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Nov 27, 2023 06:00am

The Bible Recap: Days 253-259

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(The following are reflections from the writer’s personal journey through The Bible Recap by Tara-Leigh Cobble – a Bible reading plan to read the Bible chronologically in one year. To learn more about The Bible Recap, visit thebiblerecap.com. Find more posts from this series at lifeword.org/thebiblerecap.)

Day 253: Read Ezekiel Chapters 43-45

My Takeaways:

Today’s reading was so interesting! It wasn’t too long ago that God left His temple through the east gate. In today’s reading, He had returned through that same East gate—a gate no one else may enter through. And when God returns, He is reminding His people of the laws. He has Ezekiel follow Him to each area of the temple and reminds him of the rules—many of these in which He has already given them by way of Moses. And, it appeared to me that He was raising the bar on a few new ones, the ones for the priests.

So many times, we can lower standards to meet our people where they are now—but not God. His people have rebelled and gone astray so much, they are in exile. But now, He is laying out the plans for when He brings them out of exile—and He is raising the bar.

Holiness cannot be negotiated. The part that really got my attention was the part in which He was talking about the priests who will serve in His temple—the ones from Zadok. It’s these priests who are allowed to work in the sanctuary because of Zadok’s obedience. They must change their clothes before they leave so that they don’t transmit God’s holiness to the people through their clothes.

And, they will have a tough job ahead of them: they are charged with teaching the people about holiness and common, clean and unclean. God reinstates this line of priests, and He gives them land.

And then He reiterates something we have heard before: I am their inheritance. He will take care of his inheritance but holds them responsible for their duties.

My God Shot today goes back to the theme we have seen today: Holiness cannot be compromised. God still holds us accountable for His laws. Just because those around us, even Christians, may not be living according to those standards, we are called to follow Him with our hearts. And, when our hearts are engaged, the words and actions will follow.

Holiness is still a thing that we aspire for, friends. And while we will always fall short, we can grow more sanctified in the process. We can’t give up—we have to keep pushing where we are flawed, weak, or prone. It’s where God can meet us and allow us to experience Him and His power.

Day 254: Read Ezekiel Chapters 46-48

My Takeaways:

“The Lord Is there.”

I love the period at the end of Ezekiel! God has described leaving His temple and His kids. He is back. Not only is He back for good, He has given dimensions for this new temple. He has given jobs for this temple. He has upheld laws for His people surrounding this temple. He raised the bar on laws connected with this temple. Today, we get a cool view of the water coming out of this holy temple—it’s bringing life to the sea and desert! Isn’t that just like what Jesus does in the New Testament? He is the living water that the woman by the well is thirsting for. His waters satisfy and bring new life!

Isn’t this also what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 43:19: “Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

He does the impossible, friends! Aren’t you so thankful for that?!

And, when He comes back to His temple, He is there for good—“The Lord Is There.”

He’s on the throne in Heaven. He will be on the throne on Earth. He is where the living water is. He is where life is. And, He’s where the joy is.

Day 255: Read Joel Chapters 1-3

My Takeaways:

Tara-Leigh said something about Joel that got my attention: Joel knows his Scripture…and he knows his God!

Friends, that is what we are doing here! We are now 30 books into the Bible! Do you feel like you know God more than back at the beginning?! We have more HOPE in Him because we know His character. Oh, friends, I hope this Bible Study changes your mindset, your prayers, and your trust in God!

Joel is looking around and seeing devastation….but He also knows it’s a result from people’s sins. He knows they have drifted from God and the things they are experiencing are a direct result from that separation.

That’s why he calls them to turn to God with all their hearts with fasting and weeping, to “tear their hearts” not just their clothes and return to the Lord…because God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, relenting from disaster.

And who knows? He may turn and relent, leaving a blessing behind Him.

“Tear your hearts.” That phrase gets me. That sounds like true repentance there friends.

This sounds like Joel knows his Bible! Isn’t this what we have seen of God? How many times have we read about God relenting because of true repentance?! (Hello, Nineveh, I am talking to you!)

I love this and God’s promise to pour His spirit out on all humanity in Chapter 2.

Day 256: Read Daniel Chapters 1-3

My Takeaways:

Oh, you guys, I have been waiting for Daniel for awhile now! It’s our 32nd book of the Bible—yippee!

And, it’s just not fair to have some of the most famous stories in all the Bible in one reading today:

Daniel’s request to eat veggies only (over the king’s foods)
Daniel’s dream interpretation for the king.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace.

So many God Shots!

But, my absolute favorite and most challenging God Shot is a phrase: “Even if….”

Three young men, faced with an ultimatum to worship an idol, stood firm in their faith and chose to trust God, EVEN IF that meant they would burn to death (which, by the way, would be the worst way to die in my opinion).

This radical trust challenges me so much!

Do I choose to trust God, even if He says no to my prayer?

Even if He allows me to face that hard thing?

Even if He allows my heart to get broken?

Even if, in His sovereignty, He allows me to wander in the wilderness because of my choices?

Even if He has me walk in the fire?

