We Are Fighting Against the Enemy

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:11-12

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Certain things war against the soul. The enemy is warring {strategizing) against your soul. A conspiracy born in hell goes after your soul, the soul of your family, your church, and this nation.

You’re called to live a righteous, godly life. In your heart, there cannot be what the Bible calls “fleshly lust.” Renounce and abstain from everything that’s wrong. Embrace everything that’s right.

People who are not saved love to bad-mouth the church and ridicule Christians, and if you're a Bible-believing Christian, they especially love to lampoon you. We shouldn’t be surprised, for Our Lord said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

We war against unseen forces from the very pit of hell. Peter warns all who follow Christ to be careful how we behave among our unsaved neighbors so that even when they are suspicious of us and talk against us, in the long run, they will be praising God for our good works when Christ returns. A child of God ought to be pure and clean as the driven snow.

ACTION POINT

Live such a pure, honest life, that even those who hate you have to grudgingly admit there’s a difference. Remember the words of Jesus in Luke 12:32, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

We Honor What We Enjoy

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13–14)

It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him.

Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking their own pleasure on his holy day. “Turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.” But what does he mean? Does he mean that we should not seek our joy on the Lord’s Day? No, because the next thing he says is, “Call the Sabbath a delight.” And in verse 14, “You shall take delight in the Lord.” So what he is criticizing is that they are delighting in their own business on the Sabbath rather than delighting in the beauty of their God and the rest and holiness that this day stands for.

He’s not rebuking their hedonism. He’s rebuking the weakness of it. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” They have settled for secular interests and thus honor them above the Lord.

Notice that calling the Sabbath “a delight” is parallel to calling the holy day of the Lord “honorable.” “If you . . . call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable . . .” This simply means you honor what you delight in. Or you glorify what you enjoy.

The enjoyment of God and the glorification of God are one. His eternal purpose and our eternal pleasure unite in one experience of worship. This is what the Lord’s Day is for. Indeed, this is what all of life is for.

John Piper 

November 8

1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 "And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her abominations.

3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord GOD: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself!

4 You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought your days near, the appointed time of your years has come. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries.

5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; your name is defiled; you are full of tumult.

6 "Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.

7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.

9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst.

10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity.

11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

13 "Behold, I strike my hand at the dishonest gain that you have made, and at the blood that has been in your midst.

14 Can your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.

15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

16 And you shall be profaned by your own doing in the sight of the nations, and you shall know that I am the LORD."

17 And the word of the LORD came to me:

18 "Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.

21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it.

22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the LORD; I have poured out my wrath upon you."

23 And the word of the LORD came to me:

24 "Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation.

25 The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

26 Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD." - Ezekiel 22

1 The word of the LORD came to me:

2 "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother.

3 They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.

4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 "Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors

6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses.

7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted.

8 She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her.

9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.

10 These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her.

11 "Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.

12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men.

13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way.

14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,

15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea.

16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust.

18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.

19 Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt

20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses.

21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed your young breasts."

22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side:

23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses.

24 And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments.

25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire.

26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels.

27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

28 "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust,

29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring

30 have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.

31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.

32 Thus says the Lord GOD: "You shall drink your sister's cup that is deep and large; you shall be laughed at and held in derision, for it contains much; 

33 you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. A cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria; 

34 you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 

35 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring."

36 The LORD said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations.

37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me.

38 Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths.

39 For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house.

40 They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil.

42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 "Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, 'Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!'

44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women!

45 But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands."

46 For thus says the Lord GOD: "Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder.

47 And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses.

48 Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done.

49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD." - Ezekiel 23

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 "How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind? 

3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? 

4 If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. 

5 If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, 

6 if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. 

7 And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great. 

8 "For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. 

9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. 

10 Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding? 

11 "Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? 

12 While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. 

13 Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish. 

14 His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web. 

15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. 

16 He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden. 

17 His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones. 

18 If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.' 

19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring. 

20 "Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers. 

21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting. 

22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."  - Job 8

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-

2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. - 1 John 1:1-4

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud

7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"

9 Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man."

10 So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"

11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight."

12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know." - John 9:1-12

What Do You Do When Everything's in Turmoil?

BIBLE MEDITATION

“Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Habakkuk ended his conversation with the Lord by expressing his frustration and dismay over his beloved land. Truly, it was God’s land, for He had set apart the Hebrews for Himself centuries before.

Habakkuk had begun by asking, “Why, Lord, why?” God never did answer why. He just said, “I’m going to reveal who: Me. I am your strength, and I will make you like a sure-footed gazelle, and you can live on your high places.”

Habakkuk came to this conclusion: “I will joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength.”

