Category: Ezekiel

A new inheritance

We wrap up Ezekiel today, and as we do, God outlines the new inheritance that will be received by the Israelites—or shall we say a renewed inheritance.

God promised to bring his people back to the land he had promised their ancestors, but when he does, there will be some significant changes, namely in the division of the land.

Under the old division of the land under Joshua, the land was not equally divided. It was divided on the basis of population. (Numbers 26:52–54)

Issachar and Zebulun, therefore, received very small inheritances, while Manasseh and Judah had large ones.

But under the new division of the land, each inheritance will be equal. (Ezekiel 47:14)

Further, while God had allowed the tribes of Dan, Manasseh, and Gad to live across the Jordan away from the land God had promised them, under the new division, all the tribes will dwell in the land that God promised.

Finally, God told the people that any foreigners who had settled among them will also be allotted an inheritance among them.

I think we learn several things from this.

First, in God’s kingdom, we all receive an equal inheritance that is not dependent on who we are or what we’ve done, but an inheritance of salvation that is based solely on his grace.

And it is an inheritance that is open to all, whether Jew or Gentile.

As Paul wrote,

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (Colossians 3:11)

Second, it’s an inheritance that does not include what’s second best.

The tribes of Dan, Manasseh, and Gad had accepted what was second best as their inheritance, but God doesn’t desire what’s second best for us. He desires what is best.

Third, more than anything else, it is God who is our inheritance.

In the new division of the land, God’s portion was right in the middle of everyone else’s. And God said that the new Jerusalem would be named “Yahweh-Shammah,” meaning “The Lord is there.”

The greatest thing about being a Christian is that God himself is with us, and inside of us. As David wrote,

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. (Psalm 16:5, NLT)

Lord, I thank you that you’re my inheritance. That by your grace, you have given me the gift of salvation.

Not only that, you have come to dwell within me and are always with me.

I thank you that you desire to give me what is best, not second best.

Walk with me every day. Be my God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, inheritance, The Lord is there

Ezekiel

Living water

Above, you can see a body of water called the Dead Sea.

It is so called because the water is so salty that no animals can survive there. The only signs of life are tiny quantities of bacteria and fungi.

But in this passage, God tells us that something wondrous will happen to that which everyone calls dead.

From under the threshold of the temple that Ezekiel describes in these chapters will flow water which starts as a small stream but gradually grows into a roaring river that flows out into the Dead Sea.

The result?

When it empties into the [Dead] Sea, the water there becomes fresh.

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows.

There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. (Ezekiel 47:8–9)

Not only that,

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail.

Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.

Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12)

While I believe there will be a literal fulfillment of this, I also think this is a beautiful picture of our lives.

From God himself flows rivers of living water which flow out from heaven’s throne into our lives.

And we who were dead in our sins will overflow with the life of God.

We will start to bear fruit in our lives that not only brings nourishment and healing to our own souls but also helps nourish and bring healing to the people around us.

As Jesus said,

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. (John 7:37–38)

Lord, fill me up with your Spirit.

Pour down your Living Water into my soul and heal my wounds and my hurts. And let me be fruitful for you.

As I come into contact with the people around me, let your Living Water pour through me to touch their lives that they may be nourished and healed in their souls too. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, healing, living water

Ezekiel

Setting apart our hearts for God

Post author By Bruce
Post date March 5, 2013
No Comments on Setting apart our hearts for God

In these two chapters, God gives the people instructions for when they return to the land.

A lot of this (as well as the things in chapters 43–44) are repetitions of instructions God had originally given Moses.

But as I look at this, two verses struck me.

God told the people,

When you allot the land as an inheritance, you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district…the entire area will be holy…

In the sacred district…will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. (Ezekiel 45:1, 3)

One of the first things the people were to do when they returned to the land and divided it among the tribes was to set apart a certain part of it to the Lord for his sanctuary.

God was basically saying to the people, “When you return to the land I’ve given you, set apart space for me. Remember that I’m dwelling among you and that I am your Lord.”

It reminds me of what Peter said,

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. (1 Peter 3:15)

What does that mean?

Part of it is making sure he has the throne of your heart. That you set apart the throne of your heart for him, and him alone.

But God gave other instructions to the people. To the princes, he said,

You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel!

Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. (Ezekiel 45:9)

God tells us the same. In setting apart Christ as Lord, we are to give up our evil practices and do what is right before God.

He then told the priests to sacrifice a bull and use its blood to purify the sanctuary. This was not a one-time thing, either. It was done every year.

We too are to make sure that we keep a pure sanctuary, and we do that by confession. Praying for forgiveness for our sins and asking that the blood of Jesus cleanse us.

God told the priests to make atonement for people who sinned unintentionally or through ignorance.

We may not have meant to sin, but even so, all of our sins must be atoned for and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. And so as David prayed, so should we:

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:12–13)

The people were also to remember the Passover, their deliverance from the land of Egypt.

We too should remember our deliverance from sin and Satan’s kingdom.

Too often, we forget why we set our hearts apart for him. It’s out of our love for him and all that he has done for us. As John wrote,

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Chapter 46 repeats these themes as it goes over all the offerings that were offered. I’ve touched on this in another blog, but it’s worth repeating.

The burnt offering was used for atonement for sin, and it also showed a complete surrender to God (the offering was completely burnt up).

The grain offering was an offering of thanksgiving.

The fellowship offering again had the idea of atonement, with the animal taking on the guilt of the offerer, but also had the idea that with our sins taken care of, we now have fellowship with God.

One last point. When the people came to worship, they had to enter one gate (north or south) and exit the opposite gate.

To me this symbolizes that as we enter his presence to worship, we cannot help but come out changed.

Having been washed by Jesus’ blood, with hearts that have been justified and sanctified, and Jesus sitting on the throne of our hearts, we have become new people.

As Paul wrote,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

As God’s new creations, let us set apart our hearts for him each day.

Tags atonement, Bible Original, Bible verse, blood of jesus, set apart

Ezekiel

What we let enter our hearts

Post author By Bruce
Post date March 4, 2013
No Comments on What we let enter our hearts

When I was a kid, there was a song we used to sing in Sunday school: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see. Oh be careful little ears what you hear.”

Basically, it was a simple song about being careful about what we let into our hearts and minds.

Why is that so important? Because as I mentioned in my last blog, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

And so God told Ezekiel to command the people,

Give attention to the entrance of the temple and all the exits of the sanctuary.

Say to the rebellious house of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough of your detestable practices, O house of Israel!

In addition to all your other detestable practices, you brought foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my temple while you offered me food, fat and blood, and you broke my covenant.” (Ezekiel 44:5–7)

Apparently, the people had allowed ungodly foreigners into the sanctuary where only the priests were allowed. As a result, they ended up worshiping idols in the temple itself, desecrating it before God.

Because of this, those Levites whose ancestors had worshiped idols in the temple were prohibited from becoming priests. Only those who had been faithful to God were able to be priests before God.

What about you? What do you allow to come into your temple gates, through your eyes and ears? And what do you allow to dwell within your heart?

What do you watch on TV? What kinds of messages and music are you listening to? And what do you let reign in your heart?

When we allow what is ungodly into our hearts, it pollutes the temple that God dwells in.

When we let the idols of money, possessions, sex, or whatever else it may be reign in our hearts, it desecrates the temple God dwells in.

Let us never do that. May we shut our doors to that which would pollute our hearts.

Instead, let us open our hearts wide to God, giving him the throne of our hearts that he might dwell there.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, idols, pollute, temple of God

Ezekiel

Made anew

Post author By Bruce
Post date March 3, 2013
No Comments on Made anew

I feel like I’m going back to the book of Exodus, plowing through these chapters.

Here, as in Exodus, we see extremely detailed information for the temple (albeit in Exodus, it was a tabernacle, not a temple).

With the current temple in ruins and stripped of all its glory, and with the Spirit of God himself departed from the temple, God here gives Ezekiel a vision of a new temple.

