Week 62: Lamentations 2-Ezekiel 9
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Monday, November 15 Lamentations 2-3 Read & Listen Online Lamentations 2, Read & Listen Online Lamentations 3 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
1. Jeremiah says that as a result of their sin the Lord has treated His own people as an enemy. List the phrases in Lamentations 2:1-16 that Jeremiah used to describe what the Lord did. Jeremiah even thought his prayers wouldn’t be heard (Lamentations 3:8), yet of what was he confident (Lamentations 3:22, 32)? How would you express your own confidence in the Lord?
Tuesday, November 16 Lamentations 4-5 Read & Listen Online Lamentations 4, Read & Listen Online Lamentations 5 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
2. Jeremiah’s last two funeral poems lament the utter destruction of the land and the people. What is his summary of the whole disaster (Lamentations 4:11)? In the last poem Jeremiah asked the Lord to look at what has happened to the people. What are some pitiful results of the capture and exile that he calls to God’s attention? What is Jeremiah’s final prayer (5:21-22)? Our own situation is similar. Pray the prayer of verse 3 of the hymn, “Oh, that the Lord Would Guide My Ways” (LW 392).
Wednesday, November 17 Ezekiel 1-2 Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 1, Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 2 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
3. If you were to draw a picture of God, what aspects of His nature would you want to picture? What aspects of His nature does God picture for Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1 and 2? What picture of God is presented in 1 John 4:7-12?
Thursday, November 18 Ezekiel 3-5 Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 3, Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 4, Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 5 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
4. Ezekiel reports that he “went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit” (Ezekiel 3:14). How is this bitterness and anger related to God’s statement in Ezekiel 3:7-9? Why did he go about his work in bitterness and anger? Is this a message of Law or Gospel for us? Explain.
Friday, November 19 Ezekiel 6-7 Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 6, Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 7(Click “Audio” link to listen)
5. God is the ultimate practitioner of the saying, “Make lemonade from lemons.” After consulting Ezekiel 6 and 7, list the “bad things” that God used in His efforts to help the people know that He is the Lord. Now read Isaiah 53:4-5; John 19:1-3; 1 Peter 2:24. Ultimately, how did God remove the evils that separated His people from Him?
Saturday, November 20 Ezekiel 8-9 Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 8, Read & Listen Online Ezekiel 9 (Click “Audio” link to listen)
6. Can you think of sins that you think others are “getting away with”? Closer to home, are you trying to “get away with” some sin? During their trip to Jerusalem the Spirit showed Ezekiel an instance of people thinking they were getting away with sin. Explain the situation and the thoughts of the people described in Ezekiel 8:9-13. Ironically, Jaazaniah’s name means “the Lord hears.” As far as God is concerned, do people ever “get away with” sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Galatians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 19)?
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