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)).

Monday, July 17, 2023

QT 7/17/2023 Ezek 17:16-20, Making sure I seek God in my plans

Ezekiel 17:16–20 (ESV) —

16 “As I live, declares the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. 18 He despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. 20 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me.

 

NOTE: This passage directly refers to Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's uncle, who Nebuchadnezzar had appointed king, and who had made an oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. There are two issues. One, we take our word, or oaths, rather lightly. It is a form of lying that is justified by the outcome. Today, in my culture and time, lying is not a moral issue if it achieves some greater objective. But to God, it is a moral issue. And an oath, even given to an evil man, is still an oath and is not to be considered lightly. Secondly, the breaking of the oath to Nebuchadnezzar is equated to breaking the covenant oath to God, but why? Clearly, Jeremiah has prophesied these things and Zedekiah knew them. But he did not like God's plan, and created his own plan. He refused to submit to God's judgment as prophesied to him. Nor did he seek God in his plans. Therefore, he committed treachery to God because he did not seek God's plan or even pray about the things in his mind (seeking God's will).

 

PONDER:

  1. What am I doing in my own thinking and plans?
  2. Have I gone to the Lord and sought his will on my ideas?

 

PRAYER: Lord, I want to use my days in ways that honor you. Help me as I plan to put all things before you and to seek your will daily. It is even more important now than it has been in the past where I was under an umbrella of leadership.

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