PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2025-2026

You know the saying misery loves company, right? Well, Israel and Judah no longer need to feel alone in the prophecies against them for their disobedience. You can include Tyre, and Sidon, and Egypt, and all of the countries in the region because in this Scripture Ezekiel underscores the power of Babylon and its ability and its inevitability of conquering the surrounding lands. No one is exempt, all will fall. We find chapters dedicated to the power and the might of the trading country of Tyre along the waters and how successful it was, and yet it will fall just as hard. Similarly the power of Egypt will be laid waste for a full 40 years. Sound familiar? This part of Scripture reminds us that God does not suffer fools who put themselves into the position of gods themselves. He will come down hard whether they are His people or not. Good thing to remember

I have to say that this section should be censored so that anyone underage doesn’t have a chance to read it. There are sections here in regards to sexual fecundity that makes me blush. Of course I understand the metaphor. The author describes two nations, he even names them and says who they are, and then describes how they have been not only unfaithful but to the degree that it has been made public to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear. How can we not read this and understand our own unfaithfulness in the midst of all of this.

The Christian church has always understood itself to be the new Israel, and yet is not willing to see itself in the same light as the disobedient Israel, which seems inevitably to happen. But what makes us think that we will avoid the disobedience and the unfaithfulness that the people of Israel, who saw the cloud by the day and the pillar of fire by night. We live in an era of skepticism and doubt which impacts our ability to believe and be faithful to that which is unseen and not always very clear. We would do well to listen to this warning even while trying to wade through the oppressively harsh words that are given.

The primary message has to do with what is fair and what is unfair in regards to our sin and the sin of our ancestors. Ezekiel makes it clear that the children will not be blamed for the sins of their parents. This is especially true in regards to the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness until that generation has passed. So, this makes sense. The converse is also true. The parent will not be blamed for the sin of the child. The child, who is an adult according to this scenario, is responsible for their own sin.

The picture depicted is seen in that the people of Israel, regardless of the time period or the location, continue in their unfaithfulness regardless of which generation that it is. This seems to be a constant. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I had not noticed when I read this section before the usage of Noah, Daniel, and Job as figures of faith in the Old Testament. Of course I know their stories and how they do reflect a faith that is somewhat unparalleled, but normally Abraham, and Moses and maybe David are lifted up as figures of faith. So when we hear about Noah and Daniel and Job as people who are examples of faith it catches my attention. We see an image that even if these three people of faith had prayed to God to save the nation it would only be enough to save themselves and not their families or their livestock. The seriousness of the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel was such that even if these pillars of faith interceded, they could only save themselves.

It would be tempting to go straight to the familiar in Proverbs, but we have to acknowledge that once again the prophet Ezekiel is forecasting the doom of Jerusalem with language that can only be described as apocalyptic. The imagery of the cherubim leaves one wondering about the health of the prophet as we see eyes, and faces, and hands in an assortment of places that are not normal. But the point is that God is in control and has all power and is aware of all things and at this point is willing to share what will befall Jerusalem so that all who hear can be prepared. The prophet is given the insight and he is not loathe to share it.

Then we have the Proverbs Scripture which contains in vs.17 “iron sharpens iron”. This phrase is used within the context of those who are willing to challenge each other within the context of helping each other and friendship, are able to do so with the result of each person becoming more sharp, as opposed to becoming more dull. The opportunity we have to reflect the heart of a loved one allows us to be strengthened not only in our life but also in the life of the loved one as well.

We transition to the prophet Ezekiel and right away we understand the geography of the prophecies uttered. The prophet Ezekiel was a prophet to the exiles in Babylon. We shall see that he, like Jesus, received his call to be a prophet when he was 30 and was instructed to give warning to the people of Israel to obey God. He is unusual in that he receives his call while the people of God are in captivity, and not while they are in Jerusalem. We also do have to say that his prophecies border on the fantastical.

We find ourselves in a difficult book of the Bible which is said to have been written by the prophet Jeremiah, which is why he is given the nickname of the weeping prophet. Besides the destruction of Jerusalem, he is also weeping because for his 40 ministry not a single person came to love God as they ought to have, even though he was sent to the people of Israel. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a pastor for 40 years and not have a single person who gives of their life to the Lord.

There is one section that should be highlighted because it is from here that we get a very popular hymn. In the midst of all the complaining and the clear indications that things are not at all going the way that the prophet wants and so God will seek His revenge, we find this in 3:22-23 – “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” I guess this is good enough to keep the Lord before us.

Finally, we get to hear that God is going to destroy Babylon, and not use Babylon as a club to bash the nations around Israel, including Israel itself. We see that the future promise that Babylon one day will lie in ruins is a promise not for the present, but certainly for the future. We see that this promise does not come about, and is not fulfilled, until well after Jeremiah is around. But nevertheless, the promise is made and so the people get to count on God redeeming his people. I was struck by the detail of the number of people who make their way out of Israel as a result of the destroying forces of Babylon. Babylon will get what they deserve, but not until after they destroy the temple and all of Jerusalem. That does happen.

We find ourselves in a very unique time in Jeremiah. The prophet tells the people that they are to remain, we saw that yesterday, in Judah. But the people want to go to Israel, and so they go and they take the prophet Jeremiah with them. The whole time Jeremiah is telling them, hey folks, this is not a good idea. We should not be going to Egypt, we should be staying in the land, this is where God has told us to go. The prophet tells the people that if they go to Egypt then Babylon will pursue them all the way to Egypt and so Egypt itself will be destroyed as a result. The people do not listen, in fact they say point blank that God did not speak to Jeremiah and tell him this.

We find the people of Israel back in Egypt, somewhat fulfilling their request when Moses brought them out. Oh if only we were back in Egypt when we had water to drink and food to eat. Remember their lament before the quail and the manna? Psalm 56 speaks about putting tears in a bottle which a people in exile would want to do so that they can remember their homeland, from where they were far away.

In Psalm 55 we find a verse that sustains us as we move forward in our readings. Cast your cares upon the Lord and he will sustain you. That tends to be where we end that verse, but there is more to it. He will never let the righteous be moved. Jeremiah clearly is being told by the Lord what is going to happen and people ask Jeremiah to tell them what the Lord says about a certain situation, but only if it aligns with their preconceived idea of what is happening. He tells the people to succumb to the Babylonians, but they fight them and are slaughtered. He tells them to remain in Judah and not seek to go elsewhere, but they look to go to Egypt, and they are slaughtered. There are consequences to actions, and sometimes those consequences are severe.