If you don't
have a One Year Bible or prefer something online, this link will take you to
the day's reading, http://oneyearbibleonline.com/daily-oyb/. This
site allows you to select from several languages and several English
translations.
NOVEMBER 16
Ezekiel 33-34
Chapters
33-38 are a major section of Ezekiel dealing with God's blessing on Israel.
What is interesting is that this section begins with a re-commissioning of
Ezekiel. You can imagine that Ezekiel was tired and felt used up. There is
nothing more thankless than working with stubborn people who blame God for all
their problems, seeing themselves as honest victims. Not only had these been a
very intense seven years, but he had lost his wife, God using her death as a symbol
to the people. Sure, Ezekiel was a great man and had a book of the Bible named
after him, but what a price. I don't think Ezekiel had any problem with the
proverb for today as it applied to the people, but I'll bet he had his days
when he himself felt crushed.
Ezekiel
33
Vs.
1-16 I wonder if Ezekiel knew why his mission to the people as a watchman was
being renewed? God spoke to Ezekiel at the beginning of his ministry, making
him a watchman in 3:17. As you read this, without departing on a guilt trip, this
commissioning is also a part of our commissioning as disciples in the harvest.
Even when Jesus' disciples were rejected, they were still to shake the dust off
of their feet and warn the people of their coming judgment. Sometimes people
respond better to a warning than to flowery words of having a good life, being
empowered and receiving heavenly love. In the West, even unbelievers think God
loves them and they're going to heaven. As the atheist Penn Jillette, of Penn and Teller, has said, how
much do you have to hate a person not to tell them about God's judgment if you
really believe that. The simple gospel that Jesus gave His disciples was that
the kingdom was coming and that people needed to turn from their sins to God.
This message of warning is in that simple presentation of the good news.
V.
11 Notice the grace in this to the people. This section is beginning to set the
foundation for the blessing of God to the nation. There is hope for anyone who
turns to God. God's heart is inclined to them.
Vs.
17-20 This is all very ironic. The people should have known the Lord but
didn't. Now they felt they could judge Him. This is the kind of bitterness and
rationalizing that keeps people from turning to the Lord. They are lost and
blind and they blame God. That is still true today. Everyone blames God for the
mess in the world and sometimes for the mess in their lives. What is
interesting in the first verses of Daniel is that these teens knew that it was
God who had acted against Judah and Jerusalem, and they understood why.
Vs.
21-22 Jerusalem fell on 11.4.9 (the eleventh year in the fourth month on the
ninth day) of Zedekiah's reign. This was a year later. (The German says the
eleventh year and 10th month, or six months later.) Notice that Ezekiel says it
was the 12th year of their exile. Ezekiel's deportation and Zedekiah's reign
began at the same time. It was a long way to walk from Jerusalem to Babylon and
took over four months. And, I'm sure the army didn't begin to bring people back
the next day after they broke into the city. The Babylonians had to tear down
Jerusalem and set up a provisional government. With the travel time, all this
probably took six months to a year. And remember, back then, cell phone
reception was spotty at best.
The
news finally reached Ezekiel and the exiles in Babylon. It had been seven or
eight years since God had struck Ezekiel with this muteness. Now judgment had
struck Jerusalem. This weary prophet was vindicated, but neither he nor the
people had anything to celebrate. It was time for Ezekiel to stand again, and,
as a watchman, begin to point the people to the future as God directed him. But
in directing the people to God's blessing, there would still be judgments to
pronounce and attitudes to correct. I wonder if the false prophets were
suddenly (and finally) out of business.
Vs.
23-29 This is addressed to the remnant with Gedaliah in Jerusalem. We’ve read
about them in Jeremiah 42. God was going to cleanse Israel down to the last
person. The fact that there was still a remnant of people didn't mean God would
rebuild with them. Their analogy with Abraham was silly. He was righteous and
they were very unrighteous. Abraham followed God. They didn't know God at all.
In fact, we saw in Jeremiah how this remnant asked Jeremiah to inquire of God
for them and then accused Jeremiah of lying when he brought them the Lord's
word.
Vs.
30-33 The work of rebuilding the nation would begin with the people in exile.
Ezekiel had become a rock star to them. He was a famous man. That was step one
in God's plan. But they hadn't really turned their hearts toward God. That
would come and they would really understand that a real prophet was among them.
Ezekiel
34
In
blessing Israel, God will give them a great Good Shepherd and a pretty good
under shepherd.
Vs.
1-10 God declares His judgment on the leaders of the people. If you read John
10:1-18, it seems that Jesus must have had this section in Ezekiel in mind when
He spoke those words and declared Himself to be the Good Shepherd. What is also
apparent by Jesus' words is that God's word through Ezekiel hasn't been
fulfilled and is still future. Jesus said that all who came before Him were
thieves and robbers and that the sheep did not heed them. Even with exceptional
men like Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, the normal leaders were still a
disaster. Remember when Nehemiah left and returned, how he found everything in
disarray. Then read the final book of the OT, Malachi, and notice how God takes
the leaders to task for their lack of leadership and devotion to God.
