Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Ezekiel 18-20
Ezekiel 20:2
Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. Just as it did to:
Abraham Genesis 15:1
Moses Exodus 19:7
Samuel I Samuel 15:10
Nathan II Samuel 7:4
Gad II Samuel 24:11
Solomon I Kings 6:11
Elijah I Kings 18:1
David I Chronicles 22:8
Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:4
Just as it came to Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah.
Each of these men had the word of the Lord come to them, by direct statement. At the end of Malachi, there were 400 years of silence from the Lord.
But then! My, oh my, then Jesus burst on the scene as the Word! John wrote of this: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14). Jesus is the Word. The Word of the Lord, the Word of God. The Word came to individuals in the Old Testament through the prophets. In the New Testament, the Word came to each person in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Everywhere He traveled He spoke the Word of the Lord. His disciples conveyed that Word to the whole world.
Certainly, it is a truth, that which Jesus said: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) This means that God’s Word gives life to all that partake of it. Today through the witness of the Holy Spirit, the Word of the Lord comes to each person who will simply and boldly read, memorize and meditate on that Word. Consider the Gospel by which we are saved. It came to us, was put into our mind and heart, through the Word of God. Whether it was reading a gospel tract, hearing a gospel message from a preacher, or through a soul winner, the Word of God communicates the Gospel of God through the Spirit of God.
Ezekiel had a word from the Lord for those “certain elders of Israel” that came to the prophet to hear from God. The word came to Ezekiel who faithfully delivered it to them. If they heard him and obeyed God’s word they would live. As an example, God used the wilderness wanderings of Israel’s forefathers. They, most of them, did not heed God’s Word and were overthrown in the wilderness. So, it was also with those elders of Israel that heard Ezekiel speak the word of the Lord. They failed to heed and faced the consequences.
If nothing else is learned from the prophets, learn this. The word of the Lord came into the world to help not hurt. The only difference between those two extremes is that which a person will do with the revealed word of God.
Dr. William T. Howe
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