Ezekiel 38-48
Ezekiel 28-48
These final chapters detail the complex layout and dimensions of the new Jerusalem, a sacred square. They are given to Ezekiel by a man of bronze (the pre-incarnate Christ) using a 10 ft. measuring rod. Many dimensions are multiples of 7, signifying completion or perfection. No tribe or people is given priority as all allotments are perfectly equal. There is a location for every aspect of worship and living. Even farming has its own allotment assuring the city’s residents of nourishment. It is the perfect city. The last verse of Chapter 48 gives the city’s name, YAHWEH-SHAMMAH: “GOD-IS-THERE.”
The city is one of God’s greatest blessings to men. Within its close association culture blossoms, science advances and ease of living grows. Satan seeks to corrupt God’s gifts, and this is no exception. Cities also provide for transmission of sin and disease. But in Yahweh-Shammah there is no evil, only God. It brims with promise of uncorrupted blessing. Living there is so rich and satisfying it will occupy us for eternity. It is a fitting bookend to Ezekiel’s messages, balancing judgement with this city of joy.
When God led me to Ezekiel I had my doubts and have been surprised by what he has given me here. I wonder, where he will lead me next? I am excited to find out!
Lord, you are wise, the perfect tutor. I rest in your directions, not just in this, but in all of life. They lead me to still waters and perfect pasture. Thank you.
Ezekiel 37:24-27
“They’ll follow my laws and keep my statutes. They’ll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever. I’ll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I’ll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever. I’ll live right there with them. I’ll be their God! They’ll be my people!”
“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Here Ezekiel addresses both Judah and Israel, promising to unite them in their own land into one people that will never be divided again. It’s a profound promise to a people who were without a homeland for 2000 years. We gentiles were grafted into Jacob-Israel’s vine at the cross and can claim this promise too. For me the best part is God himself living right in the neighborhood. Imagine the Ancient of Days, Universe Creator, living just down the block, in all our neighborhoods, everything secured and made permanent by a covenant of peace. Then we can truly be his and he will be ours. I can’t wait!
Lord, I imagine such joy at seeing all parts of our human experience made right, living together, with you, fully complete, and exercising all the potential you put within us. I long for it. Come quickly Lord Jesus!
Ezekiel 37:12-14
“Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘GOD, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am GOD. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am GOD. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. GOD’s Decree.’”
“Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you To rise again. The I will bring you back to the land of Israel. When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. I will put my Spirit I you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
God compares the state of his people in Exile to that of a grave. Israelites considered graves nasty unclean things, defiled by dead bodies. (Numbers 19:11) They must accept they are likewise unclean if they want a new heart and to return to the land. God alone is perfect. We are dead bones beside him. No amount of animal sacrifice or rule obedience will make us good. Praise God, Jesus gives us his goodness when we place ourselves under the umbrella of his cross. It is the only way. It is also the most offensive.
Lord, thank you I can leave the shame of sin behind because you carried it on your shameful cross. Continue to make my heart new, restoring me to fullness of life with you. I want none other.
Ordinary Things
Today I write about an experience illustrating much of what I’ve learned about walking with the Lord. It starts with a cat. Our’s of 14 years had recently died leaving a gap I wanted filled. I asked God to lead us to the perfect cat for our RV lifestyle. One day in Prosser, WA my husband was on his early morning walk and a cat called out to him from under a freeway bridge. God provided and directed from out of the ordinary in life.
He was a delightful pet, full of personality and loved meeting new people. He accompanied us on walks, enjoyed riding in the car, and preferred to do his business outside. We named him Oliver Stripe. God gave him, and then took him away and our hearts were sore for weeks.
“Why?” I asked. I had trusted the Lord to care for Oliver in his wanderings. I sank into worry and depression when he disappeared. My ‘need to know’ about Oliver’s fate led me astray and my trust proved shallow. I was faithless to the One who is everlastingly faithful.
God has always notified us of big change around the bend; a commitment wraps up, a roadblock opens, his Spirit convicts, signs he has given appear, or our perfect RV cat vanishes. Sometimes big rapids come into view, other times it is a peaceful stretch of calm water. Whichever, I must hang onto the lifeline of trust in my faithful Lord and pray now for his grace to sustain it.
Lord, thank you for your gift of Oliver. He was such fun! In his absence, please heal our grief. Make us ready for the road you have laid for us. May we trust you as we travel, regardless the road’s condition or where it leads, always and only for you and your glory.
Ezekiel 37:1
“GOD grabbed me. GOD’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Master GOD, only you know that.’”
“The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones become living people again?’ ‘Oh Sovereign Lord,’ I replied, ‘You alone know the answer to that.’”
I love the conversational tone of this passage, and its veiled sense of humor. Ezekiel is with the Lord, whom he knows as well as any human could. His answer to God’s rhetorical question is like saying, “Come on, you know, and I know, you can do this.” This mountain moving God participates in the give and take of a casual conversation. It is mind bending but just what we want and need, because we were created for it. This is joy!
Lord, knowing you like Ezekiel did is a far reach for me. Help me grow into this kind of walk. May it flourish with all the joys and responsibilities of relationship with you, my totally other but totally intimate Lord.
Ezekiel 36:24-28
“For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!”
“For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.”
This is a promise to hang one’s life upon. God has given me a God-willed, not self-willed heart. Now it is possible to do what he tells me. I struggle to stay under the promise. Imagine what it was like to live without it as the people of Ezekiel’s time. Their obedience came entirely from their own will. But I have a new heart to help my will along. I have been given much and I feel the weight of that responsibility.
Lord, you have given me many things, even a new heart. Help me to live like it, testifying to your good news, power to heal and desire to redeem.