And in painstaking detail (and I mean painstaking) he talks about all the dimensions of this new temple, as well as a description of what it would look like.

Then in chapter 43, Ezekiel sees the glory of God return to the temple.

As God once had departed from the east (Ezekiel 10:18–19), he now returns from the east and fills the whole temple with his glory.

And God told Ezekiel,

Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever.

The house of Israel will never again defile my holy name…

Now let them put away from me their prostitution and the lifeless idols of their kings, and I will live among them forever. (Ezekiel 43:7, 9)

What can we take from this?

We were all created to have a relationship with God. We were created to be inhabited by his Spirit and to be his temple.

But by our sins we defiled this temple of our body that God built, and we were living in separation from God. As a result, this life God gave us was in ruins.

But when we turn to God, he clears away the ruins of our lives and makes us anew. He puts his Spirit in us and we become his temple as he intended from the very beginning.

And now God tells us the same thing he told the Israelites. As Paul wrote,

We are the temple of the living God.

As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:16–18)

And again,

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

By the blood of Jesus, we have been made anew and have become his temple.

So let us put aside our past sins, walking every day in relationship with the God who saved us.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, made anew, temple of God

Ezekiel

For His purposes, for His glory, that all may know…

Post author By Bruce
Post date March 2, 2013
No Comments on For His purposes, for His glory, that all may know…

In this passage, Ezekiel looks to the last days when nations will rise up against Israel and try to destroy it, only to be thrust back and destroyed by God.

There’s quite a bit of debate as to when this will happen, which I won’t get into here. There are others much more qualified to argue the point than I am.

I’m more interested in why God allows this to happen. God tells the leader of those nations to come,

I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 38:16)

Then after describing the judgment to come against these nations, he says,

And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations.

Then they will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 38:23)

The theme continues in chapter 39.

I will make known my holy name among my people Israel.

I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel. (Ezekiel 39:7)

And when talking about Israel’s restoration, he once again says,

When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. (Ezekiel 39:27)

What do we get from all of this?

All that God does is for his purposes. All that God does is for his glory.

And all that he does is so that the world may know who he is, and that he is holy. That he is the God above all other gods.

And on the last day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10–11)

God chose Israel to be his people, not because Abraham or his descendants were any better than anyone else.

If you look at the lives of Abraham on down through all the people in Israel’s history, you see they were sinners just like everyone else.

In his grace God chose them. And he chose them for his purposes.

He knew they would sin. But he would use them anyway to glorify himself to the world.

He brought Jesus through the Israelites to redeem us from our sins and to reveal himself to us.

And the day will come when he again reveals his glory, power, and grace to the world.

How? By defending Israel in the last days against the nations that would come against them and by pouring his Spirit upon his people and forgiving their sins.

God has chosen us as Christians for the same reasons.

Not because we are any better than others. Not for our own purposes and our own glory.

But because of his grace, and for his purposes and his glory that all may know that he is the Lord,

A compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. (Exodus 34:6–7)

May we all be a people for his purposes and his glory.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's glory, God's purposes

Ezekiel

The God who raises what’s dead

Post author By Bruce
Post date March 1, 2013
2 Comments on The God who raises what’s dead

Well, winter’s almost over, and spring is almost here. Which means that Easter is right around the corner. And here we get a vivid picture of what Easter is all about.

In this passage, Ezekiel is given a vision of a valley of dry bones. And God asked him,

Son of man, can these bones live? (Ezekiel 37:3a)

To which Ezekiel replied,

O Sovereign Lord, you alone know. (Ezekiel 37:3b)

God then said to Ezekiel,

Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.

I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ (Ezekiel 37:4–6)

When Ezekiel did so, the bones came together, were covered with flesh, and when God breathed life into them, they became a massive army.

As that army stood before Ezekiel, God told him the meaning of the vision.

Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.

Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ (Ezekiel 37:11–14)

The Israelites’ hopes were dead and gone, buried under the loss of their kings, priests, and their land.

But God said, “You may think all is lost, but I am the God that can raise the dead. And though you have been scattered and your nation is in shambles, I will restore you to your land.

“Our relationship that was broken by your sin will be restored. My Spirit himself will dwell in you, and you will live.

“I will be your God and you will be my people, and I will dwell among you forever.”

What can we get from this? So many of us have broken lives and broken dreams. Everything has been smashed, and we think there’s no way that they can be repaired. We feel like a bunch of old, dry, dead bones.

But God can give life to you again. He can restore your life and your hope.

I heard one person say, “Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. Jesus came to make dead people live.”

We were dead in our sins, without hope and without God in the world.

But through Christ, our sins can be forgiven. Our brokenness can be healed.

And God can take the old, dry, dead bones of our lives and make all things new. All we have to do is call out to him, and he will save us.

As Paul wrote,

The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:12–13)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Hope, raising the dead

Ezekiel

Though we have fallen

In chapters 35 and 36, we once again see God condemning the nations around Judah for celebrating Jerusalem’s fall.

He first directs his judgment against Edom for harboring hostility, jealousy, and anger against the people of Judah and for trying to take advantage of the Israelites’ plight.

But then he tells the people of Israel that all the nations around them that were celebrating in their fall would be judged while Israel itself would be restored.

But as we have seen before, this would not be because the people were deserving of restoration. Rather, it was solely because of God’s grace toward them.

It wasn’t because of who they were that God restored them, but because of who God is.

His name was blasphemed by the nations because he had allowed Jerusalem to fall.

But in restoring Israel, he would show the nations the kind of God he was.

A powerful God. An awesome God.

A God who does exactly what he says he will.

And a God who can not only punish but restore.

A God not only of wrath, but of forgiveness.

Through Israel, God said, all would come to know that he alone is the Lord.

How would God do this? He would do this by doing what no other god can: change the human heart. He said,

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25–27)

God does the same with us.

Though we’ve turned our backs on God and gone our own way, he saves us, not because of who we are but because of who he is. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of what he’s done.

Paul wrote,

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5–7)

What can we get from this?

None of us are too far gone to be saved. Though we have fallen, God can still save us.

He doesn’t save us because we are good people. Truly good people would never have to be saved in the first place.

It is we who are sinners, who have walked away from God that need to be saved.

So if you’re feeling far from God, lost in your sin, all you need to do is turn to him. Ask for his forgiveness. And he will hear.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, fallen, grace, Who God is

Ezekiel

Godly leadership?

In this passage, God really comes down hard on the people who had been the political and spiritual leaders of Judah. What was their problem?

God told them,

Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? (Ezekiel 34:2)

The main problem of these “shepherds” was that they were looking to be served, rather than to serve.

They used their positions to gain power, money, and prestige, but cared nothing for the people they were placed over. Rather, they took advantage of them.

God said,

You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.

You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost.

You have ruled them harshly and brutally. (Ezekiel 34:3–4)

In other words, they took everything they could from the sheep but gave nothing back.

They did not take care of the weak or heal the sick or search for those that went astray. Rather, they ruled over them like tyrants.

What was the result? With no protector, the sheep were left to the wolves.

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. (Ezekiel 34:5)

So God told the shepherds, “I hold you accountable for what’s happened to my flock, the people of Israel. I hold you responsible for the fall of Jerusalem, and all the people who have now been scattered among the nations.

“I will remove you from your position, and I myself will become their shepherd.”

And that’s what God did. He brought all of the Israelites back to their own land by his own power and might.

And then Jesus came. When Jesus came down to this earth, he was God in human form. But when he came, he said,

[I] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

Jesus came as a servant. A good shepherd. As such, he loved us so much that he died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins.

And now, by his blood, we who were scattered and separated from God have now been brought near to him. He heals our scars and our wounds, and makes us whole again.

But the question you need to ask yourself is, “What kind of leader are you?”

You might say to me, “Me? A leader? I’m no leader.”

But if you have children, you’re a leader to them.

If you have a wife, God calls you to be a leader to her.

