Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God.

Zephaniah 3:1-8

Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city! She listens to no voice; she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she does not draw near to her God. Zephaniah 3:1-2

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Zephaniah 3:1-8, which is the text for the second division of the commentary's chapter covering Zephaniah 2:4-3:8.  The commentary further breaks down this second division into eight subdivisions, and today I review the first four that explore 3:1-3.

1. God’s chosen people are defiled because of their rebellion (3:1): "We have now come full circle. As in chapter 1, Zephaniah again turns his prophecy toward the people of Judah. In similar tone and focused on similar targets, Zephaniah levels devastating judgment from God, to His own people, after clearly bringing justice to those who were His enemies. As Zephaniah leveled the charges against Judah’s enemies, I can only imagine that Judah stood by and listened with pleasure, only to find that pleasure withering under the return of God’s scrutiny....They knew God’s word and had been warned against their disobedience. In spite of that, they continue to revel in their pride and self-confidence, functionally rejecting God and serving themselves instead. This was not unique to this generation of God’s chosen people. No, this is a refrain that we hear repeatedly throughout Scripture."  See also Psalms 106:43.  "The truth is that this constant rebellion, met with constant grace, is our story too. Like the people of Judah, we constantly turn away from God, are consistent in our disobedience, and are critically in need of grace."  See also Romans 7:5. "Apart from the grace of God, we are relentlessly bent toward sin. After coming into contact with God’s grace, we are transformed into adopted children of God, but we still retain our sin nature and find ourselves drawn, at times, back into sin. Thankfully, the grace of God makes it possible to be free from sin, but until Jesus returns to make things right, we will probably never be free from the temptation to sin. The people of Judah were susceptible to that same temptation, only they had succumbed to it and were now buried in it....God expects holiness, and they were unholy (defiled)....They were desperately in need of salvation. See also Romans 3:23. " 
   
2. God’s discipline has not compelled His people to obey (3:2): "[Judah has] been disobedient, they have ignored God’s discipline, they have failed to trust God, and they have not drawn near to God." 
   
3. The disobedience of God’s people is due to their lack of trust (3:2): "[W]hat makes this judgment more troubling is not simply that they were rebellious, but that when they were confronted with the Lord’s discipline, they remained hard-hearted toward Him." See also Romans 1:21-24. 
   
4. The political leaders are ruthless and are devouring the people (3:3): "Not only would they thoroughly reject Him, but they have become so completely rebellious that their leadership is devoid of spiritual life in any sense....The leaders were living for themselves to the degree that they were gladly fleecing their own people, people who had been entrusted to them as a stewardship, and they were now using the people for their own gain." 
   

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My Prayer: God You are great and You offer grace for those whose heart is soft enough to receive it...and You are the one that hardens and softens hearts.  Thank You Jesus for softening my heart and making me one of Your elect.  I am not deserving.  My sin continues...and it is great.  Help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me stay near to You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.

Zephaniah 2:4-15

The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening.  For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. Zephaniah 2:7

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Zephaniah 2:4-15, which is the text for the first division for the next chapter of the commentary, which includes two divisions.  The first division covers 2:4-15 and the commentary further breaks this down into nine subdivisions - and I tackle the first five today.

Across both the two main divisions and all subdivisions - covering Zephaniah 2:4-3:8 - the commentary shares the following main idea: "[i]n light of God’s judgment, God’s people must seek the Lord in humility or face destruction."  The commentary heading for the first division - covering Zephaniah 2:4-15 - is entitled: The Enemies of God’s People Will Be Judged because of Their Pride.

• The land of the Gentiles will become the feed for the animals of God’s people (2:6): "The specific judgment is that [the enemies of God's people's] land would become pastureland for the people of God....Verses 7 and following explain the future possession of God’s people. This would have been most offensive to the enemies of God’s people. Perceiving themselves to be superior physically, not to mention wealthier, they would have found it absurd that the nation of Judah would overtake them. This is, however, what God decreed because of their insolence and arrogance. In fact, verse 7 gives a foretaste of what was coming for the people of Judah. Yes, they had turned their backs on God, and yes, they were defiantly disobedient, but God was offering them redemption, and it appears, in verse 7, that God believed they would return to Him. He tells us that He would, in fact, return to them." 
  
• The land of the Gentiles will be given to God’s people (2:7): "Verse 7 tells us that God will be doing just such a work here among His people, and part of that restoration will be the settling of the enemies of Judah under the authority of Judah. Out of the ashes will rise this restored people, dedicated to God and enjoying life as He intended it. The resurrecting work of God is intended to help humanity flourish."
  