Vs.
11-22 Jesus Himself will be the Shepherd. What a great future promise for
Israel. In this too, Jesus will judge between the sheep. Still, if Jesus is
King over all the nations, who will do the day-to-day over the nation of
Israel?
Vs.
23-24 How about the resurrected shepherd of Israel, David? Obviously this is in
the Millennial Kingdom.
Vs.
25-31 I'll bet this was easier for Ezekiel to preach. I'll bet he felt great
walking home. I'll bet the reality of the present hit him like a hammer when he
walked into that empty house. This would have been the same for all the people
hearing that message. What a great hope for the future, but what an awful,
present situation.
In
the harvest, this is the same for us. We live in many present distresses, yet it
is the truth of God and the life of His Spirit in us that keeps us strong as we
walk in faith. This is why our joy has to be in the Lord, and our hope has to
be in Him and His appearing. This world is not our home, and for many, it isn't
a place of comfort. But, the Shepherd is coming and that should give us joy.
Hebrews 13
The
author of Hebrews is being pastoral, or apostolic, in giving guiding
exhortations to the people. This is a great closing.
Vs.
1-6 There is a lot going on in these very general exhortations.
Vs.
1-2 This sure sounds like Romans 12, vs. 9-10 in particular.
V.
3 More and more Christians were adorning the inside of prisons. Paul told
Timothy of the bravery of Onesiphorus, finding and visiting him in a Roman
prison. It's hard to be brave in visiting someone if you know they might throw
you in jail too. The focus is on encouraging those suffering for Christ.
V.
4 Marriage is the proper place to express sexuality. God takes all sexual
deviation, including your "run of the mill" adultery and immorality,
very seriously.
Vs.
5-6 These verses go together. God will take care of us. The more I read Jesus'
words, the better I understand that our seeking of comfort works against our
trust in the Lord. Some of the wording here seems like it might have come out
of Psalm 27.
Vs.
7-17 This section is bracketed by the exhortation to remember and obey the
leaders. When you read this you get a picture of what leaders were to do for
the group and why the people were to follow these leaders during such hard
times. The people were to follow the leaders in resisting false teaching and in
holding firm in faith through the tough times. Most of all, the leaders were to
direct people to Christ as in v. 15.
Vs.
18-19 This sounds a little like Paul in Ephesians 6:18-19.
Vs.
20-21 What a great benediction. This sounds like work in the harvest to me.
Vs.
22-25 This is a great ending, though vague in detail. It sounds like Paul in
Philippians 2:19-23, only that here, Timothy had been a prisoner and released.
Obviously the writer of Hebrews couldn't have been Timothy. So much for that
theory.
V.
24 Were the readers located in Rome, so that those who had been from Italy were
sending greetings? Or, was the writer in Rome, and were the believers in Italy
sending greetings to the readers in some other place?
What
do you get from this entire letter to strengthen you in your work in the
harvest? What speaks to me is that now, God has spoken through His Son, so
don't give up or give in.
Psalm 115
V.
1 This declaration to give glory to God has David's favorite formula. The steadfast love and faithfulness of God stand together.
Vs.
2-3 This is almost like Psalm 2 where the nations rage. Here, at least in
David's reign, as the nations visited the new and improved Israel they didn't
see idols all over the landscape. Therefore the nations asked where Israel's
god was. Well, He is a living God, with a big "G" and He occupies the
heavens.
Vs.
4-8 This section works its way to v. 8 where you become what you make.
Vs.
9-11 How hard it is to have a heart of faith and seek your help in a living,
invisible God. It proves one's faith.
Vs.
12-13 God's remembrance is keyed to many things, but particularly to the
promise to Abraham (Luke 1:54-55).
Vs.
14-15 God is the One who gives increase and blessing, because He is the living
Creator.
Vs.
16-18 This declaration seems like an oath to obey, to bless and to praise the
Lord. It is interesting that he mentions that the earth was given to mankind.
That earth and plan were ruined, but God will renew everything and then we can
begin anew with the Lord.
Proverbs 27:21-22
V.
21 Both the crucible and the furnace show what is in the metals. If they are
pure, this testing shows it. If there is impurity in either, the heat brings it
to the surface. I guess this is what the praise of others does to us. It
reveals the truth of our hearts and what is in us. That puts a different
perspective on God allowing us to be well thought of. It makes me think of how
important those 25 years were for Abraham, or those 40 years for Moses, or
those 10 years for David, or those 14 years for Paul (although he also needed a
thorn), to keep them humble in the testing flame of the praise of others. It is
good to be humbled, and through that humbling finally and deeply to understand
it is the Lord, not we, who accomplishes things.
V.
22 The foolishness in a fool is through every molecule. Or as C.S. Lewis said
in The Magician's Nephew, "Now the trouble about trying to make
yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle
Andrew did." And so do we, and sometimes it pickles every molecule of us.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, 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 (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular One
Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a
supplement, a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we
will keep following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making
disciples, who make disciples. Being in
the Word every day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the
essential essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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