"I Am Too Ashamed": A SOAP Journal Based on Ezra 9

S = 9:5-9 “Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self–abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed:

“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. 8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage.”

O = This book is set mainly in Jerusalem after the Jews had returned from their exile in Babylon and Persia. It takes up the history of Israel where 2 Chronicles leaves off. The Jews had originally been sent into exile for their stubborn idolatry and the resulting social injustices. After the 70 years had passed, Cyrus issued an edict for the Jews to return to Israel and rebuild the temple. There were three major waves of returning exiles. Ezra led the 2^nd group to return. However, the returnees soon began to fall into the same idolatrous affections and behaviors that caused their previous removal. Ezra is appalled (v.3) and verses 6-15 are his prayer of confession to God…and of correction of the people. This issue of intermarriage was not primarily a racial issue but a religious one. What did the Israelites love more—the abominations of the neighboring nations or the Lord?

A = The same issue is in play today. There are so many things competing for my affections, so many voices urging compromise with the coercive forces of our culture and our economy. Certainly marriage, intended as our most intimate relationship on earth, if not based on a shared love for the Lord Jesus will certainly move us away from a wholehearted devotion to God. Our jobs can also step up into as the primary source of value and identity in our lives instead of finding them in Christ. The questions I must ask myself this week include: “Are my affections leading me to the full freedom found in Christ or subtly shackling me in sin? And, “As I engage the world around me, do I love God more or less?”

P = O Lord, help us to see that sin is not just tied to our individual actions and attitudes, but it collective as well. We have become a society that has a divided heart at best. May we renounce the false loves that over-promise and under-deliver so that we might be free to pursue the greatest Love of all. May your love change us from being takers and users to being selfless givers and “blessers”, fully living for the glory of the name of Jesus Christ! May we be set free from fear, even the enslaving fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15) that we might not make an idol of even our own lives (Rev. 12:10-11). Lord, you conquered the accuser by your own blood. Please shape us into overcomers through your Spirit and your Word. We want to give you free reign in our lives! Amen.

From Death to Life: A SOAP Journal based on Ezekiel 36-37

S = Ezekiel 36: 26-28 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 37:1-6, 11-14 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
… Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

O = Israel’s issue, as recorded in the Old Testament, was a stiff neck and a heart of stone. It repeatedly required God to bring covenant discipline upon them…ultimately it led to their exile from the land. They were taken as captives to Babylon and scattered among the nations as well. After their hope of being God’s people had died in idolatry and dried in the blazing heat of their captivity, God sent this message of new, prophetic, Spirit-filled life. But could they believe it? The imagery of this valley of dried bones is a picture of the hopelessness of man’s efforts and the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit of God. Once God has changed our heart, we too can become people who prophetically speak God’s life to others.

A = So many promises seem to go unfulfilled in the world today. We have pushed God away in our pride and our passion for lesser goods made gods. Separation from our Creator has left many like branches pruned from the vine, drying in the sun, and awaiting the fire (John 15:6). Is it hopeless for us? Did we believe something better for our marriages, our children, our friends, our career, our lives? Do our dreams of living and serving the Lord together seem like so many dried and scattered bones where even our memories are now dishonored? Just as God prophetically began to resurrect the nations of Israel and Judah in the years of the exile and then suddenly restored them to life and land, we can trust him to restore our hope, to give us a new heart, to bring life out of death. It is not what we deserve…it is simply what he does. He is a loving, miracle-working, Redeemer! So to whom will the Lord have us speak “Life” this week?

P = O Lord, you know the personal and collective dreams and hopes that have died in our lives. Yet, just as you remained faithful to your people in the past, I ask that you would show yourself powerful to save and restore your people today. May your Spirit breathe life into the dry bones of our efforts, and muscle and connecting sinews to relationships long severed by our individualism, and cover us in your garments of righteousness and bring glory to your name in our lives and in the world today. As you rose from the grave to give us eternal life, give us eyes of faith to see you at work today! You are the Lord who has spoken and will do it. Lord, Increase our faith! Amen.

The Statue & The Stone: A SOAP Journal based on Daniel 2

S = Daniel 2:20-22, 31-35, 44-45 Daniel answered and said:

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,

to whom belong wisdom and might.

He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;

he reveals deep and hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him…

v. 31-35 

“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

v. 44-45 

"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

O = In these passages, we see that God was still answering prayers of his people in exile. So much attention over the years has been put on the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and what it refers to in the past and what it might refer to in the future. Some scholars see a picture of four world empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome) while others see references to four kings within the Babylonian empire. Some spend inordinate time talking about the significance of the toes of the statue. But the most important point is that God is sovereign over any kingdom, empire, or human government (v. 21). God is also the revealer of hidden things (v. 22). It is God’s kingdom that brings all human kingdoms to naught. In a remarkably short time the followers of Christ turned the powers of the world upside down…not through violence but through love. God’s kingdom is not so much a place as it is a people who will live forever in the presence of their God. His kingdom is not brought about by a violent revolution (e.g. by human hands [v. 34 & 45]) but by the mysterious work of God Himself. This happened through the incarnation, culminating at the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

A = Do I see worldly politics, economics, and military power as ends in themselves, or as something “too big to fail”? Am I able to see what is going on “behind the curtain” in the spiritual realm? Like Daniel, in times of plenty and in times of turmoil and crisis, I need to be a person of earnest prayer, uncompromising convictions, and a desperate trust in God as the One who is in control not just of my life but is the Lord of history. Do I really believe that God removes kings and sets up others? I need to be seeking direction, revelation, and deliverance for myself, and others from the Eternal LORD not some temporary human government. Political instability will not cause me to fear for I know the One who brings the kingdoms of the world to nothing. May this kingdom of God take root in my heart and guide my words and direct my hands this week. This means I need to continually fall in surrender upon the stone that has been rejected (Luke 20:17-18; James 4:6-10). It also means that God’s kingdom is not established by anger and violence (James 1:20). Am I comfortable with my role in God’s humble kingdom that works from the bottom up, or am I going to try to give myself an upgrade?

P = O Lord, you are the Ancient of Days, the Sovereign Lord of all. May I never fear man more than I reverence you. May you make me faithful like a Daniel, gifted to humbly speak your truth to those who ask. May I never seek to promote myself or advance my own kingdom but only to be a part of what it is that you are doing in the world. May you be glorified through me today! Amen.