Ezekiel 40-44
Observe: Twenty years into his ministry, Ezekiel was taken by the Hand of the Lord and shown visions of a new temple on a high mountain. There are many measurements given and designs laid out which, honestly, I cannot make heads or tails of as a modern reader, however much of the same design laid out in both the tabernacle and first temple is recalled. There are carvings of plants and animals, paneling, gates, and more, along with a new altar and new specifications for sacrifice. Ezekiel then looks to the east and sees the glory of the God of Israel descend upon the temple and fill the whole place, the reverse of which he saw twenty years ago along the Chebar canal. The Lord then declares that He will dwell in the midst of His people forever if they put away their evil deeds and are ashamed for their iniquity. He then charges Ezekiel to make known the plan of the temple and the Lord’s decrees, among which were instructions to sacrifice specific animals at specific times so that the altar may be consecrated. The last chapter of this section is rather cryptic – the eastern gate from which the glory of the Lord came, was shut, and Ezekiel was told that “for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.” From here, the Lord goes on to charge the Levites, the priests of Israel, with committing abominations and abusing their rights and duties. They allowed foreigners in to the holy places and did shameful things. By doing so, they lost their right to minister in the temple and are demoted from their office. Only the sons of Zadok, those who had stayed faithful to the Lord, were able to minister as priests. Interpret: Here we find an incredible vision for both the near future of Israel and that which would be long in coming. There is a familiarity to the temple described, and here we find the promise of the temple being rebuilt which we see later in scripture. Ezekiel is to relay these instructions and templates over to the people of Israel that they may faithfully reconstruct what once was lost, indicating that this vision is to exist as a contemporary of the people in exile. What mercy God has for His people! Surely His anger may tarry for the night, but He brings joy in the morning. There is hope here, too, that extends past the immediate future of when this revelation occurred. We see in the 44th chapter talk of a gate being shut; the eastern gate, the direction from which the Glory of the Lord appeared. This is called the Golden Gate nowadays and overlooks the mount of olives. It is this gate alone that shall remain shut, and only the Prince shall be able to open it. This is striking imagery and a profound Messianic prophecy which tells us three things:
Application: The principal issue in dealing with sin is pride, which says that sin isn’t within me, and if it is then it isn’t that big a deal, and if it is then I don’t need to worry to much, and if I do then I don’t need to rush about fixing it. Humility is the answer in each case here, and it is something that God called His people to repeatedly, not just in Ezekiel. He is constantly telling Israel then and us today that if we only humble ourselves and pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, then He is faithful to hear from heaven, forgive us all our sins, and heal us (2 Chronicles 7:14). Our Old Testament is not just history of what happened then but an example and lesson for us today. The Word of God is not bound in ancient history but is a living Word that goes to the depths of our hearts even as you read these words. Humility acknowledges our sins and our need for a saviour who is right on the other side of the door of your heart, asking to come in. So today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart! Even the most seasoned saint needs to live in a state of confident humility, neither in pride nor despondency. Let us seek the Lord and learn to live on our knees before the throne of God in worship, humility, and adoration, that He may make in us an example of His glory. Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your constant patience with us and that your mercy is new every morning. Please awaken in us today a sense of your overwhelming love and show us our need of you each day. Give us the courage to be obedient to your call. We ask that you work your Holy Spirit within us to convict us of sin that we may confess it to you, repent, and walk with you instead of our own desires. Thank you for saving us while we were still sinners and help us to live in a manner worthy of your calling. Amen. Song: Lord I Need You - Matt Maher Ezekiel 37-39 (Ps 41)
