and for conquering all of that region, now we have an oracle on how they are going to be brought to destruction.  There is also a reference to Chaldea in this chapter.  Keep in mind that Chaldea and Babylon are interchangeable, different names for the same nation.  

As a result of the destruction of Babylon, the people of Israel will be able to wander back and inhabit once again the homeland.  The arrogance and defiance of Babylon will directly result into God turning the tables on her and bringing back His people to the promised land.  

Look at vs.44 where we have the image of God as a lion who comes and casts out those who have taken over the lands that the shepherds that God had placed in the land had fled.  Now they are able to inhabit them once again.  There is a Chris Tomlin song that I really like which somewhat speaks to this chapter.  

Let me clarify and make correct what I said about the last chapter.  I said that Moab was Lot’s son, that is not correct.  Go to Genesis 19:30-38 and you see the terrible depiction of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ensuing scene of Lot with his two daughters in a cave.  Not really sermon material, at least, I have chosen not to preach from this Scripture.  You see that each daughter had a child and the oldest grandchild to Lot is Moab and the child born to the youngest daughter is Ammon.  Last chapter we had an oracle against the Moabites, this chapter we have an oracle against the Ammonites.  Throughout this entire book of the Bible we see that no one is immune from the commandments of God.

You will also see that these chapters are pretty exceptionally long so I hope you are able to hang in there and make it through.

A whole chapter, and a long one at that, dedicated to Moab and its impending destruction.  A little something about Moab.  Moab was a city which often was considered part of Israel, which makes sense.  Originally Abraham’s nephew, Lot, had a son and his name was Moab.  It is from that line of people that the Moabites come.  But they over time become enemies of Israel and often we find them in the Bible as a nation bringing destruction down upon Israel.  

But as we read about the impending destruction it ought to strike us how an entire chapter is dedicated to that in Jeremiah.  Jeremiah whose primary, and some would even say sole, responsibility was to lead the people and the leaders of Israel to a closer walk with God.  Why waste your time on Moab?  The answer comes because it was exactly at this time that Moab was overtaken by Babylon just like Israel was.  So Moab which was considered a presence to be dealt with falls hard to Babylon just like the rest of the surrounding countries.

It is a reminder that whenever we think we are immune or that we can somehow escape judgment and failure, we are reminded that the rain falls on both the good and the bad.  We should never take confidence in our status, but rather just in the presence of the Lord.

A short word of the Lord that comes to Jeremiah which he then shares with us in a form of a prophecy.  He describes a scene of rising waters that are coming from the north (vs.2), which would be Babylon, which is geographically located in the north, coming to conquer Egypt and the surrounding nation states.  It is going to be so terrifying, says Jeremiah, that: “Parents do not turn back for their children.”  Can you imagine the fear that has to be produced in order for parents to leave their children behind as they flee the rising tide of people who have come to destroy them?  That is the picture that Jeremiah paints.  Pretty gruesome and tragic.

But that is the situation in which the people of  God have found themselves.  They have so clearly turned their backs on God that this is what is due to them.  There should be no pity shown to them.  There should be no cry for help on anyone’s behalf.  They are getting what they deserve simply because they did not turn to the Lord when they had the chance.  It is an incredibly clear warning to all of us that we ought not live in fear, but live in the very real potential that Christ could come back at any moment and if we find ourselves in a compromised position to our faith, then why would Christ take us up to him?  Don’t let this be an encouragement to live in fear nor that our faith ought to be based on a sense of guilt, but rather there is a reality out there that God is not pleased with our sin.  We ought to live to combat our sin and embrace the kingdom of God.

This chapter contains a lot of place names that are important to know where they are because they really encompass the entirety of Jeremiah’s ministry.  Read this chapter with this map by your side and you will be able to find Babylon, who took the people of God into captivity and you will see where they were taken.  You will see Egypt and where that is and where the rest of the people of God had fled.  It provides a great overview and understanding to what Jeremiah is talking about when he talks about invading nations and people who are either allies or foes.  Keep this map and you will find it useful at least for the time period for when Jeremiah was the prophet of God.   Now, if you are going to read the New Testament it would be an altogether different map.