Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in the 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 weave it into that story. Today, it is day 211. That's two, one, one.

We are reading from Isaiah, chapter 43 and 44. We are in the book of Consolation, and we're also reading Ezekiel, chapters four and five. We're also reading proverbs, chapter twelve, verses five through eight. 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 bibleinaear. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. Because it's the day of 211 and we are just into the book of consolation, starting with chapter 40. We are now in chapter 43 and 44. We're also in Ezekiel, chapters four and five.

Remember, Ezekiel had this, this incredible vision of the Lord and his glory, the son of, he's the son of man, which basically just means he's a human being. That's going to change in Daniel chapter seven. But for now, whenever the Lord God calls Ezekiel, son of man, he's just talking like, hey, bro, you're a human being. But we're going to hear Ezekiel four and five, the way in which Ezekiel is called to be a prophet through his actions, not just through his words, it's through his words and his actions. And also that's Ezekiel four and five in proverbs twelve five through eight, the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 43, the Lord is redeemer of Israel.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, o Jacob, he who formed you, o Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you.

When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you. I give men in return for you.

Peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, do not withhold. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth.

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Bring forth the people who are blind yet have eyes, who are deaf yet have ears. Let all the nations gather together and let the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say it is true.

You are my witnesses, says the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I. I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed when there was no strange God among you.

And you are my witnesses, says the Lord. Lord, I am God, and also henceforth I am he. There is none who can deliver from my hand. I work and who can hinder it. Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel.

For your sake I will send to Babylon and break down all the bars, and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned into lamentations. I am the Lord, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your kingdom. Thus says the Lord, who makes away in the sea a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior. They lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick. Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers. In the desert the wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches.

For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise. Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob. But you have been weary of me, O Israel. You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings or wearied you with frankincense.

You have not brought me sweet cain with money or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities. I. I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Put me in remembrance. Let us argue together. Set forth your case that you may be proved right. Your first father sinned, I and your mediators transgressed against me. Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary.

I delivered Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reviling. Chapter 44 God's blessing on Israel. But now hear, O Jacob, my servant Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord, who made you, who formed you from the womb, and will help you. Fear not, O Jacob, my servante Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring. They shall spring up like grass amid waters, like willows by flowing streams. This one will say, I am the Lord's, another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand the Lord's and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts.

I am the first, and I am the last. Besides me there is no God who is like me. Let him proclaim it, let him declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come. Let them tell us what is yet to be.

Fear not, nor be afraid. Have I not told you from of old and declared it, and you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? There is no rock. I know not any.

The folly of idol worship. All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a God or casts an image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are but men.

Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified, they shall be put to shame together. The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals. He shapes it with hammers and forges it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails.

He drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, he marks it out with a pencil, he fashions it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a holm tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar, and the rain nourishes it.

Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself. He kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a God and worships it. He makes it a graven image and falls down before it.

Half of it he burns in the fire, over the half he eats flesh, he roasts meat and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, aha, I am warm. I have seen the fire, and the rest of it he makes into a God his idol and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, deliver me, for you are my God. Israel is not forgotten.

They know not, nor do they discern. For he has shut their eyes so that they cannot see, and their minds so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say. Half of it I burned in the fire. I also baked bread.

On its coals I roasted flesh and have eaten. And shall I make the residue of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood? He feeds on ashes. A deluded mine has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, is there not a lie in my right hand?

Remember these things, o Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant. I formed you. You are my servant, O Israel. You will not be forgotten by me. I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist.

Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Sing, o heavens, for the Lord has done it. Shout, o depths of the earth. Break forth into singing, o mountains, o forest, and every tree in it. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel.

Thus says the Lord your redeemer, who formed you from the womb, I am the Lord who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread out the earth, who was with me, who frustrates the omens of liars and makes fools of diviners? Who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and performs the counsel of his messengers? Who says of Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited, and the cities of Judah they shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins. Who says to the deep, be dry, I will dry up your rivers? Who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose, saying, of Jerusalem, she shall be built, and of the temple your foundation shall be laid.

The book of the prophet, Ezekiel, chapter four. A brick. The siege of Jerusalem portrayed. And you, o son of man, take a brick and lay it before you and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem, and put siege works against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it, set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about, and take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

Then lie upon your left side, and I will lay the punishment of the house of Israel upon you. For the number of the days that you lie upon it, you shall bear their punishment. For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel. And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah.

40 days. I assign you a day for each year. And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. And behold, I will put cords upon you so thathappens, you need to know that you're mine. That even when the worst thing you could possibly imagine happens, you need to know that you're mine. God's promising this before the worst day of their lives. He's promising this before the worst season of their lives that he will be with them throughout all of this.That's so important for us to hear, because maybe you've yet to experience the worst day of your life. Maybe you and I have yet to experience the worst season of our life. And yet God knows our lives. He knows our story. He's outside of time.And he can say, even now, no matter what happens in the future, I have called you by name, and you're mine. Because we have this experience right where Ezekiel in chapter four and five, which is remarkable. This is one of the reasons why Ezekiel is the. I heard someone say he's the performance art prophet, where he basically is acting out. God tells him, act out.Basically kind of play with your army men. So basically, I think I said basically five times right there, take a brick and lay it before you. This is going to be city of Jerusalem and make a little city of Jerusalem and then have a little army and little army men and have them come against the city of Jerusalem and lie on your side for 390 days facing one direction and then flip over and face another direction for another 40 days. All the while, by the way, you're eating once a day and you're going to cook your food over poop. And like, this is just, it's like, what is happening?And everyone's remember that Ezekiel was told by the Lord God, like, I'm giving you this vision. And in the midst of this vision, this is so you have no fear against the people and do not let their looks at you dismay you, because here's what you're doing. And I love the fact that God at first says, you're going to cook your food over human poop. And then Isaiah says, ezekiel says, please, I don't want to eat anything unclean. And God says, okay, fine.Overdose. Cow poop. That's fine. Elfra manure. You can do that.And then he has the other image. That's the one image of the army men. And the siege works against Jerusalem, reenacting this, but then also the sharp sword. So Ezekiel is told to cut off his hair and cut off his beard with a sword, which is not what people would use to cut hair, typically, but it's a sign of destruction, right? The sword is not a sign of peace.The sword is a sign of destruction. And so he did that because. And divided into thirds, and those thirds represented, the first 3rd was burned up. So it was either the fire or pestilence or famine. That's the first third.The second 3rd was by the sword, right? And then the third 3rd was scattered to the winds. And this is one of the signs of what happened to the people in Jerusalem, right? That pestilence, that third of them destroyed by famine, pestilence by fire, a third destroyed by the sword, and a third scattered to the winds and in exile and lost to history. And one of the things that Ezekiel is doing here is he is enacting in visual form what had happened and what would happen to the people of God because they had turned against the Lord.It's one of the reasons why Ezekiel is kind of the weird prophet, but we know that he's simply doing this only because God has commanded him to do it. And so, as we continue to follow Ezekiel, we're going to see is him explaining some of the reasons why he's doing this, as well as the fact that in all of these things, just like Isaiah had said, in all of these things, the Lord God is with his people, even in the midst of him allowing them to experience this great tragedy, this incredible suffering that God is with his people throughout the entire thing, that God is using this not to destroy his people. He's using this to bring his people back to his heart. That is the message of the prophets, always is. Come back to the Lord with all your heart.That's one of the key messages that the prophets always return to. Yes, there is suffering. Yes, there is woe. Yes, there are days ahead, even where it will seem like the Lord God has abandoned you. But he has not.And in this day, you might need to hear that word, that it might seem today like the Lord God has abandoned you. Maybe today is the worst day of your life, but God still says today and every day. I've called you by name, and you are mine. So knowing that maybe someone in this community is going through the worst day of their life right now. You guys, let's pray for each other.I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.

happens, you need to know that you're mine. That even when the worst thing you could possibly imagine happens, you need to know that you're mine. God's promising this before the worst day of their lives. He's promising this before the worst season of their lives that he will be with them throughout all of this.

That's so important for us to hear, because maybe you've yet to experience the worst day of your life. Maybe you and I have yet to experience the worst season of our life. And yet God knows our lives. He knows our story. He's outside of time.

And he can say, even now, no matter what happens in the future, I have called you by name, and you're mine. Because we have this experience right where Ezekiel in chapter four and five, which is remarkable. This is one of the reasons why Ezekiel is the. I heard someone say he's the performance art prophet, where he basically is acting out. God tells him, act out.

Basically kind of play with your army men. So basically, I think I said basically five times right there, take a brick and lay it before you. This is going to be city of Jerusalem and make a little city of Jerusalem and then have a little army and little army men and have them come against the city of Jerusalem and lie on your side for 390 days facing one direction and then flip over and face another direction for another 40 days. All the while, by the way, you're eating once a day and you're going to cook your food over poop. And like, this is just, it's like, what is happening?

And everyone's remember that Ezekiel was told by the Lord God, like, I'm giving you this vision. And in the midst of this vision, this is so you have no fear against the people and do not let their looks at you dismay you, because here's what you're doing. And I love the fact that God at first says, you're going to cook your food over human poop. And then Isaiah says, ezekiel says, please, I don't want to eat anything unclean. And God says, okay, fine.

Overdose. Cow poop. That's fine. Elfra manure. You can do that.

And then he has the other image. That's the one image of the army men. And the siege works against Jerusalem, reenacting this, but then also the sharp sword. So Ezekiel is told to cut off his hair and cut off his beard with a sword, which is not what people would use to cut hair, typically, but it's a sign of destruction, right? The sword is not a sign of peace.

The sword is a sign of destruction. And so he did that because. And divided into thirds, and those thirds represented, the first 3rd was burned up. So it was either the fire or pestilence or famine. That's the first third.

The second 3rd was by the sword, right? And then the third 3rd was scattered to the winds. And this is one of the signs of what happened to the people in Jerusalem, right? That pestilence, that third of them destroyed by famine, pestilence by fire, a third destroyed by the sword, and a third scattered to the winds and in exile and lost to history. And one of the things that Ezekiel is doing here is he is enacting in visual form what had happened and what would happen to the people of God because they had turned against the Lord.

It's one of the reasons why Ezekiel is kind of the weird prophet, but we know that he's simply doing this only because God has commanded him to do it. And so, as we continue to follow Ezekiel, we're going to see is him explaining some of the reasons why he's doing this, as well as the fact that in all of these things, just like Isaiah had said, in all of these things, the Lord God is with his people, even in the midst of him allowing them to experience this great tragedy, this incredible suffering that God is with his people throughout the entire thing, that God is using this not to destroy his people. He's using this to bring his people back to his heart. That is the message of the prophets, always is. Come back to the Lord with all your heart.

That's one of the key messages that the prophets always return to. Yes, there is suffering. Yes, there is woe. Yes, there are days ahead, even where it will seem like the Lord God has abandoned you. But he has not.

And in this day, you might need to hear that word, that it might seem today like the Lord God has abandoned you. Maybe today is the worst day of your life, but God still says today and every day. I've called you by name, and you are mine. So knowing that maybe someone in this community is going through the worst day of their life right now. You guys, let's pray for each other.

I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike, and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God blessed.