• The Gentiles’ taunting of God’s people has incurred His wrath (2:8): "It is most likely evidence of the enemies of God’s people taunting them about their God. Their taunting is most likely a blow at the character of God and therefore is much, much worse than simple name-calling. The mocking of the people of Judah may have been much like the psalmist described: “My adversaries taunt me, as if crushing my bones, while all day long they say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:10)....While God gives much grace, at the end of the day those who disparage and attempt to challenge God’s character will fail. Not only have they taunted God’s people, but they have also “threatened their territory.” They not only have disregarded God, but they have attempted to usurp God’s authority by encroaching on the territory that God has given to His people." 
  
• All the people who have opposed God and His people will bow before Him (2:11): "Ultimately, inherent in this issue is the fundamental question of the gospel: what will you do with God? In the end, everyone will ultimately respond with the same declaration, “Jesus is Lord,” as Scripture reminds us. However, Scripture also affirms that most of those who will ever live will make their declaration through forced submission. Only those who voluntarily declare that Jesus is Lord, in this life, will enjoy the benefits afforded to the children of God.  Those who reject Him will not escape the declaration that Jesus is Lord; instead they will find it to be a sobering and terrifying moment as they declare it to be so, but they do so too late, having missed their opportunity to submit before God. Scripture teaches that their just recompense, then, will be eternal judgment. Verse 11 reflects that truth." 
  
• God will use His own people to destroy the Gentiles (2:9): "Verse 9 points out that these enemies would eventually be reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah. They would be a “perpetual wasteland,” according to the prophet. Their property and land would become the possession of the people of God." 
  

Be one of God's remnant that is saved from eternal damnation - confess your sin and declare Jesus as Your Lord and Savior!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are SO full of grace and compassion - I am not unlike those in Judah who often stray from You.  I was an enemy of You and hostile to You, yet You loved me first and made me one of Your elect!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

 

For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.

Zephaniah 2:4-15

For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. Zephaniah 2:7b

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For this morning, my focus is an unassisted review of Zephaniah 2:4-15, which is the text for the first division for the next chapter of the commentary, which includes two divisions.  The first division covers 2:4-15.  The text describes how God will pour out his wrath upon Judah's neighbors, but at the same time He will be mindful of a repentant Judah itself and "restore their fortunes" (v7b). God specifically calls out Judah's neighbors, including Gaza, the Cherethites, Canaan, land of the Philistines, the seacoast, Moab and and the Ammonites, the Cushites, and Assyria/Nineveh.  Zephaniah calls out these neighbors for how they "taunted [God's] people and made boasts against their territory (v8, 10)", and how they claimed that they were secure and did not need God (v15). Yet Judah does not get away with anything because as I posted previously on chapter 2 (see posts on vv1-3), Judah is only spared if it accepts God gracious offer of repentance and a return to the Lord (v3). We should all recognize our sin and how we desperately need salvation, and how God freely offers it!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion - You made me one of Your elect while I was still an enemy and hostile to You...thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such a gift.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 1:18

In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:18b

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For today, my study focus is an unassisted review of the seventh division per my commentary: v18.  In v18a, the Lord shares how material wealth not save anyone from the wrath of the Lord - we are therefore warned not to grow too comfortable with anything in this world to the point where it becomes an idol.  Those in Judah did grow too comfortable with not just wealth, but with the foreign gods of their neighbors and they allowed this comfort to grow into idol worship and as previously posted turned away from God and did not inquire of Him (v6).  

John gives us a similar warning in 1 John 2:15-17:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

This is why our number one commandment is to love God first and with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Exodus 20, Matthew 22:37-40).

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who is enough for all that we need - for all of our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  You are my all in all.  Thank You Jesus for how You provide, including my salvation - of which I am undeserving.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.

Zephaniah 1:14-17

I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Zephaniah 1:17

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For today, my study focus is an commentary-assisted review of the fifth division per my commentary: vv14-17. Excerpts from the commentary:

• "In a series of declarations that are among the most discouraging and accusatory in all of Scripture, God’s condemnation of His people gets more ominous."
• "God is crushing His people because He desires them to repent and return to Him. He understands that they love other things more than they love Him, so He systematically begins to eliminate the things that they love, and even their own lives, in an attempt to capture their attention and to see their affections pointed in His direction. His wrath, then, is an act of love, intended to accomplish the best for His children."
• The commentary quotes John Piper's book Desiring God: "The wisdom of God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without compromising the justice of God."
• The commentary then shares three attributes or characteristics of God's justice displayed in the text: (a) imminence: God's words are intended to provoke an immediate response of repentance, (b) intensity: God's coming judgement will be beyond what one can imagine - harsh and terrifying, (c) iniquity: God's judgement is in response to sin.  "While [Judah's] sin has kept them from God and brought them face-to-face with God’s judgment, some, if not all, of this could be averted if they would simply repent and obey." 
  