ACTION POINT

If you’re saved, if you know the Lord, it doesn’t matter if gasoline goes to five dollars a gallon, Wall Street hits bottom, or they take away your fine house. The Bible says: “You can rejoice in the Lord your God!” Remember God’s greatness. Rejoice in God’s goodness. Rely on God’s grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Is God’s Love Conditional?

[God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:6–8)

James teaches us that there is a precious experience of “more grace” and God “drawing near” to us. Surely this is a wonderful experience — more grace and a special nearness of God. But I ask: is this experience of the love of God unconditional? No. It is not. It is conditional on our humbling ourselves and our drawing near to God. God “gives [more] grace to the humble. . . . Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

There are precious experiences of the love of God that require that we fight pride, seek humility, and cherish the nearness of God. Those are the conditions. Of course, the conditions themselves are the work of God in us. But they are no less conditions we fulfill.

If this is true, I fear that the unqualified, biblically careless reassurances today that God’s love is all unconditional may stop people from doing the very things the Bible says they need to do in order to enjoy all the peace that they so desperately crave. In trying to give peace through “unconditionality” we may be cutting people off from the very remedy the Bible prescribes.

To be sure, let us proclaim, loud and clear, that the divine love of election, and the divine love of Christ’s death, and the divine love of our regeneration — our new birth — are all absolutely unconditional.

And let us declare untiringly the good news that our justification is based on the worth of Christ’s obedience and sacrifice, not ours (Romans 5:19, “as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous”).

But let us also declare the biblical truth that the fullest and sweetest experiences of the grace of God and the nearness of God will be enjoyed by those who daily humble themselves and draw near to God.

John Piper 

November 7

1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

2 And the word of the LORD came to me:

3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers,

5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God.

6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.

7 And I said to them, 'Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.'

8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. "Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 

9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.

12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. "Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 

14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

15 Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands,

16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.

17 Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.

18 "And I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules,

20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'

21 But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths. "Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 

22 But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.

23 Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries,

24 because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols.

25 Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life,

26 and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD.

27 "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me.

28 For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings.

29 (I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah to this day.)

30 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things?

31 When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.

32 "What is in your mind shall never happen-the thought, 'Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.'

33 "As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out I will be king over you.

34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out.

35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD.

37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

38 I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

39 "As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

40 "For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings.

41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

42 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers.

43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed.

44 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."

45 And the word of the LORD came to me:

46 "Son of man, set your face toward the southland; preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb.

47 Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it.

48 All flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."

49 Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, 'Is he not a maker of parables?'" - Ezekiel 20

1 The word of the LORD came to me:

2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.

4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.

5 And all flesh shall know that I am the LORD. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.

6 "As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes.

7 And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,'" declares the Lord GOD.

8 And the word of the LORD came to me:

9 "Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: "A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, 

10 sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! (Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) 

11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.

13 For it will not be a testing-what could it do if you despise the rod?" declares the Lord GOD.

14 "As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,

15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter.

16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.

17 I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken."

18 The word of the LORD came to me again:

19 "As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.

20 Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified.

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver.

22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.

23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.

24 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear-because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

25 And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment,

26 thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.

27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.

28 "And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning-

29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you-to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.

30 Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

31 And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.

32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the LORD have spoken." - Ezekiel 21

1 "Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? 

2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, 

3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. 

4 When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. 

5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh. 

6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope. 

7 "Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good. 

8 The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. 

9 As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up; 

10 he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore. 

11 "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 

12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me? 

13 When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,' 

14 then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 

15 so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones. 

16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. 

17 What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, 

18 visit him every morning and test him every moment? 

19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? 

20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? 

21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be."  - Job 7

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,

12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. - 2 Peter 3:10-18

48 The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.

50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

52 The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.'

53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?"

54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'

55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad."

57 So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"

58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. - John 8:48-59

When Evil Seems to Triumph

BIBLE MEDITATION

“An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power, and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” Jeremiah 5:30-31

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Israel’s condition in Habakkuk’s day was so deplorable, not only Habakkuk but his fellow prophet Jeremiah, known as “the weeping prophet,” mourned over it.

Today we have a generation of preachers, unlike Habakkuk and Jeremiah, who tell people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear, who teach falsely, serving for gain––and the people love it that way.

What do God’s people do when biblical principles are being cast aside?

First, be assured of this: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). One day, God is going to put His Son upon His holy hill of Zion. It has not arrived yet, but that day of reckoning is coming.

Second, remember, God is in control. Habakkuk says, “The Lord is in His holy temple…” and He isn’t turning loose of the reins (Habakkuk 2:20).

When Habakkuk asked, “God, where are You?”, He answered, “I’m right up here in My holy temple. There’s no panic. The Holy Trinity is not meeting in an emergency session. I know what I’m doing.”

ACTION POINT

God has not lost control.

Listen to the reliability of the Scriptures.

See the reign of the Savior.

Know there’s going to be retribution for the sinner.

And rely on God’s grace.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers