Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - 2Ki 20
" 'Thou shalt die, and not live!' This solemn, terrifying
message must have been received by King Hezekiah with fear. It was not merely
the end of life, but the fact that he had not provided a seed for the throne of
David, as was the responsibility of the monarch. The line of David was
threatened by the neglect of Hezekiah. He was 'sick unto death,' a physical
malady that was in a very virulent and incurable form, implying the living death
of leprosy (v 7). It typified the cause of mortality in mankind: the 'law of sin
and death' which afflicts all mankind, and from which there is no cure apart
from the divine redemption. It was clearly 'a sign' (2Ch 32:34), foreshadowing
the death and resurrection of the Lord.
"It was this condition that drove the king to prayer (v 3). He
was without a successor, and his death would weaken the attitude of the people
in resistance of the Sin-power Sennacherib. It would mean the end of all hopes
to establish the fulness of the divine worship (cp Isa 38:9-20). But a wondrous
answer was received: vv 4-6; it answered the five-fold blessing of grace. Within
three days he would be restored, as Christ came from the darkness of the earth
in three days. Hezekiah's miraculous restoration was hailed by the nations round
about. Congratulations were received from Merodach-Baladan, but Hezekiah's folly
in sharing such things with Babylon was condemned by Isaiah: vv 14,15. The king
was shown the folly of putting confidence in the flesh, and thereby strengthened
the instrument of divine punishment against his people. Thus, though typical of
the Lord Jesus, he did not manifest the purity and righteousness of Yahshua, in
whose great strength we trust" (GEM).
Reading 2 - Eze 10
"Divine glory cannot bear the presence of sin (Hab 1:13).
Therefore coals of fire are scattered over the guilty city, and the Glory makes
ready to depart therefrom. It is a sad moment for Ezekiel, for, like his
faithful companions, he sought for the peace of Jerusalem. Instead he saw only
the spirit of compromise and deviant teachings among its people that augurs its
destruction. Thus the vision reveals: [1] Coals of fire ready to consume: vv
1-7. [2] The re-appearance of the cherubim: vv 8-22.
"The coals glowed and ran up and down between the living
creatures. They were but one; thus individually they were the Cherub, whilst
collectively they were the Cherubim. In scattering the coals over the city, the
man in linen had completed his work of sealing (Eze 9:11), and now passes over
to judgment. Then the vision concentrates again on the cherubim, now revealing a
man's hand under the wings (vv 8,14,21). Thus it is identified with the Adamic
race, for the cherubim of glory was developed from the work of Christ, a man of
like nature as his people, taken from among mankind, and constituted the Lord of
glory by the resurrection from the dead. Christ as the Ark, is seen in the
singular cherub; the multitudinous Christ is seen in the cherubim who convey the
glory away from the presence of sin (cp Acts 1:9). The glory awaits the new Age
when the cherubim will again be seen shining from the Ark" (GE
Mansfield).
Reading 3 - Luk 6:42
"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the
speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Luk 6:42).
"Those things that one cannot improve in himself or in others,
he ought to endure patiently, until God arranges things otherwise. Nevertheless
when you have such impediments, you ought to pray that God would help you, and
that you may bear them kindly.
"Endeavor to be patient in bearing with the defects of others,
whatever they are; for you also have many failings which must be borne by
others. If you cannot make yourself be as you would like to be, how can you
expect to have another person be to your liking in every way? We desire to have
others perfect, and yet we do not correct our own faults. We would allow others
to be severely corrected, and will not be corrected ourselves. We will have
others kept under by strict laws, but in no case do we want to be restrained.
And so it appears that we seldom weigh our neighbor in the same balance with
ourselves" (Thomas a' Kempis).