Ezekiel 23:18-21
“I turned my back on her just as I had on her sister. But that didn’t slow her down. She went at her whoring harder than ever. She remembered when she was young, just starting out as a whore in Egypt. That whetted her appetite for more virile, vulgar, and violent lovers—stallions obsessive in their lust. She longed for the sexual prowess of her youth back in Egypt, where her firm young breasts were caressed and fondled.”
“In the same way, I became disgusted with Oholibah and rejected her, just as I had rejected her sister, because she flaunted herself before them and gave herself to satisfy their lusts. Yet she turned to even greater prostitution, remembering her youth when she was a prostitute in Egypt. She lusted after lovers with genitals as large as a donkey’s and emissions like those of a horse. And so, Oholibah, you relived your former days as a young girl in Egypt, when you first allowed your breasts to be fondled.”
Chapter 23 tells the story of two sisters, one representing the northern kingdom of Israel, the other Judah in the south. Illicit sex and its consequences are the theme. They illustrate both the violation of God’s relationship with his people and the damaging societal impact of free sex. Worship, like sex, looses its vibrancy when sought for entertainment. It leads us down rabbit holes where the world gets stranger and stranger. I think it best to apply Occam’s Razor. Creatively simple is best. It seems an oxymoron, but God specializes in those.
Lord, give me grace to seek the simple, be creative with my embellishments, and the wisdom to choose your best in all things.
Ezekiel 22:6-12 & 26-29
“Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime. You’re a community that’s insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows. You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths. You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained. Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they’re ready or willing. Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister. Murder is for hire, usury is rampant, extortion is commonplace.
Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can’t tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there’s no difference between right and wrong. They’re contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, “This is what GOD, the Master, says . . .” when GOD hasn’t said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.”
“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder. Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you. You despise my holy things and violate my Sabbath days of rest. People accuse others falsely and send them to their death. You are filled with idol worshipers and people who do obscene things. Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and have intercourse with women who are menstruating. Within your walls live men who commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, who defile their daughters-in-law, or who rape their own sisters. There are hired murderers, loan racketeers, and extortioners everywhere. They never even think of me and my commands, says the Sovereign LORD. ...
Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign LORD,’ when the LORD hasn’t spoken a single word to them. Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.”
Repeatedly the Old Testament shows us God judges the nations by how they lead and care for ordinary people. Failure in this is always preceded by abandonment of God’s revelation about himself and his instructions for living well. Knowing God means caring for and serving others, especially the needy, with real effort not just lip service.
Lord, I long to know you better and I see that means serving more. Yet how can I, bound by pain and illness? I’ve tried to force myself past it only to leave others in the lurch because my body didn’t show up for duty. There are so many things I could do, yet you want none of it. Instead, you call me to this isolation. Help me. Give me understanding, peace and confidence in knowing I am at the center of your will. And please! Adjust my course if I am not. Show me how to serve in solitude.
Ezekiel 21:28
“But, son of man, your job is to prophesy. Tell them, ‘This is the Message from GOD, the Master, against the Ammonites and against their cruel taunts…”
“And now, son of man, prophesy concerning the Ammonites and their mockery. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord…”
The Lord is God of all countries. He rewards and judges them according to the light they have been given, as he does here with Ammon. In the first century, when the time was right, he himself came to show us how all may know him, blasting truth and light throughout the world. His embrace is, and has always been, big enough for all.
Oh Lord! Thank you for making a place in eternity for gentiles, for me. You and your good news has transformed my life. You give it meaning and substance. You heal my wounds of sin. I am slain by wonder of your immense grace to me. I deserve none of it. You give it anyway. How great is your love!
Ezekiel 21:24
“‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Again and again you remind me of your sin and your guilt. You don’t even try to hide it! In everything you do your sins are obvious for all to see. So now the time of your punishment has come!’”
“‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Again and again you remind me of your sin and your guilt. You don’t even try to hide it! In everything you do your sins are obvious for all to see. So now the time of your punishment has come!’”