Oh friends, these are the hardest of life’s circumstances! And yet, God allows each of us to face them…but what these three young men show us is this: when we stand firm in our faith, God shows up in miraculous ways!

Even if the miracle is to have the strength and courage to face the thing, trusting He will guide us through it.

I feel like these three men knew their Scriptures and knew their God…and because of that, they had hope in Him.

Day 257: Read Daniel Chapters 4-6

My Takeaways:

God’s grace and judgements just amaze me here. In each chapter, God deals with pride in different ways.

In Chapter 4, God humbled King Nebby. Remember how God used King Nebby to accomplish His plans? You can see how King Nebby’s “Look at all that I have done!” dialogue was an affront to God! And, instead of killing King Neb, God takes a unique approach: He turns him animal-like and drives him from his kingdom. I feel like he lost his mind and lived like an animal…for 7 years.

I will say this: there has been a few times in my life I feel as if I have lost my mind. I feel like God allowed those times to reveal Himself and show me a few things about my life. It was very effective. My mind was the battleground…and though I lost many battles, I feel like God empowered me to win the war, walking away from those times, changed.

And that is exactly what He does with King Nebby.

At the end of those 7 years, King Nebby looks up to the sky and has a revelation: God is who He says He is. He is real. All that he had done was because of God.

In that moment, his sanity was restored, as well as his kingdom.

I love this! God didn’t kill him out of his pride, instead He humbled him in a way that changed him forever! What a loving testimony of God’s grace!

And, on the other side, we have the next king, after King Nebby, whose pride is so offensive to God, that God gives him a specially delivered message at a party one night basically saying: “You didn’t learn from King Nebby. Your days are numbered. Your kingdom won’t last.”

And that night, the king was murdered and a new king took over.

In both instances, Daniel was there to guide the kings and serve as a witness to his God.

But when the new king, Darius, took over, God would use Daniel in an astounding way: He would let His servant be conspired against and thrown into the lion’s den to show off His power in a dramatic way by closing the mouths of lions, saving Daniel! (It reminds me of the times that God allows us to be in hard situations that test our faith so that He can demonstrate His power.)

Not only was Daniel blessed for trusting God in this, but King Darius was given a fresh revelation in Daniel’s God!

God hates pride—this reading shows us that.

God blesses humility and repentance—this reading shows us that.

And, God loves to use His people as a living testimony to Him, especially when they love and trust Him—this reading shows us that.

God will use any situation we are placed in to work in us and through us!

Day 258: Read Daniel Chapters 7-9

My Takeaways:

Wowza. That is all I have to say. I feel like each chapter in Daniel has to be broken down into bite-size chunks for me to wrap my mind around all the details!

My biggest God Shot came from Chapter 9:23: Daniel was treasured by God.

Daniel sought God in captivity. Daniel refused to live by the cultural norms. Daniel faced the lions’ den because he adhered to God’s laws. Daniel was a living testimony to the kings he served.

Because of all these things (and more I am sure), God treasured him. He trusted Daniel with visions of the future that terrified Daniel. Daniel begged for understanding on these visions. And Daniel prayed a BEAUTIFUL prayer of repentance for his people and a prayer for restoration. At the end of his prayer, an angel came to explain the visions.

Friends, with deeper intimacy with God comes deeper revelation! I want to be so close, He would trust me with insight and wisdom. I want to obey God like Daniel, amid our culture.

I want to be treasured by God.

Day 259: Read Daniel Chapters 10-12

My Takeaways:

This day right here was so intriguing!

A few things really grabbed my attention today.

I love how the Linen man reminds Daniel that he is treasured by God—not once but a few times! It’s like he is reassuring him amid this tough moment of revelation. Daniel needs all the strength and courage he can to absorb what he is going to being told.
2. There is a war in the heavenlies, far beyond what our eyes can see. There are angels and demons fighting over what is going on in our countries and in our lives. Could you imagine how strong the battle was for Gabriel for it to take 3 weeks? (Again, all under God’s sovereignty.)
This King of the North…this guy. He is a direct affront to God and God’s people. Whoever he is (perhaps the “Anti-Christ”), he rages against God’s people, the Israelites. He acts corruptly—saying and doing things against God’s people. He will be very successful until his time is decreed to be over.

BUT, those who know their God will “be strong and take action.” At this time, it will not be easy to be a believer. God’s people will be persecuted by sword and flame. (Interestingly, there will be insincere believers too.) But, these times of persecution have a purpose: to refine, purify, and cleanse God’s people.

Friends, it’s going to get a whole lot worse before Heaven comes to earth. I am forever thankful to be a believer now. There will be a time when being a believer will cost people their lives. But, I want to end today’s recap with something the angel told Daniel. I am no where near the faithful servant Daniel was, but I love His commission to Daniel:

“Don’t be afraid, you who are treasured by God. Peace to you; be very strong!”

No matter what comes up against us, friends, cleave to what you have learned in the Bible study. There may be a bigger war going on around you than what you realize. Be strong, trust God. God takes care of His people. You are treasured.