If you’re a boss, you’re a leader to the people under you.

And if there are people following you in whatever ministry you do at church, you are definitely a leader.

But whether you’re a leader at church, at home, or at work, Jesus calls us to follow his example.

To care for the people under you. To put their needs above your own. To help bring healing where they need healing and give guidance where they need guidance.

That’s what Jesus did for us. Let us do it for each other.

Tags bad shepherd, Bible Original, Bible verse, good shepherd, serving

Ezekiel

How then shall we live?

In this passage, Ezekiel repeats some themes from earlier in the book.

God once again warns Ezekiel, “Don’t be silent when I tell you to speak. I will hold you accountable if a person dies in their sin and you didn’t warn them.”

Then he told Ezekiel what the Israelites were saying among themselves.

Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live? (Ezekiel 33:10)

So many times, we look at our own lives and we say the same thing.

We see the sin that is chaining us down and destroying us. And we say, “I’ve made such a mess of my life and God is punishing me for it. How can I live when God is so against me?”

But God told the people,

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)

He says the same to us.

“Do you think I like seeing you suffer? Do you think I like it when people go to hell? Turn! The reason that I’m doing these things is so that you can find true life. Why keep living a life that leads to death?”

But the problem with these Jews is clearly seen in the latter part of the chapter.

Word had just come to Ezekiel and his fellow expatriates that Jerusalem had finally fallen. Even so, the people were certain that they would someday return, not because of God, but because of their own efforts.

And so God told them, “It’s not going to happen. You continue to live in rebellion against me and you will perish for it.”

Then he told Ezekiel,

My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice.

With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.

Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33:31–32)

The problem with these Jews was that though they made a pretense of wanting to hear God’s word and of worshiping him, their hearts were far from him.

Hearing Ezekiel’s words was like a kind of entertainment for them, but they would not put those words into practice.

Sometimes people go to church with the same attitude.

They go to get a good show. They go because they are entertained. They go because it makes them feel good.

But when it comes to the Word of God, they fail to put it into practice. As a result, they are walking dead men and women because they are still steeped in their sin. And one day they will be judged.

How about you? Are you suffering because of your sin?

God doesn’t desire that you perish but that you be saved. That you be set free from a lifestyle that is destroying you and that you would find true life.

Jesus came 2000 years ago, dying on a cross that your sins might be forgiven, and three days later he rose again, conquering death. Now he offers life to you.

Don’t think that playing the Christian will save you.

God sees your heart. He sees the sin that is there and he calls you to repent and follow him. Will you? It starts with a prayer.

Jesus, I’ve made a mess of my life through my sin. I’ve gone my own way and paid for it. Please forgive me.

I believe you died on the cross for my sins. Wash me clean. Change me. Make me new.

Teach me what it is to truly live. I want to follow you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, death, life, repentance

Ezekiel

A fragile thing to lean on

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 25, 2013
No Comments on A fragile thing to lean on

I find it kind of ironic that despite having subjected Israel to slavery for years, the Egyptians became the people that Israel turned to in order to deliver them from the Babylonians. But that’s exactly what they did.

During the siege of Jerusalem, the Egyptians came to the aid of the Israelites, marching out against the Babylonian army and giving them some temporary relief.

But it didn’t last long. Babylon eventually vanquished the Egyptian army and then came right back against the Israelites until Jerusalem finally fell.

In this passage, God tells Egypt that like a crocodile being pulled out of a river and then left out in the desert to die, so Egypt would fall to the Babylonians.

The reason? There were several, but one was that Israel had tried turning to the Egyptians for help rather than to God.

So God told the Pharaoh,

You have been a staff of reed for the house of Israel.

When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals.

Egypt will become a desolate wasteland…

Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help.” (Ezekiel 29:6–9, 16)

The Egyptians had thought of themselves as being strong and powerful.

In his pride, the Pharaoh Hophra made himself to be as God, saying,

The Nile is mine; I made it. (Ezekiel 29:9)

In fact, Hophra had taken the title of “He Who is strong-armed.”

But God said of him,

Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up for healing or put in a splint so as to become strong enough to hold a sword.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt.

I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. (Ezekiel 30:21–22)

Egypt also put their confidence in their alliances and treaties with other nations, and in their gods to protect them.

But God told them,

The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail… I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. (Ezekiel 30:6, 13)

In chapter 31, God warned the Egyptians that the Assyrians had once been proud of their own strength and beauty as well. That they had made their own alliances to protect themselves.

But despite this, they had fallen to the Babylonians. And God said, “If they fell, and they were greater than you, what makes you think you will stand?”

Finally, in chapter 32, God told Egypt that they would be like all the other evil nations that had stood up in their pride, only to be cast down into hell.

What can we learn from all of this?

What are you leaning on in your life?

Are you leaning on all the people around you to support you? Are you leaning on your own strength? Are you leaning on the gods of this earth—money, power, and possessions?

They are all fragile things to lean on.

People will let you down. Your strength will eventually fail. Money, power, and possessions will all pass away.

And when everything is gone, what will you have left to lean on?

There is only one thing, one person, that is reliable enough to lean on, and that is Christ.

While everything else around us fails, Jesus never fails. And he is the rock that you can build your life upon without fear of having it all shatter.

As Isaiah said of Him,

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. (Isaiah 28:16)

Who are you putting your trust in?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, cornerstone, false hope

Ezekiel

Only One

In the midst of the passages condemning Tyre, we find an interesting passage concerning the king of Tyre.

Many people have said the “ruler of Tyre” in verses 1–10 was the literal human ruling over Tyre, while the “king of Tyre” in verses 11–19 was referring to the king’s ruler, Satan.

Whether this is true or not is debatable.

There is enough historical, linguistic, and cultural evidence to say that all of these verses were in reference to the literal king of Tyre, and that Ezekiel was talking about how this king was trying to make himself “a god” like the gods he worshiped.

Whatever Ezekiel was referring to in this passage, God makes one thing clear: there is only one God, and neither this king (nor Satan, if that was indeed who verses 11–19 were referring to) was him.

This king, because of the prosperity of his city and his reign as king, proclaimed,

“I am a god. I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the sea.” (Ezekiel 28:2)

But God told him,

You are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god… you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.

Will you then say, “I am a god,” in the presence of those who kill you?

You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. (Ezekiel 28:2, 8–9)

What can we get from this?

Very few of us would ever claim that we are gods. But how many of us live that way?

How many of us, because of our accomplishments or success, start to think of ourselves as above others?

How many of us then start to look down on others and treat them not as fellow brothers or sisters, but as people who should be serving us?

Worse, how many of us take the throne of our hearts, casting God from his rightful place, doing our own will instead of his?

The day will come when we realize what the king of Tyre realized.

No matter how successful we are, no matter how beautiful, no matter how wise, we are mere humans, not God. And if we try to rise up and usurp God’s rightful position in our lives, we will be cast down.

There is only one God, and we are not him. So let us submit ourselves to him and his reign in our lives.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, one God

Ezekiel

A heart of malice

We now shift the scene back to Babylon. The prophecies here, for the most part, happened during the time of Jerusalem’s siege and fall.

In these passages, Ezekiel prophesies against some of the enemies around Judah: the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, Tyrians, and the Sidonites.

These people basically had one thing in common. They had a lot of malice in their hearts toward the people of Judah.

And when Judah fell under attack by the Babylonians, these people rejoiced. In some cases, they even took advantage of the situation to enhance their prosperity or to exact revenge against Judah.

The result? God passed judgment on each of these nations, proclaiming each of their downfalls.

What can we learn from this?

What kind of heart do we have for the people around us? Do we have hearts of malice toward people?

Do we, for example, have hearts of unforgiveness?

Someone hurts us, and we refuse to forgive. And when something bad happens to them, we rejoice in it, saying, “They got what they deserved!”

Or do we see trouble in others’ lives and rather than thinking about how to help them, we think about how to take advantage of the situation?

