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February 12, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Shepherd King — Our reading for today repeats several ideas we read about yesterday: “My servant David will be … one shepherd” (37:24, cf. 34:23), “David My servant will be their prince” and “I will be their God” (37:27, cf. 34:24). Something is added, however, in what we read today. This still-future experience, when “They will inhabit the land that I gave to Jacob” (37:24), will have a “sanctuary” (vv. 26, 28), which is also called “My dwelling place” or “tabernacle” (v. 27). This temple will be described in detail in later chapters of Ezekiel. It will represent God’s continual presence with His people. “My servant David” will be Jesus, who will be both Shepherd and King on earth.
The King of Love My Shepherd Is – YouTube
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February 13, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Predicted and Claimed — The very important term, “Son of Man” (v. 13), is used 192 times in the Bible. A few times, it distinguishes humans from God, but 93 times God called Ezekiel, “son of man,” and 83 times Jesus called Himself “the Son of Man.” In today’s reading, Daniel predicted a divine “Son of Man” who was given “dominion, glory, and a kingdom” composed of all peoples and nations, and that would last forever (v. 14). Jesus is that “Son of Man” predicted by Daniel. When teaching about His future return at the end of the Great Tribulation, Jesus warned about being misled concerning that event. It will be obvious to all: “For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:27). Then, Jesus referred to the prediction of Daniel 7:13, when He said, “they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30; the LSB uses all caps in the NT when quoting the OT). “The Son of Man” is much more than just “man.”
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February 14, Tuesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Guided and Protected — The first verse of this paragraph clearly identifies “My son” with “Israel.” When God called Moses at the burning bush, he was told to tell Pharaoh, “Israel is My son, My firstborn … Let My son go so that he may serve Me” (Ex. 4:22-23). When we come to the New Testament, however, we discover another connection: Jesus was God’s Son who was called out from Egypt. When King Herod was intending to kill young Jesus in Bethlehem, an angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt with his family and to stay there until he was divinely ordered to leave. The conclusion of this incident was, “in order that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON’” (Matt. 2:15). Israel was called out of Egypt for protection against Pharaoh, while Jesus was sent to Egypt for protection against Herod. God guides and protects us even when we might not know it, just like Israel “did not know that I healed them” or that “it is I who taught [them] to walk … [and] took them in My arms” (Hos. 11:3).
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February 15, Wednesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Great Ruler, Peaceful Shepherd — In yesterday’s reading from Hosea, God called His Son out of Egypt; in today’s reading, we see in Micah a sense in which He had also been called out of Bethlehem. As God does so often, insignificant things are chosen in order to demonstrate His greatness. Bethlehem was “too little to be among the clans of Judah” (Mic. 5:2), and it was, indeed, the smallest territory of the 12 tribes. We often claim inadequacy as an excuse for not trying to do something, but God chooses “the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong” (1 Cor. 1:27). David was an earlier, humble shepherd called out of Bethlehem to lead God’s people, but Micah predicted a future divine shepherd, who “will stand and shepherd His flock … And this One will be peace” (Mic. 5:4, 5). He would personify peace. On the other hand, Micah predicted that “One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel” (v. 2). It is a bit difficult for us to connect the concepts of a shepherd and a ruler being the same person. That is probably because we have never seen a leader like that yet. Sinful nature fights against a ruler also being a shepherd. When Jesus returns to earth, He will be both—a great ruler and a peaceful shepherd.
Jesus, Shepherd of the Sheep – YouTube
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February 16, Thursday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Trusting Without Knowing — It might be a bit confusing to try to keep straight the characters involved in this vision given to Zechariah. First, there was “the angel who was speaking with me,” mentioned in verses 9, 13, 14. That angel was acting somewhat as an interpreter to Zechariah of what he was seeing. Then, there was “Yahweh,” mentioned throughout the passage, whom we can think of as God the Father. Thirdly, there were many angels mounted on horses, who were assigned to patrol the earth for information (vv. 5-11). The final character in this vision is called both a “man” (vv. 8, 10) and “the angel of Yahweh” (vv. 11, 12). As we have seen before, this is likely an appearance of the preincarnate Christ, this time in the form of a human. One rather puzzling part of this vision is that “the angel of Yahweh” seemed to be uninformed about the timing of Yahweh’s restoration of His people to the Promised Land. He said, “O Yahweh of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah…?” (v. 12). Was this just an exclamation in the form of a question? If not, how could the Son of God not know the answer to that question? This might remind us of the statement Jesus made about the Second Coming: “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mark 13:32). There are some things hidden from the Son by the Father. Jesus was content with not knowing some details of the Father’s plan. Are we? Do we fully trust the wisdom, goodness, and power of God, so that we are content while living with questions? We can be, because God is completely trustworthy.
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February 17, Friday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Angel, Branch, and Messiah — This is the final appearance of “the angel of Yahweh” in the Old Testament as He acts in judgment against Satan’s accusation toward Joshua, the high priest. It is with such ease that Satan is rebuked and dismissed. This “angel of Yahweh” speaks for Yahweh (vv. 6-10). It is interesting that as a part of that statement from Yahweh, “the angel of Yahweh” says that Yahweh will “bring in My servant the Branch” (v. 8; cf. Jer. 23:5). If “the angel of Yahweh” is the preincarnate Christ, He is referring to His Own future appearance on earth as the Messiah. There is one more earthly appearance of the Son of God, when He comes in glory to reign for 1,000 years. Satan will be bound during that time and righteousness will dominate. Bring it on!
This hymn is based on Zechariah 3. It was written by Count
Zinzendorf, who stepped down from his political position to become
a missionary for the United Brethren and Moravian Brethren.
Jesus the Lord, Our Righteousness – YouTube
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February 18, Saturday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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From Donkey to Horse — This is one of the Bible’s most exact and dramatic prophecies about Christ, written 500 years before Jesus rode on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. Here was the prophetic command: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (v. 9). Its fulfillment in Jesus’ time was described this way: “And the crowds … were crying out, saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matt. 21:9). The prophecy said this about His entrance: “Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal” (Zech. 9:9). That was fulfilled when Jesus told His disciples, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me … And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their garments on them, and He sat on the garments” (Matt. 21:2, 6-7). In the middle of this description, Matthew said, “this took place in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled” (Matt. 21:4), and then he quoted from Zech. 9:9. That refers to the first coming of the predicted King. His future coming is also referred to in the following verse of Zechariah’s prophecy: “He will speak peace to the nations … His reign will be … to the ends of the earth” (Zech. 9:10). That will be following the Second Coming, when Christ will come in judgment on “a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True … His name is also called The Word of God … and on His thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS’” (Rev. 19:11, 13, 16).
accbibleread.com 