Observe We begin with the familiar yet astonishing vision of the valley of dry bones. In the Spirit, God brings His prophet to a valley floor covered with bleached bones, to prophesy over them. ‘Can these bones live?’ (3) He asks rhetorically. As he prophesies, God first recreates the bodies – just corpses, really. Then as when God breathed life into Adam (Gen 2:7), so the breath of God enters these bodies: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that these may live.” (9) until they became an exceedingly great army (10). God interprets this dream as restoring life to Israel with the marvelous promise, “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land.” (14) The restoration of Israel and Judah, homecoming alluded to in the first part of this chapter, uses street theatre again. Ezekiel joins two sticks into one, illustrating God’s desire to join the Northern and Southern kingdoms into one. The diaspora will return to Israel; one kingdom will have one king; they shall be remade morally pure. The promise of the land, a covenant of peace, and the promise of God’s eternal dwelling with them witness to the nations that “I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel…” (15-28). Chapters 38 and 39 are actually one unit. Mysterious Gog is ruler of the equally-mysterious Magog, waging war against Israel. Imagery is violent (38:19-22; 39:17-20) as God moves in wrath against the hordes of this ruler, real fire and brimstone stuff. But God emphasizes His sovereignty. “Then they will know that I am the Lord” (38:23) we have often read in other books and contexts, but He is relentless in this declaration of His holiness, whether to His people or other nations. Chapter 39 ends with the promise, “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel…” (39:25) Grisly scenes yield to promise of homecoming, and again God promises He will be with them and “…pour out My Spirit upon the house of Israel…” (29). His holy name will be upheld as Israel forgets its past shame, restored and forgiven and returned. Interpret This vision, the third in the book, reveals God’s power to create and recreate a community bereft of real life. As we read the sequence of restoration, all our senses are involved: sight, sound, imagination, as the Lord gives life to a dead people through His Spirit, and His obedient prophet. Apply We simply cannot live as followers of Christ without the animating power of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, until the powerful visitation of the Spirit, we find the apostles and others waiting, or maybe cowering together after Jesus ascended. As the wind/breath/ruach (Spirit), roars through this confined space, as the flames burn into their very beings, only then can they move outside of their own old lives to speak out the word of life. We pray God to grant us in this church His reviving, renewing Spirit, to change our lives so that others will see and ask what this is, and be drawn to the Lord. Ask We pray for revival in our congregation, and so we must. Am I ready for what that really means, the changes it will entail? Do I want to so live that I leave old self, old stuff and baggage behind, to move into Him, as obedient and transparent as Ezekiel? Pray Actually yes, I do, Lord. Clean me up by Your Spirit so I am ready to listen, consider, and move where You would have me, even if it means staying in the same place, but changed utterly. Your Spirit’s power, and the love of Jesus, is what I will have to give to relieve the cynicism and despair around me. Song Ps. 41: Consider the Poor Randy Gordon Ps. 41: Amen and Amen Abe & Liza Philip Dem Bones Delta River Boys Text: Ezekiel 34-36
Observation: Chapter 34 – God says through Ezekiel that He will hold the “shepherds of Israel” accountable for their treatment of His flock. Instead of strengthening the sheep, caring for them, binding up the injured and searching and bringing back the lost strays, Israel’s shepherds are using the sheep for their own comfort and gain: eating the curds, wearing the wool, killing for the meat. Therefore, God says He, Himself will be the Shepherd of Israel, acting with justice, bringing back together the scattered flock, tending them in good and rich pasture, binding up the injured and strengthening the weak sheep. God says he will judge the fat sheep that butt the other weaker sheep around, preventing them from having good pasture and clear water. As Shepherd, God will also protect His sheep from wild animals (nations that would plunder Israel). Chapter 35 – Ezekiel prophesies judgment on Edom because of their hostility towards Israel, because they tried to steal the nation that belonged to God. Chapter 36 – The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy His jealous wrath over the nations around Israel and says He will again favour Israel: His people will be plowed and then sown. God will rebuild and restore Israel for His name’s sake, so that the nations see His holiness and know He is Lord. Interpretation: Let’s park in Chapter 34 for a bit. Here we catch a glimpse of God’s heart for good leaders over his people, Israel. The Levites, priests and the prophets of Ezekiel’s day were to carry the roles of facilitating the covenant and calling God’s chosen people back to Him when they strayed. Instead of this, these leaders in Israel were using their roles for selfish gain. Ezekiel’s words are a metaphor – that