Our sin, distinct from Adamic inherited sin, has a beginning. It is a small secret that we nourish in the hidden places of our psyche. Eventually it births into brazen public behavior. This is not a cathartic confession that leads to healing. It is waving the flag of outright rebellion in God’s face. Then, only the brutal lesson of judgement can get through to us. If we repent, we return to God’s side as his child, safe and secure. Judgement and mercy are two sides of the same coin. The presence of one means we need not fear the other.
Lord, thank you for diligently watching over me as a mother does her child. Only you can keep me safe and grow me for eternity. Forgive my sins and may I always respond to judgement with repentance and a contrite heart. O Perfect Parent make me your perfect child.
Ezekiel 21:7
“Yes, it’s coming. No stopping it. Decree of GOD, the Master.”
“And the sovereign Lord says: It is coming! It’s on its way!”
Chapter 21 begins with God instructing Ezekiel to groan and carry on in public as illustration judgement is imminent. It will not respect the individual, consuming the righteous along with the wicked. It reminded me of childbirth. For nine months as my body grew another I knew I would not be pregnant forever. When the final weeks arrived a different kind of knowing developed; labor is coming, there is no way of escape, it will be traumatic and painful. My joyful anticipation changed to dread of the labor ahead.
It is human nature to look askance at the distant future and be caught unprepared when it looms ahead. Yet believers are called to daily vigilant preparation for it. There is an end to all things. Let us learn to live like it.
Lord, I am guilty! I become mired in today, the future out of sight. Help me to live urgently, prepared for labor, anticipating the joyful outcome of the end of all things.
Ezekiel 20:49
“And I said, ‘O GOD, everyone is saying of me, ‘He just makes up stories.’’”
“Then I said, ‘Oh Sovereign Lord, they are saying of me, ‘He only talks in riddles’’.”
Most of Chapter 20 is God’s repeated message of judgement for rebellion and wrong living. Ezekiel faithfully delivers it. Then he says this. I would say the same but would I continue to deliver God’s message? I imagine being thought the fool, not worth any attention, not a normal person. I would want to hide or disappear. Ezekiel was successful because God made him so. Likewise, I can succeed with God’s help. It comes down to faith. If I trust in him, in the moment he will make me able.
Lord, you know every bit of me. You know where I will fail. Please be the strength I need to move forward and succeed when I get to those places. I cannot trust myself, so I trust you. Please deliver me from failure for your glory.
Ezekiel 20:13
“But Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They didn’t follow my statutes. They despised my laws for living well and obediently in the ways I had set out. And they totally desecrated my holy Sabbaths.”
“But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days.”
My rose-colored glasses have always thought of the exodus from Egypt and travel through the desert as exciting. Israel was on its way! They were off on God’s adventure with a charismatic and faithful leader. God planned great things for them. They were special. But they were just like us, barely holding it together, unsure of their purpose and identity, confused by new rules and jockeying for position in a new society. They weren’t making good choices and tried to fix it with ideas from their point of reference, Egypt. Going back was slavery. Who knows what going forward meant. Yet God loved them as they were, unlovable. He taught them a different worldview with himself at the center, shaping them with infinite patience into something brand new. Their lives began to settle into place and they trusted God for their future. Three thousand years later the Hebrew people are still with us, preserving their rich and distinct identity as the apple of God’s eye.
Lord, you did amazing things for Israel. I need some of that amazement in my life. Forgive me when my focus slips off you onto other things. Help me follow your path, hanging onto you hand, and get fixed by the ministry of your lovely, gentle Spirit to my heart.
Ezekiel 20:9
“Then I thought better of it. I acted out of who I was, not by how I felt. And I acted in a way that would evoke honor, not blasphemy, from the nations around them, nations who had seen me reveal myself by promising to lead my people out of Egypt.”
“But I didn’t do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name. I would not allow shame to be brought on my name among the surrounding nations who saw me reveal myself by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.”