These are attitudes that God despises. And as God’s people, there should be no room in our hearts for them.

I think of David’s life and the heart he had. When he heard that the man who had tried to kill him for years, King Saul, had died, he didn’t rejoice. He didn’t say, “Ha! You got what you deserved!”

Instead he wept for him, writing a song of lament for Saul and his son Jonathan.

When Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was assassinated by his own men, David didn’t think, “Hey, this is my chance to unite the kingdom under me.”

Instead, his first thought was to exact justice on the assassins.

David wasn’t a perfect man by any means. But one reason God called him a man after his own heart was that he rejected a heart of malice and embraced a heart of mercy and compassion.

How about you? Is your heart full of compassion and mercy? Or is it filled with malice? Jesus said this:

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:43–45)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, compassion, malice, Mercy

Ezekiel

When weeping does no good

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 8, 2013
No Comments on When weeping does no good

We are truly reaching the end of Judah as a nation at this point.

After years of warning from Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and many others, Babylon was now on the doorstep of Judah, ready to destroy it once and for all.

On the day the siege started, God told Ezekiel, “This is it. This nation is so wicked, they spill blood and don’t even care to hide it.

“I’ve tried to cleanse this nation from its impurities, but despite all my warnings and efforts, it has all been in vain.

“So I’m no longer going to hold back. I will show no pity. The time of judgment has now come. (Ezekiel 24:1–14)”

Then God gave Ezekiel news that had to devastate him: “Your wife will die.”

Not only that, he commanded Ezekiel not to do all the traditional Jewish things that people did to mourn for their dead. He told Ezekiel,

Do not lament or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead.

Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food of mourners. (Ezekiel 24:16–17)

Why did he command this?

It was to be a sign to the people around him of what their response would be at the destruction of Jerusalem. Their stronghold, their glory, their delight, their desires, even their very children would be taken from them.

As a result, their grief would be so deep that they would not be able to find any comfort or release from their usual customs of mourning.

Yet despite their grief, they still would not repent. Instead, they would waste away because of their sins, groaning among themselves.

What can we take from this?

Mourning can be a good thing. When mourning causes us to turn from our sins and turn to God, it can bring us comfort, restoration, and life.

Jesus himself said,

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

But we can get so jaded by our sins that even when we lose everything we hold dear, even when our grief is so deep nothing can seem to relieve it, we refuse to repent. Instead, we shout in defiance to God or waste away in self-pity.

That’s what would happen to the people of Judah. And that’s what can happen to us if we let ourselves get hardened to sin in our lives.

How about you? Has your heart become jaded because of sin? Have you lost all hope because of it? Are you simply wallowing in your anger toward God or in self-pity?

You don’t have to be that way. Confess your sins before God. Mourn for your sins, not just for the consequences of them.

And if you do, God will reach down, touch you, forgive you, and restore you.

Remember it’s never too late, no matter what you’ve done.

The apostle Paul was a man who had blasphemed Christ and had murdered Christ’s own people. But after his conversion, he wrote,

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15–16)

Paul’s weeping brought repentance and salvation. May your weeping bring you the same.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, forgiveness, repentance, weeping

Ezekiel

Lusting after what destroys

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 7, 2013
No Comments on Lusting after what destroys

Ezekiel continues his rebuke of Israel and Judah here by telling a parable about two prostitutes named Oholah and Oholibah.

Oholah represented Samaria, the capital of the former northern kingdom of Israel.

After breaking off from the southern kingdom, they had set up their own places of worship, supposedly for God, but in reality, they were for idols. (Oholah literally means, “Her own tabernacle.”)

Oholibah represented Judah, which actually had the temple of God residing there. (Oholibah means, “My tabernacle is in her.”)

And here, we have a very graphic story of how these two women were prostitutes of Egypt before being brought out by God.

This, of course, refers to how the people of Israel started worshiping other gods while in Egypt before God called them to leave their idols behind and to follow him out of Egypt.

But then, Oholah started lusting after the Assyrians, committing adultery with them, and eventually was killed by them, with her children taken away as slaves.

This refers to how the northern kingdom started to ally themselves with the Assyrians and worship their gods, only to have the Assyrians take them into exile, leaving their nation in ruins.

Oholibah didn’t learn from her sister’s mistakes and started lusting after the Assyrians too.

Not only that, she started to lust after the Babylonians.

When she became disgusted with them, she turned her heart back to the Egyptians from whom she had first come.

But in the end, her spurned lover (the Babylonians) would come back for her and destroy her, taking her children captive as slaves.

This, of course, refers to Judah’s alliances with the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, and then the Egyptians again. The end result of which would be their exile to Babylon.

There are two things that I think we can get from this.

First, God will not force us to follow him. If we choose to walk away from him, he will let us. He will hand us over to the things that we lust after.

But second, these things that we lust after will destroy us. We may think that they will bring us pleasure, or security, or blessing. But they will enslave us and ultimately destroy us.

The apostle Paul puts it this way,

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness…

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?

Those things result in death! (Romans 6:16, 20–21)

That’s what happened to the Israelites. That’s what can happen to us.

How many husbands have destroyed their families by cheating on their wives? How much damage has this caused to their wives and children? They know what they’re doing is harmful to their family and yet they can’t stop.

Or how many people destroy their lives through alcohol or drugs?

How many people destroy their lives in pursuit of money or by making their work their god?

So many people think that they find freedom in living for their lusts.

But is it freedom when you can’t stop? Is it freedom when your lusts are destroying you?

Jesus died that you might be set free from the things that are destroying you. He died that you might find life.

The only thing you need to ask is, “Do you want to be set free?”

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, lust, slave to sin

Ezekiel

Standing in the gap

So many times, we complain about the evil that we see in this world. But do we really care? Do we care enough to do something about it?

God in this passage tells Ezekiel to warn the people of the judgment that was coming through Babylon. That their leaders, the priests (the turban), and the kings (the crown) would be judged and removed from their positions of power. (Ezekiel 21:25–26)

He told Ezekiel to groan with broken heart and bitter grief before the people because of this.

He then told Ezekiel that in the same way, all the people would groan when the day of judgment came.

Why was it coming? Because of all the evil in the land.

There was idolatry, murder, sexual immorality, and corruption.

In short, the people had forgotten the Lord and were simply living their own way. (Ezekiel 22:1–12)

But at the end of chapter 22, God says something interesting. He says,

I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.

So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel 22:30–31)

To build up the wall. To stand in the gap. What does this mean?

Israel’s spiritual walls had been torn down. There were gaping holes in them, and as a result, the people had fallen into immorality.

And God said, “Isn’t there anyone who can rebuild these walls? To repair the breaches that were meant to protect my people?”

More, he asked, “Isn’t there anyone to stand in the gap between us? I’m about to destroy my people because of their sin. Where is the person who will intercede for them as Moses did many times before?”

But there was no one to do these things. And so God was going to have to pour his judgment on these people.

How about you? When you see the evil around you, do you simply complain or moan in misery? Or do you do something?

Do you, like Ezekiel, fight for what’s right? Do you warn people of the judgment to come if they don’t turn from their sin?

More than that, do you pray for them?

Do you pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts to repair the breaches there? Do you pray that Jesus himself would stand in the gap and bring salvation to them?

It’s not enough for us to just stand and weep. We need to stand in the gap. Do you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, salvation, Sin, stand in the gap

Ezekiel

God of judgment and mercy

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 5, 2013
No Comments on God of judgment and mercy

I’ve mentioned this before, but going through the prophets can be somewhat wearying at times, the reason being that much of their messages seem to be the same—namely, messages of judgment.

The same can be said here. The elders of Israel came “to inquire of the Lord,” but probably more as people seeking the advice of a fortune teller than as people who were truly seeking God.

And so God basically tells Ezekiel, “I have nothing to say to them. But if you want, then recount to them their history, and all the evil they have committed. Let them know exactly why I have nothing to say to them.”

