Over and over Ezekiel heard "The Word of the Lord". Sometimes God told him to act things out to make a point with Israel. Sometimes He was told to speak certain words to them. Here in chapter 22, he is told to confront them with their sin. As I have been reading throught Ezekiel this year, I have been struck by the fact that there is no record of Ezekiel hesitating or debating or cowering, etc. We can assume that every action he has completed and every word he was told to speak was spoken. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this was for him. I'm sure it made him an outcast among his own people. Think about it. Many times he has had to tell the people of Israel about impending judgment from the Lord, even going as far as to tell them that the Lord has left them. He does describe some mercy for the repentant, but then it is right back to judgment and punishment. Now he has to go through a very detailed list of the sin that they committed before the Lord. How would I feel if a prophet of the Lord came to me and ran down a grocery list of every sin I have committed that has offended God? There has also not been a record of Ezekiel having anyone by his side. Elijah had Elisha. Moses had Aaron. Daniel had Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego. I can imagine that Ezekiel felt very alone at times. But he never said no or argued with God. He obeyed. So, how obedient am I? Am I willing to obey no matter how uncomfortable it makes me? Am I willing to obey even if it makes me an outcast? Am I willing to obey even it if means I will be alone? Lord, I can't even obey you concerning my job. Day after day I refuse to surrender my desires. No wonder you can't trust me with the bigger issues. Help me, Lord. First, help me to get so close to You, that Your voice is unmistakable. Help me hear You when You speak to me. And help me Lord, to obey when You are the one telling me to do something. To do that, Lord, I know I need to be able to distinguish between Your voice and my flesh, my emotion. So Lord, as You have been teaching me, if I allow Jesus to live through me, there would be no question. Remove those areas I am holding back from You and take control. I am Yours, Lord.  Read less

As God tells Ezekiel about the judgment to come, He reveals that this "sword" will cut down the righteous and the wicked. The 'sword' that is talked about here is the army of Babylon which will come and take the people of Israel into captivity. The army will not distinguish between the wicked and the righteous. All will be taken. Verse 13 says, "testing will surely come". No one is promised a life without trials. So, we learn that there is no magic bubble that is surrounding you simply because you are God's child. Sometimes God chooses to protect His children, and sometimes He allows them to suffer through the calamity along with the wicked. Who are we to determine what's best for us? Do YOU know what God is trying to do? Can YOU read the mind of God? We pray for the Lord to purify and refine us like gold or silver. Sure, we like the outcome . . . gold and silver is precious. But what heat does it take to purify it?! Almost 2,000 degrees! Are we willing to go through the fire . . . the heat . . .to become what God intends us to be? Are we willing to be taken captive? Suffer along with the wicked? Are we willing to humble ourselves and give up our need to be right all the time? There is no doubt that some things are unfair. BUT I believe that the true mark of spiritual growth is how the children of God handle that unfairness. I'm sure that Daniel didn't want to go into captivity, but nevertheless, he was taken captive. Instead of crying and moaning about how unfair it was, he continued to follow the Lord and serve Him even in a foreign land as a captive. The Old Testament is filled with stories of prophets still serving the Lord even in captivity. How willing am I to still allow the Lord to use me even when I am being treated unfairly? Lord, forgive me for my pride . . . for always feeling like I need to defend myself. Sometimes, you allow things to happen to test me or develop something in me that might be missing. Help me to trust You and Your process. Instead of questioning everything, help me to submit to You.  Read less

"Behold, I am against you . . . " To me, these are very scary words. These are the words that the Lord spoke to Israel through Ezekiel. Can we truly comprehend what this means? What would it be like for us if the Lord was against us? His blessing and favor removed? His protection and provision gone? No more peace. No more mercy or grace. I don't even want to think about it. And why? Because Israel had chosen other gods over the one true God. Those chose to worship idols in terrible and disgusting ways . . . even bringing their worship into the Temple of the Most High God! What an abomination! But are we any different? We worship the god of pride and self . . . technology . . . people . . . our bellies! And don't we bring that pride and selfishness into the sanctuary? I know I am so guilty of putting my own desires above God's. How does this show up in my life? By getting upset when MY time schedule gets interrupted. I want to hurry home from church to relax or work and then I miss an opportunity to be used by God to minister to someone. My time has become my god. Psalm 31:15 My times are in Your hand . . . This needs to be my attitude and prayer. I don't want the Lord to be against me. Lord, help me to remove these "idols" I have built up on the altar of my heart. My times are Yours. Not one second of it belongs to me. As I go to school, help me to live each second of every minute of every hour remembering that my time is in YOUR hands. Not the other way around.  Read less

