NL-Day286 Ezekiel 4-5; Song of Solomon 3; Matthew 24:23-51

EZEKIEL 4-5:
In Ezekiel 2-3 God commissioned Ezekiel to speak for God to the rebellious people of Israel. God fed Ezekiel a scroll. This tasted sweet, but afterwards I think he would tell us that it produced “bitterness”— as we will see with John who eats a similar scroll in Revelation. God gave these important words to Ezekiel in yesterday’s reading:

Ez. 3:10 NLT …“Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself.

SONG OF SOLOMON 3:
As we have seen, this Song of Songs is high poetry. The woman’s stories— such as what we hear today, are better taken as poetic expressions of her deep love than as true narratives.

MATTHEW 24b:
Jesus said, “Immediately after those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will give no light.” Here is a story from 20 14, the first year I was recording these podcasts. I wrote: Just three days ago, in the evening, I was with the Orya people at an open-air youth retreat. The pastor pointed out that the Bible says the moon will turn into blood (or be the color of blood). He had come from town and is not an Orya speaker. He told the people that he had seen that morning on the Internet that on that very night there would be a “blood moon”— or a lunar eclipse where the moon would turn red like blood. And while he was speaking about that and other end-times signs, sure enough, it happened! Nothing like God managing a visual presentation for you! I have never seen a more moving sight.

NLT Translation notes:
Mat. 24:15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” ([May the one who reads out loud note this and explain it to those who listen!//Reader, pay attention!])
39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came  came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when [I, the Son of Man come.//the Son of Man comes].
44 You also must be ready all the time, for [I,] the Son of Man[,] will come when least expected.

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.