Psalm 18:1-3; add 31:1-4.

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and I was troubled to find myself feeding in the bitter pastures of Ezekiel 23. The fires of jealousy kindled in God’s heart against the whoredoms of His people, burn hot, and the bitterness of His anger at the treachery of Aholah (Samaria=Israel) and Aholibah (Jeruslaem=Judah)* against Him: their adulteries, and whoredoms, disquieted my spirit, and broke my heart, and God’s fierce anger frightened me (e.g., Ezekiel 23:1-10 (Aholah), 11-21 (Aholibah); and the burning anger of our Lord against these “sisters” (Ezekiel 23:22-49). See especially verses 25-27 and note that “Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more” (Ezekiel 23:27).

Along the still waters, I was compelled to dwell on this a while, and my mind was troubled. I repented of my own sins, and mourned the severe chastening required upon His glorious heritage—Israel.

I asked the Spirit, where do I go to find relief, where to find peace?

As I stared at my Bible, shaken by what lay before me, longing to leave this pasture and seek solace, I literally thought, Lord, which way do I go? Shall I turn back to the time before this tragic loss of love, back into the Old Testament, or shall I go forward, and move into the New Testament.

God is my witness, but I was distinctly called to go forward, to open into some New Testament pasture, and I landed in Ephesians 3. Verses 1-13 provides Paul’s testimony that he was given the dispensation of the grace of God to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. I thought of Romans 11:11-21, and saw His abounding love for Israel to whom and through whom He sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call the Gentiles to repentance and salvation.

Through the bitterness of Israel’s treachery against the Lover of their souls, God turned to the Gentiles (Acts 28:28) to whom He revealed the mystery of Christ, that “the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, where He entered His tent in Judah (Aholibah), and was wounded in His hands in the “house of [His] friends” (Zechariah 13:6), where He bled and died for the sins of Israel and ours, where He pled forgiveness for our ignorance, and laid down the price of our atonement for our sins, where our Father saw the travail of His Son’s soul, and was satisfied with the payment (Isaiah 53:11) — it’s ENOUGH!

The voice of the sound of many waters soothed my aching heart like stepping into a Jacuzzi relaxes tightened and stressed muscles. That’s a weird analogy in some ways, but, honestly, it was like that. And the words that His voice carried to my heart was this: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, Christ spoke to my heart about His plan: to make the Gentiles “fellowheirs” with Israel, and His Church “joint-heirs” with Him (Romans 8:7).

He anointed my head with His oil, and with his wounded hands, took my cup, filled it up, and stirred His grace into the mixture. We walked together into the harvest, goodness and mercy following close.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Thank you for praying about my voice issues; it has greatly improved and I’m hopeful I can teach and preach today.

[*Aholah means her tent, and indicates a place of idols. Aholibah means my tent is in her, and indicates God’s presence is with her. By this name, Aholibah, God is identifying the promised Seed is in Judah, and that Seed is Christ (John 7:42; Galatians 3:16).]