God continues in Ezekiel 20 to warn the people of Israel about His coming judgment. Verse 32 describes the attitude of Israel and why God is so angry: "You say, "We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone." This was their attitude even after watching how God has delivered them! But, again, don't we have the same attitude? We want to be like the world around us so we don't challenge even the most subtle things like Santa, Christmas trees, Easter Bunnies (Even the word Easter which has it's root in pagan worship!), Halloween, etc. We have become so much like the world that many heathens cannot even recognize a Christian when they see one! God says in verse 39 that their pagan worship was "profaning His holy name". We know God is holy. So then, why are we profaning His holy name by trying so hard to look like the world. We are called to be separate from the world. Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world . . . " John 17:14 "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of this world . . . " John 18:36 "Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world . . . " We, as Christians, as His children, must remember that we are not of this world. We cannot pretend that we are. We cannot act like we are. When we do, we are profaning His holy name. So the question is, "What areas of your life look too much like the world and not enough like Christ?" What areas of your life are profaning His holy name?  Read less

Some of the elders of Ezekiel's day came to inquire of the Lord. What was God's response? "Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign LORD." Not let you inquire of me? Could there really ever come a time when God will not allow one of His children to come into His presence and pray to Him? Well, let's consider this: First of all, what is going on here? The people of Israel were worshipping other gods in vile ways. They had been warned many times but continued the practice. Now after God's judgment comes down, they want to inquire of the Lord. The scripture doesn't say that they were repenting. They were just inquiring of the Lord. Isaiah 59:1,2 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wold not have listened. The people of Israel were cherishing their sin. This sin had separated them from God. When called to repent, they refused. I think the same is true for us today. It is true that God will never leave us. We are sealed unto the Day of Redemption. We can never be torn away from God. BUT when we choose to hide iniquity in our hearts and refuse to repent, that causes a separation between us and a holy God. God WILL hear our prayer of repentance and a relationship can be restored. So, if you wonder why you feel like your prayers are flat, lacking power, check your heart. Is there unconfessed sin there? Repent now and restore your relationship to Your Father. He will listen and hear. :-)  Read less

Is God just or unjust? That is the question of Ezekiel 18. In a nutshell, God says that sinners will die for their sins and the righteous man will live. A sinner who turns from their wicked ways will live, and a righteous man who begins to sin will die. Each man will be judged for their own actions. A father will not be held accountable for the actions of his son, and the son will not be held accountable for his father's actions. Every person will be accountable for the good or bad that they do. This passage describes what it is like to be a Christian. I teach my Sunday School students that they cannot get into heaven on the coattails of their parents. Someday each one of us will go before the judgment seat of Christ and have to answer for our own actions. The only difference is we know that it is impossible to be righteous on our own. We know that we are sinners from birth. Because of this, God has provided a way for us to be seen as righteous . . . through the blood of His son. When you confess your sin to God and repent, you are covered by the blood of Jesus. God only sees the blood. He doesn't see our filth and nastiness. Sinners will die. . . spiritually. They will be separated from God for eternity. Those whose sins are covered by the blood of the spotless Lamb will live . . . forever . . . righteous. Only God can do that for us.  Read less

What is it that makes a Christian weak? What is it that makes a child of God begin to wither? If I look at this allegory in Ezekiel 17, I see that a vine was planted by an eagle. It was planted by abundant water and its roots ran deep. As long as it kept its branches turned toward the eage that planted it, it thrived. But another eagle came along. An eagle that had nothing to do with this vine being planted. An eagle that had not taken care of this vine at any point. However, the vine turned toward this second eagle instead. It sent its roots toward the second eagle. Now remember, the first eagle had planted this vine near abundant water and was also providing water for it. When the plant stretched itself toward the second eagle, it lost its provisions. It gave up the water that fed it to follow the second eagle. Of course, it began to wither and became weak. Even the wind was able to blow it over. I know that God was using this allegory to warn the people of Israel about His impending judgment for the oaths they broke, but I see another lesson here. The plant withered because it was malnourished. It wasn't getting the nutrients needed to thrive. It took itself away from its provider. Don't we do that at times? When we are feeling weak and weary, is it because we have taken our eyes off of the Lord. He created us. He feeds us the Bread of Life and the Living Water. With His food, we will never hunger or thirst again. But too often it's not enough for us. We want something else and so we reach out to get what we think we need from another source. . . and we begin to wither. So what is the answer? Stay focused on the only One who can supply our needs . . . our true needs. Keep your eyes on the One who birthed me into this new faith. Depend only on the One who has the ability to feed me and nourish me in a way that will make me grow and flourish. Pray. Read the bible. Memorize Scripture. Sing spiritual songs. Worship. Everything that feeds this relationship.  Read less