instead of tending a flock and nurturing its well-being, the leaders are just killing the sheep, eating them and using the sheep for their own pleasure and comfort. The result is that the sheep are injured, wandering, weak and scattered about. This is a picture of how the common people of Israel were living. Without guidance and leadership that kept them faithful to the covenant, they were living unfaithful to God and as a result, they could not prosper. Idolatry is rampant, famine is prevailing, the city of Jerusalem, long besieged is falling…there is extreme hunger, agony, despair. These sheep are in desperate need of good shepherding. When Jesus walked the earth, the remnant people of Israel, back in their land, but oppressed by Rome, were still awaiting their promised Saviour. We are told in the gospels of Matthew (9:36) and Mark (6:34), that Jesus had compassion on the people because he saw that they were in the same state: “like sheep without a shepherd”. It was for this reason that he taught the people and miraculously provided food for them. It’s also why he said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38) We clearly see the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapter 34 in the life of Jesus. In John’s gospel (Ch 10), Jesus repeated says, “I am the good shepherd” and describes his role as laying down his life for the sheep. What a contrast to the shepherds of Ezekiel’s day! Application: Just as sheep are not able to thrive without good shepherding, so are we humans in need of guidance and protection as we commit our lives to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Through His Holy Spirit, we are empowered to know and do God’s will. Jesus also gifts certain people with the ability to “shepherd” his people. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13) Jesus did not want Lone Ranger followers. Just as Jesus is the Good Shepherd, uniting his people in a flock, so he calls and equips his followers to function in the safety and provision of groups led by his gifted shepherds. Today, we call these groups “churches” and we know it is Jesus’ will that we pray for more people to submit their lives to His service so that humanity can be shepherded into the abundant and eternal life that Jesus wants for them. To Think About: Have you ever considered the necessity of “church” as a gift from God to keep His people protected and provided for? What kind of sheep are you? Fat and butting others around? Weak and in need of care? Straying and in need of being found? Close to the Good Shepherd and doing well? Prayer: Thank you Lord for being the Good Shepherd and leading me and protecting me according to your kindness and goodness. Help me to trust and submit to you and those who wear your shepherding mantel in my life. Amen. Song: Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down OBSERVATION
INTERPRETATION In the New Testament, Jesus says he is not willing that any should perish—that is why he may seem (to us) to be slow in returning to bring justice to the earth (II Peter 3:9). In these chapters of Ezekiel, God says to the nations, the leaders and the people: Look, you have done evil against me and against each other. You deserve this judgement of death and destruction. Nevertheless, I will give you another chance. I will bring you back to your homeland and you can choose to follow my truth. God says I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked, I only want you to turn to me and to live (Eze 33:11). The Lord is not willing that any should perish. QUESTION Is God asking me to be a watchman/woman? Is there someone God wants me to warn about their walk that is leading them to evil and death? As hesitant as I am to offend anyone or to be rejected by others, am I also resistant to God’s prompting in my spirit? Will I do as God asks me to do? PRAYER Dear Lord God, please let me hear your true word to me. Lead me to someone who needs to hear from you. Don’t let me be afraid of someone’s rejection but fill me with your love and compassion. SONG Jesus Paid It All by Kim Walker Text: Psalm 38
OBSERVE: Psalm 38 is a psalm of David and one that is riddled with guilt. This guilt was bred through pain and darkness as David experiences the spiritual and physical effects of his sin. We do not know when this petition happened in David’s life, as there are no certain clues to a specific time or event. What we do observe in this psalm is the enormous depth of David’s trouble followed by a glimmer of hope. This glimmer of hope is found in verse 15: “For in You, O Lord, I hope; you will hear, O Lord my God”. INTERPRET: Within the depth of David’s trouble, we can see that David was aware of God’s deep displeasure with his condition. Knowing this, David follows a wise path by crying out to God, drawing near to the Lord. In the first two verses, it becomes clear that David is pierced to the heart by God’s displeasure which leads to David becoming overwhelmed by his sins. David not only sensed God’s displeasure