Today's One Year Bible Reading

Ezekiel

37:1-14 The Valley of Dry Bones. I have heard many an inspiring message/angle/application of this passage. But today I see it in light of the future of "spiritual Israel" or the overcomers (chosen). To my knowledge, after Israel (this is the audience, see verse 11) was sent into exile, they were never brought back home but were dispersed among the nations. I believe God is giving a prophecy here of the first resurrection of His spiritual Israel, and it is beautiful! NLT makes it sound as if these people will be resurrected and brought back to physical Israel, but in reading NASB, I didn't necessarily get that picture. Though I haven't studied it out yet, I am questioning the chosen reigning and ruling with Christ from a physical land, but think it will likely be something far better (perhaps the New Jerusalem being kept in another realm).

37:15-23 As we go on in this chapter, we see there is the reunion between Judah and Israel. Remember yesterday we discussed Judah as being given the scepter or the dominion mandate and Israel as being given the birthright or the fruitfulness mandate. These two mandates began in Genesis 1:26, 28. So as the kingdom divided, the house of Judah was given dominion or rule (through Jacob's son Judah) and Israel was given the fruitfulness mandate (through Joseph's son Ephraim). These two mandates eventually manifest in the Spirit (not in the flesh). Judah brought about the Messiah who will rule and reign into coming ages. Spiritual Israel is bringing about the manifestation of the "chosen" or the overcomers who will one day rule and reign with Christ and help bring about the fruitfulness fulfillment of the harvest of mankind. It is all very beautiful. And here we see these two "houses" or mandates coming together in the Millennial Kingdom!

37:24-28 Apparently David is going to be given authority once again in the coming age. While this is probably symbolic of Christ on one level, I can't help but think it is also going to be literal-that David is going to be ruling over spiritual Israel in the coming Kingdom. At the end of this passage, it says that the Lord will ALSO be dwelling in our midst.

38:1-23 This chapter is about "Gog and Magog." I believe this is a picture of times at the end of the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom. Check out verses 8-9:

"After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."

God goes on to say in latter verses:

"It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger. In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. "With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."'

Why do I believe this is the end of the MK? Check out Revelation 20:6-9. It is a picture of the end of the MK when Satan is let out of his chains and he goes out to deceive the nations (mortals, not the immortals who are reigning with Christ) once again:

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Rev. 20:6-9

James

1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. How many times have we seen this theme?

2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? I love how God honors the poor! I only wish I had not shown favoritism to the wealthy at different times in my life. Hard not to do! The overcomers in this world will either be poor, or they will be poor in spirit! A lot of the spirit of this passage is that if overcomers are going to be the judge in a later age over mankind, they cannot be swayed by the things of the flesh.

2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. Pretty much indicts all of us.

2:13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. This is the heart of the kings and priests of God!

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Today's One Year Bible Reading

Ezekiel

35:5 "Your eternal [nice word] hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins." Of course we know that it was not eternal hatred. But there's a point here. Have you ever experienced punishment that does not fit the crime? Perhaps you made a mistake and people dragged you through it far worse than you deserved, especially since God had already disciplined you for your mistake? I have so been there and it is so comforting to know that God sees the injustice of the mean spirited punishment of people. How will God deal with these merciless punishers?

35:11-13 "Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, ‘They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!' In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!" Now remember, we are talking "spiritual Israel" here at this point in history (today). Basically God says, "If you mess with my chosen, you are messin' with Me."

36:22-23 "I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord." So basically, this has nothing to do with our righteousness or deservedness (which we already know), and everything to do with God protecting His namesake. Somehow, He is using us in spite of ourselves to fulfill His promises to the world. Very humbling!

Now on another level here, I see another picture forming. Israel came from the name and the person, "Jacob." I recently noticed something amazing:

Abraham is a picture of God the Father. It is through His (God's) offspring that all the families of the world would be blessed and He would have offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and sands on the seashore.

Isaac is a picture of Jesus the Son. He was offered (willingly) as a sacrifice and through Him the promise to Abraham would continue.

Jacob is a picture of the chosen, or those on this earth through whom God would work to bring about His promises to mankind. Jacob is born a deceiver and con man, but through an encounter with God, he is given a new nature and a new name (Israel or "God rules"). And it is through Jacob/Israel/overcomers in Christ that God is working out His promises. Interestingly, once God conquers all of us Jacob's, He rules OVER us, and later, He will rule THROUGH us. Isn't that amazing?

Interestingly, in Jacob's life, he was sent away from his home because of his own sin, but God promised to "bring him back again" to his homeland. In the same way, as we see in this passage, God scatters Israel but promises to bring them back again. Not because they deserve it, but because God is faithful. This too is why he brought Jacob the person back and why He will bring Israel back. I believe "back to our homeland" for spiritual Israel is not about a physical Israel, but our destination of reigning with Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom.

