The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 210: Speaking God's Word (2023)

Episode Date: July 29, 2023

Fr. Mike compares the messages of Isaiah and Ezekiel, one coming from a pre-exile time and the other from a post-exile time. Even though they are coming from two very different points in salvation history, they both are persistent in speaking the Word of God, and sharing his consolation with the people of Israel. Today's readings are Isaiah 41-42, Ezekiel 2-3, and Proverbs 12:1-4. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 210, and we're reading from two chapters in Isaiah 41 and 42, Ezekiel chapter 2 and 3, and also Proverbs chapter 12, verses 1 through 4. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition.

I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. If you have not yet done that, you would know. Well, you wouldn't know if you have not yet done that, that you can check off every day. That's what I've been doing. It's awesome. I don't know. It's not awesome. It's fine. It's a thing I do. And it helps me see that I'm making progress, not only by going through the actual Bible, but also, you know, checking off the days. I like to see what's coming up ahead. Also, you can subscribe to this podcast if you have not yet subscribed. As I said, it is day 210, and we are heavily into the book of consolation now in Isaiah. It started yesterday with chapter 40, and it continues today.

Now, at the same time, remember, even though we're in 41, 42, and following all the way to 66 chapters of Isaiah, there will be words of consolation, words of promise, words of prophecy. We have some phenomenal, phenomenal chapters coming up in Isaiah, as well as the fact that now we are in chapters two and three in Ezekiel. We continue with Ezekiel's vision that he had yesterday of this incredibly saw these four winged creatures, right? And above them seated on the throne is this image of divinity. I think, who knows? I mean, yes, it is divinity, but it's just incredible and remarkable and amazing. And we pick up that vision in Ezekiel 2-3 today.

As I said, it's Isaiah 41-42, Ezekiel 2-3, Proverbs 12, verses 1-4. The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 41. Israel assured of God's help. Listen to me in silence, O islands. Let the peoples renew their strength. Let them approach, then let them speak. Let us together draw near for judgment. Who stirred up one from the east, whom victory meets at every step?

He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. The islands have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth tremble. They have drawn near and come. Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother, take courage. The craftsman encourages the goldsmith and he who smooths with the hammer,

him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, it is good. And they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, you are my servant. I have chosen you and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confusion. Those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them. Those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, Fear not, I will help you.

Fear not, you worm, Jacob, you men of Israel. I will help you, says the Lord. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth. You shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord. In the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. When the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia,

the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plain, and the pine together, that men may see and know, may consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. Set forth your case, says the Lord. Bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Do good or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. Behold, you are nothing, and your work is not. An abomination is he who chooses you. I stirred up one from the north, and he has come

from the rising of the sun, and he shall call on my name. He shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay. Who declared it from the beginning that we might know and before time that we might say he is right? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words. I first have declared it to Zion, and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings. But when I look, there is no one. Among these, there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer. Behold, they are all a delusion. Their works are nothing. Their molten images are empty wind. Chapter 42. The Lord's Servant and Israel's Disobedience. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my

spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the islands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I have taken you by the hand and kept you. I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord. That is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth. Let the sea roar, and all that fills it, the islands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kadar inhabits. Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the islands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kadar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Selah sing for joy.

Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the islands. The Lord goes forth like a mighty man, like a man of war. He stirs up his fury. He cries out. He shouts aloud. He shows himself mighty against his foes. For a long time, I have held my peace. I have kept still and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman with labor pains. I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste

mountains and hills and dry up all their herbage. I will turn rivers into islands, and dry up the pools, and I will lead the blind in a way they know not. In paths that they have not known, I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them. They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame who trust engraven images, who say to molten images, you are our gods. Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord. He sees many things but does not observe

them. His ears are open but he does not hear. The Lord was pleased for his righteousness's sake to magnify his law and make it glorious. But this is a people robbed and plundered. They are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons. They have become a prey with none to rescue, a spoil with none to say restore. Who among you will give ear to this, will attend and listen for the time to come? Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? So he poured upon them the heat of his anger and the might of battle. It set him on fire round about, but he did not understand. It burned him, but he did not take it to heart. The book of Ezekiel chapter 2.