Ezekiel 35:5
“I’m doing this because you’ve kept this age-old grudge going against Israel…”
“Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless.”
The chapter goes to tell of Edom’s judgement for holding and acting upon an old grudge. We think our grudges are under control, but they silently wait like a spider at the center of a web, menacing and destructive. They poison far more than we know, like an iceberg hulking beneath the surface. It seems the Lord rarely heals them outright. Rather we are needily thrown upon his mercy over and over. Not such a bad thing.
Lord, search my heart. Show me my wicked ways that I may repent and be healed. May I ever look to you for deliverance. Do not let me fall victim to my grudges and go astray from your loving embrace.
Ezekiel 34: 11-16
“GOD, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited.”
“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!”
These verses and absolutely lovely! They foretell the tenderness with which the Lord Jesus handled the common folk of first century Palestine. I love being the sheep of such a shepherd. He sees to my nourishment and protects me, like the perfect mom and dad. There is no other god who chooses to use the lowly to shame the worldly wise, cares for us individually and offers himself in intimate relationship. He is wonderful.
Lord, I love you! I praise you, for who you are, beautiful in every way. Thank you for finding me, taking me into your flock, and tenderly tending to my needs. You who created and maintain the universe know and cares for the subatomic particle that is me. I am in awe, and I am yours.
Ezekiel 30:25
“I’ll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong and put my sword in his hand, but I’ll break the arms of Pharaoh and he’ll groan like one who is mortally wounded. I’ll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh shall go limp.”
“I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, while the arms of Pharaoh fall useless to his sides. And when I put my sword I the hand of Babylon’s king and he brings it against the land of Egypt, Egypt will know that I am the Lord.”
In our times we call the oppressor evil and assume they are the devil’s pawn. Here God says he put his sword in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan tyrant. It would be like saying God put his sword in the hand of Adolph Hitler.
God uses the just and the unjust to serve his plans. Always be aware his purpose may be traveling incognito through the travails of mankind and that judgement may masquerade as oppression.
Lord, keep me from quick judgement, assuming I know what you are up to. Keep my eye clear of preconceptions. Keep me alert for signs of your work behind history’s scenes that I may rejoice in your creativity. Give me wisdom to watch, wait and serve until you come again.
Ezekiel 29: 13-14
“‘But,’ says GOD, the Master, ‘that’s not the end of it. After the forty years, I’ll gather up the Egyptians from all the places where they’ve been scattered. I’ll put things back together again for Egypt. I’ll bring her back to Pathros where she got her start long ago.’”
“But this is what the Sovereign Lord also says: At the end of the forty years I will bring the Egyptians home again from the nations to which they have been scattered. I will restore the prosperity of Egypt ad bring its people back to the land of Pathros I southern Egypt from which they came.”
God is love, and he showers his nature upon all peoples of the earth. The Old Testament prophets record his delight in and discipline of many nations. Here it is Egypt. In the first century God incarnate died so they may be grafted into his family tree. He does not respect man’s divisions. His vengeance is reserved only for evil, wherever he finds it, regardless of color or tribe.
Lord, praise you for your infinite love for all people, all creation. I want to live in it, shine with it, give it back to you. Keep my heart from evil lest it earn your vengeance. Root me solidly in your family in the place you prepared for me. I am overwhelmed by your amazing grace and tender care for me. Thank you.
Ezekiel 29:2-6
“Watch yourself, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. I’m dead set against you, You lumbering old dragon, lolling and flaccid in the Nile, Saying, ‘It’s my Nile. I made it. It’s mine.’ I’ll set hooks in your jaw; I’ll make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales. I’ll pull you out of the Nile, with all the fish stuck to your scales. Then I’ll drag you out into the desert, you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales. You’ll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun, meat to the wild animals and carrion birds. Everybody living in Egypt will realize that I am GOD.”
“Son of man, turn and face Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh the king and all the people of Egypt. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Pharoah, king of Egypt- you great monster, lurking in the streams of the Nile. For you have said, ‘The Nile River is mine; I made it for myself.’ I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you out on the land with fish sticking to your scales. I will leave you and all your fish stranded I the wilderness to die. You will lie unburied o the open ground, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds. All the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord teaches and heals in our struggle with sin. But he will not tolerate a brazen attempt on his throne like Pharoah’s. My reaction is, “I’m not guilty of that.” With deeper reflection I see there are things in my life that persistently sit above his call on my heart. I’ve lived them so long I think they are who I am, not what I do, and so fly underneath my radar. I need an adjustment and my gracious divine parent never fails to deliver.
Lord, a million thanks for your adjustments that keep me from erring into Pharoah’s fate. Your oversight is a welcome relief in the constant monitoring of Self. Keep at it Lord! Prune and mold me, making me your own. Set me free.
Ezekiel 28:26
“They’ll live there in safety. They’ll build houses. They’ll plant vineyards, living in safety. Meanwhile, I’ll bring judgment on all the neighbors who have treated them with such contempt. And they’ll realize that I am GOD.”
“They will live safely in Israel and build homes and plant vineyards. And when I punish the neighboring nations that treated them with contempt, they will know that I am the Lord their God.”
It is easy to see only what we want to see. The Pharisees in Jesus time did just that with verses like this. Their Messiah came to vanquish and exact vengeance. They choose not to see the many scriptures that paint a suffering messiah. It led them terribly astray and unprepared for destruction. We still do this because it is our nature, ever self-absorbed. But God’s Spirit is at hand to help us see clearly. He protects us from despair when that sight overwhelms and gives us hope for the redemption of what it reveals.
Lord, give me open, perfectly focused eyes. Strip away my sinful filters. Help me believe in your power to heal the brokenness of our time and vanquish the enemy of our souls. May I see strongly and compassionately, for you.