DCLM Daily Manna 22 August 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Sin Births Disgrace
TOPIC: Sin Births Disgrace
TEXT: Ezekiel 4:9-17
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
KEY VERSE: “And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.” – (Ezekiel 4:12)
MESSAGE:
A preacher has described sin as a deliberate violation of God’s commandments or disobedience that attracts His displeasure and judgment. Sin turns a saint to a sinner; God’s favour turns to divine displeasure, blessing turns to curse, glory turns to shame, congregation of the living turns to the congregation of the dead, while plenty and satisfaction turn to scarcity and starvation.
The text under consideration talks about how Prophet Ezekiel was divinely instructed to eat disgusting diet for a period of 390 days. He was instructed to cook the food with dung. This is despicable and loathsome. By this method, the prophet was to figuratively portray the picture of uncleanness and shameful food that the people of Israel would be forced to eat both during the siege that would soon take place and later in the foreign countries where they would be carried captive. It is also to show God’s disgust for sins.
The prophet pleaded to God heartily that he had never defiled himself by eating abominable things forbidden by the law. God then considered his request by allowing him to cook the food with cow’s dung. God knew the prophet was making the request from the integrity of his heart.
We learn from this prophetic illustration that sin can make a believer to lose God’s favour and grace. It makes him to lose privileges, position, pleasure, prosperity, preservation and health. Sin brings shame, disgrace and humiliation. It causes penury and want. It brings punishment and pain. It brings oppression, captivity, affliction, anguish and sorrow. Sinners and backsliders should therefore understand the hard times ahead of them and do something now to escape divine judgment.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Avoid sin’s reproach by all means.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 11-18
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