The book of E impudent and stubborn. I send you to them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God. And whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that there has been a prophet among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words. Though briars and thorns are with you, and you sit upon scorpions, be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. The vision of the scroll. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you. And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold,

a written scroll was in it, and he spread it before me, and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. Chapter 3 And he said to me, Son of man, eat what is offered to you, eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat, and he said to me, Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you, and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. And he said to me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel,

not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I send you to such, they would listen to you, but the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me, because all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart. all the house of Israel are of a hard forehead and of a stubborn heart. Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears and go get you to the exiles, to your people and say to them,

thus says the Lord God, whether they hear or refuse to hear. Ezekiel at the river Kabar. Then the spirit lifted me up. And as the glory of the Lord arose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake. It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them. That sounded like a great earthquake. The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me, and I came to the exiles at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the river Kabar. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. And at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from

my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life. Again, if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die, because you have not warned him. He shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require

at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have saved your life. Ezekiel bound and silenced. And the hand of the Lord was there upon me, and he said to me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with you. So I arose and went forth into the plain, and there I will speak with you. So I arose and went forth into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I had seen by

the river Kabar, and I fell on my face. But the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, Go, shut yourself within your house. And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God.

He that will hear, let him hear. And he that will refuse to hear, let him refuse. For they are a rebellious house. The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 12. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns. A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved. A good wife is the crown of her husband,

but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. Father in heaven, we give you praise and we thank you. And we know that you are our father. And so because you are our father, you want us to be like your son. You want us to be icons of Jesus Christ in this world. And we're not because we go astray. And we're not because we don't trust you. And we're not because we don't love like you love.

We don't love like Christ loves. And so we ask you to send your spirit into our hearts because we can't. We don't have the ability. We don't have the capacity to love as you love, to be as you are, and to live as Christ, your son lived on our own. But with your help, we can do all things. unlived on our own. But with your help, we can do all things. If we remain in your son, Jesus, we can accomplish your will by the power of your Holy Spirit. So please, once again, Lord,

send your Holy Spirit into our lives that we may be fully yours and images, icons of you to this world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay. So this is one of those situations where as we're reading from Isaiah and also reading from Ezekiel, it's becoming more and more clear that it's probably really helpful for us to remember the context of Isaiah and the context of Ezekiel. Isaiah is pre-exile, right? So we just had the chapters where here are the Assyrians, remember Sennacherib coming up against King Hezekiah. So we're still in that age. The Assyrians have just been pushed back, right? Or by the Lord, he defeated them. And they have a time of peace now. But what's going to happen is the Babylonians are going to come down and they're going to bring the people of Israel into exile in three waves. We know that this is going to happen. Remember, there were three waves of exile. The first wave was for Daniel and his pals, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, right? Hananiah,

Azariah, Mishael. They were brought into exile in Babylon. The second wave is when our second prophet here, Ezekiel, was brought into Babylon. And then the third wave is going to come where basically they bring everyone in Israel, the rest of everyone in Jerusalem, except for the blind, the crippled, the lame, those people that the Babylonians thought we don't want to bring them to our nation. We'll leave them here. So Isaiah pre-exile and Ezekiel is talking post-exile. Isaiah is speaking in Jerusalem, right? He knows the kings. He's even related to the royal family, but Ezekiel is in exile. He is in Babylon. And so this is going to be really important that we always keep this in mind, at least for the next number of days, as we continue through the prophet Isaiah.

So in the prophet Isaiah, it says at the beginning, it talks about someone from the east, who stirred up one from the east, whom victory meets at every step. And we wonder, and people debate who this person is from the east, who gives up nations before him. He tramples kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword. One thought could be that, again, this is pre-exile. Maybe this could be the king of Babylon, right? Maybe this could be Nebuchadnezzar. Also, another thought could be this could be Cyrus, the king of Persia, who is going to be the one who is going to free his people, Israel, from exile in Babylon, because Cyrus was the Persian conqueror of Persian king who conquered the Babylonians. Spoiler alert there. And then Cyrus sends them back home, sends the Israelites,

sends the Jews back to Jerusalem if they wanted to go. And so that also could be in verse 25. In verse 25 in chapter 42, it talks about the one who will come from the north. And most people would say that this would be a reference to King Cyrus, the Persian king who sent them back and he shall trample on rulers as mortar, as a potter treads clay, and that's this whole thing. So that's some context. Again, this is a prophecy of the future. Now, keep in mind that here in chapter 41 and in 42, we hear a bunch, fear not. This is the word, and this is why this is called the book of consolation. This second half or second portion of Isaiah is called the book of consolation.

Because once again, these things are going to come. This is, keep this in mind. I'm sorry. I'm very excited about this. The exile has not yet happened. The destruction has not yet happened. They've just been saved from the Assyrians, but it's going to come. And here's God who says in the face of this, that this is going to come.