But in the midst of all of this is something that we should always remember when going through these passages of judgment: God is also a God of mercy.

As he recounts Israel’s history, he shows this again and again, telling Ezekiel how despite Israel’s rebellion, he had refused to destroy them completely.

He showed them mercy, not because of what they did, but rather because of who he was.

Time and again, he says, “It was for my own name’s sake that I spared them.

“I continued to work with my people, that the nations around them might see that I am a God who is faithful to his promises, even when my people are not faithful to theirs.

“That I am a God who is merciful and forgiving despite their actions.”

I’m so glad that God doesn’t treat me as I deserve. Because I deserve God’s judgment in my life for the things that I do.

But as God showed mercy to Israel, he shows mercy to me. He took me from the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light. And for that I’m grateful.

Lord, I thank you that you don’t treat me as I deserve. But that you forgive me. Not only that, you’re continuing to shape me into your image.

Lord, help me to loathe the evil in my life. Help me to take on your character each day, that I may become more like you.

And as you’ve extended your mercy to me, let me extend your mercy to those around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, judgment, Mercy

Ezekiel

Where a nation puts its hope

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 4, 2013
No Comments on Where a nation puts its hope

Where is hope for a nation found?

For the Israelites, they put their hope in their leaders, hoping they could bring them prosperity. And when the Assyrians came against them, and then the Babylonians, they looked to their leaders for deliverance from their enemies.

But it was an empty hope.

That’s what this chapter is about. The lioness was the nation of Israel, and the first cub was Jehoahaz.

But as we’ve mentioned before, he didn’t last long as a king, and he was quickly taken prisoner by the Egyptians after just three months on the throne.

Jehoiakim took over as king, but he brought no deliverance for the people of Judah, instead becoming a vassal of Egypt. Later on, he was taken captive by the Babylonians.

As a result,

When [Judah] saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion. (Ezekiel 19:5)

This king was Jehoiachin, but he too would be taken by the Babylonians into exile.

Ezekiel concludes by lamenting how Israel had been such a “fruitful vine,” strong and powerful among the nations. But because of their sin, they would be uprooted, their fruit shriveled, and their branches burned in the fire.

Not only that, they would be taken from their land and planted in the desert, a dry and thirsty land.

This of course was talking about their exile to Babylon (Ezekiel 19:10–14). And now there were no kings left in which they could put their hope.

So many nations put their hope in their leaders, trusting them to lead them to prosperity and safety. But all the while, they turn their backs on God, living their own way.

Even if a leader is good, a nation will start to wither apart from the Source of life. And if a leader is bad, it will wither that much faster.

Salvation for a nation is not found in politics.

It’s found only in people one by one turning to God, giving their hearts to him. And it’s only as people are turned to Christ one by one, that things start to change in a nation.

Am I saying politics is unimportant? Absolutely not.

But remember that a nation only has hope if they’re turned towards God. And that starts with you, touching the people around you.

So let us be the light in the darkness that God calls us to be.

For he alone is where this nation’s…where this world’s hope is.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Hope, politicians, politics

Ezekiel

A warped sense of justice

“God’s not fair.”

It is a little ironic that people sometimes say this. Why? Basically because God’s way of thinking is perfect and holy, and ours has been corrupted by sin.

Yet we dare, with our corrupted judgment, to disagree with God’s decisions of judgment and mercy, claiming that he isn’t fair.

I read about a group of Christians who were discussing Jeffrey Dahmer, a man who had committed some pretty hideous murders in the ’90s. While in prison, however, he became a Christian.

Upon his death (he was murdered by another prisoner), the group was divided on how they saw him.

Some had seen an interview in which Dahmer had talked about his conversion, and believed he had truly repented.

The ones who had not only saw him as a monster, and dismissed the idea that he had truly repented.

“Crimes that bad can never be forgiven. He couldn’t be sincere,” one person said.

Many people would agree with the latter group. Yet these same people bitterly complain about being forced to suffer the consequences of their own sin.

“God! Why are you punishing me?” they cry, all the while ignoring the fact that it was their own actions that brought the consequences upon their heads.

That’s what God was saying to the Israelites here in this passage. He said,

Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’

Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die.

But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.

Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’

Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? (Ezekiel 18:25–29)

Here were the people of Israel, criticizing God for being unjust because of all they were suffering. Yet they totally ignored that it was their own sin that caused God’s judgment to come.

How about you? Do you get angry when God allows judgment to come into your life? Or do you get angry when God shows mercy in others’ lives?

Remember that God is totally just. He always does what is right, and if you disagree with him, it is not he who is wrong, but your own warped sense of justice that is.

So let us be humble before God, showing mercy to those who repent of their sins and repenting of our own sins when God’s discipline comes into our lives.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, judgment, justice, Mercy

Ezekiel

Accountable

If there’s one thing I get from this passage, it’s that each of us stands accountable before God. The day will come when we will have to answer to him for our actions and decisions.

At this time, the Israelites were complaining by using an old proverb,

The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. (Ezekiel 18:2)

In short, “We’re suffering for our ancestors’ mistakes! Why should we be punished for their mistakes?”

But God clearly refutes this idea. He told them,

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:3–4)

In other words, while people may sometimes suffer from the sins of their parents (or others), each person is ultimately responsible for their own actions.

A person may be abused by their parents and suffer physically or emotionally from it. But how they respond to the sins of their parents is their own responsibility.

Will they continue in the sin of their parents or break away from it?

God then goes into a number of hypothetical questions.

He said, “Suppose a righteous man has a wicked son? Will the wicked son be deemed righteous because of his father?

“No. He will be punished for his own deeds, not blessed for his father’s.”

Then he said, “But imagine a wicked father has a son. The son sees all the wickedness that his father commits, but he himself turns from his father’s sin and lives righteously. Will I punish him for his father’s sin?

“Of course not. His father will die for his own sin. But the son will live.”

Then he brings up two other situations.

“Suppose a wicked man turns from his sin and does what is right? Will he still die? No, I will have mercy on him and forgive his sin. I will forget all the things of his past.”

But God says, “If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and starts doing evil, will he continue to live? No, he will die.”

We see this pattern throughout the history of Judah’s kings.

We have the man who turned from righteousness to do evil (Asa).

We have his son who turned from his father’s sin to do good and was blessed (Jehoshaphat).

We have Jehoshaphat’s son who turned from his father’s way to do evil (Jehoram).

We also have a king who had a good father, turned from his father’s way and did evil, and then repented (Manasseh).

What is God’s point? Why did he say all of this? The reason is found in his pleas with the people.

Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.

Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30–32)

In other words, “Take accountability for yourselves. Admit your own sin.

“Don’t blame anyone else for their sins. They will be held accountable for their sins, but you will be held accountable for yours. Instead of blaming other people for your troubles, repent from your sin.

“Ask me for a new heart and a new spirit, and I will give it. I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s death.”

Earlier in the passage, God added,

Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? (Ezekiel 18:23)

How about you? Are you blaming others for your own troubles? Are you blaming them for the consequences of your own sin?

It does no good to blame them, no matter how much they deserve it.

Instead, look within yourself. Look at your own sins. Repent of them.

And not only will God forgive you, he’ll restore you and make you new.

He’s waiting for you. What will you do?

Tags accountaiblity, Bible Original, Bible verse, blaming others, repentence

Ezekiel

The tender one

So many times we get the image of God, especially the “God of the Old Testament,” as a hard-liner. Someone who is ready to blast us for every sin that we commit.

But here, God talks of a “tender one” to come. He said,

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar.

Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.

All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall.

I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.

I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ (Ezekiel 17:22–24)

This passage, I think, has a dual fulfillment.

The first fulfillment was through Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jehoiachin.

Zerubbabel (the tender sprig) came along with Joshua the high priest to lead the first of the exiles back to Jerusalem, and became governor of the people.

There by the grace of God, Israel, the dry tree, started its restoration as a nation, while Babylon, the green tree, had been brought low by the Medes and Persians.

