Ezekiel 12:21-25
“GOD’s Message came to me: ‘Son of man, what’s this proverb making the rounds in the land of Israel that says, ‘Everything goes on the same as ever; all the prophetic warnings are false alarms’? ‘Tell them, ‘GOD, the Master, says, This proverb’s going to have a short life!’ ‘Tell them, ‘Time’s about up. Every warning is about to come true. False alarms and easygoing preaching are a thing of the past in the life of Israel. I, GOD, am doing the speaking. What I say happens. None of what I say is on hold. What I say, I’ll do—and soon, you rebels!’ Decree of GOD the Master.’”
“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage. I will tear off the magic veils and save my people from your grasp. They will no longer be your victims. Then you will know that I am the Lord. You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins. Because of all this, you will no longer talk of seeing visions that you never saw, nor will you make predictions. For I will rescue my people from your grasp. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
The seeming difference in the first verses between these two translations disappears if we look closely. Both are addressing leadership, priests and false prophets. The NLT uses the metaphor of birds in a cage to describe the bondage placed upon the common people by their leaders false teaching. The Message emphasizes the teaching, ‘it is what it is’ and easy going preaching. It is no favor to soften, dilute, or deny the truth, allowing sin to go unchecked without warning of its consequences. Blindness does not prevent hitting a wall.
Lord, so many are blind and wounded. Help me to faithfully live and share the truth in ways they can see. Let healing fill our land and its people recover their sight.
Ezekiel 12:19-20
“‘You’ll eat your meals shaking in your boots and drink your water in terror because your land is going to be stripped bare as punishment for the brutality rampant in it. All the cities and villages will be emptied out and the fields destroyed. Then you’ll realize that I am GOD.’”
“‘They will eat their food with trembling and sip their water in despair, for their land will be stripped bare because of their violence. The cities will be destroyed and the farmland made desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Creation suffered the consequences of sin too. The text says the land will be stripped bare. It sounds painful. Farmland, tilled and weeded for generations, if left untended, is invaded by weeds and thistles and turns ugly. It will take years of labor to make such land productive again. Poor stewardship of the earth for profit is our time’s equivalent quilt. Sin’s fruit of environmental degradation is nothing new.
Lord, I pray for your good earth. It has sustained humankind so faithfully, and now it is wearing out, its resources spread amongst too many. Give it and your people strengthen to continue, as we wait and watch the end approach.
Ezekiel 12:1-16
God directs Ezekiel in yet another visual warning. He is to pack his necessities as if going into exile, and leave as evening approaches, through a hole in the wall of his house dug with his hands, with eyes covered to prevent seeing what he will never see again. God is angry, but nevertheless repeatedly warns his people of what is to come because he loves them still. Consequences are assured but there is still time to prepare, seek God, and his help in meeting them.
Lord, I thank you for another proof you care about our lives. What more could I ask for meeting my trials? You prepare me and walk with me. This is enough because I know who you are. Praise you for your Word that nourishes and reveals and the privilege of knowing you, Almighty God.
Ezekiel 11:15-20
“‘Well, tell them this, ‘This is your Message from GOD, the Master. True, I sent you to the far country and scattered you through other lands. All the same, I’ve provided you a temporary sanctuary in the countries where you’ve gone. I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you’ve been scattered and give you back the land of Israel. You’ll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I’ll give you a new heart. I’ll put a new spirit in you. I’ll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you’ll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!’”
“‘Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile. I, the Sovereign LORD, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again.’ “When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols. And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.’”
This is one of the most beautiful promises in the Old Testament. God provides for his exiled people while in other lands. I love the words, “temporary sanctuary,” a safe haven from the confusing language and customs of a foreign land. He helped them sustain their uniqueness as people of the living God and maintain the rituals of their faith in the midst of a pagan society.
The best part of the promise follows; to exchange the outward confession of faith, observing the law, for an inward, obedient heart. It will be so lovely to be freed from my inner war between sin and righteousness. Imagine seeing the whole, true person in all I love and meet, unmarked by sin and suffering. Each one perfectly bearing the image of their creator, delighting me with more of the One I love. In this life I have a foretaste in the indwelling of God’s Spirit. In future the promise will be fully realized. Unimaginable blessing.
Lord, my heart sings in contemplation of this blessed future. Thank you for loving me, finding me, redeeming me. I am so small and broken, you so big and loving. Let me live this, speak this to others, by your power, according to your will. I am yours.
Ezekiel 10
In the opening of this chapter, we see the man in linen taking burning coals from the altar to scatter on the city. Then its focus changes to describing the cherubim. It is full of mysterious images, of a man trying to describe something he had no words for. No doubt every bit of it is symbolic and represents a real place, the throne of God. No doubt it is instructive of truth. Else why would it occupy an entire chapter? Should a 21st Century engineer or astrophysicist describe it the picture would be more focused, using modern scientific terms. Yet it would be mysterious still. We could spend hours enjoying the intellectual exercise of exploring its symbolism. But God does not waste time titillating our curiosity.
