How do you react to difficult feedback? Do you accept the critique as being for your own good? Or do you write it off, suspecting the messenger of unfair motives? By the time we get to Ezekiel, a lot of hard words have been spoken against Israel. It’s easy to wonder if God had their best interest in mind. The attentive ear will listen to the words of the prophet Ezekiel and hear the note of redemption.

During Ezekiel’s day, the political invasions God promised were starting to become reality. Even so, Israel wasn’t taking the hint. They were asking all the wrong questions. “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live (v. 10)? Facing strong punishment, they wondered how they would ever recover. Like a person facing bankruptcy due to their poor decisions, or a confiscated driver’s license they wondered, How or when will life go back to normal?

Thankfully the Lord presented the answer right away: Turn! This one word sums up the Lord’s purpose in judgment. His goal was to compel His people to turn from their godless behavior and turn to Him, the source of all joy. Today, we might use the word repent to describe a change of mind that leads to a change of action.

God was not judging Israel because He enjoyed it (v. 11). Rather, He was punishing them because He wanted them to live. To really live meant loving Him above all other things (Deut. 6:4). In the New Testament, God makes the same plea. Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (Rev. 3:19).

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Who is in charge? Political scientists use the term “anarchy” to describe the way our world operates because no one is in charge to enforce laws or resolve conflicts. Countries act in their own best interest. Given this state of affairs, we might wonder if the buck stops with anyone at all. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God is in control of all things, even the movements of countries on the world stage.

In chapter 25, Jeremiah delivers sobering news to the nations (v. 15). God’s wrath is symbolized as a cup of wine which will make them staggering drunk. God lets them know that they will experience war (v. 16). While Jerusalem was due for hard discipline, the nations had worn out God’s patience and He intended to punish them as well (v. 17). This would involve startling geopolitical shifts, causing some empires to rise and others to fall.

The list of nations would have shocked Jeremiah’s audience (vv. 19–25). Israel’s neighbors Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon, and more were put on notice! Many of these nations played a negative role in Israel’s politics for centuries. Now God was informing them, through Jeremiah, that they would all be torn down.

For little Israel, an island in a sea of enemies, this might have come as good news. But it was also a reminder that God doesn’t play favorites when it comes to disobedience. They would endure their own judgment (v. 18). It’s easy to look out at the world and declare that God will one day judge the nations, but at times we forget that our own people will fall under judgment if we do not repent. “You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who lives on the earth” (v. 29).

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Job interviews can be tricky. If you’re conducting the interview, you want to get a total picture of the candidate, but if you’re the candidate you might be tempted to present only your best features, even if the portrait you give is a bit one-sided.

Our modern-day understanding of God can also be one-sided. Portrayals of God that neglect His willingness and capacity to judge are misleading at best, and deceitful at worst. But as this passage reminds us, mercy is part of God’s character as well! Israel sinned by turning from God to worship idols and to live in a way that violated the Mosaic Law. As promised, God judged them. But as He also promised, His judgment was paired with mercy and designed to lead them to repentance.

Israel received judgment (v. 2), but eventually that time of punishment would come to an end, and Israel would experience God’s mercy. God promised they would return to the Promised Land after a time of exile. Even then, God’s mercies were not exhausted. Verses 3–5 looked forward to a time when God’s final kingdom will be established on the earth and “the glory of the Lord will be revealed” (v. 5) to everyone. In that day, Jesus will rule as King over a kingdom that will not end.

This combination of judgment and mercy are best exemplified in Christ who took the judgment we deserved. His sacrifice was an act of mercy for all who trust in Him. God ordained them both. It was His plan to judge, and it was His plan to show mercy. This is glorious!

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Of all emotions, love is the most celebrated in art, literature, and song. There seems to be no end to our appetite for depictions, words or melodies that extol the delights, depths, or devastations of romantic love. Song of Songs describes the love between a man and a woman. In a world that has debased, monetized, and distorted the nature of this relationship, it is a breath of fresh air.

While marriage customs of their day may seem strange to us, we understand the emotion of seeing our beloved from afar. “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men” (v. 3). Her love stands out among his peers. The passage encourages those who have not tasted love not to get ahead of themselves (v. 7). Love is powerful. In each other’s presence the old has passed away, all things are made new (vv. 11–13).

