A Devotional Look at the Book #518

A Devotional Look at the Book #518

by Jesse Abel

A Thought for today by Papa “J”

Make not bones about it; some things are a lot of fun! Family relationships; parental guidance; marriage integrity and life! Be careful with this; the Holy Bible does not contain the word FUN, but it does say a lot about the JOY of the LORD. John 15:9-17

A DAY IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT OR THE FUTURE

In times past; when I have embarked on some of the history books of the Old Testament and sought to relate these events to our current day, people said that I was being political. Certainly I touched many hot spots that paralleled the past and current conditions of both nations. But as I said then; and say now I am far from political, I simply try to bring us to be aware of some serious words; “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” And too, I am not using my own personal applications to any of this; if I did… I would be HARSHER and my critical tongue does not meet the criteria of the perfect LAW of God over matters such as these. Awe! But it order to understand this… one must believe that there is; “The God of gods” such as King Nebuchadnezzar described Him before his seven years of roving about as a beast of the field. If that is what it takes for us as a nation to acknowledge God then; stand by! This is not a political statement; but it is on the horizon, any fool (one who does not believe that there is a God in heaven) knows this. Psalm 14:1. When Nebuchadnezzar’s reasoning returned; he praised God the King of heaven and explained that all of God’s works are true and just. Why? Because this king had first hand experience of The God knows how to humble the proud of heart. All of this is found in Daniel, chapters four and five.

Ezra; the Book

Taken from the Scofield Reference Bible; EZRA is the first of the post-captivity books which include; Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah and that Italian; Malachi. Of course; as much as you Italians would like to have your own book in the Living Word of God… Malachi was not an Italian; sorry! These books record the national return of Israel after King Nebuchadnezzar took Israel captive and destroyed Jerusalem. So, beginning with Zerubbabel by a decree of Cyrus the king to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem 536 BC, Ezra begins to restore worship with that small group of people who had a heart to do the will of God.

Now before we look at the book we should consider some basic things: Did Israel deserve judgment from Almighty God and if so; was the judgment complete? What were some of the national conditions of Israel’s idolatry and rebellion? And lastly; do any or all of these conditions apply in our national struggles TODAY? If you were to answer; no, these do not apply to any of our national struggles… then, you my friends are the fool that the LORD looks down on in that Psalm mentioned earlier. That Psalm of David; Psalm 14:1-7.

Deuteronomy 28:62 ; Isaiah 11:11-13 ; Hosea 3:4 ; 8:8 . These Biblical references point to the destruction of the national heritage of Israel if they disobeyed the God; the one important thing to remember is that God has promised restoration to Israel and that He has not promised the United States of America to restore us. So know this: Israel will be restored while the citizens of such a great nation as ours; may repent as Nineveh and continue in His blessing; such as we have done in the past! Maybe we have used up God’s mercy and grace… maybe this is our final hour! What do you think? Of course; if you give this no thought… then you just may be part of the problem which is not political, but apathy, idolatry, rebellion and sin.