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Seeds Day 4 Will You Say Yes?: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions

1) Who was the author and who was the audience?

2) What does a “heart of stone” indicate?

3) How does keeping rules differ from obeying them?

Ezekiel 11:19-20

19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Original Intent

1) Who was the author and who was the audience?
Ezekiel (meaning “God will strengthen” or “God will harden”) was a prophet-priest whose father was named Buzi (Ezekiel 1:3). His ministry was within the nation of Judah during its time of Babylonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. The entire Israelite nation was the audience for Ezekiel’s prophecies though he proclaimed them specifically to captive Judah. The majority of the prophecies from God concerned His coming judgment of the nation.
This passage actually lies in the middle of the judgment prophecies. God, speaking through Ezekiel, tells the Israelites that after His judgment of them there would come a time when He would make such a radical change within them to bring about right obedience. The new heart He would give them would be tender towards and faithful to Him. This heart would be an entirely new creation; a heart of flesh and not stone. (Ezekiel 11:19)

2) What does a “heart of stone” indicate?
God through Ezekiel described the Israelite nation as having a heart of stone. This describes their spiritual condition: sinful, rebellious, prideful, and unwilling to be malleable and change. They had chosen idolatry and worship of false gods over dedication to the One True God. They were blind to the damage they had done, the havoc it was wreaking all around them and the quickly coming judgment. A stony, hard heart is selfish! As long as their tiny little world is twirling in perfect harmony to meet their needs, they do not care what wreckage lies in their wake. In the Israelites’ case, they had wrecked the most precious relationship of all, the one with their Creator.

3) How does keeping rules differ from obeying them?
Sometimes another translation helps to enlighten the meaning of Scripture. The NAS (New American Standard) puts verse 20 this way, “they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.” But even then, the meaning can be vague and we aren’t sure of the differences in words. This is where a word study of the original language plays a key role. Plug the verse reference into studylight.org and click “Strong’s interlinear Bible” to see the verse in its original language. Scroll over each word to see the Greek or Hebrew correlation.
“Statutes” is defined as a prescribed limit; this would be similar to guardrails on the highway in our modern day. To go beyond the guardrails spells disaster, damage, and even death; the same is true for God’s statutes.
“Ordinance” carries the idea of a judgement declaration, or the ruling outcome of a judicial case. Because the Lord God is perfectly righteous and just, all of His rulings are flawless and perfect. When He enacts a ruling, we can be assured it is the very best, the most perfect rule that is possible.
To sum up, the original language points us to a reality where God’s design for life, His paths, His judgement calls on how to live life are the absolute best. No one can improve upon them. But neither can we actually live them out. His ways are perfect and ours are sin-wreaked. How could we possibly hope to live out our lives in the way God has perfectly designed? This is exactly Ezekiel’s emphasis.

Everyday Application

1) Who was the author and who was the audience?
While most prophets only proclaimed verbally the messages they had received from God, Ezekiel employed a variety of techniques. He even put on some street performances (Ezekiel 4:1 – 5:4) to demonstrate the judgment God would surely bring if the people did not turn from their sinful ways and acknowledge Him.
If you’ve spent any time involved in children’s ministry or teen/young adult ministry, you know that some creativity is needed in order to reach these groups. Mere words do not seem to reach through to their hearts; they need visual aids. (Moms, can I get an amen?) Perhaps Ezekiel was the most forward-thinking prophet of the Bible! His methods did finally reach the people…after seeing with their own eyes the prophecies being fulfilled. So have faith, sisters, your kingdom work is making a difference, even if you can’t tell yet. Continue to serve in the capacity that the Lord has called you; He will bless the work and He will bless you for your obedience.

 2) What does a “heart of stone” indicate?
A “heart of stone” or a “hard heart” cannot comprehend the ways of the Lord because it has chosen self over Christ. After Pharaoh persisted in stopping his ears against the Lord, continuously choosing himself over the Lord, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even farther than Pharaoh himself had already done. (Exodus 9:12) Despite Pharaoh’s hard heart, God still used his idolatry of self to display God’s glory through the redemption of the Israelites from slavery. Scripture warns us not to harden our hearts and be aware of those times when we are actively pushing against God. In fact, Proverbs 28:14 states, “Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” Dear ones, I know life is messy and difficult and hurtful, but we are to focus on Jesus, not the world around us. By giving our attention and our devotion to the Lover of our souls, He will ensure we are not destroyed and will bring us deep life in the process!

