47 thoughts on “Friday April 17, 2020 Daily Bible Study of God’s Mercy towards rebellious nations”

  1. Ezekiel 13:4-7 King James Version (KJV)
    4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

    5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.

    6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

    7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?”

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    • Good morning all. Hahaha that would not have been my first thought, but it is pretty appropriate for this day, and we do need His mercy for sure.
      Wendy

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    • Good morning everyone!
      So this passage seems to be God describing and speaking to false prophets .. what they have not done and what they have done .?Verse 5 “ You’ve not gone up into the gaps or made up the hedge…
      I’ve heard the phrases believers often say about ‘standing in the gap’ and praying ‘a hedge of protection’ around people. Is this referring to the same idea here of what the false prophets don’t do?
      Speaking things that God didn’t say and saying ‘ thus saith the Lord’ is something we sure have to know the scriptures to discern the true from the false as I find myself a little sceptical when I hear people say ‘the Lord told me’… KC thoughts? KC

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      • Yes in the amplified versions it says in vs5 …nor built the wall around the house of Israel that it might stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.” So it does seem like God is saying they have not helped Israel protect itself and through the rest of the passages, saying these false prophets have actually led Israel astray.
        Wendy

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    • Also thinking about how every major window of revival/renewal/redemption and of blessing in human history started with a group of believers hearing the truth, sincerely repenting and turning back whole heartedly to the Lord. Biblically, the false prophets have been recorded as telling the people that all is well and that there is nothing to be concerned about whilst the true prophets were crying out for repentance and for fear of the Lord to be restored to the land. To see God’s mercy and grace and love and desires and goodness and blessings released, understanding our position in the Kingdom is perhaps essential.

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  2. Ezekiel 22:18-31 King James Version (KJV)
    18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

    19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

    20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.

    21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst therof.

    22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.

    23 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

    24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.

    25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

    26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

    27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

    28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.

    29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

    30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

    31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

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    • Amp. Ez 22:30 I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for [the sake of] the land, that I would not destroy it, but I found no one [not even one]. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have repaid their way [by bringing it] upon their own heads,” says the Lord God.

      Kind of gives me hope, that God would turn away from His wrath if He could find even one. Reminds me of a remnant.
      Rob

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      • YES!!!!! This is what was on my heart. Our sincerely seeking Him in this season is so so important and potentially vital to many more than just ourselves. I picture God scouring the earth, looking in every heart to see if He can find even one who is submitted enough and bold enough to act… The love and commitment and faithfulness on His part to try to stay the wrath, to cancel the debt, to buy them time and give them the opportunity to repent and be blessed is expressed so powerfully in this passage.

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        • Yes our hope is in God’s mercy and I agree with what both you and Rob are saying, it seems even maybe with this virus that He is giving us some time to repent not only for ourselves but for others and countries etc.
          Wendy

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    • Vs 30 I find this so sad that God in His mercy looks for someone that would stand in the gap and make up the hedge, but He did not even find one. It sounds like if had found even one, He would not have exercised His judgments on them. He is so willing to give more chances. And then in verse 31 He puts what they have have become and done, it sounds like, back on their own heads, much like what happened to Haman in the book of Esther when he tried to destroy the Jews.
      Wendy

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    • This passage is also powerful as it conveys the number of “human” authorities that were conspiring against the wellness of the people and against the plans of God to bring on this wrath. I am so so hopeful when I see the christian communities response in this time that we will see a stay/deferral of the things of darkness that have been encroaching in the land these past weeks.

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    • This passage is one that I come back to often. I cannot imagine any other passage that expresses both God nature of being the perfectly just Judge, who absolutely is bound by His own law to enforce the penalty of sin and rebellion AND He is also the perfect expression of Love and Mercy…. always looking for and seeking the total redemption of man. Truly our Father is Awesome!. It is also significant and is clearly demonstrates that there are times when God’s justice requires Him to act even when it goes against the desire of His heart. There is a teaching right now that God is sovereign in the sense that He controls everything and nothing happens outside of His will. This passage clearly communicates that this is not so. God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked , nor is He the author or hell, death and destruction. These things entered in through the fall of man and are authored by sin and the Enemy (John 10:10)

      Ezekiel 18:32 NASB “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.”

