Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Friday, June 9, 2023

QT 6/9/2023 Ezek 4:4-8, Mercy and Justice

Ezekiel 4:4–8 (ESV) —

4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.

 

NOTE: There are no good answers for the interpretation of the 390 and the 40. Literally, it is approximately how long Jerusalem was under siege. Why that would take into account the northern Kingdom's sin is debatable. From the period of Rehoboam's split in 930BC until the last King Zedekiah is approximately 390 years that the nation existed. The numbers add together and are symbolic of Israel's 430 years of slavery in Egypt. The 40 years is repeatedly seen and also relates to the judgment in the exodus. Dating from the time of this prophecy would take us to 167 BC, or the time of the Maccabees. However the numbers are understood, they do stand for two things, God's patience and God's judgment. They are too similar to previous periods of God's judgment on the land. And as always, God is merciful, he gives us time to repent. And while his patience is infinite, his justice against sin is absolute.

 

PONDER:

  1. We remember quite often that God is merciful, but do we remember that he is just too?

 

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for your mercy and I thank you also for your justice. And I thank you for Jesus' death on the cross which satisfied your justice. But I must still, on a daily basis, remember that you hate sin despite your great mercy. I don't want to make mercy cheap. I need your Holy Spirit's strength and power to battle my sin

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