Read To Me Daily Semester 4Uzorak

EZEKIEL 18-19:
Yesterday in Ezekiel we read the riddle of the two eagles, portraying Israel’s king breaking his sworn covenant with Babylon. There is a lesson here for us. Normally Babylon would be considered the enemy, and getting free from the enemy would be considered a good thing. But NOT SO if the king has made a promise of loyalty sealed by a vow taken in God’s name! Faithfulness to oaths and promises in God’s name take precedence over ‘business as usual’.

ISAIAH 3:
These famous words from yesterday’s chapter in Isaiah bear repeating today:

Is. 2:2-4 NLT 2 In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s house
will be the highest of all—
the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
3 People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion;
his word will go out from Jerusalem.
4 The LORD will mediate between nations
and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.

JUDE:
We come today to the little epistle from Jude, the brother of Jesus. But, significantly, he doesn’t call himself Jesus’ half-brother. He calls himself the slave of Christ Jesus. Jude wrote his letter around the same time as Peter wrote his second letter, which was between AD 60-80. Peter and Jude seem to have gotten material from the same source. Or if one borrowed from the other, I think that Peter borrowed material from Jude, rather than the other way around. One thing that makes me think this is that Jude uses more material from extra-biblical sources than Peter does in 2nd Peter 2. Jude and Peter were writing in a very difficult time for Christians, and Jude calls us to contend for the ‘faith’—which is  the teachings that God has given to us to fully believe.

Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the final words of Matthew’s Gospel. Thank you for Matthew’s honesty, which gives us greater confidence in the truth of this Gospel. He said about the disciples, “Some of them doubted.” We respond, “How could they doubt who could see You?!” But we know our own weaknesses and how unbelieving we are, so we really do understand how they could doubt. You sent all of them out as your messengers. Lord, we know that You send us out also with those same words. As we go and make disciples, help us to teach them everything You have commanded us. Just sending a film about You is not enough. It’s not enough because it is incomplete, and it is not enough if no one goes to be your personal representative. Lord, I pray that my listener and I would take to heart your final words: You are WITH us, always. If we are obeying you in the commission You gave us, You are WITH us, right now, watching, helping, empowering, supplying, and caring about us. We are not alone.