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    • This certainly a description of how God is perfectly justified in wiping out entire nations and cities! The talk of all those elements being thrown in the fire also brings to mind a purifying process with aim of ending up with something pure… “Their own way I have recompensed upon their own heads reminds me of how Hamon was dealt with . All he planned against Gods people came back on his own head like a boomerang. KC

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      • We can all fall in the snare of believing the oft quoted line of today…. “A Good God would not….” These verses plainly indicate that our Good and perfectly Loving and exceptionally Merciful Creator has righteously passed judgements and carried out the full penalty before. We have to be so so so careful not to let our understanding and our human perception paint a false picture of God in our hearts.

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        • Romans 1:22-25 Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV) “22 Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things. 24 So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves. 25 Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever. Amen.” This verse from Romans always reminds me that if we don’t let the Word paint an accurate picture of God in our hearts, we make up our own image of Him that inevitably is based on our nature and ways.

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      • Amp Psalm 103:
        10
        He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve],
        Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.
        11
        For as the heavens are high above the earth,
        So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].

        There is something about God using His “moving” upon the earth in these years we live to re-introduce in our hearts and experience an awe and fear of the Lord.
        Rob

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    • 26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean,
      I think if we have been called to be priests( in the Kingdom ( those who stand in the gap) and kings ( those with authority) this is the message that needs to be clearly spoken through our mouths… making it very clear that there is a difference between the Holy and the profane , the unclean and the clean … as I sense there is so much confusion Satan has effectively infused into this this age and culture about what is right and wrong now. KC

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  3. Jonah 1 King James Version (KJV)
    1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

    2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

    3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

    4 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

    5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

    6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

    7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

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    • I think it is very interesting to consider these stories side by… The first one when God could find no one. The second one, when he found someone (albeit one who was actually quite resistant to go). The outcome of this one prophet speaking and being heard is radically different.

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      • “But Jonah ran away to Tarshish to escape from the presence of the LORD [and his duty as His prophet]. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading cities]. So he paid the fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the LORD.”
        ‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭AMP‬‬
        https://www.bible.com/1588/jon.1.3.amp I think that this is so funny that Jonah not only ran away from his duty as prophet but he was planning to get away as far as possible, to get away from the presence of the Lord. Isn’t this a perfect picture of us or at least me at times. We think that we can hide from Him somehow, but he always finds us. God always gets what He wants and He will stop at nothing to get it. Thankfully Jonah realized this. Lord God help me to be more quick to respond and not have to have you get my attention in the very extreme way that you did Jonah.
        Wendy

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    • Jumps out to me is that in both this story and the story of Moses (others like Gideon), the “human hero” of the tale were actually highly resistant and needed serious encouragement and even prodding to actually act and do as God directed. Moses and Gideon, rightly so, discerned that they were not “up” for or capable of what was being asked. These stories really reveal that no man is sufficient in his own capacity but is more than able in Christ and with the Lord backing Him in both word and deed, providing for and encouraging and strengthening all along the way. I think of even Jesus needing the angels to come and minister to Him and strenghthen Him in the garden before His death and after His temptation in the wilderness. Jonah’s case is way different… He was offended by God’s mercy. Jonah actually positioned himself mentally as judge of Nineveh and ran from God to avoid being used as an instrument of His mercy and reconciliation.

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      • Even in this lack of love and reluctance and desire to see judgement fall on all these people , God showed His amazing mercy towards Jonah …. giving him plenty alone time in a miserable circumstance to repent and change his thinking. Jonah did show mercy to the sailors on the boat in telling them to throw him overboard… His heart was definitely divided as I feel mine is at times , but I see such a good Father expressing His Love in the way he dealt with Jonah. KC

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      • Yes and he really never got over that as far as we know, did he. Lord help me not to be like a Jonah. We can all have that tendency when we see the awful things, wrongs committed etc. That we want God’s judgement to fall. But I want His mercy on me, so I must pray for mercy for those others too and that they would repent if given the chance, as they did in Nineveh,
        Wendy

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    • vs 2 is rather interesting. Almost a law court picture.. Their “case” has come up before me. Somehow, their is a systematic and inevitable judgement that comes to all people and the nations and the land. And at a specified time (mysterious to us but understood by God), the case must be tried and judged and the penalties doled out. God cannot simply turn “a blind eye” to sin indefinitely.

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    • This passage should give us pause about who we are willing to get on a boat with. The reality is this whole group was put in peril by Jonah being aboard. And later, we see the opposite is true to. Thanks to Paul being on board as a prisoner, in the NT we see a whole crew being spared for the sake of the one.

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