Ezekiel 5:1-9:11
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Ezekiel chapter 5 today gets into God’s signs of the coming siege and judgment of Jerusalem and Israel. The thing that went through my mind when reading all of this was the 3rd commandment from Exodus chapter 20, verses 4-6: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.” The term in these verses “jealous God” did come to my mind when reading Ezekiel 4 and 5. And not in a bad way. But, just in the way it was. God commanded no idols. Israel/Jerusalem created idols and did not repent after repeated warnings. God was “jealous” of all of this, and the siege and judgment came.
Ezekiel chapter 6 continues along the lines of chapters 4 & 5 – with judgment against the very land of Israel because of the pagan shrines. Verses 8 & 9 stood out to me in this chapter: “”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 grieved I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for other gods. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their wickedness.” Here we see that God will preserve the Davidic line – and that the Israelites will eventually repent, and the nation will eventually be restored (as we know in hindsight now). Verse 10 in this chapter also seems to sum up a lot of what’s going on in God’s mind in today’s readings in Ezekiel: “They will know that I alone am the LORD and that I was serious when I predicted that all this would happen to them.” Do we know that God is alone the Lord in our lives today? Do we trust his Word and his predictions without a doubt?
Ezekiel chapter 7 has a line that repeats twice in verses 4 & 27: “Then you/they will know that I am the LORD!” We are seeing here that God is not happy with Israel in large part because they do not realize that he is the Lord. They have sold out to other gods and idols and sin and don’t really think God will do much about it. Well, God opens this chapter with strong words in verse 1: “The end is here!” God’s patience has run out. But, keep in mind that God kept trying to get the Israelites to repent over and over and over again. They wouldn’t. Do we sometimes test God’s patience? If so, will we repent in the areas of our life where we test God’s patience?
Ezekiel chapter 8 reminds me of a lawyer making a case in court! And God absolutely puts forth a strong case for why the end arrived for Jerusalem in the 5th/6th century B.C. It is so sad to see these sins take place in and around the Temple. In chapter 9 we see six angels of God appear from the north gates – where one of the major idols was located. In this vision, these 6 angels are carrying out God’s judgment on Israel. Verse 7 gives us a hint that God is preparing to leave the Temple completely: “”Defile the Temple!” the LORD commanded.” We’ll pick this up in tomorrow’s readings… Below is an artist’s interpretation of Ezekiel’s visit to Jerusalem: (I realize this is one of the more “unique” pieces of art I have posted up – just wait until we get to the book of Revelation! 🙂
Worship Video: Today’s readings reminds me of Blessing Offur’s beautiful song “Brighter Days:”
Do you need some brighter days? Click here for Brightness!
Comments from You: What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!
God bless,
Mike
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