Earlier in the commentary, a portrait of parenting is used and this is apt - there are times when God needs to immediately get our attention as a means for us to understand who is in charge (He is!) and what He expects - our obedience.  The good news is that God is a loving God and He provides beyond anyone's wild imagination and He saves!  Turn from your sin and believe in Jesus!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus - You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the life You provide is to the full now and for eternity in Heaven with You and all the saints - amazing.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;and I will cut off from this place...those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.”

Zephaniah 1:4-6

“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;and I will cut off from this place...those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him.” Zephaniah 1:4,6

I continue my study of Zephaniah using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  For this morning, I lean on my commentary for a review of vv4-6. The commentary emphasizes that while God is clearly angry at His people for their idol worship and for turning their back on God, we are not to view God as vengeful.  We are rhetorically challenged to view God rightly.  "God is a God of grace and compassion. In light of that, then, how are we to understand His anger, especially toward His own people?"  The commentary points to Jesus and how in Romans, Paul describes that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-2). We are then encouraged to see how we are all fair game for God's corrective discipline and referred to Hebrews 12:5-6. Finally, the commentary urges us to see the grace of God in Zephaniah where God's anger should be viewed as an opportunity to repent and return to God.  The Old Testament is an example of God's patience for His people - yes, He did rebuke and punish His people, but not because there were not deserving.  Also, throughout redemptive history, God was faithful in His promises, and He pointed to Jesus and gave people hope through the promise of a coming Messiah.  Jesus is the One.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a God of grace and compassion as You took on flesh and died for me so that I could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  Thank You Jesus for my salvation.  I am not deserving of such blessings!  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Leviticus 10

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing with chapter ten - Our Response to God's Holiness - covering Leviticus 10:1-20, looking specifically at the chapter's final theme - God's People Announce God is Gracious.  Here, the commentary encourages us to see how, in the death of Nadab and Abihu, God's grace exists.  It explains that if God allowed sacrifices to be offered in any manner the priests saw fit, such an attitude towards sin could have easily derailed God's plan to use the root or remnant of the Israelites as part of his grand design to send Jesus to die for all sin of all humanity for all times. Similar to how a parent punishes a child, the punishment served to discipline and sharpen the Israelites (or at least some of them we refer to as the root or remnant from which Jesus arose). The commentary also reminds us that God's grace abounds today as the world is full of sin - both intentional and unintentional; it states that "in God's holiness and righteous wrath He could put all sinners to death and rid the planet of evil once and for all.  But in His grace He is giving us time--time to turn to Him, time to put our faith in Him instead of our own way."  We are urged to refer to 2 Peter 3:9 where Peter writes about Gods patience. The commentary then reminds us that God's judgement (eternal damnation) awaits those who spurn God's grace, and refuse to repent and turn to Him. While God's wrath is rarely discussed in church, we must understand that all of us sin and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The commentary wraps by having us focus on how Jesus took the wrath of all sin upon Himself and in so doing, He gave us Himself as a place to rest where we can have forgiveness of sin and freedom in Christ.

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is so full of grace for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of Your amazing grace.  My sin continues - harshness of others, worry, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and energy.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Romans 1:18-32

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:24-25

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I moved on with a review of Romans 1:18-32.  Here, Paul pivots from righteousness to the fate that awaits the unrighteous, and he describes how the unrighteous got there, including how they knew God but did not honor or thank Him (v19-21), and how the exchanged the glory of God for idol worship (v22-23).  We also see how God hardened hearts (v24-28) as he did with Pharaoh (Exodus 8-9).  Finally, we see descriptions of unrighteousness (v29-32). 

My commentary is much more pointed in its view of these verses pointing out to the depth of human depravity, with the implication that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10, 23, 1 John 1:8) and we all need a savior. It describes with 1:18:32, Paul has "mainly the Gentiles in mind" and how with 2:1-3:8, Paul "has the Jews primarily in mind." We are shown how Paul ultimately wants to get to the "good news" starting in Romans 3:21, but we must first get through the bad news in 1:18-3:20. The section for today in my commentary (1:18-32) is entitled Judgement and the Gentile.

