Read To Me Daily Semester 4Sample

EZEKIEL 26-27:
Yesterday in Ezekiel we heard a second word picture of Jerusalem as like a cooking pot. This was not good news. Then God told Ezekiel that his treasure— his wife— would die. And he was commanded not to mourn for her, as a sign of what the people would do when they heard about the slaughter in Jerusalem. Then there were messages of punishment for the nations of Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia.

ISAIAH 9:
Then, in yesterday’s reading in Isaiah, God dramatically specified the name of Isaiah’s son, who would be born perhaps only 9 months from the time of God’s proclamation. I hope they gave the baby a nice loving nickname, because the name the Lord gave him pictures the sweeping conquest of Judah by the Assyrian army. Then there was the wonderful and often quoted passage that in the New Testament identifies Jesus as the stumbling stone:

Is. 8:12 GNT “Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. 13 Remember that I, the Lord Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. 14 Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap.”

HEBREWS 5:

Chapter 4 of Hebrews contains the wonderful verse about God’s word being living and active, and the encouragement to come boldly with our prayers before the throne of God.

Chapter 4 verse 9 in the Greek literally says, “There remains a sabatismos for the people of God.” GNT translated that word as ‘a rest like God's resting on the seventh day’. Sabatismos— a word evidently coined by the writer, could mean God resting on the 7th day, or the Sabbath day observance, or both. Here is verse 9 in our PET translation, which shows how we made the concept of a ‘place/land of rest’ clear:

Heb. 4:9 PET So this shows that there is still an opportunity for us— the people of God— to enter God’s ‘land of rest’— which is a spiritual calmness that can be pictured as like stopping work on the Sabbath Day.

Let’s pray.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the place of rest that we enter by believing in You. In union with You, we have entered a promised land that we cannot enter by relying on our own work. You, our high priest, have brought us into this higher land so long ago prepared for us, where we rest from our own work, just as God rested from his work of creation. Our Lord and high priest, give us the confidence that the writer speaks of, because we still struggle against our weaknesses. Thank You that You understand us through and through, and have sympathy for us. We cling to You, then, at God’s throne, where instead of judgment, we now find grace. Give us full understanding, so that we will not be like the ‘many’ Isaiah spoke of, who stumble and fall and are crushed at this very point. Be our Corner Stone, dear Jesus! Thank You that we hear You say, “Here I am with the children the Lord has given me.”