 3) How does keeping rules differ from obeying them?
God said Israel’s heart was stone cold, dead, to God’s life-giving ways because all they sought after was themselves. The Lord declared that, as Israel is punished for her rebellion, God would indeed bring her back to Himself. There would be a day when He would remove Israel’s heart of stone and give her a heart of flesh, a heart filled with God’s desires to walk in God’s ways.
This prophecy for Israel was fulfilled as their time of exile ended and they returned back to God and His ways for a short time. This prophecy foreshadowed a time when the Holy Spirit would dwell within the heart of every believer, making them new and transforming their hearts. One day, the prophecy will be fulfilled in its fullest sense as every believer will dwell personally with God for all eternity and we will sin no more!
Are there any among us who can say that we have always obeyed God – or our parents, for that matter? That old sinful nature gets in the way all of the time, doesn’t it? How wonderful it is that Our Heavenly Father is compassionate toward us just as He was to Israel! He continually chastens us (gently) to remind us of our waywardness and guides us back into right relationship with Himself.
Dear sisters, let us pray that we would be aware of the condition of our hearts. If hardness starts to set in, let’s allow the Lord to replace it with tenderness. If we find ourselves disobeying, let’s repent of it and ask God’s forgiveness and His help to obey. And, like Merry, let’s choose obedience even before we know exactly what the Lord asks of us…because we know He is Good!

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

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Seeds Day 3 Will You Say Yes?

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Acts 2:42-47
Acts 4:32-37
Ezekiel 11:19-20
Matthew 5:14-16

Seeds, Day 3

The autumn sky was pitch dark outside my window, but I read my Bible by the light of the lamp as I sipped my coffee. As I turned the page, a question nudged my spirit.

Will you say yes?

I set my coffee cup down on the table beside me. “Yes to what?” I wondered aloud. “What are You asking me to do?” I waited, listening intently, but my question was met with silence so I turned my attention back to the Scriptures I had been reading. My children began to stir, and soon my once quiet time was peppered with squeals and laughter as our morning began with gusto.

A few days passed, but in the middle of the mundane, His quiet question pressed into my spirit again.

Will you say yes?

I took a breath. So this is going to be one of THOSE kinds of conversations, huh? I thought. Okay, I’ll bite. “I don’t understand, Father,” I responded. “I don’t know what You’re asking. How can I give you an answer when I don’t even know what You’re asking me to do?”

Silence again. Go figure, I thought ruefully.

Another week or so went by before He pressed again, as I scrubbed pots and pans in my kitchen sink.

Will you say yes?

Conviction split through my spirit as understanding washed over me. He wasn’t asking me to do something in that very moment. He was asking if I would be obedient when He called on me.

Tears filled my eyes and repentance flooded my heart. Yes, Father. Of course, I will. Forgive me for putting my desire for knowledge and control above your authority. Yes. I will say yes, whatever it is You ask of me.

Have you ever been there, friend? Faced with the realization that your devotion to God was not as deep or all-encompassing as you had thought? Me too.

I think part of the issue is that we don’t understand what it means to really be devoted to something or someone. A quick Google search tells us the word devote is defined as giving all or a large portion of one’s time or resources to something.

Acts 2 tells us the early believers were devoted to four things:

  • the Apostles’ teaching (what we now know as Scripture)
  • to fellowship
  • to the breaking of bread
  • to prayer

Can we say the same, Loves?

If we are forced to take a hard look at our lives and where we consistently choose to invest our most valuable resources, can we truthfully say we give all or a large portion of our time or resources to studying the Word? To fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ? To eating meals together in our homes – with others who are not a part of our nuclear family? To prayer?

Or are we devoted to:

  • our favorite TV show?
  • our social media?
  • our relationships?
  • our career?
  • our self?

Will you receive a little more truth in grace from me today, friend? Do you think maybe one of the reasons the church in America is not seeing the exponential growth we see happening in other countries is because we don’t have our priorities and life rhythms in the right place?

What do you think it would it look like if we made a shift, right now, today?

What would it look like if instead of carving out fifteen minutes during our morning routine, we suddenly, passionately craved studying the Word day and night?
What would happen if we didn’t naturally have that desire, but we prayed and asked God to cultivate it in us?

What would it look like if we began to spend the majority of our time investing in the relationships of our families, yes, but also our other brothers and sisters in Christ? What if we began to open our homes and schedules, and began to pour into those who’ve been adopted into God’s family with us?

What would it look like if we began to share our meals and tables and hearts with others? If we began to organically introduce others to Christ, not through posts on social media or t-shirts with faith-filled sayings, but through the way we actually live and love as representatives of Christ on earth?

What would it look like if we became a people devoted to prayer, to dialoguing with the Trinity without ceasing?

Do you feel that, Love? If you have a personal relationship with Christ, that stirring is the Holy Spirit inside of you. As daughters of God and followers of Jesus, we were made to live this way. Anything less is not His best for us or those around us, and His Spirit within us cries out for more.

If you don’t yet have a personal relationship with Christ, that stirring is from Jesus, calling you to Himself. He longs to fill you and soothe your ragged edges. To replace your world-weariness with peace and your life with purpose. To replace your isolation with belonging.

He’s asking every one of us a question today, Loves. What will you say?

Father, we love You and praise you. Thank you for loving us enough to correct us. Thank You for providing a way for us to be with You always. Foster in us a hunger for Your Word, for time spent in Your presence, for fellowship with other believers. Show us when we are feeding habits that do not align with Your heart for us, and help us to recognize ways we can shift our lifestyles to model those who first followed You. We need a change in our country, in our world. We know that you are the only One Who can bring restoration and healing, and we are all in. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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