But its second fulfillment comes through Christ. It reminds me of the passage in Isaiah 53, where it says,

[Jesus] grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. (Isaiah 53:2)

Jesus may have come from humble origins, being born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, but after being put on a cross,

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11)

And now, we can find rest and shelter under his wings of grace.

Where our lives are dry and withered, he can bring life back to us, making us flourish once again.

You may think that God is angry with you and has given up on you because you’ve messed up your life.

But remember that he sent the Tender One that we may know his grace and love. And remember that through his cross, the life that we have wrecked can be restored.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, grace, Mercy, tender one

Ezekiel

Breaking your word

Being able to trust someone is one of the most important things in a relationship. I think it’s one reason why God looks for us to be honest, both in our relationship with him and with others.

In this passage, God shows how important honesty is to him, as he deals with the Israelites, and in particular, with King Zedekiah.

Ezekiel tells a parable of an eagle that swoops down on a cedar tree, takes the topmost shoot, and plants it in a city of traders. Then he takes a seed from the land, plants it in another place, and it grows into a vine.

It seems here that Ezekiel is referring to Babylon (the eagle) taking the king of Judah (Jehoiachin) captive, as well as some of the other leaders of Judah (i.e., the topmost shoots of the cedar).

In doing so, a treaty was made between Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s successor (represented by the vine), and Babylon, in which Zedekiah promised to submit to Nebuchadnezzar.

But in the story, it says that another eagle came, and the vine that sprouted from the seed that was planted started to seek water from this other eagle.

The second eagle represented Egypt, and basically the story meant that Zedekiah was breaking the treaty with Babylon and was seeking help from Egypt against Babylon.

And so God said of Zedekiah,

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will bring down on his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke.

Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape. (Ezekiel 17:18–19)

Zedekiah swore in God’s name to serve Nebuchadnezzar, but in trying to seek help from Egypt (which God had severely warned Israel against), he broke that treaty.

Not only that, Zedekiah continued to break the covenant that God had made with the Israelites through Moses, by serving other gods.

As a result, God warned Zedekiah that judgment would be coming through Babylon.

How about you? When you give your word, do you keep it? Or do you easily break it?

Is your word something you take seriously? Or lightly?

However we may see our own word, God sees it as something important to him.

So let us be people of integrity and always be honest with him, and with others.

Tags a person's word, Bible Original, Bible verse, honesty, integrity

Ezekiel

Adulterous

In many ways this passage reminds me of Hosea. Hosea cast Israel as an adulterous wife, and Ezekiel here casts Jerusalem as the same.

Ezekiel starts by showing the love that God had for Jerusalem. That though it had been founded by evil people (the Amorites and Hittites), and though it had been despised, God had cared for it and made it into something beautiful.

When David took over Jerusalem, he had the ark of the covenant brought in, and Solomon later built a temple for God. During that time, God blessed the city and made it his.

In fact, in Solomon’s day, the Bible says that Jerusalem had become so prosperous, silver was considered of little value (1 Kings 10:21).

But then, starting with Solomon, things started going downhill.

Solomon started marrying foreign wives, and they led him into idolatry. That idolatry spread throughout the nation, and soon, the things that God had given them were used to worship other gods.

God’s temple itself was used for worshiping other gods at times.

The Israelites made treaties with the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, all the while adopting the gods they served and rejecting the one true God.

God said that unlike women who received money to prostitute themselves, Jerusalem was like an unfaithful wife that actually paid others to prostitute herself.

And while Jerusalem tried to deceive themselves into thinking they were not so bad, God said they were even worse than Samaria (the former capital of the northern kingdom of Israel) and Sodom, both of which were destroyed for their sins.

Because of all this, God was bringing judgment on the land.

But God also promised that the day would come that he would restore them and make atonement for them, taking away the shame they brought upon themselves.

So what do we take from all of this?

First, let us never forget all that God has done for us. That he snatched us from out of our sin and shame, and clothed us in his righteousness and beauty.

Let us remember with thankfulness all that Christ did on the cross that we might be forgiven. And let us not return to the things that brought us shame, committing adultery against God.

Second, let us never let pride deceive us into thinking that we saved ourselves. That we are responsible for all the blessings in our lives.

As James wrote,

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Even if you think that you have earned everything you have, remember who it is that gave you your life, your talents, and your strength. Everything is ultimately from him.

Third, don’t compare yourselves with others, saying you’re not so bad compared to them. We look through clouded glasses, and what we think is not so bad, often is.

And like Jerusalem, in God’s eyes, we are often doing things that are just as bad, if not worse, than those around us.

Fourth, no matter how far we may fall, God’s promises never change. Though we may be unfaithful, he remains faithful to us (2 Timothy 2:13).

Jerusalem would fall to the depths, but even so, God restored it. And he can restore you.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, pride, spiritual adultery

Ezekiel

Spiritually fruitless

I’m not a farmer nor am I a carpenter, so I learned something about the wood from grapevines when reading this passage: it’s absolutely useless for anything except for bearing fruit.

Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard of anyone saying, “Can I have some furniture made of grapevine wood?”

If a branch from a grapevine did not bear fruit, the only thing you could do with it back in Ezekiel’s day was to burn it and use it for fuel.

A quick search on the internet shows that people nowadays sometimes use it for “grapevine wreaths” as a kind of art.

But here’s what they say of the branches, and it points out why they are never used for anything else:

As soon as you cut a vine, it immediately starts to dry out and becomes brittle. When that happens, they easily snap or break.

That’s what God was comparing Israel to.

Throughout scripture, he compares the nation of Israel to a vineyard.

They were to be fruitful vines that would show the nations around them who God really was. Not only that, they were to be a blessing to all the nations surrounding them.

But through their sin and idolatry, they had become fruitless vines.

Instead of being a light to the nations around them, the Israelites had become just like them. And now, cut off from their source of life, they had become dried out, brittle, and completely useless.

As a result, Babylon was coming and would literally burn down the city, destroying the temple, the royal palace, the major buildings, and many of the people’s houses.

The same thing can happen to us as Christians. Jesus told the disciples,

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.

Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned…

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:4–6, 8)

God calls us to be connected to Jesus who is the vine. And if we are living in relationship with him, we will bear much fruit for him. We will be a light to the people around us, showing them who God really is.

But if we don’t remain in him, we wither and become brittle branches. In that state, it’s impossible for God to use us. And eventually, God will do something about it.

This doesn’t mean we’ll lose our salvation. As God’s promises to Israel have never changed despite their unfaithfulness, his promises to us never change. But he will bring discipline into our lives.

What kind of branch are you? Are you bearing much fruit? Or are you dry and withered?

Tags bearing fruit, Bible Original, Bible verse, branches, vines, withered

Ezekiel

Saving ourselves, saving others

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 28, 2013
No Comments on Saving ourselves, saving others

When I was younger, I remember reading a book that said that if we became Christians, it meant that God guaranteed that our families would be saved too.

The author quoted Acts 16:31, where Paul said,

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.

So the book encouraged us to pray for our families’ salvation.

While I agree with the need to pray for our families’ salvation, I disagree with the interpretation of the scripture.

I believe what Paul meant was, “If you and your family will put your faith in Christ you all will be saved.”

In other words, if the jailer whom Paul was talking to put his faith in Christ, he would be saved. And if his family put their faith in Christ, they would be saved too.

It’s very important as we interpret scripture to not just look at one verse before reaching a conclusion, but to look at what the Bible says on the topic as a whole.

If we look at Paul’s further teachings, he told the Corinthians, “If your unsaved husband or wife decides they want to leave you, let them leave.” Why? Because,

How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (1 Corinthians 7:16)

This was of course a rhetorical question, the answer to which was, “You don’t know if your spouse will ever get saved, so let them go.”

This flies straight in the face of the interpretation of Acts 16:31 which says that if you get saved, it automatically means that your whole family will be saved.

