Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 32-33.

As I read today’s passage I was struck by the fact that God tells the Egyptians, through Ezekiel, “Go down and be laid among the uncircumcised.”  Then he goes on to describe the armies which God had brought down previously, among whom the Egyptians would lie.  He describes the horde of Elam’s destruction by saying, “All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword.”  He repeats variations of this as he describes other fallen empires.  Saying in various ways “uncircumcised, killed by the sword.”  Elsewhere, I had learned that the Egyptians circumcised their young men.  Which led me to think that Ezekiel means something different than just “not Israelite” when he says “uncircumcised” here.  As I thought about it more and read more closely I began to think that the passage seems to be describing a place where those distant from God went after death.  It seems to me that Ezekiel is saying that those who died because they brought God’s judgement against themselves will lie somewhere separate from God and from those whom God has judged righteous.  The passage which most brings home to me what Ezekiel is telling us in this prophecy is in verse thirty of chapter 32, “They lie uncircumcised with those killed by the sword and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.”  That reads to me like there is a place to which it is shameful for the dead to go, and one to which it is not shameful to go in death.  Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the “uncircumcised”, those whom God judges as unrighteous, go “down to the pit” in death, and those whom God judges as righteous do not go to the pit.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 29-31.

Ezekiel now turns his attention (or, has it turned there by God) to Egypt.  The first reason God gives for the disaster which Egypt is about to experience is that its ruler thought he was the creator of the Nile River, and it was the Nile which was the root of Egypt’s greatness.  Therefore the ruler of Egypt thought that Egypt’s greatness was because of himself.  This echoes God’s condemnation of Tyre because Tyre’s king thought he was a god.  In both cases I do not think it was just the ruler taking undo credit for the success of their nations.  I believe that God was condemning the people for sharing their ruler’s belief in their own divinity.  They took credit for what God had done.  In the same way, many people in the United States think that the success of the United States owes nothing to God’s blessing (and I am sure that the same is true of people in other countries).  Ezekiel tells us that God is bringing judgement upon Egypt so that all who live there will know that He is God.  Let us not think that we are gods and thus inspire God to demonstrate to us that He alone is God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 27-28.

In his prophecy against Tyre Ezekiel speaks of how they accumulated great wealth through trade, through making good deals with many nations.  They had wisely made trades with various nations which made those nations feel they were receiving value.  But then they became proud and began to think that they did not need to necessarily return value for the value received.  I am really struggling with getting my wording together today.  Tyre became wealthy because they wisely made trade deals which benefited both themselves and their trade partners.  God brought judgement against them because once they became wealthy they began to take advantage of their trade partners in ways which brought suffering and misery to others.  The rulers of Tyre thought that no one would be able to hold them accountable because of their wealth and power.  The same applies to us today.  The rulers of Tyre thought they were wiser and smarter than others, but they did not act with God’s wisdome

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 24-26.

Today is another day where my thoughts revolve around a single phrase.  In verse thirteen of chapter twenty-four God says through Ezekiel, “Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.”  This is part of the explanation for the parable about the cooking pot which Ezekiel had just finished.  God is trying to cleanse us of the lewdness which makes us impure.  If we resist Him He will use ever more abrasive methods to purify us.  God will continue to increase the force He brings to bear until we yield, or are destroyed.  He allowed the desecration of the temple where He had put His name.  Let us yield to His efforts to cleanse us before He desecrates the temple He has made of our bodies.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 22-23.

When I read through this passage my initial reaction was that I was not feeling anything to write.  Then when I re-read the passage I was struck by verse three in chapter 22.  In particular this part of it, “You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst…”  It made me think of the murders and crimes in so many of the cities of the United States.  Reading a little further I came across this, “See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.”  This made me think about the ways in which the elites of our cities benefit from the crime in their cities.  As I read on Ezekiel condemned them for treating father and mother with contempt and for oppressing the foreigner.  My thoughts went from there to think about how parents are treated with contempt in our cities, but also in much of our society.  Foreigners are oppressed by various groups encouraging illegal immigrants to work for low wages and in poor work conditions.  Ezekiel’s condemnation of Jerusalem continues to call out the way in which those with any level of power took advantage of those without power to satisfy their sexual desires and greed.  Each of us needs to consider to what degree our actions lead to harm to others.   

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 20-21.

In today’s passage some of the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel to inquire of God.  Ezekiel tells them that God will not allow them to inquire of Him and then gives them a history lesson.  He describes the way that God had done good things for their ancestors and how their ancestors had rebelled against God.  As I read that I was struck by how God repeatedly listed desecrating His Sabbaths among the ways in which the people rebelled against God.  As I reread the passage to formulate what I would write, I noticed that early on God told them that He had given them (and us) His Sabbaths as a sign that He had made them (and us) holy.  In addition, I saw that God repeatedly said “my Sabbaths”, not “the Sabbath”.  So, where does all of this lead me?  We should dedicate one day each week to worship God.  That day belongs to God and its purpose is to remind us that God made us in His image, made all of us in His image.  Further, it reminds us that we have chosen to make ourselves vile and repugnant by doing evil.  Yet, God has chosen to make us holy.  We have no goodness of our own that we might make ourselves holy.  Let us not desecrate the day which belongs to God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 17-19.

