Read To Me Daily Semester 4Sample

EZEKIEL 1:
Yesterday in the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles, we heard of the quick succession of the kings of Judah at the very end before the exile to Babylon: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. And after the fall of Jerusalem, chapter 36 also told of the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy about Cyrus, who gave the decree to rebuild the Temple of God. While Jeremiah prophesied about the fall of Babylon and specified the 70 year duration of the exile, it was Isaiah who mentioned King Cyrus by name— one of the most stunning of all prophecies.

Ezekiel was not only a prophet, but also a priest. When he was 25 years old, he was carried into exile in Babylon along with the upper class of people in 597 BC. I think it likely that Ezekiel was a pupil of Jeremiah before Ezekiel was taken into exile. 

The 48 chapters of this book are divided right in the middle:
*Chapters 1-24 consist of pre-siege, prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem.
*The second half can also be divided into two parts: Chapters 25-32 talk about after the fall of Jerusalem, giving prophecies dealing with the punishment of Judah’s enemies.
*Chapters 33-48 are prophecies about the restoration of Judah.

Ezekiel is a book that is highly important for understanding the book of Revelation in the New Testament, because things that Ezekiel saw, John also saw. 

SONG OF SOLOMON 1:
Today we also begin the Song of Solomon. In this book Solomon extols how wonderful love is. This may be a series of wedding songs. (And Solomon needed such songs frequently!) The main question is: Is this book merely a series of songs calling for sexual faithfulness to one’s spouse? The well-known allegorical interpretation about Christ and the church goes back at least to the Puritan period, but probably much farther, perhaps to the time of the church fathers. However, it seems to me that making this about Christ and the church is a bit forced. I don’t think Solomon had Christ and the church in mind. However we can certainly consider that Jesus may have been inspiring things that Solomon did not know.

MATTHEW 23b:
Yesterday in our first reading in Matthew 23, we heard the first part of Jesus’ invective against the Pharisees and teachers of religious law. Jesus told the truth. In a way, it was a loving act— to warn them. He already knew that these were the very men who would crucify him.

Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father and our Creator, I pray that my listener and I will follow what Solomon concluded in Ecclesiastes. We must remember You while we are still young enough to make our lives count for something. Let us no longer postpone anything we have desired to do in your service or for your glory, saying, “I’ll do that when I retire.” While Solomon still said everything is useless, his final words show that everything is NOT useless. He said that You will judge everything we do, “whether good or bad, even things done in secret.” Jesus agreed in Matthew 12. He said that You will judge everything we do, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. … You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken.” If that is how You will judge, sovereign God, may we Not be hypocrites! And may we stop putting off anything You have placed in our hearts to do. May we be more than ever aware of your awesome knowledge, majesty, and power.