Daily Manna 10 November
KEY VERSE: “Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.” – (Ezekiel 9:9)
TEXT: Ezekiel 9:1-11 (KJV)
Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. 7 Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.
8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”
11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham said, after the September 2011 terrorist attacks on US soil, that God abandoned Americans because of their attitude towards transgender rights, evolution and the separation of church and state. She said, “there is silliness, there is craziness, there’s the most illogical rulings…To me, its evidence that God has backed away. If Americans repent, God would begin to reveal plots of terrorists before they are carried out”.
Ezekiel the prophet was in a dilemma in our text. He wondered how God could order the destruction and killing of His people, including the old and young. He cried to God for mercy when he saw in a vision where the instruction was given to those who had the charge of the city to move in immediately and commence the killing. But God replied Ezekiel that the iniquity of Israel and Judah had gone over the roof and the land was full of blood. On top of that, the people refused to acknowledge the existence of God, claiming He had abandoned the earth and that He “seeth not”. The few in the city who were still praying and sighing over the sinfulness of the place were spared, having been given a mark of identification beforehand.
As humans, we cannot be definitive about why God allows certain things to happen; but surely, the world has ignored Him for too long. Man behaves as if God does not exist. We have taken liberty to the extreme where we feel our knowledge of science and medicine is enough to handle whatever health challenges we have. As believers, we must keep denouncing the evils in our day, weep and pray over our cities for God’s mercy.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s love is revealed in His Judgments.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lamentations 4-5
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Why Evil Occurs – by Pastor Enoch A.
Don’t forget to Follow Elanhub on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Daily Manna 10 November 2021