It is more profitable to consider what this chapter tells us about God. He is entirely other, outside all known or imagined. His throne is full of brilliant, blinding, powerful light, no darkness. The cherubim and their wheels move straight, and so he is without guile, always moving directly toward his purpose. He can be anywhere just as the cherubim’s wheels move in any direction. Colors are enhanced, jewel-like as his throne, and walking with him gives greater meaning to all of life. There are many eyes implying he sees everything. Several hundred years later Jesus says, “God is love.” Taken together we see God as nurturing as he is powerful, everything we need or could ever want.
Oh yes Lord! You alone can fill the longing in my heart. In you all is put right, good, and whole. It is comfort to know your awesome power protects me. You truly have, “the whole world in your hands.” Evil is making a mess but you are cleaning it up and will scrub the blot of sin out of your creation. I can’t wait to see it!
Ezekiel 9:3-4
“The Glory of the God of Israel ascended from his usual place above the cherubim-angels, moved to the threshold of the Temple, and called to the man with the writing case who was dressed in linen: ‘Go through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of everyone who is in anguish over the outrageous obscenities being done in the city.’”
“Then the glory of the Lord of Israel rose up from between the cherubim, where it had rested, and moved to the entrance of the Temple. And the Lord called to the man dressed in linen who was carrying the writer’s case. He said to him, ‘Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.’”
Verses 1 & 2 say executioners accompanied the man in linen. In the rest of the chapter God directs them to go throughout the city killing everyone except those with the mark on their forehead. Even as this scene of unbelievable carnage spreads through the city God provides for the remaining few who love him still. They are spared to go into exile in Babylon. There God will shape them into a people that will never forsake him again.
The man in linen acts as a priest, standing between God’s wrath and the faithful. He knows his own, who to mark. Would we be surprised at who they are? Probably. Only he knows their heart and in an environment of fear and deception few wear their heart on their sleeve.
Lord, thank you for the comfort in this passage. You know me, a speck in the universe. How amazing! Your love is big enough to envelop all who long for you, even those who don’t know it yet. You are beautiful in the splendor of your faithfulness.
Ezekiel 8
My heart breaks at the reading of this chapter. God’s Spirit takes Ezekiel on a tour of Jerusalem revealing secret sin. First is a statue of the Babylonian sex goddess Asherah in her temple just inside the North gate. (v. 6) Next Israel’s elders gathered in the temple complex. They are worshipping the images of Egyptian gods painted all over the walls. (v.10-11) Then he is shown a woman weeping before the Babylonian fertility god Tammuz. (v.14) Finally, 25 men in the inner court of the Temple bow with their backs to the altar, worshipping the sun. (v.16) In verse 18 of The Message God says, “That’s it. They have an angry God on their hands! From now on, no mercy. They can shout all they want, but I’m not listening.”
What was meant to be a loving fulfilling relationship between God and Israel, like a good marriage, has come to this. So I grieve for God’s pain of rejection, Israel’s wounds of sin, and the break-up of all relationships. The world is full of misery. I see it everywhere in people’s eyes. I grieve for the pain. I hate the sin.
Lord, have mercy on us. Forgive our sins. Restore us to yourself. Vanquish the enemy Satan. Please come quickly.
Ezekiel 5-7
Judgement’s primary purpose is to recognize God’s holiness. The phrase, “so that you will know that I am God” occurs five times in these three chapters. This holy God is also personal and relational. Through Israel he reached out to the peoples of the world, to tell them about himself. Israel needed to know this wonderful, amazing God if they were to share him with the world.
With hindsight, we see God prepared the world, through Israel, for his solution, the cross. He himself paid the penalty due us and gave his holiness as a covering for our sin. Nothing can stop God’s purpose. Out of his great love he moves forward and always finds a way to reach us when we want to be found.
Lord, you are the answer to every upright longing of the human heart. Certainly mine. Help me to share you with those mired in the consequences of their sin, so they may see your beauty and long to be found.
Ezekiel 7:4
“‘I’ll make you pay for the way you’ve lived: Your disgusting obscenities will boomerang on you, and you’ll realize that I am GOD.’”
“‘I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. I will repay you for all your detestable sins. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Sin at first seems innocent and inconsequential. When indulged it eventually boomerangs on us, leading down paths we’d never imagined. It disorients, so right and wrong have no meaning. Sin’s consequences radiate and always return, slamming into our hearts, destroying our humanity.
God would not be all-powerful and worth devotion if he was laissez faire about sin. Judgement declares he is sins master. By this we learn to know who he is. It is a precious thing to know the living God, no matter what we must walk through.
