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August 28th

The bible reading today in Ezekiel 5-8.

“The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way, I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭7:27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Ezekiel used words, heavy words to get the attention of Judah. These were words that the priest/prophet gave to Judah right before Jerusalem fell to Babylon.

Here is what is coming: Your king will mourn...Your princes will despair...Your people will not fight... but will be paralyzed with fear...so blow your trumpets to gather your fighting men, but they will not come. And this judgment upon “your calculated” sinning... it will be calculated too.

Why?... Because you have turned away from me and our covenant relationship in order to worship idols and to even encourage others to do the same. “

“Jerusalem, you honored Me back in the day...but now you have taken your gracious privileges for granted and have exchanged your freedom to worship and serve Me to a bondage of sin and guilt... for you and your nation.....I cannot let you do this any longer...I will not let you do this anymore.

And after the victory that will be total...a victory that will only be survived by a small remnant...You will “remember” you “will know” again that “I am the Lord”...not you...not your money...not your allies among the nations...You will know that I am the Lord of your salvation...to worship...to love...and to desire above all again.

Wow, what a sobering prediction through the prophet.

But it got worse...“I even I, am against you...and what is about to happen...well, you can only imagine.

Now tell me once again why God was going to take His treasured ones, His covenant people Judah, through such tribulation?

Let us “Listen” to what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we have experienced in our hearts...what has changed us forever...Salvation is in the one true God...Yahweh...the God of salvation for all who will believe...thus salvation’s message and Messiah is from the Jews...

‭‭John‬ ‭4:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God had chosen the sons of Jacob to be a great nation. What would make them great? A Message and a Mission.

But at this time, Israel had forgotten their message and mission. They had lost their first love for the Lord. They had lost their testimony to the rest of the world. And God called them on it through the Babylonian siege and captivity.

They didn't know the Messiah personally like I do and like you do fellow follower of Jesus. They were looking for him to come, but he had not come yet, and still, they believed. At least some did

Through our New Testaments, We've been to the cross where He died in our place. We've been to the empty tomb where He rose from the dead and later showed Himself alive for forty days. We know and experience God’s salvation, because we know Jesus.

Yet we seem to lose sight of Him and His flesh in shreds from the Roman beatings His nail-pierced hands and feet. His wounded side and His thorn pierced brow from his thorny crown. What a price for my salvation...and Jesus paid it all.

That is our Message, Christan. And our mission? Spread that good news everywhere to everyone we know and beyond.

Let us be a cheerful and determined people in Christ. Serious about our message and our mission to the rest of the world.

Have a great day.