DAY 227 Read Ezekiel 8 through 11.
Today's reading: Temple worship sank to new depths of degradation during the reign of Judah's last king, giving reason for the impending doom. Still God looked for a genuine reformation.
Memory gem: "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19).
Thought for today:
"In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in vision some of the abominations that were being practiced in Jerusalem, and within the gate of the Lord's house, and even in the inner court. The chambers of images, and the pictured idols,...in rapid succession passed before the astonished gaze of the prophet.
"Those who should have been spiritual leaders among the people...were seen offering incense before the idolatrous representations that had been introduced into hidden chambers within the sacred precincts of the temple court....
"There were still 'greater abominations' for the prophet to behold. At a gate leading from the outer to the inner court he was shown 'women weeping for Tammuz' and within 'the inner court of the Lord's house,...at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.'
"And now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision of wickedness in high places in the land of Judah, inquired of the prophet: 'Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger.' "--Prophets and Kings, pp. 448, 449.
Today's reading: Temple worship sank to new depths of degradation during the reign of Judah's last king, giving reason for the impending doom. Still God looked for a genuine reformation.
Memory gem: "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19).
Thought for today:
"In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in vision some of the abominations that were being practiced in Jerusalem, and within the gate of the Lord's house, and even in the inner court. The chambers of images, and the pictured idols,...in rapid succession passed before the astonished gaze of the prophet.
"Those who should have been spiritual leaders among the people...were seen offering incense before the idolatrous representations that had been introduced into hidden chambers within the sacred precincts of the temple court....
"There were still 'greater abominations' for the prophet to behold. At a gate leading from the outer to the inner court he was shown 'women weeping for Tammuz' and within 'the inner court of the Lord's house,...at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east.'
"And now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision of wickedness in high places in the land of Judah, inquired of the prophet: 'Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger.' "--Prophets and Kings, pp. 448, 449.
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