Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 21-22
In the last verse of Ezekiel 20, the prophet noted the people’s complaint that God was continually speaking in parables. Therefore, a summary of today’s reading might be titled, “Let me make this plain; Jerusalem is doomed.” There would be no parable or mincing of words here. Ezekiel made this plain in verses 2-3 when he prophesied the following against Jerusalem, the holy places, and the land of Israel – “Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both the righteous and wicked from you.” Hard to make it any plainer than that! Ezekiel 21:3-4 appears to be in contradiction to chapter 18, wherein God promised that the wicked would die and the righteous would live, but now is saying both the righteous and wicked will die. This difficulty is resolved when we understand that the death and living of Ezekiel 18 refer to spiritual life and death, while the text in chapter 21 is physical punishment and death. It is a sad but true fact that the righteous often suffer because of the deeds of the wicked. Such is the case with idolatrous Jerusalem. Those who abhorred idolatry and the abominations of the city would suffer physical harm as God punished His people, but their souls would be delivered because God is a righteous God.
New Testament reading: Acts 7-8
Preaching Christ includes preaching the necessity of baptism. In Acts 8 we read of two accounts where Philip preached to the lost. Acts 8:5 says that Philip “preached Christ” to the Samaritans. When they believed what Philip preached “concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” (v 12). No mention of preaching about baptism. Later, after being called away from Samaria to preach to the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:36 says Philip “preached Jesus to him.” The Ethiopian’s response to this preaching was a request to be baptized. But how did he know to make this request? The only reasonable conclusion is that the preaching of Jesus includes the command to be baptized. This is in perfect harmony with what Jesus said in Mark 16:15-16 with the preaching of gospel – “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Let’s encourage the kind of preaching the Lord commanded!
Leave a Reply