Overview
Ezekiel: The Lord tell Ezekiel about Samaria and Jerusalem calling them two sisters. They were both symbolically God’s wives who gave him children. They were whores who gave themselves to other lovers, the nations around them. The Lord uses descriptive language to describe their sexual exploits. He also says they offered his children as sacrifices. He turned away from them in disgust and let their lovers come against them in judgment. Because they forgot the Lord and rejected him, they will have to bear the consequences of their lewdness and whoring. A vast hoard will come against them and they will bear the penalty of their idolatry and know that the Lord is God.
Psalm: David asks God not to be silent because of the wicked people around him. He asks God to deal very harshly with one man that is against him. He wants him punished to the extent that his posterity dies out in two generations and God never forgets his mother’s sins. David then list the sins of this person. He then extends this punishment to all his accusers.
He says of himself that he is poor and needy. He is weak and a scorn to his accusers. He asks for help and to let them know God has done it. They will curse but God will bless. They will be dishonored but David will give thanks and praise God among the people. God stands by the needy and saves him from those who condemn his soul.
Proverbs: If you want to guarantee a loan for a stranger, make sure you get something of value to cover it. If it is for an adulteress, make sure you keep it until you get your money back.
Hebrews: In light of all we’ve learned about Jesus and the new covenant. We have confidence to come close to God in faith. We know that our hearts are cleansed from evil and our conscience is clear just like our bodies when washed with clean water. We should then be solid in our hope and not waiver in our faith, not because we are so great, but because God promised this. We should also encourage each other not forgetting to meet together like some people are doing. As we see the day of the Lord approaching, we need to do this more.
If someone knows the truth but ignores it and keeps on sinning, Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t going to save him. All he will get is a fiery judgment that consumes God’s adversaries. Even people who ignored the law of Moses died when convicted by two or more witnesses. If someone rejects Jesus and profanes his blood, then he has angered the Spirit of grace. He has said that he will have vengeance. It will be a fearful thing to be judged by God for rejecting Jesus.
But you who have endured suffering after being enlightened took care of others in prison and even had joy when you were persecuted. Don’t give up on your confidence in God. You will get your reward. But you still need to endure and receive your reward. Remember the Lord said that his righteous ones live by faith and he has no pleasure in those who shrink back. The author is confident that he isn’t addressing this to any who shrink back but those who have faith to save their souls.
What Stood Out
Ezekiel: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring” (Ezek 23:35).
Psalm: “With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng” (Ps 109:30).
Proverbs: “Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress” (Prov 27:13).
Hebrews: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23).
Insight
Ezekiel: When you read this chapter in Ezekiel, it should make you blush at the sexual descriptions of the way the Lord viewed the idolatry of Jerusalem and Samaria. As shocking as this is, it should remind us exactly what the Lord thinks of any of our sins. When we sin, we are doing the same thing as they were. Our idols are different, but our sins are no less an embarrassing departure from the way we should honor our Lord with godly lives.
Our biggest idol is ourselves. We put ourselves before all other things, including the Lord when we sin. The next time we sin or contemplate sinning, we should read this chapter and know that our sin looks like an X-rated movie in God’s eyes. No wonder he punished the Israelites. No wonder he is jealous for godly people and want them to turn back to himself. He will do what is necessary to bring us back to himself and we shouldn’t think that we can escape the consequence of sin in our lifetime just because we are Christians.
Psalm: David has a couple of lines in the Psalm that remind me of Satan’s hate for believers. “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand” (Ps 109:6). According to Revelation 12:10, Satan is our accuser. He accuses us before God day and night. It is to God’s glory that he doesn’t respond to Satan. On the other hand, we have Jesus as our advocate reflected in Psalm 109:31, “For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.” What a wonderful Savior we have. 1 John 2:1 tells us that Jesus is our advocate so that he defends us even when we sin. What is our response to all of this? It should be the same as David expressed in Psalm 109:30, we should be giving thanks and praising him in the midst of all people.
Proverbs: It doesn’t make sense that someone would want to guarantee a loan for a stranger or an adulteress. However, if you do, or you are the one coming up with the cash, you better have something in your hands you can sell to get your money back, because it will not likely be repaid. Unless they need an astronomical sum, it would be better to make it a gift or think of it as a gift. That way there wouldn’t be any hard feelings when the amount isn’t repaid.
Hebrews: it is possible to look at these verses and think that it is up to us to maintain our confidence in our faith. But we can fall back on Hebrews 10:23 and remember that it is God who is faithful. He is faithful to make sure that once we have believed, not just enlightened with head-knowledge but have gone beyond knowledge to trust, he will keep us from shrinking back. Romans 10:9-10 explains that it takes heart and head (mouth) to be saved. A lot of what we see in Hebrews speaks to the same thing. While the author provides a lot of head-knowledge about the new covenant, Jesus’ priesthood, his atoning sacrifice (especially once for all), these things have to result in a change of heart which results in our justification. It must result in a confession that is demonstrated in perseverance. This is what full assurance means.
If someone isn’t fully assured of his salvation, then one of two things is true. The first is that his knowledge is lacking. Hebrews is working toward a better understanding. God will not let that person fall away. His rewards are secure in heaven (1 Peter 1:4-5). The second possibility is that the person really isn’t saved. That is where the warnings in Hebrews are applicable. If after getting all this head-knowledge, a person then decides to go back to whatever lifestyle or religion he had before, he is only going to face an eternity of judgment. The sad truth is that many people fall into this second category. They go to church and consort with Christians thinking they are saved. They are not like some of the people the book of Hebrews addresses who have suffered affliction for their faith. Their faith has never been tested. When they are tested by life’s trials they fall away because their faith wasn’t ever genuine.
Application
Where is your faith? Does it lack knowledge to help you in times of temptation or relief from a bad conscience. If so it is time to dig into God’s word and find out the riches of his grace. Is your faith all head-knowledge without any true commitment to Jesus Christ? If so then you probably just go along with the Christian crowd on some Sundays but do whatever you want the rest of the week, or you may neglect meeting with other Christians altogether seeing no need to be with them (Heb 10:25). Then you need to surrender your life to Jesus.
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