EZEKIEL 23:1-49
REALLY GROSS HARLOTRY: Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom; Jerusalem the capital of the Southern Kingdom. They are the "harlot sisters", children of Israel, the "mother of harlots" (Rev 17:5). "Bloodshed and harlotry" : they killed their prophets and prostituted themselves with the nations and their idols. We see God revealed here as the Husband of His "elect". Friendship (if you can call it that) with the world-spirit is called "harlotry". They were called "lewd", so insatiable is their appetite for "things of the world" (1 Jo 2:15). Spiritual unfaithfulness carries the seeds of punishment right in it; it is called "consequences". It is impossible for us to be completely satisfied with the substitute lovers we have chosen. Not only that, but our lovers become our punishment! Our "pleasure" becomes the thing that gives us pain. The things of the world that we love will be raised up against us, driving us back to God. Nothing will satisfy us then, but to be with Jesus. We are dead to all our old lovers, but alive unto God (Rom 6:22).
HEBREWS 10:18-39
If we left our flesh to do whatever it wanted to do with us, we would wander away from God. Our tendency is to do whatever is convenient at the time. We are especially prone to resist the rest of God, because it is not available by fleshly means. And so, in Hebrews chapter10, three times says, "Let us..." This isn't just a suggestion, it is a command: (V.22) "draw near" without fear because God NEVER thinks about our sin or guilt. (V.23) "hold fast" without fear because God is FAITHFUL, even if we are not. (V.24) "keep an eye on one another" without being critical, but rather encouraging each other to continue on. And stay together!
FOURTH "WARNING": (Heb 10:26-39) It is interesting to note that Jesus said (Heb 10:5) that He came to prepare a Body in the earth, that reflects Himself....and over here in v. 26 we are warned against thinking outside of that Body! To refuse to join with other Believers and try to "go it alone" - is to despise the WHOLE GODHEAD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit! What was happening here was what we call "guilt by association". There is persecution associated with being a Christian believer, and if you are associating with other believers, they assumed that you ARE one! To refuse to pay the price as a believer is to insult God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.......all of Who are working together to mold us together as One Body. This portion of Hebrews is speaking of those who try to hide the fact that they are Christian Believers when they are out in public, so they won't suffer persecution or rejection.
ABOUT FAITH.....: There are only two positions: Living by faith OR "drawing back unto perdition/ruin". Our lives are ruined if we draw back from living by faith. We sometimes feel as if our lives are being ruined when we DO walk by faith because of the accompanying persecution and rejection that comes. Doing the "will of God" (v.3) doesn't always bring an immediate result. Real faith is always tested by delay. It takes faith AND patience to receive "the promise". Heb 4:1 tells us that "the promise" is "God's rest". Heb 6:15 says that through "faith and patience", Abraham "obtained the promise". Abraham's promise was the Land. It is thru Abraham that we and Jesus have the claim on the Land - which Hebrews declares is "God's rest", and is also interpreted in Heb 10:39 as the "saving of the soul". It says here that I can handle the rejection and the insults and the persecution when I live like a Christian believer because I have "a better and enduring substance in heaven".
What is that "better and enduring substance?" Heb 11:1 says the "substance" is the essence of faith - what faith is made up of. Heb 1:3 translates the same word "Person" - Jesus is the "substance" of God. Our "better substance" our "promise" is God's rest and the perks that come with it: "rightgeous, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
Now that you mentioned it: what is the "saving of the soul"? Jam 1:21; 1 Pet 1:9 also speak of the "saving of the soul". Heb 4:12 talks of dividing the spirit from the soul as being possible ONLY by the Word of God, and for the intentions of provoking growth in us as the flesh dies. The NT Greek word for "soul" is "psuche" which is also translated "life" in Matt 10:34-39; Mar 8:34-35; Luk 17:31-33; John 12:24-25, where we learn the "salvation of the soul" is actually when it is handed over to DIE - when we deny it, refuse to be swayed by it, disregard it as unworthy of obedience.
RESPONSE: Faith is based on hearing God's voice in His Word, in our hearts, thru someone or something around us. "Faith" and "believe" are the same word, actually. To have faith is to believe God. Others can tell what you really believe by what you do! Do you fall apart when you receive bad news? What is your first reaction to rejection because of your faith in Jesus? Are you easily swayed by public opinion? I don't know if I could "take joyfully" (v.34) the "spoiling of my stuff" - whether it was stolen or vandalized. Maybe if I KNEW it was because I am an outspoken Christian believer, it might be easier - because I'd know it didn't happen because I had done something or said something stupid.
Here we also learn that the opposite of living by faith is to draw away from Truth to where God does not "have pleasure" in us any more! On the other hand, when we obey God, we give Him pleasure and sometimes I can actually feel His pleasure in me!
PSALM 109:1-31
Remember that Psa 109 is one of the "Deuteronomy" Psalms, making it about "Living by faith in the Rest (the Land) of God". I love this last section of Psalms, because it tells me how to think so I can rest, and believe and behave by faith. Psa 109 is the last of what are called "imprecatory Psalms" - prayers that call down judgment on our enemies. This particular one is about JUDAS, the betrayer of Jesus. The principle here is that betrayal and character assassination cause pain, but God will vindicate us, and we must never defend ourselves. The curses that this prayer call down are actually the fruit of the enemy's own choices and deeds. They forfeited away the goodness of God.
PROVERBS 27:13
If you are making a loan to someone you don't know very well, you better make sure you get plenty collateral! Myself, whenever I loan ANYONE money, I consider it a "gift". It works like forgiveness, with the forgiver bearing the loss. This is how we get wisdom thru experience.
RESPONSE: Philippians is the book that tells us to (1) Never defend ourselves; (2) Never demands our own rights or our own way; (3) Never complain. We have to keep reminding ourselves that when the OT tells us to kill all our enemies, it is speaking of our own flesh with its desires lurking in our members. The flesh is what gets us to betray our covenant with God, and so it must be dealt with, without mercy. In fact, of all our enemies as listed by various Bible texts: the world, the flesh and the devil, the flesh is the only one we are told to kill or to avenge ourselves against. That death, or crucifixion, comes when we deny the flesh, or when we submit and obey God when something in our flesh is telling us not to. When the world rejects us or slanders us, or even oppresses or hinders us in some way, if we were wrong, then we go to the person and repent. If we were being persecuted wrongly for our faith, then we rejoice as we share in Christ's sufferings.
I have trouble with my own brain persecuting me. Whenever I have to do a distasteful job, like cleaning a toilet, my flesh tells me, "You deserve better than this. Make someone else do it." So, it is important to keep our heads straight by studying the Word of God and listening to the Holy Spirit. 
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