In looking at the bad news we are encouraged to appreciate how "God's wrath is not a wild, emotional outburst.  God is 'slow to anger,' but he does not wink at sin."  His anger is both righteous and holy - we are to tremble at God's wrath and be thankful for our Savior. God's deliverance is described as having its roots in the Old Testament and how it cuts two ways, on some occasions Israel was delivered from the hands of its enemies, on other occasions it was the opposite, and how yet other times there is an awakening such as the prodigal son. We are also reminded that, sadly, "some never turn to God in repentance".  My reading from John Piper's book Providence makes it clear (as does the Bible) that faith is a gift from God. 

In looking at the causes of sin, my commentary indicates that "the whole array of sins that characterizes humanity has its roots in the soil of idolatry... [and] [s]in problems are worship problems."  It also states that "everyone has suppressed the truth (v18)", that the "whole world has natural revelation of God (v19)", and that "apart from divine grace, they do not respond rightly to it."  While creation reveals a "sense" of God but that believers are to preach the good news to provide a "specific revelation" or explanation of the gospel.

My commentary looks closely at idolatry and writes that Paul describes a "movement, madness, and misery of idolatry."  Believers enjoy the joy and satisfaction that only God provides.    

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who rescued me from my sin - thank You Jesus!  Yet I am undeserving because of my and because my sin continues - please forgive me Jesus for my worry and other sins.  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

 Ezekiel 12-14

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it. You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 14:21-23

Day 227 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with my study of Ezekiel.  After Ezekiel's vision from God (see yesterday), God directs Ezekiel to portray via enactment both the exile to Babylonia and the anxiety stemming from the destruction of Judah and the resulting desolation and famine (Ezekiel 12:1-20).  God then directs Ezekiel to communicate the certainty and immediacy of the prophecy (Ezekiel 12:21-28). Ezekiel then admonishes false prophets (Ezekiel 13) who proclaim peace and that Judah's exile will be over quickly. Even elders of Israel fall prey to idolatry and Ezekiel admonishes this group as well (Ezekiel 14:1-11). 

Near the end of this morning's reading, my commentary poses a question: "[h]ow many righteous people does it take to save a nation? It has been 1500 years since Abraham asked that same question concerning Sodom and Gomorrah. Surely at this time there are righteous believers among both the captives and their Jerusalem kinsmen who are asking this same question themselves. God’s answer to Ezekiel is that there comes a time when a nation’s sins so completely condemn it that not even a remnant of righteous citizens can stop the destruction inherent in evil. God uses as his illustration of a righteous remnant a trio of faithful believers: Noah, who saw all of mankind (except his own family) destroyed by the great flood; Job, the patient patriarch; and Daniel (possibly the Daniel who is one of the chosen captives serving in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, who will distinguish himself among God’s exiles even more than he already has)."

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Today's reading regarding God's harsh judgement of Judah recalls to mind John Piper's post Why Was God So Harsh in the Old Testament but More Forgiving in the New? In the post, Piper describes the current times as a window of mercy where we should take advantage of God's mercy before God's judgement and wrath unfolds during the End Times.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God full of love and mercy for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of Your grace - Your amazing grace.  I sin...daily, failing to love You and others as You love me.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply YOur message for me today and every day. 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21

Day 57 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses on directives from God through Moses for the punishment of crimes, including murder, assault, kidnapping, rape, and theft.

The giving of the law allows for proportional punishment - with one example taken from Exodus 21: 

"But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Exodus 21:23-25

Such language is often used as justification to exact justice as they see fit.  Yet we must be clear that God alone is judge and it is He who exacts justice. 

Using Romans 12:19-21 John Piper provides this excellent post regarding God and His anger vs His vengeance and how God's wrath is "never less than a perfect, judicial decree, but is always more than a perfect, judicial decree because it is always full of right and fitting fury."

God is also clear that we as believers should love and pray for our enemies - see also this post from DesiringGod.com. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your justice is perfect and I have felt Your discipline in my life and I am grateful for it.  Thank You Jesus for molding me into more of Your image and for Your patience with me.  I am not deserving of such love and patience.  I know there is much work in me to do.  Please forgive me for my sins of omission and commission - my sins are great and daily.  Help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 12-15

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” Revelation 14:12-13

Session #7 of  David Platt - Revelation: The Hope of Glory (requires login which I have though my church) focuses on Revelation 12-15.

Broad reflections from Platt's recent mission trip as context and as lead for this study today: We are ordinary believers doing extraordinary things with God's Word for God's glory...making disciples, multiplying churches.  The point is not to coast out our comfortable Christian life! We must multiply...knowing the cost is great!  Just like the 1st century church who serves as the original audience for Revelation...believing that the reward is great.  We cannot do business as usual.