Lord, thank you for the dark times. I have learned so much of you through them. I see now they were great blessings, answering my prayers to grow close to you. You are my pearl of great price. I am awed by your glory and relax into your love. You have always been good to me. I love you.
Ezekiel 6:13
“‘They’ll realize that I am GOD when they see their people’s corpses strewn over and around all their ruined sex-and-religion shrines on the bare hills and in the lush fertility groves, in all the places where they indulged their sensual rites.’”
“‘They will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie scattered among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain and under every green tree and every great shade tree– the places where they offered sacrifices to their idols.’”
Focus on sexual sin was a sign Israel had grown self-indulgent, self-focused. They used sex to fill the God shaped hole within them. It didn’t and in their hunger, they turned to more unfulfilling sex. People often go astray when cultural success brings ease to living and time for self-expression. In the search for something new, the old is tossed, replacements sought, and the anchors that built a civilization erode.
We Americans, well fed and protected from catastrophic violence, walk this path today. Survival assured, we place too much importance on other forms of expression, heaping them with emotional weight they cannot bear. Sexual expression, race, political alliance, nationalism, and other isms fill our heads and God Almighty is pushed out of view. Emotions run rampant making compromise, essential to our democratic process, impossible. The old has been thrown into the trash. We are ripe for judgement.
Lord, this world seems so rotten. But I believe you can repair and redeem it if we turn to you and ask. May your Spirit work powerfully for renewal and regeneration in our land. Give us strength to endure judgement and benefit by it. Empower believers to shine with your character and serve with your love through any trial. Shape and prepare me for the future, whatever it holds. Make me ready.
Ezekiel 6:8-10
“‘But I’ll let a few escape the killing as you are scattered through other lands and nations. In the foreign countries where they’re taken as prisoners of war, they’ll remember me. They’ll realize how devastated I was by their betrayals, by their voracious lust for gratifying themselves in their idolatries. They’ll be disgusted with their evil ways, disgusting to God in the way they’ve lived. They’ll know that I am GOD. They’ll know that my judgment against them was no empty threat.’”
“‘But I will let a few of my people escape destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all the detestable sins. They will know that I alone am the Lord and that I was serious when I said I would bring this calamity on them.’”
Israel’s God promised death and destruction should they ever forsake him. Over centuries they came to think he would always rescue and forgive. They lost sight of his righteousness. Here we see God’s broken heart finally reached a tipping point. His wayward people had refused to listen to the messages of his prophets and their destruction was at hand. But it was not the end. They moved through judgement and disbursed throughout the world, keeping the flower of their faith and culture alive over millennia. Dark valleys make a mountain top.
Lord, I know from blessed experience how you lead through trial/judgement to new beginnings. I am amazed you care to watch over such a speck as I and walk with me through dark times. You journey alongside everyone and everything that reaches out for you. I can’t imagine how you are everywhere at once, but your are! Thank you for the assurance my true, eternal destiny is in you and no journey through the dark can change it. You are my wonderful, glorious, amazing Lord. Oh, how I look forward to my eternal rest in your arms.
Ezekiel 5:16-17
“‘When I shoot my lethal famine arrows at you, I’ll shoot to kill. Then I’ll step up the famine and cut off food supplies. Famine and more famine—and then I’ll send in the wild animals to finish off your children. Epidemic disease, unrestrained murder, death—and I will have sent it! I, GOD, have spoken.’”
“‘I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food is gone. And along with the famine, wild animals will attack you and rob you of your children. Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the sword of the enemy against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
God called Ezekiel to shave his hair and beard in Chapter five. He was to burn one third of it inside the city, spread one third outside the city and scatter the rest to the wind. It would depict the fate of Jerusalem’s inhabitants. God affirmed Jerusalem’s time for judgement was at hand. Their depravity had sunk below the level of the pagan nations they drove out to take possession of the promised land. There was no escaping judgement.
Israel’s wickedness was such that God would not step between them and the ugly consequences of their sin. This was his judgement, that sin be allowed to follow its course.
These besieged existed in a moral vacuum. They were not hungry yet compassionate souls, cooperating for the common good. Rather, their raging selves boiled up and over into unthinkable horror. Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, recorded the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Law and order broke down. Sectarian violence reigned within. The Romans broke through and brought their most destructive forces to bear down upon the city. Josephus recorded a horror story. The siege of Jerusalem described in this chapter was no different.
At first sin seems innocent. When unrestrained it always finds its end with death and destruction. God in his mercy works to rescue us from this destructive torrent. We need only grab his hand.
Lord, it is heartbreaking to read this chapter of Ezekiel. And frightening. I see the slippery slope of cultural sin all around. Show me how to stand against it, not in condemnation, but with your love and longing to set everything right.