Ezekiel 47:1-48:35 + 1 Peter 2:11-3:7 + Psalm 119:49-64 + Proverbs 28:12-13
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Old Testament – We finish the book of Ezekiel today! The book of Daniel begins tomorrow! Ezekiel chapter 47’s opening verses about the River of Healing are just beautiful. Verses 1 through 3 tell us – “Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing eastward from beneath the Temple threshold. This stream then passed to the right of the altar on its south side. The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the stream flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. Measuring as he went, he led me along the stream for 1,750 feet and told me to go across. At that point the water was up to my ankles.”
As I was reading these verses about the River of Healing I imagined myself jumping into the river and just being refreshed and renewed and restored! Great stuff… This river is very reminiscent of the river in the Garden of Eden – and the River of Life described in Revelation chapter 22. Verse 9 in ch. 47 of Ezekiel sums it all up well – “Everything that touches the water of this river will live. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will be healed. Wherever this water flows, everything will live.” Can you imagine this river of healing flowing from the temple? Can you imagine some rest & restoration & refreshment & healing through this river?
Today in Ezekiel chapter 48 we read about the division of land in Ezekiel’s vision, which the map below details quite well (you’ll need to scroll down a bit to view it all) –
Ezekiel chapter 48’s last words – and the last words in the book of Ezekiel are simply this – “And from that day the name of the city will be `The LORD Is There.'” In Hebrew this is Yahweh Shammah. The Hebrew pronunciation of Jerusalem is Yerushalayim – which some say could be a wordplay on Yahweh Shammah. Jerusalem = The Lord is There…
New Testament – 1 Peter 2 verse 11 is powerful – “So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls.” Do you believe evil desires fight against your soul? If so, will you keep away from evil desires? Will you not entertain those desires anymore?
Verse 24 today about Jesus is so strong – “He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!” Are you dead to sin? Are you living for what is right? Do you believe you have been healed by Jesus’ wounds? Will you accept this healing? Will you kneel down at the foot of the cross and be healed?
Psalms – Wow. I love Psalm 119 verse 54 today – “Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage.” What a beautiful metaphor – God’s principles being the music of our lives through all our years as we are on our pilgrimage. Great stuff! How might God’s principles actually become the music of your life? Do you think you’d need to be reading God’s Word frequently to tune into his frequency? (did you catch that – frequently & frequency? 🙂 I commend you for reading the Bible each day this year as we go through the One Year Bible. I pray you’ll continue to read the Bible daily in all of your years to come. I pray God’s principles are and will be the music of your life.
Verse 59 today is a great verse for each of us to consider – “I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your statutes.” Have you ever reached a mid-life or maybe even a quarter-life crisis where you pondered the direction of your life? Do you like the direction your life is heading now? Do you want to change that direction? Will you turn to follow God’s way? God’s Truth? God’s life for you? Do you believe that God’s plans for you are so much bigger than any plans of your own that you could dream up on your own?
Proverbs – Today in Proverbs 28 verse 13 we read: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Are there sins you are concealing? Maybe even from your own consciousness? Do you believe concealed sin will affect your prosperity? (Not just financial prosperity, but your spiritual, physical, & mental prosperity?) Can you find a trusted friend or pastor to confess your sins to? Do you believe that in doing so you will find mercy? Will you confess and renounce your sins? Will you find mercy?
Worship Video: Today’s readings in First Peter remind me of Phil Wickham’s song “The Day True Love Died:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL7Uo__ss7g
Do you know about the day True Love died?? Click here and learn!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on two verses of Scripture today: “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” 1 Peter 2:16-17 NIV
Prayer Point: Pray that you are living as a free person, but not as a cover-up for evil. Pray that you are a slave of God’s. Pray that you show proper respect to others, love fellow believers, and honor your leaders.
Comments from you – What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.
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BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
====== Ramona:
Ezekiel 47:1-48:35
Types and shadows of things to come, that is what the Old Testament contains according to Paul’s letter to the church at Colossi (Col 2:16-18). The design of the temple, the laws and regulations all point to the future in Christ and in Heaven, so I thought as I read the last two chapters of Ezekiel.
What I began thinking of as I read the 47th chapter and continued on to chapter 48, was this: Both the description of this Temple and the water that flowed out, the division of the land apportioned to the 12 tribes was a type of the body of the Believer, our local church bodies as well as the Body of Christ in whole.
Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP)
And
So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5 NET.)
Right now upon the earth we are the ones that bring healing to our neighbors, our local bodies bring healing to our communities, states and countries, and the Body of Christ brings healing to a dead and dying world.
Conduct yourselves properly (honorably, righteously) among the Gentiles, so that, although they may slander you as evildoers, [yet] they may by witnessing your good deeds [come to] glorify God in the day of inspection [when God shall look upon you wanderers as a pastor or shepherd looks over his flock]. (1 Peter 2:12 AMP)
As believers, we are each given a role, a purpose to fulfill the call on our lives. Everyone has a purpose our job is to communicate with God in prayer to find out what it is, to find out what part of the Body we belong too.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. (Romans 12:4-5 KJVR)
Proverbs 28:13
13 People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy.
Mike, May I throw something in the mix here? I believe confessing our stuff to others is necessary but something else is missing: confessing our “stuff” to ourselves. Too often we think that just telling our sin(s) to others absolves us of dealing with our issues and holding ourselves responsible, not our parents, the neighbor, the frog or the dog. It is only when we accept that we did the deed, and then go on to figure out why, will we break out of the cycle of committing the same sin repeatedly. Let us not fall into the trap of just mowing the lawn of our issues instead of digging deep and pulling out the root.
