AUGUST 20 READINGS...Ezekiel 17:1-19:14
Ezekiel begins and ends our readings today dealing with the king and the princes of Israel. The Lord has him speak to the people in a riddle. One of the things the riddle does is shows us again the sovereignty of God. The riddle is about Zedekiah. The Lord says that he will die in Babylon. Zedekiah would break his treaty with Nebuchadnezzar, and attempt to make an alliance with Egypt. This would be his downfall, and he would die sightless in Babylon. Today’s reading closes with a funeral dirge for the kings and princes of Israel…it is an extremely sad song, as it did not have to come to this. It was their disobedience that lead to the downfall of Judah…now their fate is sealed, and there is nothing great that will be sung at their funeral in remembrance of them. Wicked leaders lead wickedly…they lead the people to destruction. Sadly, people follow these leaders to their own doom. Like in Ezekiel’s, Daniel’s, and Jeremiah’s day we need people of God to stand up and call our leaders to accountability…not join them in their sin.
There was a time in Israel where the offspring were responsible for their parent’s sin…and the parent was responsible for the sins of even their grown children. No more, says the sovereign Lord. The justice of God requires that each person is responsible for their own sin. Your parent’s sins have not been passed down to you…but neither has their righteousness. Certainly a parents actions, whether good or bad, impact the lives of their children, but they do not predetermine whether the children are going to be good or bad. The punishment for a person’s sin rests on them, and nobody else. God knows, God sees, and He will rightly judge the one who commits sin. Likewise He will give mercy and salvation to those who do righteously. God says He takes no delight in the death of the wicked…He would rather they repent and turn back to Him. But, He promises that He will judge each one of us, and it will be based on what we do. For us it is based on what we do with Jesus…do we trust Him to be our Savior and Lord of our lives. He must be both!
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading. Stay the course in your relationship with the Lord…do what is right. Pray for those in your own family that either do not know the Lord, or who are not walking in the Lord.
TOMORROW’S READINGS…Ezekiel 20:1-22:16
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