with him spiritually, but also physically. This was likely the physical toll of stress during this time of deep spiritual anguish. David felt oppressed under the weight of his sin and hoped that an honest and heartfelt telling of his misery would move God to compassion. David called out to God with full transparency as his one and only hope, holding nothing back from God. This cry is followed by a glimmer of hope. Despite his spiritual depression, David clung to hope in the Lord his God. Though he did not feel it, in faith he said “You will hear”. David chose to allow his affliction to press him toward God rather than from away from God. The psalm ends with a heartfelt cry from David as he needed to sense God’s presence. It is likely that the absence of that sense was David’s greatest trial in this dark time. APPLICATION: This psalm was manifested out of David’s anguish over his sin. Nowhere in this psalm does David declare to be innocent. David pressed his anguish and need for help before God with urgency and looked to the Lord as his only salvation. If the Israelites had followed this example, it is safe to say that they would not be living in exile during Ezekiel’s life. As sinners today, we can learn from David’s petitionary blueprint. We need to be pierced to the heart by anguish over our sin, we need to acknowledge the harm that our sin can have on all aspects of our life and we need to reveal everything to our God. All of this is possible when we have hope in our Lord Jesus; who will hear us. We need to press our anguish over sin and stress our need for the Lord with urgency; and look to the Lord Jesus as our only hope for salvation. REFLECTION: Read Psalm 38 from your own heart and make a wholehearted petition to Jesus. PRAYER: Jesus; do not forsake me a sinner; forgive my sin which makes me so far from you! Make haste to help me as only you can, O Lord, my salvation. Thank you so much for your willingness to suffer the cost to rescue a sinner like me. You are my only hope. AMEN. SONG: To Rescue A Sinner Like Me by Rich Abante Observe:
This section of Ezekiel begins with a lament for the princes of Israel and expresses just how wonderful and powerful they had been, yet how low their evil had brought them. What follows is a blistering indictment of all of the evil committed by Israel since the Lord had called them out of Egypt, and that even though they had done much wickedness, He would restore them, but not because of their goodness or evil. God proceeds to trace back His journey with Israel, saying that coming out of Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the promised land, they continually blasphemed Him and profaned His name. He outlines the rules He gave to them in order that they might follow them and live, and said that though He was close to wiping them out, He refrained for the sake of His name. Chapter 21 begins with the Lord preparing to execute judgement against Israel – He is polishing His sword so that those who bore his name might not profane it any longer. Those who wish to follow idols may leave and do so, but they shall no long bear the name of the Lord. Interpret: Again and again, the Lord reveals to the reader that His motive for saving His people Israel and us today is not because of some merit on our part. Rather, it is because He promised to enact salvation for humanity and always keeps His word. His name is indicative of His character, which is always steadfast and always true. At first it may seem strange that the Lord is only doing this on account of His own name, but it points us to a couple of profound truths. First is that we have the incredible opportunity to bear His name as His people. He would not have been concerned in the ways we see in these chapters if He did not exalt the lowly people of Israel to the position of Standard-Bearer for the God of all creation. While this is a great honour, it comes with great responsibility. It is God’s desire that we might all reflect His nature as His sons and daughters. Second, it is a very comforting thing knowing that it is not on account of any of our own merits that the Lord saves us. If it were so, we would be torturing ourselves to continue these good works in order to remain in His good graces. But we know that it is not through works that we are saved, nor because of anything we have done, and that is Good News! The Lord says in chapter 20 that those who desire to follow other idols may do so, but they will no longer be able to profane His name, for He will reject them. Only those who remember their transgressions and uncover their guilt and seek the Lord will be taken in hand. The rest, He says, are free to walk away. Apply: These chapters served as a stark and genuine warning to the people of Israel which have echoed down through the centuries to you and I today. The warning translates today as “those of you who claim to follow my Son – do your lives truly resemble someone who has taken up their cross to follow Him? Do you claim to bear His