Are you wondering why this description of romantic love is in the Bible? Consider that after God made Adam, He declared that man shouldn’t be alone (Gen. 2:18). Even the relationship between Christ and the church is described as a marriage (Ephesians 5). Instead of attempting to resolve the tension of this little book by spiritualizing the difficult bits away, we should stop and consider that God gave humans the capacity to experience an emotion as powerful as love. But, like all other emotions, sin has marred love. Our capacity to love can become disordered. Song of Songs shows that this is not what God intended. And the Bible points to the perfect love Christ has for His church, showing us how to love well.

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I serve as president of a small public charity that gives scholarships to undergraduate students. Recently one recipient wrote a letter of thanks, saying: “I am grateful for your investment in my career, and it won’t go to waste.” Then he quoted Proverbs 14:23, “All hard work brings a profit.”

Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are two books of the Bible considered wisdom literature. Both books offer important observations about God and humanity, living with wisdom versus living foolishly. Wisdom can be described as the knowledge it takes to live life skillfully. Having wisdom doesn’t mean you’ll always be profitable, but it does mean that you’ll be able to navigate your way through life’s various situations.

The foundation of wisdom is learning to respect the Lord. Proverbs describes this as the fear of the Lord (v. 7). The phrase does not mean being terrified of God. Rather it means having respect for Him and His ways. Ecclesiastes ties this to obeying God’s commandments (Eccl. 12:13). Neither the Proverbs nor Ecclesiastes make promises the way promises are typically understood. Both agree that failure, difficulty, and frustration are part of the human condition. Wisdom literature does remind us that, in the end, we answer to a God who does not always tell us why He does what He does.

In life, we may work very hard at something and still fail. That does not negate the biblical principle that hard work is good. It also does not negate that in a sinful world hard work does not always produce the fruit we want. Wisdom stands as the bedrock foundation of our confidence. We are to fear the Lord above all else and trust that He alone controls the results of your labor.

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Have you ever wanted to express your feelings to someone but couldn’t find the right words? Maybe you stood in the greeting card aisle hunting for the perfect card to express what was in your heart. When you found the right card, did you feel a sense of thankfulness for the person who wrote it? Probably not, but you should! They helped you express what you could not on your own. In many ways, the Psalms function the same way.

The speaker invites his readers to express themselves to God aloud, joyfully, and with gladness (vv. 1–2)! As C. S. Lewis noted, “The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about.” The writer of this psalm cannot stop himself from rejoicing and invites others to do the same.

The speaker declares that Yahweh, their god, is God (v. 3). In a world where every nation worshiped their own god, the Psalmist wanted Israelite worshipers to remember that they were the only ones worshiping in light of reality (John 4:23). He continued with more cause for rejoicing: God made them, and, as a result, they belonged to Him (v. 3). Like sheep who belong to a shepherd, they were protected, fed, and cared for by God. With these images in mind, the speaker invited listeners to enter the city of God with thankfulness for who He is and how He behaves towards them. He is good and He loves with a love that will never fade (v. 5)!

Sometimes we find emotions hard to express. The grind of life dulls our spiritual senses. We may approach worship with lips weighed down. The psalms can help us express what we really feel. Shout for joy! God made you and loves you. You belong to Him.

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Have you ever questioned God? When something terrible happens to us, we may wonder if we can ask God hard questions. The short answer is, yes. But we also don’t want to cross into sinfully accusing God. We must ask, Is my question a real question or an accusation? Has God already given me an answer that I just don’t like, or am I genuinely confused about what He is doing?

The first chapter of Job is a case study in tragedy. Job had lost everything: children, wealth, property, status. Yet, Job was known to be a man of God, blameless and upright (Job 1:1). The question is one we all face, why do bad things happen to people who love and follow God?

Job was experiencing unbelievable suffering. But his first step took him to the feet of God. In an attitude of worship, Job reminded himself of two things he knew to be true: people arrived into the world without anything, and they leave without anything (v. 21). Furthermore, God can give blessings and take them away: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (v. 21).

