EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

It is fitting that since this is the last prophetic book of the Old Testament that one of the main themes is a call to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. There are both passages prophesying of John the Baptizer and Jesus of Nazareth.

We find recorded near the end of the book that “those who revered the LORD” repented and “thought on [God's] name.” God promises that they will receive a reward in the last day, which is salvation and relationship with him. This phrase though “thought on [God's] name” stuck out to me, because it means to study and meditate on God’s character. How did they do this? “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him.” We study the Bible from Moses to Jesus because we want to learn about the character of God.

We want to know the character of God because we revere him and fear him. The fear of God is loving what God loves and hating what he hates. We take his words seriously in our lives when we revere him.

I thought of a good analogy the other day… fearing God is kinda like when you meet someone that you think is really cool and a wonderful person, but way out of your league. You don’t expect them to want to be close friends with you, but it turns out that they want to hang out with you this weekend. When you are with them you naturally want to like everything they like and dislike everything they dislike – you may even tell a few white-lies … saying you like certain bands or sports that you previously disliked. This is because you have such a high opinion of them (revere them). This is how we know that we fear/revere God – we want our likes and dislikes to be exactly what his are. We become obsessive over figuring out how he is wired so we can please him and change ourself to match him.

Sometimes I wonder this. In the book of Esther we get a very clear answer in the case of God’s plans for the nations.

Mordecai, a godly Jew, gets word that there has been an edict published throughout the empire that it will be open season on all Jews in 11 months (4:1ff) – they will be all killed! He sends a message to his adopted daughter Esther who is Queen in the royal palace, asking her to plead with the king to change the edict. Queen Esther responds that the King has not called her for over a month and she has no idea when he will call her … as well she will be risking her life by entering the palace without being summoned.

Mordecai responds,  ”Do not think that in the king’s place you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

Mordecai states that if Esther does not seek to save her people then God will use another person and way of delivering his people. But at the same time his final statement implies that it was God’s plan to use Esther to save her people. God knew the end result as well that Esther would be obedient and go to the king in faith. God’s universal plan for history is never thwarted by our disobedience.

In a different sense, God’s plan for our life is that we would receive salvation and if we reject him then “his plan” is “ruined” in one sense – though universally God’s plan of salvation is successful… many will be saved and God went over and above what is expected from him out of his love to bring people into his family.

God’s universal plans of protection, judgment and salvation cannot be thwarted by man or demon.

Have you ever wondered if God set the world in motion and now sits back and watches it all unfold wondering what might happen?

If you have you really need to read Daniel side by side with a history book of the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires.  Daniel is given such a definitive vision of what is going to happen in history in the Ancient Near East that people doubt if he could have possibly been the author.

This book makes me appreciate the wonder of serving a God who is all power, who knows the future, who sets up and takes down kingdoms and who loves to be involved in peoples lives!

YES GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE

YES GOD KNOWS MY FUTURE

YES GOD IS SOVEREIGN IN THE MIDSTS OF THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD

He is the only one worthy of our allegiance, our trust and our worship

Ezekiel took me a bit by surprise at how much I actually enjoyed this book.  I don’t think I have ever read it before and with the benefit of some historical background and the rest of the Old Testament as a backdrop I was pleasantly surprised!

The Israelites are in exile and are wondering if God is confined to Jerusalem.   They also think that there are many visions but God is not acting on the visions he is giving through his prophets.

We can see that God uses Ezekiel to show them that he is not confined to one place and that the judgement that has been prophesied is coming and soon!!  Those who are already in exile should consider it Gods grace that they are there and not in Jerusalem when it is burnt to the ground.

BUT the thing which really touched my heart with this book was the idolatry of the Israelites.  God reminds them how he can and call them to be his people with such compassion and tenderness because they were like an abandoned baby with no hope of life.   He takes care of them and loves them and gives them good things and yet some how as time passes they forget all that God has done for them and turn to idols and behave like a prostitute turning to anything and everything else for love and security.

It really hit home with me how much God has done for me and  how often I don’t turn to him in my weakness.    So God is reminding me of my need to turn to him in every day moments and remember how he rescued me, how he loves me and how he wants to be there for me.

Two big things I saw in Ezekiel was 1. God wants all people to know him and 2. God is powerful. He can do the impossible.

God shows his power over and over again throughout Ezekiel. One that stuck out to me, one that we sing about in church, is the one of God turning dry bones into flesh. I don’t think I actually knew what I was singing about before when I would sing this in church. What a cool story! I can imagine Ezekiel must’ve been feeling at least a little freaked out!

I have been thinking about these two things together since studying Ezekiel. 1. God wants all people to know him. 2. He is able to do the impossible. Like we talked about in class, I keep thinking, if God can turn dry bones into flesh, he can bring the many unbelievers I know to salvation. If God can do the impossible, he can save my friends. This gives me hope when I pray for them. This is something that God does want! He wants people to know him! He wants people to be saved! He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33:11) Even something that seems so impossible to us, God is able to do.