36:24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

36:25-27 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ahhh...here we have another promise of the New Covenant.

36:32 But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done! As I read the history of Jacob this week, I was reminded of just how awful and deceiving he was. He paid a heavy price too! God totally turned the tables and made Jacob taste his own medicine of how it feels to be deceived. Jacob's family was about thee most dysfunctional family in the Bible, yet God used his family to be the household of the promise. This verse is a great reminder that it is because of our righteousness that the Lord uses any of us. He takes a bunch of sinful, dysfunctional deceivers, and He goes about working on our character to conform us to the image of Christ so that we might receive a new nature and become a resident of the house of spiritual Israel.

James

Audience: To the twelve tribes who are dispersed (in the Diaspora) abroad. I think it's interesting that it's to the 12 tribes. So it includes Judah as well as the tribes of Israel scattered among the nations. Judah is the tribe receiving the scepter (rule or dominion) in the spiritual kingdom (Jesus) as well as in the coming Millennial Kingdom and Israel is the tribe receiving the birthright (fruitfulness mandate of bringing forth the manifested sons of God both now and in the Kingdom). Now understand that some people are going to say that this book does not apply to Gentile Christians, but we have studied this year that the NT teaches that true believers have been grafted in as spiritual Jews and spiritual Israel. This is every bit to us! However, we must apply it as the early Church Jews would so we understand what they are saying.

1:4 (NAS) And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Again, this is to the aspiring overcomers. This is about becoming perfected so we can complete the race (see vs. 12)!

1:9-10 (NAS) But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. In God's economy, it is all about opposites. Can you imagine...the poor should glory in their "high position"? Very cool thought.

1:12 (NAS) Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. What is the "crown of life"? I believe it is more than what we've realized. The overcomers will reign and rule with Christ as kings and priests. I think the crown is a reference to this.

1:18  (NLT) He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

1:18 (NAS) In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

When we compare the two verses, there are vital and pronounced differences! He brought us forth by the "word of truth." Haven't we learned that not all that calls itself truth is truth? But He reveals His truth to those who are seeking Him in Spirit and in truth. Another vital point is the difference between prized possession and first fruits. As we know, this is about the Harvests and it makes all the difference how you say it. A first century Jew would have no idea what you were talking about if you said "prized possession." God never calls them that. The overcomers are the first fruits in the first resurrection over the coming harvest of mankind. This, they would understand.

Psalm

116:6  The LORD preserves the simple (NLT: those of childlike faith); I was brought low, and He saved me. Cool reminder! We have to go low before we realize we need a Savior!

Contradiction:

116:15 (NLT) The Lord's loved ones are precious to Him; it grieves Him when they die.

116:15 (NAS) Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones. Now why would this verse get changed so dramatically?

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Today's One Year Bible Reading

Ezekiel

There's a note in Ryrie Study Bible that Ezekiel chapters 33-48 (today through the end) are pertaining to the Millennial Kingdom. We'll see what we can uncover.

33:8-9 If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But if you warn them to repent and they don't repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself. Being a prophet was (is?) a very burdensome, sober calling. Makes me shudder to think of the heavy responsibility in a job description where everyone hates you and you have to keep telling them things that are constantly agitating them like cookie crumbs in their bed sheets.

33:11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? I read several quotes from famous preachers in history recently. Check them out:

"God shall not pity them but laugh at their calamity. The righteous company in heaven shall rejoice in the execution of God's judgment, and shall sing while the smoke riseth up for ever." Thomas Boston, Scottish preacher, 1732

The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. . .Can the believing father in Heaven be happy with his unbelieving children in Hell. . . I tell you, yea! Such will be his sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish his bliss. Jonathan Edwards, 1738

What bliss will fill the ransomed souls, When they in glory dwell, To see the sinner as he rolls, In quenchless flames of hell. Isaac Watts, in his popular hymn (1674-1748)

"Non-Christians often ask the Christian, "But how can the God of love allow any of his creatures to suffer unending misery?" The question is, how can he not? The fact that God is love makes hell necessary. From Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 219 HUH?

When questioned whether the Blessed will not be saddened by seeing their nearest and dearest tortured answers, "Not in the least." Martin Luther

Okay, so the way I see it, Christians have SMEARED the character of God by their callous view on God's punishment of the wicked. Do we see any of this kind of attitude with God? Not in the least. None of this is God and I want nothing to do with this kind of gleeful hell attitude through the past centuries of the Church. No wonder the world is turned off toward Christianity. We should all be very ashamed of ourselves for being so cold-hearted and unloving. This is anti-God behavior. Here is the heart of God:

"What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? "If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish." Matthew 18:12-14

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Is. 53:6

33:12-16 It's really about a continuing daily relationship!

33:31 So my people come (to listen to a prophet or to instruction) pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money. I wonder how many of us in the Church today fit this description—going through the motions to sit and listen to God's Word, but our hearts full of lust, greed, and sin, with no intention of changing?