name yet continue in your rampant wickedness? Do you call yourself ‘Christian’ yet ignore His words and continue to pattern yourself after the world?” God speaks here against those of Israel who would continue to go through the motions of following His commands while their hearts and hands serve other masters at the same time. They do part of what God has commanded, yet also offer mystical sacrifices to idols and sacrifice their children in fire. Their mouths speak to Him but their hearts rebel, and that continues to this day. Let us examine ourselves and see if we truly walk the walk of Christ instead of just going through the motions. Application question: Do you let the Bible tell you how to live your life? Do you let God define what is good and evil? Are you serious about following Christ with all your heart? Prayer: Lord, we all have divided hearts when we come to you. We are sorry for our lies and double lives, and ask that you correct us and teach us to live completely for you. Thank you for putting your Holy Spirit in us so that we might be changed bit by bit in the new life that you have purchased for us. We love you so much and want to live in a way that honours your Holy Name. Amen! Song: But For You Who Fear MY Name - the Welcome Wagon Text: Ezekiel 16-18 (Ps 34)
Observe: The dead vine image of chapter 15 changes in chapter 16. Jerusalem represents Israel as a prostitute, an adulterous wife. In these metaphors, Ezekiel shows the peoples’ failure to follow the Lord only. Chapter 16, the longest of Ezekiel’s oracles, is an allegory of Israel’s pitiful beginnings: a newborn daughter of mixed Hittite/Amorite parentage lies abandoned in a field, dirty, covered with blood. God finds her and cares for her until her maturity, then marries her[LM1] in covenant love, showering her with precious gifts to enhance her beauty. Alas, she carelessly tosses them away in idolatrous worship. She becomes an adulterous wife, a prostitute who pays her ‘lovers’ (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon), even sacrificing her children to false gods (20,21). Jealous God will avenge her adultery by taking back His gifts. Her ‘lovers’ eventually abandon her, leaving her as naked as she was when God found her. Jerusalem’s sins make ‘sisters’ Sodom and Samaria’s evils look virtuous, God says (51b). He will punish her: You bear the penalty for your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord (58). Yet He will rescue even these evil cities, making Sodom and Samaria like daughters (61). He will take back unfaithful Israel in a new covenant (8 and 59). Then, … you shall know that I am the Lord.(62) Chapter 17 is a riddle/parable of two ‘great eagles’, a cedar, a vine (that image, again!). The first eagle plucks a twig from the tallest cedar in Lebanon[LM2] and drops it into the city market. It becomes a vine, reaching towards the other eagle. The vine asks the eagle to water it[LM3] , then plant it into good soil. The riddle: Will the vine live or die? What does this mean? The first eagle, Nebuchadnezzar, takes the ‘twig’, Jehoiachin (remember him? Bad!) to Babylon. Zedekiah (seed/vine) should rule Judah so it flourishes in Babylon (recall Jeremiah 29). But Zedekiah turns to Egypt, the other eagle, and not to Babylon. God punishes the king, in His anger at how he broke His covenant with Babylon. Judah will be scattered but other nations see that God alone is Lord. Finally, God Himself reenacts the allegory, with a different ending (22-24). The old generational curse making children responsible for parents’ sins (Ex. 20; Num. 14; Deut. 5; Jer.32) is ended. Sadly, children will still suffer, but parents must be responsible for their own sins (18:3). If a righteous man’s son does evil, he’ll be punished; the righteous son of an evil man will not inherit his father’s wrongdoings – God’s gracious revision to this proverb. His final word? … make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! (31) Interpret: As in Jesus’ parables, we think in circles until we find the centre of its meaning, bending our straight-line mindsets to a new way of seeing. The sexual imagery of chapter 16 tears away Judah’s façade, to reveal an ugliness that requires God’s deep reworking. The eagles/vine image shows Israel’s constant disobedience in turning away from the Lord to others than God’s choice. Overturning a deadening proverb (18) foretells God’s redemptive work (thus killing the proverb’s effects): Jesus, becoming a curse on the Cross (Deut. 21:23), took on Himself our sins, from our first parents’ through all generations, setting us free from what keeps us from the Lord – our sin. Apply: We guard our deceivable hearts against misusing God’s gifts, manufacturing our own take on His Word (or ignoring it altogether), gazing distractedly away from Him. Mindful that our children suffer for our mistakes, we stay close to Jesus so we make His choices. Ask: Lord, how have I been careless with Your gifts to me? Have I taken my privilege as Your beloved so lightly? Will you give me the courage to look at my wrongdoing and heed Your corrections? Pray: Lord, Your prophetic word is so often unfathomable. Help me to read with care, asking always for Your Spirit to guide until I can say, “I see! Thank You!” Then I keep asking for deeper understanding as You heal my blindness of heart. Song: Psalm 34: Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir Psalm 34: Taste and See Steve Angrisano Text: Ezekiel 13-15