To all our One-Year-Bible Travelers in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving, and to all those around the world, Make each and every day a day of Thanksgiving.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======= Anka:
As I read the division of the land today it occured to me just how precise God is.His plans for Israel are so clear and detailed…Yet due to their disobedience,they wandered for years without their land,today they are still fighting for it.God’s plans for our life are good….but we need to frequently tune into His frequency(I like that phrase)and be obedient.
Like Israel we are warned not to mix and take on the ways of this strange land (the world)or bow down to idols…Losing their land was a big blow to the Israelis….losing our heavenly inheritance because we choose to give in to the pleasures/pressures of the world would be a bigger blow….eternal regrets….millions and millions of years will be spent regretting….I pray that none of us will ever have to face that…I also pray for grace to frequently be tuned to God’s frequency:))
God bless you all
Anka
======= Pat:
Good morning Christian Brothers and Sisters! I would like to offer up my thoughts on today’s Scripture readings. In Ezekiel 47:12 we read, “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” First we need to establish that this river will not come into being until the old earth passes away and is replaced with the new earth. We are told that when we leave this present earth at the time of our earthly death and join Christ in His Kingdom that there will be only refreshing joy from that second on – there will be no illness, grief, or need for personal healing. Revelation 22:2 tells us, “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” During the entire history of the world there has never been a time when one tribe was not fighting another or one country at war with another. The healing leaves are not for healing of the saints because Christ already eliminated the need for that! The healing leaves are for the healing of nations – never again on the new earth will there be any animosity between people. The new world will be one totally at peace – how wonderful that will be!
Now for my next thoughts – those on Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” It is so easy for us to just say to God when we pray, “forgive my sins”, without actually discussing our specific sins with God. We justify this by telling ourselves that God already knows how we have sinned so there’s no reason to go into detail when we pray. The reason for confessing our sins is not to let God know how we have sinned but instead to let God know that we recognized our sin! When we confess our specific sins to God, we need to tell Him what we did, how we felt, the effect it had on us and others – lay it all out on the table. It is only through a confession of this type can we truly renounce our sins.
God Bless!
Pat
====== Mae:
Reading 1 Peter I felt a big relief.
“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”
My husband is not a Christian, it’s not affecting our marriage in any way though. But it hurts me to know how he will not meet my savior when something happens to him. A couple of weeks ago my husband did join me to Church at a healing service and I saw how touched he was. I’m not pushing him to become a Christian, it doesn’t work that way. But knowing that he might be won over just by seeing my purity … that’s a wonderful thought! I really do believe that my husband will see The Lord through my eyes one day. It’s just a matter of time!
Mae
===== Jenny:
That’s beautiful! Yahweh Shammah= The Lord Is There! I have been to Israel and stayed in Jersualem a few days…its actually very modern and kind of a party town, but even amongst any unglodliness. there is something so strong there, I cant describe the wonder and the beauty of that place…words cant express, but God sure is there!
I swam..or floated in the dead sea, its amazing…its physically impossible to sink! If you have cuts, ouch!, but you go in there you are healed instantly…and if it gets in your eyes, ouchhh and blindddd. Israel was definatley the most amazing experience of my life…especially when u know your BIble and you see all the places events occured at…my words do it no justice, but if this world, the “curse” is that amazing, i cant IMAGE heaven.
Definately our souls wage war against worldly desires! Like when Paul spoke of the fact the things he hates he does and the things he wants to do he doesnt. Doesnt mean we should give up cause ‘its our fallen nature’…its a struggle, but well worth it, amazing blessings!
v 12 and 15 spoke to me…when u are accused of something, your honorableness will prevail, and be counted praise to God. A few yrs ago I was falsely accused of some bad things, when I was doing something good for them, by my friend and her family “christians”, it was embarressing and heartbreaking. Plus, my former friend spread it like wildfire…when i tried to keep it quiet b’cos I knew it would bring shame to them, b’cos ppl knew me and they knew this family…and I wasnt the one who’s intergrity/honor was questionable. It hurt soooo bad…not just the accusations, but the loss of friendship..and the fact this family really thought this of me. but I had to realize God knew the truth and thats what mattered. I dont know why i had to go through that and to this day it saddens me. …it was really really heartbreaking for me.
Psalm is very beautiful! love it!
Jenny
===== Cherry:
God’s plans for you are so much bigger!
“Love the Lord and follow His plan for your lives. Cling to Him and serve him enthusiastically.”
Joshua 22:5
We have to start with the basics, actively seek God’s presence and guidance. Genesis 1-3
God can conquer all of our problems and put us where we need to be in order to receive his blessings.
Romans 12:2
Jeremaih 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremaih 29: 10 -12 (in Context)
John 14:12
“He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father”
Be blessed.
Cherry
====== David:
The readings in Peter are most excellent! It tells me that a Christian should not even understand how to be hip. Have you ever seen a foreigner? How do you know a foreigner? They look like a foreigner because they don’t blend in. Otherwise they would not be pointed out as foreigners! If we are to live as foreigners then we should not blend in. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl. We are supposed to stand out and not blend in. We are not to be admired like the hipsters, but we are to be admired as being different or foreign. It seems that things were not that different in Peter’s times to now.
David
====== Suji:
This is awesome commentary on Ezekiel, thanks Ramona! Hope its ok to share this on my FB
Suji
======= Nancy:
Last week in my small group the question came up about where Rev 22.1-2 was taking place. In today’s reading of Ezekiel as I was listening the same words came up & caught my ear. There is more depth there. So it’s not Heaven but during the Millennium if I’m understanding it correctly. It is a foretaste of Heaven which John is writing about.
We were questioning why would the tree leaves be needed in Heaven. It seems it wasn’t Heaven but Earth. Commentaries spiritualize it saying it is symbolic or figurative. Will be asking my pastor about it before I share with my small group. Want to correctly share God’s Word.
Nancy