34:4-6 You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them. Here we see more of God's heart for His lost sheep, sort of a theme today. Do we have the same heart?

34:11-12 "For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day."

34:13-16 Millennial Kingdom!

Hebrews

13:4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral (fornicators) and those who commit adultery. This is very true...many times we suffer the judgment here on earth for this type of sin whether through disease, pregnancy, breakup of families-it's a destructive sin.

13:12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. I wonder if He suffered outside the city gates because that is where the sinners are pictured throughout the Bible?

Psalm

115:16 The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. We are created for earth, not heaven.

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Today's One Year Bible Reading

Ezekiel

27:32 (NAS) "Moreover, in their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you And lament over you: `Who is like Tyre, Like her who is silent in the midst of the sea? There is a lot of reference in our reading to Tyre being in the sea (and some versions it is described as an island). I asked my husband about it because he grew up just a few miles up the road in Beirut. I wondered why it is referred to over and over as being in the midst of the sea and an "island" since it is part of the main landmass of Lebanon. He explained that Tyre used to be an island but Alexander the Great built a natural causeway that made Tyre connected to the mainland. So that's a little bit of history.

28:13-19 There is a lot of controversy as to whether this is only speaking of the King of Tyre, or if it applies on another level. Some believe it is also speaking of Satan, while some think it is speaking of Adam. There appear to be many contradictory descriptions for each option. How could the King of Tyre have been in the Garden of Eden and blameless in his ways? How could Satan have been only a man? I don't think it fits the description of Adam either. I'm sure there's a rational explanation/teaching out there somewhere, but I have not read anything that has convinced me either way. Any observations or thoughts?  I'm certain that there is a lot of symbolism going on here with the reference to the gems, the stones of fire, etc.

Hebrews

Frankly Hebrews is a little intimidating to me. I know it is highly more significant than I know and understand, but I have not had the time to really study it out. We are currently in the chapter of faith, and I like what Stephen Jones says about this chapter:

The tenth chapter of Hebrews ends with a warning to those whose faith is not genuine. There are many who are persuaded of Christ, but who lack genuine faith. Faith comes by hearing the voice of God (Rom. 10:17), while persuasion is a matter of convincing the carnal mind of the validity of a particular fact or viewpoint. Persuasion often appears identical to faith, but they are distinguished in the end by endurance.

Those who are merely persuaded are like most of the Israelites who came out of Egypt. They had justifying faith, but not Pentecostal faith, for they rejected the voice of God at Sinai (Ex. 20:18-21). And so they lacked endurance. When it came time to enter the Promised Land, their lack of faith manifested for all to see. But if we follow the example of Caleb and Joshua, we may confidently apply Heb. 10:39 to ourselves, saying, "We are not of those who shrink back to perdition, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul."

Passover Faith is the single step by which we begin our journey to the Promised Land. It is like a moment in time. Pentecostal Faith is the life of faith in the journey itself. If Passover faith is a point in space, then Pentecostal Faith is the line drawn by many points. It is the line drawn between Egypt and the Promised Land. Those who are faithful in being led by the Spirit, and who endure to the end, will inherit the first resurrection.

These overcomers are those with patience and endurance, both of which describe faith as a line, rather than as a single point. Patience and endurance describe faith that has been tested by time, faith that is proven in the wilderness of real life.

Chapter 11 then gives us examples to true faith among the many Old Testament characters who heard the voice of God, obeyed, and endured to the end.

11:20 It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau. This NLT version is so lame and muddled compared to NAS: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, [even] regarding things to come. I think this is quite a gem. Though God declared, "Jacob have I love and Esau have I hated," yet here we find Isaac blessing BOTH of his sons regarding things to come. Check out Amplified:

[With eyes of] faith Isaac, looking far into the future, invoked blessings upon Jacob and Esau. In fact, I check out KJV, NIV, and YLT and none of them add "even" as NAS does.

By faith, concerning coming things, Isaac did bless Jacob and Esau. (YLT)

So what am I getting at? Even though Esau was rejected temporarily for God's sovereign plan, Isaac saw into the distant future that Esau would receive the blessing, too! He blessed Esau in faith of what God would do in his life eventually after the short-term plan of revealing contrasts was finished. Isn't that amazing?

11:25-26 He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. As a parent, I so relate to the concept of delayed gratification. Though some pleasures and treasures seem harmless in and of themselves (if we do not idolize them), it is still better to reject this world's idea of both in anticipation of a greater reward. Not to say we have to take a vow of poverty, but out lives should be poured out and simple in this short age, anticipating all the comforts of paradise later. This age is our school of character development, sacrifice, and relinquishment. Thankfully, it is such a short time! I find myself constantly having to tear my heart away from the temptation of materialism on many different levels. How about you?

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