August 22 - Evening
"If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live?
None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.
Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.
Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!"
- Ezekiel 18:24-32
Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.
Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!"
- Ezekiel 18:24-32
Sinful Israel Accuses the Righteous God of Unjust Behavior
In Ezekiel 18 the Lord counters a false proverb shared among the Jewish exiles in Babylon:
“The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” – Ezekiel 18:2
The Lord countered the above proverb with one of his own that stated the truth by stressing the actual realization of his justice.
“The soul who sins is the one who will die.” – Ezekiel 18:20
Individual responsibility for sin is the focus of Ezekiel’s words. The practice of blaming God for personal disaster or crediting other people’s sin for personal judgment from God is rejected.
The Israelites’ false doctrine that taught God would punish children for their parent’s sin proved to them that God was unjust in his treatment of people. To this the Lord replied by saying it was not himself who was unjust, but the Israelites. The Israelites were unjust because they credited the righteous God with deeds that were not his. The Israelites’ false doctrine had led them to make unjust statements about God.
God will bring judgment, but it is not his desire. Twisted human reason may see God’s judgment as something that is pleasurable to God, but the message here is that God desires that people repent.
God is just. God will not punish the righteous man for the sins of another man.
Hagnos (Gr) – chaste (Eng) – the Greek word hagnos means “pure,” “pure from fault,” and “immaculate.” Hagnos is used in the following verses:
2 Corinthians 7:11
Philippians 4:8
1 Timothy 5:22
James 3:17
1 John 3:3
1 Peter 3:2
2 Corinthians 11:2
Titus 2:5
I will be patient and trust God to redeem time spent serving others.
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Someone to Quote
“People have fallen into a foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum, and safe. There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.”
– G. K. Chesterton in this book “Orthodoxy,” an apologetic description of his journey from agnosticism to Christianity written in 1908.
(Read his book.)
Something to Ponder
God established medical quarantines 3,000 years before man understood why quarantines prevented the spread of disease. According to Leviticus 13:45-46 and Numbers 5:1-4 God commanded Israel to isolate people with contagious disease and allow their return to society only after they had been cured.
Here’s a Fact
Second Kings 24:8-12 record events in Jerusalem in the years 598/597 BC when it says, “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king…At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city…he took Jehoiachin prisoner.” The Babylonian Chronicle records say the same thing in these words: “The seventh year (598/597 BC)…the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched on Hatti, and set up his quarters facing the city of Judah. In the month of Adar, the second day, he took the city and captured the king. He installed there a king of his choice. He collected its massive tribute and went back to Babylon.”
Proverb
"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich - both come to poverty."
- Proverbs 22:16
- Proverbs 22:16
Coach’s Corner
The greatest miracle is salvation. The godliest spiritual manifestation is the transformed soul.
Esther 4 New International Version (NIV)
Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help
4 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Jeremiah 48 New International Version (NIV)
A Message About Moab
48 Concerning Moab:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
2
Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’ You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
3
Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
4
Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
5
They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6
Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.
7
Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
8
The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken.
9
Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.
10
“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!
11
“Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.
12
But days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars.
13
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14
“How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’?
15
Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
16
“The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.
17
Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’
18
“Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
19
Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20
Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21
Judgment has come to the plateau— to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22
to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23
to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24
to Kerioth and Bozrah— to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25
Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the Lord.
26
“Make her drunk, for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.
27
Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
28
Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
29
“We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart.
30
I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31
Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32
I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33
Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.
34
“The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35
In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the Lord.
36
“So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.
37
Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38
On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord.
39
“How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
41
Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42
Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the Lord.
43
Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab,” declares the Lord.
44
“Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the Lord.
45
“In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46
Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.
47
“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
A Message About Moab
48 Concerning Moab:
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
2
Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’ You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you.
3
Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction.
4
Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.
5
They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6
Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.
7
Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.
8
The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken.
9
Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.
10
“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!
11
“Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.
12
But days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars.
13
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
14
“How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’?
15
Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.
16
“The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.
17
Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’
18
“Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.
19
Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20
Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.
21
Judgment has come to the plateau— to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22
to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23
to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24
to Kerioth and Bozrah— to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25
Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the Lord.
26
“Make her drunk, for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.
27
Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
28
Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.
29
“We have heard of Moab’s pride— how great is her arrogance!— of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart.
30
I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31
Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32
I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33
Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.
34
“The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35
In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the Lord.
36
“So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.
37
Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38
On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord.
39
“How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”
40 This is what the Lord says:
“Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.
41
Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42
Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the Lord.
43
Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab,” declares the Lord.
44
“Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment,” declares the Lord.
45
“In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46
Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.
47
“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.