Observe: God tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the false prophets who were leading the people astray, by they them only what they wanted to hear. They were not speaking His word and all their visions were false and their divinations were lies. These false prophets told the people “Peace, when there was no peace”, and God denounced them for spreading lies in His name. Their prophecies were like a flimsy wall, whitewashed to give the illusion of strength, but they were empty and worthless. Because of these lies told in His name, God told Ezekiel that He would tear them down. To the women who practiced witchcraft and created charms and veils for casting their spells, God declared He would tear these charms from their wrists and the veils from their heads so the people would see the truth behind their wicked ways. If the leaders of the people sought the guidance of the false prophets, all the while harbouring idolatry in their own hearts, God would answer them in ways they deserved for their sins. By tearing down the false prophets, God would show the people that He was the Sovereign Lord, and they would bear their guilt. God tells Ezekiel that He is so angry with the disobedient prophets, leaders and people that even if righteous men such as Noah, Daniel, and Job were to plead for them against destruction by sword, famine, wild beasts or plague, they would not be able to save even their own families from judgement. God would spare only them. That’s the judgment that awaits Jerusalem in His righteous wrath. God then goes on to compare Jerusalem to wood taken from a vine, and how useless it is for anything except as fuel for fire, and once it is burnt, it becomes even more useless. Because of their faithlessness, God will bring about their destruction. Interpret: God’s people had become so enmeshed in the culture of idolatry and hypocrisy, that they could no longer recognize the truth of God’s word when Ezekiel spoke it to them. They would much rather listen to the happy news spoken by the false prophets and diviners because it made them feel better. But these false prophets were morally corrupt and had no knowledge of God. They only proclaimed what they themselves wanted, and the people and their leaders only wanted to hear feel-good messages and so, were deceptively lulled into a false sense of security. They became followers of every lie that made them feel good, instead of being followers of their true God, which would make them faithful. Application: False prophets were a constant danger to God’s people in both Jerusalem and those among the exiles in Babylon. They were bad spiritual and moral guides because they proclaimed only what the people wanted to hear, not what God wanted the people to hear. They led the people further and further away from God’s will for them. Further and further into sin. The tendency to gloss over the hard truths of the Gospel and focus only on the happy ending of the salvation bought by Christ is an ever-present danger to us as well. It’s one thing to say we love Christ and believe He died for us, but it’s quite different to live as He commanded, because it’s not an easy or comfortable way to live. Our society continues to change and evolve, and what was right yesterday is wrong today, and what was wrong yesterday is right today. The false prophets of our cultural influencers espouse the belief that there are multiple truths, and that there is no absolute truth. My truth, your truth, their truth. They are all equally true. They tell us that morality is just a construct made to restrict our behaviours to fit someone else’s definition of acceptable, usually someone long dead. They would have us believe that doing whatever feels good in the moment is the right thing to do. Even in the wider church, there are voices that would lead us away from the absolute truth of the Gospel, saying that there is now a more modern interpretation of it which is more informed than that which was handed down to us. Here, too, some things that were considered sinful before are acceptable now, and we must be open to incorporating new, more culturally diverse symbols into our worship. And anyone who disagrees needs to become more “enlightened”. There are lots of opportunities for us to become like the people of Jerusalem, believing only what we want to hear, and ignoring what God is trying to tell us. He gave us His Holy Scripture to study and learn and grow in our knowledge and love of Him. He gave us His only Son as the prime example of His love and grace, and as our only option for salvation. