Ezekiel 29-30291 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’ 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. 5 I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky. 6 “ ‘ “All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs.” 8 “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. 9 The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. “ ‘ “Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it;’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won’t be inhabited for forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities among the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.” 13 “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered. 14 I will reverse the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth. They will be a lowly kingdom, there. 15 It will be the lowest of the kingdoms. It won’t lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them, so that they will no longer rule over the nations. 16 It will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them. Then they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.” ’ ” 17 It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord Yahweh. 21 “In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” 301 Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’ 3 For the day is near, even Yahweh’s day is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. 4 A sword will come on Egypt, and anguish will be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt. They take away her multitude, and her foundations are broken down. 5 “ ‘ “Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the mixed people, Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, will fall with them by the sword.” 6 “ ‘Yahweh says: “They also who uphold Egypt will fall. The pride of her power will come down. They will fall by the sword in it from the tower of Seveneh,” says the Lord Yahweh. 7 “They will be desolate in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities will be among the cities that are wasted. 8 They will know that I am Yahweh when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed. 9 “ ‘ “In that day messengers will go out from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid. There will be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes.” 10 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men. I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.” 13 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis. There will be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No. 15 I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt. I will cut off the multitude of No. 16 I will set a fire in Egypt Sin will be in great anguish. No will be broken up. Memphis will have adversaries in the daytime. 17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth will fall by the sword. They will go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day will withdraw itself, when I break the yokes of Egypt, there. The pride of her power will cease in her. As for her, a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity. 19 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ” 20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Behold, it has not been bound up, to apply medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it become strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken. I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before the king of Babylon with the groaning of a mortally wounded man. 25 I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh will fall down. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he stretches it out on the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”
Job 9:21-35
Prose - Historical
Poetry - Theological Wrestling with the Problem of Pain
Lament
1st Debate Cycle
2nd Debate Cycle
3rd Debate Cycle
Job's wisdom and Lament
Prose and Poetry - Correction via Revelation
Prose - Confession and Historical
921 I am blameless. I don’t respect myself. I despise my life. 22 “It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked. 23 If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it? 25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good. 26 They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey. 27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;’ 28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent. 29 I will be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain? 30 If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes will abhor me. 32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment. 33 There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both. 34 Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid; 35 then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself.
John 10:11-211011 I am the good shepherd.The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. 13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold.I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
1 John 2:24-29224 Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. 25 This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him. 28 Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
Proud vs. Broken
Proud
Proud people have a subconscious feeling, “This ministry/church is privileged to have me and my gifts”; they think of what they can do for God.
Broken
Broken people’s heart attitude is, “I don’t deserve to have a part in any ministry”; they know that they have nothing to offer God except the life of Jesus flowing through their broken lives.
Meditate on this
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.