I love the rendering by The Message, God acted out of who he was, not how he felt. As God’s image bearer I too must act out of who I am, his child. Feelings bring angst, but there is rest in acting according to my identity in him and so giving glory to God.
Lord, strengthen me to bear your image well, to act out of my identity in you. May I use and enjoy my feelings but not be ruled by them.
Ezekiel 20:2-3
“Then GOD’s Message came to me: ‘Son of man, talk with the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘GOD, the Master, says, ‘Have you come to ask me questions? As sure as I am the living God, I’ll not put up with questions from you. Decree of GOD, the Master.’”
“Then this message came to me from the Lord: ‘Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing!’”
A god we can understand is no God at all but our own creation. We are in control when we ‘question’ such a god. We decide what to ask and whether we like the answer. Conversely, the totality of Israel’s God is utterly beyond our comprehension. We have no stature and must fall to the ground before him. (John 18:6) It is ridiculous to think of putting such a being to question. Yet in his amazing grace he allows us to do just that. He ever welcomes the outpouring of a contrite heart. Whether he answers is not the point. It is his presence that makes all the difference.
Lord, I am beyond amazement at your love for me. You are such a mighty god. I am a speck of nothing. Yet I have experienced your presence through trial. When I couldn’t sense you, hindsight shows you were there. I am only worthy to be cast at your feet as if dead. But you lift me up to stand before you. You offer yourself. How can this be? Yet it is and I worship you!
Ezekiel 18:29
“And yet Israel keeps on whining, ‘That’s not fair! God’s not fair.’ ‘I’m not fair, Israel? You’re the ones who aren’t fair.’”
“And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.”
Fairness presupposes a plumb line to measure by. Whiners accuse God of lacking tolerance. They use their own plumb line to define tolerance while castigating God for having his own point of reference. Citizens of developed secure civilizations have free time to whine. Those living on the edge know whining is useless because life isn’t fair. It just happens. That is where God stands and waits for us, offering his hand to comfort and guide.
Lord, thank you for meeting me on life’s road. You have caught me so many times when reeling from life’s happenings. Please continue to catch and protect me. May I ever trust in your faithfulness.
Ezekiel 18:21-23
“But a wicked person who turns his back on that life of sin and keeps all my statutes, living a just and righteous life, he’ll live, really live. He won’t die. I won’t keep a list of all the things he did wrong. He will live. Do you think I take any pleasure in the death of wicked men and women? Isn’t it my pleasure that they turn around, no longer living wrong but living right—really living?”
“But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done. Do you think that I like to see wicked people die says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.”
God loves us enough to pay attention to what we are doing, each one of us, every moment. We don’t have to stand on our hands to get it. This is because he wants us to really live. Whether we do or not is up to us.
Lord, I want to really live. Help me when I don’t live like it.
Ezekiel 18:1-4
“GOD’s Message to me: ‘What do you people mean by going around the country repeating the saying, The parents ate green apples, The children got the stomachache? ’As sure as I’m the living God, you’re not going to repeat this saying in Israel any longer. Every soul—man, woman, child—belongs to me, parent and child alike. You die for your own sin, not another’s.”
“Then another message came to me from the Lord: ‘Why do you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste’? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you will not quote this proverb anymore in Israel. For all people are mine to judge– both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.”
Our family of origin stories must not be used as an excuse for sin. As did other cultures before us, ours is unraveling; abundance produced by the hard work of our predecessors poisoning us, giving rise to sloth, entitlement, and blame. All, even Christians, use emotional trauma to justify failure to thrive. Here the Word of God is clear. Whatever is in our past, we are responsible for moving through it and beyond to a full life. God offers healing, but are we truly willing? No matter what it takes? In my life, much of the healing process is God bringing me to this point of need. It took time and effort to remove all my little idols from the shelf and put them in the garbage. When I truly let go of them, transformation occurred.
Lord, keep healing me, making me whole. Probe me, push me, to remove the covering from my deepest wounds so you can do your work. Shape me to serve you and others. Fit me for an eternity with you.