I did not know what I wanted to write about today, and my day was busy so I had to put it aside until later than I normally like to have it finished (note: I write these blogs the day before the date on them so that I can have them published for most people around the world early in the day).  When I came back to it now, I was struck by chapter 18.  Which starts with Ezekiel quoting the parable,
“The parents eat sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
Through Ezekiel God tells the Israelites that they would no longer quote this parable, because everyone belongs to God, both the parent and the child.  Then He says “The one who sins is the one who will die.”  The rest of the chapter explains what he (and He) means by this.  If a father sins, it is he whom God will hold accountable.  If that sinful father’s son lives a righteous life, God will not punish him for his father’s sins.  If that righteous son then has a son of his own, this son will not inherit his father’s righteousness.  Rather the third generation will be judged by God according to his actions.  If he sins, God will judge him for his sins.  On the other hand, if he is righteous God will judge him accordingly.  Children will not share in the guilt of their parents, nor will parents share in the guilt of their children.  None of us will be condemned because of the evil committed by our parents.  However, the opposite is also true, none of us will be exonerated of our guilt for our sins because of the good performed by our parents either.  Further, if we are currently behaving according to God’s will and turn to evil, God will bring judgement against us for our wickedness.  Or, if we are currently behaving wickedly and turn from our wickedness to doing God’s will, He will bless us for doing so.

Going back to what God said to explain WHY each person, parent or child, would be judged according to their own sins: “For everyone belongs to me,…”  The implications of that for how we treat each other are immense.  If everyone belongs to God, then if we bring harm to another, we are damaging God’s property.  If we bring harm to ourselves, we are damaging God’s property. If I belong to God, then I cannot belong to someone else.  If you belong to God, then you cannot belong to me, or to anyone else.  I will leave you with one final thought.  If we belong to God, it means that God values us.  If God values us, we have value.  In fact, we have so much value that He was willing to die for us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 13-15.

Today’s passage starts with a prophecy against false prophets, against those who give spiritual guidance out of their own imagination rather than listening to what God has to say.  Rather than repair the breaches in the wall of people’s faith with solid materials, they have patched them over with sheet rock.  Then they have whitewashed their repairs in order to make it look solid, but when the enemy assaults the walls he will break through with almost no effort.  I read this and I think of those who today preach that sexual practices which God condemned are beautiful and of those who preach that being righteous is a path to wealth.  There are others, too numerous to list, who preach what people want to hear rather than call out their sins.  I think of those who are struggling with various mental and spiritual problems whom spiritual leaders are telling that it’s not really a problem.  People who are struggling with sinful behaviors who are being told, “That’s not a sin.  God loves you just as you are.”  The second part is true, and that is why He wants you to stop sinning.

Which brings me to the second prophecy in today’s passage: those who seek God’s guidance while worshiping an idol they have set up in their heart.  We need to examine our hearts for the things we place ahead of God in our lives.  Do we worship our country?  Our government? Our wealth (or, perhaps, wealth which we do not have)?  Is there an ideology we put ahead of serving God?  Do we already know that what we are doing is wrong?  There is an additional important point in Ezekiel’s message to the leaders who consulted him about the Lord’s will while secretly worshiping idols.  It was a message for religious leaders whom hypocrites reach out to for spiritual guidance.  When those who are putting on the appearance of serving God while going against His will approach someone for spiritual guidance, the answer from God is, “Repent and renounce ALL of your detestable practices.”  Really, if you are reading this blog you probably need to put yourself on both sides of this prophecy.  First, repent and renounce all of your practices which God finds detestable (by the way, He finds them detestable because they bring harm to yourself and to others).  Second, when someone who is practicing sinful behaviors comes to you for spiritual guidance, tell them to repent and renounce all of their practices which God finds detestable (don’t forget to remind them that God finds them detestable because they cause harm to the person who does them and harm to others).

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezekiel 9-12.

In yesterday’s passage, God showed Ezekiel the people of Jerusalem doing detestable things in the temple.  Then Ezekiel saw that God marked those who were grieved by the detestable things being done.  God sent judgement on those who were not so marked.   He told those delivering His judgement to begin at the temple.  Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but it seems that God will bring His judgement first against those who practiced detestable things who claimed to faithfully worshipped God.  So, let us be grieved by the detestable practices which are practiced around us and put aside those which we may have been drawn into.  So that God may give us an undivided heart and we may follow His decrees.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.