This passage in Ezekiel also contradicts this teaching. Here, God proclaims judgment on Israel saying,

Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel 14:13–14)

And again,

Even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved. (Ezekiel 14:18)

Several times in this passage, God repeats the same thing. A person cannot save others by their own righteousness, only themselves.

Of course, our righteousness is a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. As Paul says,

The righteous will live by faith. (Romans 1:17)

That was true in the Old Testament days, the New Testament days, and even in our days.

What then am I trying to say?

Ultimately, people need to make their own choices, whether to follow God or not.

We cannot coerce people into following God. They need to choose to do so on their own.

What is our responsibility then? To pray for them, certainly. But also to make sure that we tell them the way of salvation.

That’s all we can do. The rest is up to them and God.

None of us want to think of our family or our friends going to hell. But it’s not up to us. They’ve got to make their own choices.

So with this in mind, here’s the question you need to ask yourself: “Am I doing all I can to make sure that they have the opportunity to follow Christ?”

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, family, interpreting scripture, salvation

Ezekiel

Two-faced: How not to find God’s will

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 27, 2013
No Comments on Two-faced: How not to find God’s will

Nobody likes a two-faced person. Least of all God.

And that’s what he addresses here when some elders of Israel came to find out if God had something to say to them. He told Ezekiel,

Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.

Should I let them inquire of me at all? (Ezekiel 14:3)

He was saying, “Here these men are, claiming to want to know my will, but at the same time, they are worshiping idols. I won’t have it.”

And so he went on to say,

Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!

When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer him myself.

I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ (Ezekiel 14:6–8)

How about you? Do you, on one hand, pray to God asking his will, all the while seeking the things of this world and making them your gods?

Or do you sometimes look at your horoscope or tarot cards, trying to seek what will happen in the future through them?

We cannot be two-faced when we seek God. Either we do so wholeheartedly, or we don’t do it at all.

He will accept nothing less.

Tags astrology, Bible Original, Bible verse, horoscope, idols, tarot cards, two-faced

Ezekiel

Whitewashing the truth

“Do I really need to share the gospel with my grandma? Sure, she’s not a Christian, but she’s a really nice person. Surely God will accept her.”

How often do we hear Christians say this? Or maybe they won’t say it, but they think it. And so they never share the gospel with their loved ones.

Even among some Christian “ministers,” they preach universalism—that eventually, everybody will be in heaven. Forget hell. Just preach God’s love.

But when we do that, we whitewash the truth. And God hates that.

In fact, in this passage, he drills the so-called prophets for doing exactly that. He told them,

You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:5)

Later he said of them,

They lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall.

Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth.

When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?” (Ezekiel 13:10–12)

What were these prophets doing?

They were saying to the Israelites, “You’re cool with God. Don’t worry about his judgment. You’re fine.”

And though they could see that the Israelites were a tottering wall because of their sin, instead of preaching repentance so that the wall could be stabilized and strengthened, they merely whitewashed it with words of peace.

The result? Judgment. Exile. And death.

And the same thing will happen to those we love if we whitewash the sins in their lives. If we say to them, “Peace,” when they have no peace with God.

Let us never whitewash the truth.

Let us be honest with those who are separated from God and in danger of judgment and call them to repentance.

For only then will they find true life.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, evil, good, whitewashing

Ezekiel

True to his word

In this passage, we see how true to his word God is.

He starts by talking about the exile of Jerusalem, and namely that of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.

God had Ezekiel do a little drama to show the exiles what would happen to their king: that he would be forced to flee Jerusalem under cover of night, that he would be captured, blinded, and brought to Babylon to face Nebuchadnezzar.

Following that, he would scatter the Israelites among the nations.

All these things came to pass.

God told Ezekiel to demonstrate all this, so that all who heard would know that he was the Lord, the only true God.

It was something that the Israelites had trouble accepting. And because God was patient in passing judgment, they took it for God being unreliable. They said,

The days go by and every vision comes to nothing? (Ezekiel 12:22)

This was a proverb that was common in Ezekiel’s time, and people claimed that all these visions that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were having were simply lies or delusions.

But God responded,

‘I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’

Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel.

But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay.

For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ (Ezekiel 12:23–25)

God is true to his word.

But this is not only true in prophecy. It’s also true concerning his promises. And if he promises something, he will keep his promise.

What promises has he made to us?

“Whoever believes in [Jesus] shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

And these are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more.

So let us cling to the promises of God, knowing that he is indeed true to his Word.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, promises, prophesies

Ezekiel

A true temple, a true people

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 24, 2013
No Comments on A true temple, a true people

One of the things that I learned way back in Sunday school was, “The church is not a building. It’s people.”

That’s true, but not quite complete. The church is a people whose hearts belong to God.

Unfortunately, Israel’s heart did not belong to God, despite being “God’s people.”

They had turned their backs on him, worshiping idols, even going so far at times to put idols in God’s temple itself.

In the end, God had enough. He left the temple.

That’s what this passage is all about. From the time Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, God’s presence rested there (2 Chronicles 5:14).

This is not to say, of course, that it was really his house, for as Solomon said,

The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (2 Chronicles 6:18)

But Solomon’s prayer was that God’s eyes and ears would be open to the place that had been built for his name (2 Chronicles 6:20–42).

The temple that Solomon had built was glorious. But now, because of Israel’s sin and unfaithfulness towards God, the temple’s true Glory had departed.

We see Israel’s stubbornness of heart in the next chapter, where 25 of the leaders of Israel kept insisting that nothing bad was going to happen to the city.

God rebuked them, and as a sign, slew one of them right then and there.

At which point, Ezekiel cried out,

Ah, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel? (Ezekiel 11:13)

To which God basically answered, “No I will not. I’m still with those who have been taken captive in Babylon.”

The ones remaining in Jerusalem had said of them,

They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession. (Ezekiel 11:15)

It’s possible here that the people who had been taken captive were the ones who had heeded Jeremiah’s advice to surrender to the Babylonians (Jeremiah 27:17).

As a result, the people who had remained considered them as traitors, rejected by the Lord who had given Israel their land.

But it wasn’t those who had stubbornly stayed despite Jeremiah’s warning that were God’s people. It was those who had left. And God said of them,

Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.

Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ (Ezekiel 11:16–17)

He then went on to say,

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19–20)

What is a true temple? It’s not a building. Who are truly God’s people?

It’s not people who simply go to church or have Christian parents.

God’s temple and God’s people are those within whom God dwells. They are those to whom God has given a soft heart, and a heart to follow him.

May we all have hearts like that.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's people, God's temple

Ezekiel

He who sees what is hidden

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 23, 2013
No Comments on He who sees what is hidden

Sometimes we wonder if God truly sees or cares about what we’re doing. But in this passage, God makes very clear that he does see and that he does care.

Ezekiel in this vision was taken to Jerusalem, and was shown the evil that was rampant there.

First he saw the idols in the inner court of the temple. Then he looked through a wall where seventy elders of Israel were offering incense to false gods.

When he returned to the temple gate, he saw women worshiping Tammuz, a god of fertility and rain. And finally, he saw a group of men worshiping the sun.

Why were they doing all this? Basically, they were saying to themselves,

The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land. (Ezekiel 8:12)

And so God brought judgment on them.

But just as he sees the evil that is hidden, he also sees the good.

In Ezekiel’s vision, God told a man to put a mark on the foreheads of all those who grieved over the sin that was being committed around them. And when judgment came upon the idolaters, those God had marked were spared.

What do we take from this? God does see everything we do, whether anyone else knows or not. Our sins are not hidden from him, and he will bring judgment on those who sin against him.

But at the same time, let us who follow God and mourn over the sin we see in this world not get discouraged. Let us remember that though evil may reign for a time, God will ultimately bring justice.

And when that time comes, he will remember those of us who clung to him despite the evil we saw around us and spare us.

But not only will he spare us, he will reward us.