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, (Heb 13:8), therefore whatever He tells us in Truth is the absolute truth, and it is true for all time, and for all people. We disobey it at our own peril. Questions: Do you ever give serious thought to why you believe some of the things you believe? Or why you do some of the things you do? Do you ever consider if they really do conform to the will of God? Or are you doing them just because our culture says it is acceptable? Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for Your Word handed down to us through Holy Scripture for our education and salvation. Let us not be led astray by the false prophets in the world. Give us hearts and minds to hear Your voice among the din of our lives, and the courage to follow only You. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Song: Speak, O Lord: Keith and Kristyn Getty OBSERVATION
INTERPRETATION These chapters hark back to the first few chapters where Ezekiel is told he is a watchman for Israel (and Judah). He is to give the warning for judgement—which he does. Then he also relays the encouraging message that God will work with his people while in exile, then eventually bring them home again. QUESTION Has God given you a message that needs to be shared with the church, with your small group? I believe Ezekiel’s vision was a powerful reminder to him that God called him. Have you had an encounter with God—either through the Scripture? or by the Holy Spirit? or through God’s people? How does God speak to you? Are you able to recognize God’s voice? PRAYER Dear Lord God, please keep my ears and eyes and heart open to hear your voice. Teach me to recognize and understand your call to me. Give me courage to speak your truth to my sisters and brothers. SONG Earth to God, by John Rich Text: Ezekiel (Chapters 1-8)
OBSERVE: Several of the Old Testament prophets were given the privilege of seeing beyond this world in the very throne room of God. In the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel, we see that Ezekiel saw a vision of his glorious God who resembled a man: Above the surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like a gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is that the glory of the Lord looked like to me. (Ezekiel 1: 26-28) INTERPRET: The prophet Ezekiel was a part of the 2nd wave of exiles to Babylon in 597 BC. This vision was five years after his exile which would have been 5 years before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Chapters 2-8 are full of accusations against Israel, tells of more exile to come and predicts the worst possible outcome; the destruction of the temple. All of this would have been difficult for the prophet Ezekiel to comprehend. Ezekiel would have had a tough time understanding why God was on the move. To see God moving to be with the exiles in Babylon would have been hard for Ezekiel to comprehend. In this, God was making it clear to his prophet that the exile was part of God’s plan and that He had majesty, power and glory over all deities and territories. APPLICATION: During the time leading up to the exile, there was a prominent held belief system called ‘Zion Theology”. The central tenets of this belief system were a combination of three interrelated ideas that included the election of Zion, the Davidic promise to David and that Zion was God’s dwelling place. Although all three ideas were true, this theology mistakenly led many to think that Jerusalem was invincible and this ultimately contributed to spiritual complacency. It was this way of thinking that the prophet Jeremiah was constantly reacting against. The eventual fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC would have spurred some profound reflection upon the meaning of God’s promises, the meaning of the covenant(s), and the very nature of God himself. In light of Zion Theology and its central tenets, it is not hard to see how the exile would have shaken the faith of many. For us today, it is common to have pre-conceived notions to what God will do next. We need to be careful that we do not limit God’s sovereignty or hinder ourselves from recognizing where God is moving. As His church, we need to be open to what He is doing and not allow our own desires or comfort to blind us. We have a responsibility to follow God in the ways and directions that He is moving. REFLECTION: Are you open and willing to follow God wherever he is going to lead you? PRAYER: Holy, Holy, Holy are you, who sits on the throne! Blessings and honor and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne! Open my eyes and heart so that I do not limit or miss your purposes. Remove all barriers within me so that I may faithfully follow you. AMEN. SONG: I Will Follow (By Chris Tomlin) |
Preachers BlogIn 2024, each week's blog is a follow-up reflection written by the preceding Sunday’s preacher to dig deeper into the sermon topic and explore engaging discussion questions. Archives
April 2024
Categories |