Day 11/22 – Wheat and Straw

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Wheat and Straw
Day Three Hundred Twenty-six

“Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:28

God contrasts His word with the word of a prophet by wheat and straw; the former gives life and the latter you burn. In an age where prophets and counselors abound, never forget how they compare to God’s Word. In this passage God goes on to indite His messengers: “Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the Lord.”411 From this let me suggest two applications:

First, never commit God to what He has not promised. You can easily do this by making a specific application from a general premise. For example, when the Psalmist says God “heals all thy diseases,”412 this does not mean He guarantees that He will heal your disease. God devotes two chapters in Jeremiah condemning those who commit Him without His permission.413

Second, never accept the word of others when it is in conflict with the Word of God. Beware of those who suggest that God does not mean what He says. For example, when a person says that God does not want you to be unhappy and therefore you may divorce and remarry, he is speaking “straw.”

411 Jeremiah 23:32
412 Psalm 103:3
413 cf. Jeremiah 28-29

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Ezekiel 18-19 James 4 (New King James Version)

Ezekiel 18-19
A False Proverb Refuted
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4
“Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5
But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6
If he has not eaten [a]on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7
If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8
If he has not [b]exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true [c]judgment between man and man;
9
If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully—
He is just;
He shall surely live!”
Says the Lord God.
10
“If he begets a son who is a robber
Or a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11
And does none of those duties,
But has eaten [d]on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;
12
If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or committed abomination;
13
If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase—
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
His blood shall be upon him.
14
“If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
15
Who has not eaten [e]on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife;
16
Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17
Who has withdrawn his hand from [f]the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes—
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18
“As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
Turn and Live
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”
Israel Degraded
19 “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:
‘What is your mother? A lioness:
She lay down among the lions;
Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3
She brought up one of her cubs,
And he became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey,
And he devoured men.
4
The nations also heard of him;
He was trapped in their pit,
And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
5
‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6
He roved among the lions,
And became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey;
He devoured men.
7
[g]He knew their desolate places,
And laid waste their cities;
The land with its fullness was desolated
By the noise of his roaring.
8
Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side,
And spread their net over him;
He was trapped in their pit.
9
They put him in a cage with [h]chains,
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in nets,
That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10
‘Your mother was like a vine in your [i]bloodline,
Planted by the waters,
Fruitful and full of branches
Because of many waters.
11
She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.
She towered in stature above the thick branches,
And was seen in her height amid the [j]dense foliage.
12
But she was plucked up in fury,
She was cast down to the ground,
And the east wind dried her fruit.
Her strong branches were broken and withered;
The fire consumed them.
13
And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14
Fire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch—a scepter for ruling.’ ”
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
Footnotes:
• Ezekiel 18:6 At the mountain shrines
• Ezekiel 18:8 Lent money at interest
• Ezekiel 18:8 justice
• Ezekiel 18:11 At the mountain shrines
• Ezekiel 18:15 At the mountain shrines
• Ezekiel 18:17 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX iniquity (cf. v. 8)
• Ezekiel 19:7 LXX He stood in insolence; Tg. He destroyed its palaces; Vg. He learned to make widows
• Ezekiel 19:9 Or hooks
• Ezekiel 19:10 Lit. blood, so with MT, Syr., Vg.; LXX like a flower on a pomegranate tree; Tg. in your likeness
• Ezekiel 19:11 Or many branches

James 4
Pride Promotes Strife
4 Where do [a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and [b]war. [c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 [d]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do Not Judge a Brother
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one [e]Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who[f] are you to judge [g]another?
Do Not Boast About Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Footnotes:
• James 4:1 battles
• James 4:2 battle
• James 4:2 NU, M omit Yet
• James 4:4 NU omits Adulterers and
• James 4:12 NU adds and Judge
• James 4:12 NU, M But who
• James 4:12 NU a neighbor
• James 4:13 M let us