Destruction, exile are going to come in the face of this. Fear not, because I am going to bring you back. I'm going to bring you back. Not only am I going to bring you back, but in chapter 42, it talks about the Lord's servant. And this is phenomenal and incredible. It just, it blows my mind. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the nations. And there's this description of his character. He will not cry or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break. A dimly burning wick he shall not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. And this is a prophecy of the Messiah, right? This prophecy of Jesus Christ. And it's just,

what a gift. I mean, it's one of those things we can take a moment and just go back and pray with this. Because what we're seeing is we're seeing God describe God's character. We're seeing God describe the word of God, Isaiah 42, describing the very character, the very heart of God, a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench. And this is us, right? We're the bruised reeds. We're the dimly burning wick, the smoldering wick that when Jesus comes, he comes for righteousness. He comes for mercy. He did not come, as he says many times, to judge or condemn, but he comes to bring God's mercy to us in time because he wants us to escape judgment through his mercy.

Now, at the same time, we have Ezekiel. And Ezekiel, this is very important because as it says in chapter 42, it says, I will put my spirit upon him. I put my spirit upon him, right? And that's what happens when Jesus gets baptized in the Jordan River by John. But also in Ezekiel, Ezekiel is described as receiving the spirit of God that's come upon him. And this is remarkable because this very rarely happens.

In fact, there are some people who will say that these three major prophets, they kind of represent the various persons, the three persons of the Trinity, right? So Isaiah would represent the son because here we are, we're talking about the Messiah, this incredible prophecy of the Son of God. Jeremiah would represent the Father, and that Ezekiel here represents the Spirit, the Spirit of God, because Ezekiel keeps saying that the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, the Spirit of the Lord picked me up and moved me. And this is just really incredible that here is the Spirit.

Now, this is a continuation of Ezekiel's vision of God. Now, Ezekiel will have, I think it's four times, he will have this same vision of the Lord. That's just remarkable and incredible. And it's remarkable and incredible because Ezekiel is going to be asked to be a very strange prophet. In fact, he's a different prophet than almost any other prophet in the sense that like kind of like Hosea. Remember Hosea was called to marry Gomer, the prostitute, who would be unfaithful to him, and yet he would have to be faithful to her. He'd be witnessing to God's faithfulness with his very life. Ezekiel also is going to be the kind of prophet who has to give witness to God and also give witness to the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel with his very life. And so part of the idea sometimes behind this is that, okay, Ezekiel, since you're going to be out there, you're going to be doing

some crazy, crazy things. I'm going to give you this incredible vision of my reality, of my presence, of my power, of my glory. And that's going to be a sustaining, is going to be able to sustain you as you go forth. In fact, how many times does God say in these two chapters that we heard, Son of man, be not afraid of them. Don't be afraid of their words. Don't be dismayed at their looks. He says this again and again because Ezekiel is going to do some really weird things. He is going to be sticking out like a sore thumb.

Guys, just in the next couple of days, we're going to see this. Tomorrow, we're going to see some of the strange things that Ezekiel is commanded to do by God in the sight of the people. So God tells them, don't be dismayed at their looks. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, just you have to speak. And that's one of the things I want to leave us with today is we're talking more about Ezekiel. We have a bunch of days to be with Ezekiel. But one of the things that God makes very clear is that you will speak and you can't control whether they hear or refuse to hear. In fact, remember in chapter three, we just heard, you will speak to the

wicked and you have to speak every word I said, because if you don't and the wicked one dies, they'll die for their sin, but you also will have his blood on your hands. So you can't control what the other person does, but you can control what you do. And that's really remarkable and so important. Such a great, incredible reminder that, yep, do not be afraid of them. And also do not be dismayed by those who look at you, askew because of your faith or because of your witness or because of your prophetic life. But also you have to speak the words that I give you to speak. You have to speak the words that I give you to speak. I wonder if that's one of the reasons why Ezekiel is bound and silenced. He

knows what it is to not be able to speak the word of God. He knows what it is to not be able to bear witness to the Lord with his life. And so God gives him this little taste by being bound and silenced so that he can know, okay, here's what it is to be free, to be able to freely speak God's word to a people that needs to hear God's word. You know, this is the prophet of the spirit and he ate that scroll and in his mouth, it was sweet because these are the words of God that he must, he must speak. But you know, later on in the book of Revelation, John is told to pick up words. The angel told me, gave me a little scroll. He said, take it and eat it.

It'll make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth, it'll be as sweet as honey. So we don't have that sense that when Ezekiel eats the scroll, that it becomes sour in his stomach. But we know that he eats the scroll and God's word tastes sweet. And that's so good for us, right? It's the Bible in the air. We're listening to this day 200 and plus, you know, and the words of God are sweet. But sometimes when we let them actually penetrate our lives and change our lives and transform our lives, and we know we have to speak these words or live out these words, it can be difficult. It can become difficult. And yet we're called to do this.

We're called to take God's word into us and allow it to transform us. And so that's why we need God's grace. We need the Holy Spirit to help us this day and every day, every moment of our lives. So I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. Pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.