Ezek. 2
2:1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet and I will speak with you.” 2As he spoke to me, a wind came into me and stood me on my feet, and I heard the one speaking to me.
3He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to rebellious nations who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day. 4The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5And as for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words. Even though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions—do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, for they are a rebellious house! 7You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. 8As for you, son of man, listen to what I am saying to you: Do not rebel like that rebellious house! Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”
9Then I looked and realized a hand was stretched out to me, and in it was a written scroll. 10He unrolled it before me, and it had writing on the front and back; written on it were laments, mourning, and woe.
(NET Bible)Ps. 64
64:1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
Listen to me, O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.
2Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.
3They sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim their arrows, a slanderous charge,
4in order to shoot down the innocent in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.
5They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.
They plan how to hide snares
and boast, “Who will see them?”
6They devise unjust schemes;
they disguise a well-conceived plot.
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.
7But God will shoot at them;
suddenly they will be wounded by an arrow.
8Their slander will bring about their demise.
All who see them will shudder,
9and all people will fear.
They will proclaim what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
10The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright will boast.
(NET Bible)2 Thess. 2:13–3:5
2:13 But we ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14He called you to this salvation through our gospel, so that you may possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter. 16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good thing you do or say.
3:1 Finally, pray for us, brothers and sisters, that the Lord’s message may spread quickly and be honored as in fact it was among you, 2and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4And we are confident about you in the Lord that you are both doing—and will do—what we are commanding. 5Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and the endurance of Christ.
(NET Bible)Luther was not unaware of the difficulties that arise when parallel passages in the Gospels are compared with each other. So in the Lenten Postil, of 1525, he discusses the order of time in the three temptations of our Lord. He makes this statement: “The order in which these temptations came to Christ cannot be determined with certainty, for the evangelists do not agree. What Matthew places in the middle, Luke places at the end, and what he places in the middle, Matthew places at the end, as though he placed little importance on the order. If we want to preach about it or discuss it, the order of Luke would be the best, for it makes a fine sequence that the devil first attacks through need and misfortune and, when this does not bring results, follows with fortune and honor. Finally, when this is all in vain, he strikes out with all force with errors, lies, and other spiritual deceits. But because they do not occur thus in our daily experience, but, as it happens, a Christian is tempted now with the last, now with the first, Matthew did not pay much attention to the order, as would be fitting for a preacher. And perhaps Christ was so tempted during the forty days that the devil did not observe any particular order but came today with the one temptation, tomorrow with the other, after ten days again with the first and so on as it happened to take place.” (45)
–Johann Michael Reu, Luther on the Scriptures
This daily Bible reading guide, Reading the Word of God, was conceived and prepared as a result of the ongoing discussions between representatives of three church bodies: Lutheran Church—Canada (LCC), The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The following individuals have represented their church bodies and approved this introduction and the reading guide: LCC: President Robert Bugbee; NALC: Bishop John Bradosky, Revs. Mark Chavez, James Nestingen, and David Wendel; LCMS: Revs. Albert Collver, Joel Lehenbauer, John Pless, and Larry Vogel.