Note that Job did not accuse God of maliciousness. However, he did express anger at God. He did not withdraw from God because he lost trust in Him. Instead, he took a step closer to the One who controls all things. In this, Job showed us how to suffer. There is little value in charging God with wrongdoing when we face difficulty. Like Job, we don’t have all the facts (Job 42:1–3). However, we should lament to the One who holds the answers, the One who controls all things.

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While a large contingent of Jewish people returned to their homeland, many remained in exile where the kings of Babylon and Persia had taken them. Some exiles rose to positions of authority and power and made lives for themselves in foreign lands. Most importantly, they remained committed to the God of Israel. They refused to give in to the practices and customs of the people among whom they lived, even when it meant persecution.

Esther was one individual who faced persecution. Married against her will to the king of Persia, she found herself in a position of dubious influence. Her people were under threat of annihilation, and she was the only one who could do something about it by speaking to the king about the matter in an official capacity.

Esther knew that approaching the king brought great risk; she could be killed for breach of protocol (v. 11). But she had great faith, believing that the God of Israel was not bound by borders, procedure, or protocol! Gathering the Jewish community in Susa she invited them to fast, which often was accompanied by prayer. She would entrust herself to God as she took a risk for His people. Her declaration, “If I perish, I perish” (v. 16), should not be interpreted as a nihilistic expression of defeat. Rather, it was an expression of faith that, having done all she could, she was now entrusting herself to her God who controls all things.

Esther’s commitment was rewarded. The king looked upon her with favor and granted her requests. God delivered the Jewish community from certain death and destroyed their enemies in dramatic fashion. “For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor…and many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them” (8:16–17).

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What kind of work is most valuable in the eyes of God? Some people think that the kind of work God most values is ministry. That assumption can leave many with the sense that the work they do every day has little value beyond a paycheck. Are those in ministry the only ones storing up treasure in heaven? Nehemiah suggests that is not the truth.

While Ezra returned and set his focus on restoring obedience to the Law in Israel, Nehemiah faced a different problem. A high-ranking official in the court of Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah was in a key position of influence (Neh. 1:11). So, when he received a report that Jerusalem was defenseless and in a state of disrepair, he sprang into action. “I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem” (v. 12). Nehemiah did not make a distinction between spiritual and earthly work. He understood that work can be spiritual when the motive is right.

Nehemiah recognized that he had a promise from the Lord that he could claim. God promised He would send Israel into exile if they disobeyed Him, but He also promised to bring them back and restore them to their place if they repented (Neh. 1:9). Israel was back in the land, but it didn’t appear they would thrive because a city without walls is vulnerable. So, the official prayed for favor with the king to start a construction project! He then relocated to Israel to oversee the work. Some might consider this kind of work of lesser value than more spiritual work, but that’s not how God saw it. When the king granted his request, Nehemiah noted it was “because the gracious hand of my God was on me” (v. 8).

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In the classic film The Princess Bride, the swashbuckling Inigo Montoya tries to restart his life after the failed kidnapping of Princess Buttercup. “When the job went wrong, you went back to the beginning,” he reminded his leader. Israel went wrong and they ended up in exile. In the book of Ezra, the people could return! But after 70 years, what kind of nation would they build? Ezra, a teacher who returned with the nation, showed them the way. They needed to go back to basics.

Ezra understood that if they were going to rebuild their nation in a way that would honor God, they needed to know and obey the Law of God. For the nation of Israel, the beginning started with the Law of Moses. Centuries before, God had made a covenant with Israel. That covenant included many things they needed to obey. Now given a second chance, Ezra made it his aim to set the nation on the right footing. He was a man who “devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel (v. 10).

Although Israel had endured seventy years of exile, Ezra understood that God had not changed. Therefore, those who wanted to be in a right relationship with Him needed to return to His word.

Centuries have come and gone since Jesus Christ walked this earth and proclaimed the good news of salvation. If people today want to build, or rebuild, their lives in a way that pleases God, they need to return to the simple message that Jesus proclaimed from the beginning: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matt. 3:2). There is no need to search for a new message, go back to the beginning.

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