365 Reflections

Ezekiel begins to pronounce judgment upon the people starting with the land and their idols. These alternative worship structures led Israel's heart away from the Lord. In dramatic language, Ezekiel 6 captures the nature of sin in a way we often don't think about. Sin breaks the heart of God.  Ezekiel 6:8–9 (ESV) “Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9 then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. God's work of discipline upon His people is always to reveal the nature of sin. Sometimes the cost that we incur upon ourselves through hurtful actions, and here by the brokenness of G...

As we continue to study Jeremiah, we see a true prophet who will not back down even when preaching the Word costs him. He has been bitterly treated and shamefully scorned by his contemporaries who at the same time have sought his guidance during these last dark days of the kingdom.  In Jeremiah 38, we see another facet of true prophetic work - speaking in such a way that people assume it’s harmful when it’s the exact opposite. As Babylon bears down on Jerusalem, Jeremiah continues his message.  ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭38‬:‭3‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) “Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.”” The people assume since Jeremiah is talking about something destructive to the city, he must be off base.  ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭38‬:‭4‬ ‭(ESV‬‬) “Then the officials said to the king, “Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words t...

We esteem men like Jeremiah today. But when he ministered the word of the Lord he was despised by the culture and he was demoralized by what he saw around him. We will see many glimpses of this man's heart as we walk through this book. One of the first times we see it is in Jeremiah 4.  Jeremiah 4:19 (ESV) My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Jeremiah repeats the phrase, "my anguish" to emphasize his inward pain. He is torn apart for God's people as they await judgment.  Never listen to someone who claims to know that God's judgment will come and they do not weep for those on whom it falls. Judgment from God is a destructive reality. Any Earthly judgment we ever see is only a preview of the judgment to fall on all who reject Him. We who know the Lord should join Jeremiah is sorrowful anguish over the state of our nation.  Jeremia...

The narrative grows stranger as 2 Kings rolls on. The king of Syria is sick and he sends his commander to Elisha to ask if he will recover. The exchange between Elisha and Hazael is unique. 2 Kings 8:9–11 (ESV) So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’ ” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. Why the doublespeak here from Elisha? Go tell the king he will recover but the Lord has shown me he will die? Strange. Why would the prophet feel it right to mislead someone? The truth is he is not misleading at all. The prophet Elisha knows what is in Hazael's thoughts. He knows this commander c...

2 Kings 5:26 (ESV) But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? These are the words Elisha speaks to Gehazi after he returns from trying to make money on the ministry Elisha provided to Naaman in healing him from his leprosy. Gehazi secretly runs off to Naaman, invests a story about visiting guests and takes clothing and money for himself which he then tries to hide from Elisha.  He should have known by now you cannot hide anything from Elisha.   Gehazi has been faithful to Elisha in so many other respects. Why now does he suddenly see an opportunity to enrich himself through the ministry? I think it's because there's a weakness in all of us that when we are presented with an opportunity to indulge, we will. For Gehazi, it was monetary gain. Perhaps he realized the golden opportunity before h...