Lord, I thank you that you see everything. That nothing is hidden from you.

Lord, let my life be pure both in private and in public, that wherever I am or whoever I am with, my life may be pleasing to you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, hidden things, revealed

Ezekiel

The end

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 22, 2013
No Comments on The end

When I was a kid, there was a Japanese superhero show I used to always watch called Kikaida.

If you think he looks cheesy, you should’ve seen the monsters and special effects. (I’m sure you can find this on YouTube somewhere.)

Anyway, in the climax of each show, Kikaida would battle the villain and finish it with a special super blow that would destroy the monster.

In the English translation, Kikaida always shouted, “The end!” as he did so.

That’s basically what God tells the Israelites in this passage. He said,

The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come!

Doom has come upon you—you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains.

I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. (Ezekiel 7:6–8)

In other words, “This is the end for you. You’ve rebelled against me time and again. Now the day of judgment has come and Babylon will come and wipe you out.”

As we look at this passage, I think we see several things about God’s judgment.

First, we will be judged for the evil that we have done. We may think that we have gotten away with our sin, because God hasn’t done anything yet.

But when the day of judgment comes, all that we have done will be put on the table.

Second, God’s love does not prevent him from passing judgment. He told the Israelites,

I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. (Ezekiel 7:4)

So many people say, “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?”

But while God is a God of love, he is also a God of justice. And because God is pure, he must punish sin.

More than that, he cannot stand in the presence of sin. All who are stained from sin will be banished from his presence.

Essentially, that’s what hell is. It’s a life apart from God. And when you’re apart from God, ultimately only hopelessness and despair remain.

God doesn’t want that for us, but when we choose to live a life of sin, that’s all that’s left for us.

Third, nothing that we accumulate here on earth can spare us from judgment. God said of the Israelites,

They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. (Ezekiel 7:19)

You can accumulate money. You can accumulate land. You can accumulate things.

But all of them will mean nothing when the day of judgment comes. You cannot buy off God’s judgment.

Finally, each will be judged by what they know, not by what they don’t. God told them,

I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. (Ezekiel 7:27)

God says here that the standards that the people themselves set up will condemn them.

Nobody is completely lawless. While laws may get corrupted over time, there is still some semblance of the moral code that God set in motion at the beginning of time.

And corrupted though people’s laws or sense of morals may be, deep down, they still have an idea of what God has said is right.

Yet people don’t even live up to their corrupted version of God’s code. Men will be condemned by the code that they know. And God says, “You are without excuse, because your own code will condemn you.”

Is there no hope then? Is there only judgment waiting for us all?

Not at all. Jesus came to this earth and died on a cross to take the punishment for our sin.

And now the Bible says that if we will put our trust in him, his blood will purify us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

So let us turn from our sin and turn to Jesus. With him, there is hope. Without him, there is no hope at all.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Hope, judgment, moral code

Ezekiel

Finding out too late

I used to like playing with Lego sets when I was a kid, but I don’t think I’d like to do what Ezekiel had to do. He had to build his own “Lego” set, with Jerusalem at the center, a bunch of siege ramps surrounding it, and battering rams.

That in itself wouldn’t have been so bad, but then he had to lie on his side next to the set for 390 days to stand for the 390 years that the northern kingdom of Israel would be punished for their sin.

Then he had to lie for 40 days on his other side to stand for the 40 years that the southern kingdom of Judah would be punished for their sin.

Add to that the fact that he had to cook his food over cow dung, and you have a very unpleasant year and two months of living.

(It could have been worse. God initially told him to cook the food over human excrement before relenting.)

All of this was to be a picture to the Israelites held captive in Babylon, showing them what would happen to Jerusalem and why. (Ezekiel 4)

God then had Ezekiel shave off his hair and beard, and after the “siege” was over, he was to burn a third “inside the city,” cut a third “outside the city,” and take the last third, burning some of that third, while preserving the rest.

Again, this was a sign that many of the Jews would perish, although some would survive. (Ezekiel 5)

In Ezekiel 6, he gives further warnings of judgment. In doing so, we start to see a phrase that we’ll see time and again in the book of Ezekiel: “You will know that I am the Lord.”

In other words, by God telling them what was to happen beforehand, the people would know who truly was God. And it wasn’t their idols that they were serving. It was the one true God whom they had rejected.

The problem was, they wouldn’t find out who the true God was until it was too late. They had so hardened their hearts that only when the day of judgment came would they find out who was truly God.

So many people today are the same. They live all their lives in rebellion against God, turning their backs on him, doing their own thing.

But the day will come when they will stand before God’s throne and find out who truly is God. But by that time, it will be too late, and they will be judged.

How about you? Are you acknowledging God in your life? Are you making him your king?

You will acknowledge him sooner or later, but if you only acknowledge him when you step into his courtroom, it’ll be too late.

But if you do so here and now, not only will you find forgiveness, but you’ll find true life. Not just life in heaven. But a life that’s worth living here on earth.

As Paul wrote,

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved…for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9–10, 13)

May you turn to him and acknowledge him as Lord before it’s too late.

Tags acknowledging God, Bible Original, Bible verse

Ezekiel

Whether they listen or not

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 20, 2013
No Comments on Whether they listen or not

Hey, a chronological book! What a unique concept! And quite refreshing considering all the time jumping going on in Jeremiah.

Ezekiel comes on to the scene at about this time of history. It was the fifth year after Jehoiachin, the second-to-last king of Judah, had gone into exile to Babylon. Along with Jehoiachin, Ezekiel and many other Jews joined him in exile.

Ezekiel was the son of a priest, but at an age (30) when he would normally have started his service as a priest, God calls him here as a prophet.

Ezekiel first saw what appears to be cherubim. They had four faces, that of a man, lion, ox, and an eagle.

Many of the church fathers take that as the different “faces” of Christ as found in the gospels. Jesus the “Lion of Judah” in Matthew, Jesus the servant in Mark (the ox), Jesus the Son of Man in Luke, and Jesus the Son of God in John (the eagle).

They also show the omniscience of God (with their four faces on four sides, nothing was out of their view), and the omnipresence of God (the wheel within the wheels able to go anywhere at any time).

But then God himself appears, and speaks to Ezekiel.

And it is his call of Ezekiel that interests me the most here.

First he told Ezekiel,

Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day.

The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’

And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions.

Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.

You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. (Ezekiel 2:3–7)

Two key things here:

First, God said that he was sending Ezekiel to the people of Israel.

Second, he said, “Whether they listen or not, you are to give them my message.”

He tells us the same thing. He is sending us to the people around us, and commands us to give them his words.

Some may listen. Some may not. But whether they listen or not, we are to give them his words.

Then he told Ezekiel,

Open your mouth and eat what I give you. (Ezekiel 2:8)

He then gave Ezekiel a scroll with his words written on it. They were not happy words. Rather they were words of “lament, mourning, and woe.”

In other words, they were words of the judgment to come because of the people’s sins. Ezekiel took in the words of God, and he said it tasted like honey in his mouth.

We too are to take in the words of God. We are to savor them.

But we are not just to keep them to ourselves, we are to share them. Not just the good things God has said, but his words of warning as well. What happens if we don’t?

God told Ezekiel,

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.

When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.

But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin.

The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.

But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself. (Ezekiel 3:17–21)

What is God saying here? We have a responsibility as God’s watchmen to warn people to turn from their sin.

If we do, and they repent, we will have saved them. If they don’t, they will die, but God will not hold us responsible for their blood.

If, however, we say nothing, they will die and God will hold us responsible.

We cannot control how people respond to God’s message. That’s not in our hands.

But whether they listen or not, God calls us to tell them. To tell our family, our friends, our neighbors, and our coworkers.

Some will listen and be saved. Some will close their ears and die because of it.

But the question you need to ask yourself is this: “Am I doing what God has commanded me to do? Am I telling them his words of warning and salvation?”

Are you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's word, salvation, warning, watchman