Revelation "pulls back the curtains" to help us understand that nothing in this world happens naturally and that scientific explanation is not the key to all dilemmas most importantly sin and salvation; all is controlled by and tied to a supernatural being - God Himself.  We are caught up in a cosmic battle between God and sin. Chapters 12-15 include seven visions or signs that play out in this battle:

• 12:1 and 12:3 Satan has been conquered by Christ the Savior and is being conquered by Christians as they suffer.  Woman is the picture of people of God (church) spanning the Bible (OT, NT).  The child is Jesus.  Red dragon is Satan (evil).  Birth of Christ declares the death of the ancient serpent (from Genesis 3).  Satan kept trying to disrupt God's plan to defeat sin but the death of Christ defanged the adversary; and the resurrection of Christ demolished all his accusations against the church. From the very entrance of sin, God promised to send His Son to defeat evil and sin and Jesus accomplished what no one else could do.  Satan goes after the church (12:13-17) but is defeated! When Satan attempts to use suffering and persecution to defeat Christians, he ultimately contributes to their eternal delight and his own eternal destruction (Philippians 1).
• 13:1 Satan works through government that functions as divine authority instead of divine authority; God permits the beast to curse His name, crush His people, and control the nations (13:5-7).  But we should be encouraged - see 13:8-10; Satan deceives through teachers who look like friends (13:11 - "like a lamb") yet speak like enemies, stimulating idolatry while slaying the innocent.  He massacres all who refuse him.  But remember, there will always be a price to pay for believers who refuse to worship the ways of this world.  He (Satan) marks (with an incomplete number 666 vs 7 that represents Jesus) all who follow him. 
• 14:1 Faithful followers of Christ will one day stand boldly with Him, sing loudly to Him and be satisfied completely in Him (14:4). This is the reward of uncompromising purity in the world. 14:5 This is the reward of unapologetic proclamation of the gospel.  Who we worship on earth determines where we go in eternity. 14:6 All who indulge in the enticing wine of this world will one day drink from the everlasting wrath of God. 14:9-11 Wake up non believers to what awaits you eternally!  Yet hope for believers - All who endure amid the trials and temptations of this world will one day enter into the rest and relief of God.  14:12-13
• 14:14 The judgment of God is inevitable and intense. He will harvest all the saints who trust in Him. He will tread every sinner who turns from Him.  Everyone will one day come face to face with God.
• 15:2-4 Soon all saints throughout history will rejoice together in the song of the redeemed. Conquering Christians will shout as they consider God's incomprehensible works. Conquering Christians will sing as they behold God's incomparable worth.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who is with us TODAY to help with our struggles against the forces of this world and You have saved believers from the wrath promised during the end times - thank You Jesus for adopting me into Your family.  I am not deserving of such a gift - I continue to gossip, worry, etc. Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply your message for me today and every day.  Help me also snatch others from the fire!

Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked. By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life.

Psalm 17

Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down; with your sword rescue me from the wicked. By your hand save me from such people, Lord, from those of this world whose reward is in this life. v13-14

As I posted yesterday, our focus should always be upward, towards the eternal and towards His glory.  When we live a life for Jesus, we are promised to have "trouble".

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Yet trials from God are GOOD for us:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James1:2-3

As I posted here, God is a righteous and perfect judge, so all that we experience, good and bad is by His design and for His glory...and of course, for our good.

So, just as David writes in Psalms, all of us will have trouble in this world when we focus on the eternal and on Jesus.  Help us focus on how these troubles are for God's glory and our good.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God, full of love, grace, mercy, etc. for me.  I am not worthy of such a God as I continue to be impatient with people in my life.  Thank You for all the ways that You bless me Jesus and please forgive me for how I lack the grace for others as You have poured out on me.  Please forgive me and help me turn from such sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure Lisa of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day.

Psalm 7

God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day. v11

Many people, including myself, have viewed God's wrath as a bad thing.  Yet God's wrath also leads to justice and training.  When we view wrath in terms of the positive outcomes it can achieve, we better appreciate the perfection and goodness of God.  Everything God does is good and perfect.  I know for myself that God has been disappointed and angry with my sin, and so he has either allowed me to experience the consequences of my sin, or he has disciplined/tested me with difficult circumstances.  Either way, God's discipline and wrath has resulted in a purification and training process for me - all good.

The prophet Zechariah speaks to God's refiner's fire and how it produces a more pure child of God, one that is closer to God's image:

On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity....This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, They are my people,and they will say, The Lord is our God.  Zechariah13:1, 9

Circling back to Psalm 7:11, we should look DAILY for how God's wrath (pruning) is producing fruit (see also John 15) in our lives.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God, abounding in love for me...even though I am certain I am not deserving.  Thank You Jesus!  I am easily distracted by worldly matters.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects of chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin, and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me every day.