EZEKIEL 16:43 - 17:24
HARLOTS & WHOREDOMS: Israel's "lovers" (those countries she "slept with" instead of seeking help from God) will turn on her and devour her in the end (Rev 16-17). Israel's behavior exceeded that of her "relatives", Sodom and Samaria, whom God already destroyed! The reversal of their captivity would come through Jesus. We need a NEW NATURE to "cure" us of whoredoms (fulfilling our deep hungers with substitutes for God). The cure is by the "everlasting covenant" of grace. (16:60 - which Hebrews tells us is a covenant for the CHURCH) But, even Israel can be restored! In Christ, there is no ethnicity, no gender, no class distinction. Gal 3:27-28.
RESPONSE: Any time we trust the "cosmos" to deliver us, there is a price to pay. The "cosmos" is the world-system (represented by Egypt and by Babylon) ruled by an antichristian spirit and driven by desire; it is in alienation from and in opposition to God. These are substitutes and counterfeits for God. What is it that I want so bad that I am willing to sin to get it? Everything I need is to be found in God, through Christ Jesus. God calls us harlots for seeking "outside" help! Loving or coveting the "things of the world" will put us in opposition to God. This is one of the justifications for destruction that God gave Ezekiel! WE NEED A NEW NATURE that hates sin and delights in God. The consequences of sin should drive me toward God. Running to Egypt for comfort and relief is placing myself smack-dab in the clutches of the enemy! Run to God! He guarantees that He will give us enough of Himself to satisfy us and keep us close (Jer 31:25). Call on Him! He will come and stand before you! Thank Him that you can trust Him. It is a sin to attempt to find a substitute for God.
HEBREWS 8:1-13
AN AMAZING DECLARATION! Verse 12 contains an incredible statement: "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Under the New Covenant of the "Melchizedek/Jesus" priesthood, our sins are not remembered. Jesus paid the price for our sin: past, present and future, on the cruel cross. Remember, when Jesus died, ALL our sin was future! The old way, the way of the Law (what WE have to do), not only remembered our sin, but it was impossible to conquer that sin or to change us in any way! It only addressed the outward, external behavior, but never the origin of the sin - my heart! This is what makes our new priesthood better: we don't live to satisfy the law any more! If we sin, we are already forgiven.
WHO ARE THESE PROMISES FOR? The Church. This chapter is quoted from Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8 is PROOF that the "New Covenant" is for the Church, not just Israel. In Luke 22:20 Jesus said, "This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood, which is shed for you." The new covenant or testament was inaugurated by the Blood of Jesus and secured the "remission of sins" (Mat 26:28). The promise given in the new covenant is that the revealed will of God (His "laws" and commands) is "written in our hearts". It becomes an INTERNAL work. We do God's will because we want to. The living God inside of us is bringing forth Life in us, as opposed to the death that worked in us under the Law (2Co 3:7).
**MOST IMPORTANT **WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SIN? The whole point being made here is that we don't go back and start over again when we fall. We get up, knowing God's grace is still with us, His forgiveness, His power and His love and His fellowship and His approval are still with us, His enablement to live for Him is still in us. Because He "remembers our sins and our law-breaking no more". Why do we repent then? Because when we sin, we are rebelling from the Truth. We are turning our backs on God's love and enablement. REPENTANCE is the means by which we put our own independence behind us and cling to God. ... return to God as the Source of Life. As we "turn" (OT word for "repent) from our substitutes and counterfeits, and turn toward God, this is repentance. It is a process of retraining my heart away from independence, arrogance, insensitivity and self-sufficiency, so that I am free to rest in faith. Abandon all the substitutes and counterfeits. ("Return to Me.....and put your abominations out of My sight." Jer 4:1) We can have confidence before God because Jesus has truly done it all. Whenever we find our focus on ourselves and on what we do, we have gone backward into our old covenant ways and need to repent - turn our focus back on Jesus and what He has already done. Remember, if it walks like a duck (law), talks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it's a duck! Don't fall for it - if the focus is on people, it is NOT GOD'S GRACE.
RESPONSE: No wonder "Gospel" means "Good News". Somehow we've made it the "Bad News" because now we can't sin and enjoy it! The truth is that sin is only enjoyable "for a season" (Heb 11:25) - and then "the law of diminishing returns" kicks in, and it isn't any fun any more. In fact, sin has the power to bring us under its dominion (1 Co 6:12; Rom 6:16). The Truth is that we don't have to sin any more! It isn't that we don't get to. Anything outside of God lacks the ability to satisfy us, fulfill us, or keep us contented.
If we sin, God picks us up, we repent of not availing ourselves of the grace that was available to not sin, and keep moving forward. We must be GOD-conscious, not SIN-conscious. Back in high school, when I took typing, we were instructed that when we made a typing error, to immediately dismiss it from our minds; otherwise we would keep making errors. We tend to gravitate to whatever we focus ourselves on. Staying focused on God and His power and His grace and His goodness toward us - keeps us from sinning in the first place!
PSALM 106:13-31
This is the last "Numbers" Psalms (Psa 90-106). Psa 106 covers the Exodus to the Babylonian captivity, and reveals to us that not one lesson was learned; and that even tho Israel failed and disobeyed, God is still faithful and full of mercy.
PRESUMPTION : Verses 13-15 give us the "inside scoop" on what it is like to demand our own way when God has something else in mind for us. As Christians, we can have whatever we want; everything is "legal" for us (1Co 6:12; 1Co 10:23). We hear people talk about "the permissible will of God" all the time! But is there really such a thing? In Numbers 11 the people complained that they were tired of manna and wanted meat. They whined and cried until God gave them the quail - knee-deep and coming out their noses! God gave them what they wanted! "but sent leanness into their soul". The literal meaning is that they "self-destructed; they shrank until there was nothing left". Their glory was consumed. (see vs. 20) They no longer lived up to their calling; they couldn't because they were a whining, rebellious people. They had turned aside. When we press God for something we think we really want, we should be sure it isn't quail! (presumption - something God gives us because we whine).
WHEN WE AREN'T CONTENT WITH WHAT GOD GIVES US: Numbers 25 tells us that Israel "committed whoredoms" with outsiders of the church (people in the world). That is, they went to a substitute or a counterfeit instead of what God had already provided for them. When we substitute offerings for faithfulness, or food for prayer, or anything else that gives us temporary comfort, insight, strength, power, etc. - God views that as spiritual adultery. We are "cheating" on Him! In this particular case, the Israelites even worshipped the same gods as their spouses and ate the fruit of their worship! (Psa 106:28) It so provoked God that He started killing them with plague (sin & death)! One couple, in particular, dragged their "issues" into God's face in the church, and when the high priest (Phinehas) saw them, he ran a spear thru both of their bellies and killed them . . . and that stopped the plaque, but not before 24,000 had died. Sin is costly - it cost Jesus His life.
PROVERBS 27:7-9
Sometimes when we hear the Gospel over and over again, we can become jaded. When that happens, we must refresh ourselves in God's Presence. Rehearse out loud all God's goodness and greatness until the honeycomb tastes good again. Thank Him. Gratitude will keep us from complaining and leaving the nest. Remember how it was before we knew God - always hungry and never satisfied.
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