DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31:
WORD OF WISDOM
Your challenge is not your wall ... It's your door !!!
___
DAILY DEVOTION
The Sudden Return of Jesus
"And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire
to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they
shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow
them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under
heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of
man be in his day."
Luke 17:22-24
The timing of the first coming of Jesus was laid out in detail by the
prophet Daniel. The decree by the Persian ruler Cyrus to rebuild the Temple
in Jerusalem started the clock ticking, and Jesus entered Jerusalem on what
we commonly call Palm Sunday right on the schedule God had revealed to the
prophet hundreds of years before. The return of Jesus is just as certain and
sure as His first coming, but we are not given a time line for this event.
Instead we are commanded to be ready for Him to return at any moment so that
we will not be ashamed.
John Henry Jowett wrote, "Said a mother to me one day concerning her
long-absent boy: 'I lay a place for him at every meal! His seat is always
ready!' May I not do this for my Lord? May I not make a place for Him in all
my affairs-my choices, my pleasures, my times of business, my season of
rest? He may come just now; let His place be ready!"
Those who are eagerly anticipating the return of Jesus will receive a
special reward from Him when He appears. "Henceforth there is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me
at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his
appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).
Every day should be lived with both an awareness that Jesus could return and
a longing in our hearts that it will be today.
___
DAILY BIBLE READING
Ezekiel 4-6Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Warnings About the Attack of Jerusalem
4 "Son of man,[a] take a brick and scratch a picture on it. Draw a picture
of a city-the city of Jerusalem. 2 And then pretend you are an army
surrounding the city. Build a dirt wall around the city to help you attack
it. Build a dirt road leading up to the city wall. Bring battering rams[b]
and set up army camps around the city. 3 And then take an iron pan and put
it between you and the city. It will be like an iron wall separating you and
the city. In this way you will show that you are against it. You will
surround the city and attack it. This is an example for the family of Israel
to show that I will destroy Jerusalem.
4 "Then you must lie down on your left side. You must do this thing that
shows that you are taking the sins of the people of Israel on yourself. You
will carry the guilt for as many days as you lie on your left side. 5 You
must bear the guilt of Israel for 390 days.[c] In this way I am telling you
how long Israel will be punished; one day equals one year.
6 "After that time, you will lie on your right side for 40 days. This time
you will bear the guilt of Judah for 40 days. One day equals one year. I am
telling you how long Judah must be punished.
7 "Now, roll up your sleeve and raise your arm over the brick. Act like you
are attacking the city of Jerusalem. Do this to show that you are speaking
as my messenger to the people. 8 Now look, I am tying ropes on you. You will
not be able to roll over from one side to the other until your attack
against the city[d] is finished.
9 "You must get some grain to make bread. Get some wheat, barley, beans,
lentils, millet, and spelt. Mix all these things together in one bowl and
grind them to make flour. You will use this flour to make bread. You will
eat only this bread during the 390 days that you lie on your side. 10 You
will be allowed to use only 1 cup[e] of that flour each day to make bread.
You will eat that bread from time to time throughout the day. 11 You can
drink only 3 cups[f] of water each day. You can drink it from time to time
throughout the day. 12 You must make your bread each day. You must get dry
human dung and burn it. Then you must cook the bread over this burning dung.
You must eat this bread in front of the people." 13 Then the Lord said,
"This will show that the family of Israel will eat unclean bread in foreign
countries and that I am the one who forced them to leave Israel and go to
those countries!"
14 Then I said, "Oh, but Lord God, I have never eaten any unclean food. I
have never eaten meat from an animal that died from a disease or from an
animal that was killed by a wild animal. I have never eaten unclean meat-not
from the time that I was a little baby until now. None of that bad meat ever
entered my mouth."
15 Then God said to me, "Very well, I will let you use dry cow dung to cook
your bread. You don't have to use dry human dung."
16 Then God said to me, "Son of man, I am destroying Jerusalem's supply of
bread. People will have only a little bread to eat. They will be very
worried about their food supply, and they will have only a little water to
drink. Every time they take a drink, they will feel more afraid. 17 That is
because there will not be enough food and water for everyone. They will be
terrified as they watch each other wasting away because of their sins.
People of Jerusalem Scattered
5 "Son of man,[g] after your famine[h] you must do this: Take a sharp sword
and use it like a barber's razor. Shave off your hair and beard. Put the
hair on a scale and weigh it. Separate it into three equal parts. Put a
third of your hair on the brick that has the picture of the city on it. Burn
that hair in that 'city.' Then use the sword and cut a third of your hair
into small pieces all around the outside of the 'city.' Next, throw a third
of your hair into the air and let the wind blow it away. This will show that
I will pull out my sword and chase some of the people into faraway
countries. 3 But then you must get a few of those hairs and wrap them up in
your robe. 4 Take some of those hairs and throw them into the fire. This
will show that a fire will start there and burn throughout the whole house
of Israel.[i]"
5 Then the Lord God said to me, "The brick is a picture of Jerusalem. I put
Jerusalem in the middle of other nations with countries all around her. 6
The people rebelled against my commands. They were worse than any of the
other nations! They broke more of my laws than any of the people in the
countries around them. They refused to listen to my commands. They did not
obey my laws."
