November 17, Reading Notes

Ezekiel 35-36

Ezekiel 35

In restoring Israel and bringing them to a place of blessing, God will take away their reproach and their enemies. Of all Jerusalem's neighbors, no one showed the level of hatred that Edom did.

Vs. 5-6 Notice the word "because" in both of these verses. This is one of the reasons God is not happy. There is one more reason in a few verses, also introduced by a "because."

Notice how often God says, "you shall know that I am the Lord."

Ezekiel 36

Vs. 1-15 You may remember that God had Ezekiel prophesy to the mountains in chapter 6. For the renewed people of Israel, the mountains will be a place of blessing instead of judgment.

V. 5 Notice how God refers back to the past chapter in explaining why His judgment is so hot.

Vs. 16-32 In this second part of the message, God declares why He will bless them. If you underline the word "name" you'll figure this out. Romans 2:24 mentions this. Also, in Daniel 9, Daniel utters one of the best prayers in the Bible, absolutely stellar (and probably what he was praying in chapter six of Daniel), and God's concern here was also Daniel's concern there.

Vs. 24-32 This is clearly millennial blessing. Notice the steps in this. First, the Lord will gather them from all nations. Some think this will happen during the first three years of the tribulation when the nation of Israel will be at peace. Verse 26 is the second step. There was a partial fulfillment of this on the day of Pentecost. Peter mentioned that the prophesy in Joel was fulfilled in the coming of the Spirit, but there, like here, it is only a partial fulfillment of what will happen to the entire nation. Apparently there will be some blast of recognition so that the nation (the majority of the people) will understand that Jesus is the Messiah. They will need that to begin to fulfill their destiny during the tribulation. Verse 28 will be fulfilled after the tribulation with Jesus ruling the world from Jerusalem.

Vs. 33-38 This promise of blessing ties the two parts of the chapter together. What an amazing blessing, and it will be the hope of every believing Jew during the tribulation. I think that as disciples, this promise for them gives us hope and perspective too. After all, we have been blessed with the first fruits of that blessing: salvation and the Holy Spirit.

James 1:1-18

"Everybody loves Romans. Nobody loves James." At least that was sort of the motto during the Reformation. This letter was written by James, the brother of Jesus, who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. It is very likely the very first letter written, and it went out to the Christian Jews who were scattered throughout the Roman empire, but, some think, particularly to the east of Israel. Why to Jewish Christians? During the birth of the church at Pentecost, the city was full of Jewish pilgrims from all nations. During those days and weeks, the city swelled from the few thousand who lived there, to over 25,000 people. During that time there was a great harvest in the city. The numbers mentioned in Acts 2 and Acts 4 suggest that 8,000 men came to faith, besides women, and more people were being added to the church every day. When these people left Jerusalem, there was a need for teaching and follow up. We know of what happened north and west of Israel, but many of these people returned to their homes in the east. It is thought that some of the apostles went east to work with these people. The ministry to Jewish converts everywhere, and to those in the eastern lands of the Roman empire, was the focus of James' letter.

Vs. 1-4 It is interesting to me that the benefits of trials is mentioned right at the beginning. Paul waits until chapter 5 in Romans. A new view of trials is inherent to a new view of life on this planet once we've been born in Christ.

Vs. 5-8 This is best seen in the context of the trials. The double-minded man is what we've just seen in Hebrews. Either God has spoken in Jesus or He hasn't. If a man straddles a fence he gets hurt. It's that simple.

Vs. 9-11 Position in life might be one of those things that makes trials hard to bear. The poor need to rejoice that the message of the gospel was meant for them. The rich are not better off spiritually because they have resources.

Vs. 12 This is a summary declaration of the benefit of enduring trials.

Vs. 13-15 When a person falls in times of trial and trouble, it is not God who lured them into a fall. The mechanism is already within us. God allows trials to test us and reveal what is within, but He doesn't lure us in to sinning. Hard times do funny things to all of us.

Vs. 16-18 In trials, as new creatures in Christ, as the first fruits of His salvation, we look for blessings, not on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, but from the Father, who never varies in His love and approval of us as He sees us in Christ. Trials have a way of making us think we are under punishment from God. It is in those times of trial that we are able to appreciate very subtle and quiet gifts He gives us that become more meaningful than stuff, including an I-Pad, or a new car, or etc….

Psalm 116

This is a beautiful psalm/song of being delivered. I found a song on line that sounded great, but it had a lot of words. Without the lyrics, I could only understand a little of it. So, I found something very simple that expresses the heart of this psalm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7lFYvJHi8k&feature=related

Proverbs 27:23-27

Especially here in the west, we are unconsciously ruled by our resources, our wealth. How different are Jesus' words to the disciples, "say….give us each day our daily bread." The Lord has put what we need before us and if we maintain and "honor" Him in it, we will never lack what we need, spiritually, physically or emotionally.

If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.” 

I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.

If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.

I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.

Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it. Send comment or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.