Text: Zechariah 7:9-14

9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:  10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor;  and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.   11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.   12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets:  therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.   13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear;  so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:  14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not.   Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned:  for they laid the pleasant land desolate.  

Friday, 27^th September 2024

THE SERPENT STOPS HER EAR

Text: Zechariah 7:9-14

Memory verse: 2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

The serpent stops her ear, a stubborn and persistent deafness. Psalm 58:4 "They are like the deaf adder, that stops up its ears." Do not be like the serpent, stubbornly stopping up your ears to the voice of God. While God calls you to repent of sin, do not be as the serpent to stop your ear, Zechariah 7:11 "They refused to hearken, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear."

If you shut your ear against God's Word, pray that God does not shut the heaven against you. If God cries to you to repent, and you will not hear; when you cry for mercy, God will not hear. Zechariah 7:13, "Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord Almighty." They did not only rebel against the Prophets, but against the Spirit of God that spoke in them. As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God break their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it. They would not carry the Lord's burden, which was sweet and easy, but would bear their own burden that is heavy and grievous to the flesh, thinking they would merit from it.

Proverbs 1: 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  

The serpent shut its ears, do not be like the serpent in shotting your ears against God’s counsel, the repercussions you may not be able to stand.

CGDS Hymn 15; SS&S 607

I AM THINE, O LORD, I HAVE HEARD THY VOICE

 Prayers 

1.  Lord Jesus, give me a listening ears and obedient heart.

2.  LORD God Almighty, open my heart to Your counsel and purposes in Jesus’ name. Amen.    

3.  Pray for others in this regard.