7 So the Lord God says, "I will do this because you did not obey my laws and
commands. You broke more of my laws than the people who lived around you,
and you did what even they know is wrong!" 8 So the Lord God says, "So now,
even I am against you! I will punish you while those other people watch. 9 I
will do things to you that I have never done before. And I will never do
those terrible things again, because you did so many terrible things. 10
People in Jerusalem will be so hungry that parents will eat their own
children, and children will eat their own parents. I will punish you in many
ways, and those who are left alive, I will scatter to the winds."
11 The Lord God says, "Jerusalem, I promise by my life that I will punish
you! I promise that I will punish you, because you did terrible things to my
Holy Place. You did horrible things that made it dirty. I will punish you. I
will not show any mercy or feel sorry for you. 12 A third of your people
will die inside the city from diseases and hunger. Another third will die in
battle outside the city. And then I will pull out my sword and chase the
last third of your people into faraway countries. 13 Only then will I stop
being angry with your people. I will know that they have been punished for
the bad things they did to me. They will know that I am the Lord and that I
spoke to them because of my strong love[j] for them!"
14 God said, "Jerusalem, I will destroy you-you will be nothing but a pile
of rocks. The people around you will make fun of you. Everyone who walks by
will make fun of you. 15 People around you will make fun of you, but you
will also be a lesson for them. They will see that I was angry and punished
you. I was very angry and I warned you. I, the Lord, told you what I would
do. 16 I told you I would send you terrible times of hunger. I told you I
would send you things that would destroy you. I told you that I would take
away your supply of food and that those times of hunger would come again and
again. 17 I told you I would send hunger and wild animals against you that
would kill your children. I told you there would be disease and death
everywhere in the city. I told you I would bring enemy soldiers to fight
against you. I, the Lord, told you all these things would happen!"
Prophecies Against Israel
6 Then the word of the Lord came to me again. 2 He said, "Son of man,[k]
turn toward the mountains of Israel and speak against them for me. 3 Tell
them this: 'Mountains of Israel, listen to this message from the Lord God!
This is what the Lord God says to the hills and mountains and to the ravines
and valleys: Look! I am bringing the enemy to fight against you. I will
destroy your high places. 4 Your altars will be broken into pieces. Your
incense altars will be smashed, and I will throw down your dead bodies in
front of your filthy idols. 5 I will put the dead bodies of the people of
Israel in front of their filthy idols. I will scatter your bones around your
altars. 6 Bad things will happen wherever your people live. Their cities
will become piles of rock. Their high places will be destroyed so that those
places of worship will never be used again. The altars will all be
destroyed. People will never worship those filthy idols again. The incense
altars will be smashed. Everything you made will be destroyed completely. 7
Your people will be killed, and then you will know that I am the Lord!'"
8 God said, "But I will let a few of your people escape. They will live in
other countries for a short time. I will scatter them and force them to live
in other countries. 9 Then the survivors will be taken as prisoners. They
will be forced to live in other countries, but they will remember me. I
broke their spirit.[l] They will hate themselves for the evil things they
did. In the past, they turned away from me and left me. They chased after
their filthy idols. They were like a woman leaving her husband and running
off with another man. They did many terrible things, 10 but they will learn
that I am the Lord. Then they will know that if I say that I will do
something, I will do it! They will know that I caused all the troubles that
happened to them."
11 Then the Lord God said to me, "Clap your hands and stamp your feet. Speak
against all the terrible things that the people of Israel have done. Warn
them that they will be killed by disease and hunger. Tell them they will be
killed in war. 12 People far away will die from disease. People near this
place will be killed with swords, and those who are left in the city will
starve to death. Only then will I stop being angry. 13 Only then will you
know that I am the Lord. You will know this when you see your dead bodies in
front of your filthy idols and around their altars. Those bodies will be
near every one of your places for worship,[m] on every high hill and
mountain, under every green tree and every oak tree with leaves. You offered
your sacrifices everywhere. They were a sweet smell for your filthy idols.
14 But I will raise my arm over you and punish you and your people, wherever
they live! I will destroy your country! It will be completely empty from the
desert in the south to Riblah[n] in the north. Then they will know that I am
the Lord!"
Footnotes:
a.Ezekiel 4:1 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying "a person" or
"a human being." Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel. Also in verse 16.
b.Ezekiel 4:2 battering rams Heavy logs that soldiers used to break holes
into the gates or walls around a city.
c.Ezekiel 4:5 390 days The ancient Greek version has "190 days."
d.Ezekiel 4:8 your attack against the city This is a wordplay. The Hebrew
word can mean "famine," "time of trouble," or "attack against a city."
e.Ezekiel 4:10 1 cup Literally, "20 shekels" (230 g).
f.Ezekiel 4:11 3 cups Literally, "1/6 hin" (.5 l).
g.Ezekiel 5:1 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying "a person" or
"a human being." Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel.
h.Ezekiel 5:1 your famine Or "your attack on the city." See Ezek. 4:8.
i.Ezekiel 5:4 house of Israel This probably means the people of the northern
ten tribes of Israel.
j.Ezekiel 5:13 strong love The Hebrew word means strong feelings like love,
hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy.
k.Ezekiel 6:2 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying "a person" or
"a human being." Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel. Also in 7:2.
l.Ezekiel 6:9 spirit Literally, "heart."
m.Ezekiel 6:13 places for worship Or "high places." See "high place" in the
Word List.
n.Ezekiel 6:14 Riblah Most Hebrew copies have "Diblah."
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
