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

Many of us have been made watchmen by God.  He has called on us to warn those around us that God will judge the wicked, both among the living and the dead.  I am called out by that every year when I read this passage, but this year I felt a need to emphasize something in that part of the passage which I don’t remember noticing before.  Ezekiel addressed those among his audience who were weighed down with guilt.  God gave him a message to those who recognized their sinfulness and felt that they had no hope because their sin was so great.  God gives us this message, no matter how great our sin, if we turn to Him and allow Him to turn us from our sin, He will give us life.  God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked.  He desires that all turn to Him and accept the righteousness which He offers.

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

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

My lovely wife married me 22 years ago on the 23rd of this month.  So I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary every day from now until then.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

Usually when I read today’s passage God’s comparison of Ezekiel to a watchman who must give the people warning of impending danger is the part which strikes closest to home for me.  However, today I was struck more by two other things in this passage.  First is something which I have touched on when mentioned elsewhere.  If someone whom God has praised and blessed for their righteousness begins to do evil, God will withdraw His blessing and allow them to suffer the consequences of their evil.  On the other hand, if someone whom God has promised to send punishment for their evil, stops committing evil acts and begins to live righteously, God will withdraw the promised punishment and bless them.  If you seek the benefits of righteous behavior you must continue to behave righteously.  On the other hand, when you recognize the wickedness of your actions it is never too late to change.

Second, I was struck by God’s warning to Ezekiel that most of those coming to listen to him prophesy were merely doing so for entertainment’s sake.  They had no intention of acting on what he said to them.  It struck me as something we must be careful to avoid today.  It is all too easy for us to attend worship for what I get out of it, for my entertainment.  And, it is all too easy to conduct services which entertain people rather than inspire them to change.  I would also like to point out that Ezekiel was a true prophet of God, yet God told him that those who came to listen to him has no intention of acting on the words which he spoke.  So, while if we are the one speaking we must be careful to make clear that we are calling people to change, the onus of this passage is on those of us who are the audience when God’s word is spoken.  We must listen to God’s word and change our behavior and we must not allow ourselves to select where we choose to listen to God’s word because it entertains us sufficiently.

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

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

Ezekiel continues prophesying about the destruction of Egypt.  However, what he says in today’s passage extends beyond Egypt to include the other mighty powers of his lifetime.  For all of their apparent power at their peak, their mighty armies ended up slain by the sword.  Egypt was not different than the powers which went before her, and the mighty powers of our day will also suffer the same fate when God decides that their time has come to an end.

Ezekiel then goes on to give a more in depth explanation of his references to being a watchman.  Ezekiel was called to be a watchman to his people, to warn them of the trouble coming upon them because of their wicked actions.  Generally, when I read this I see it as a message for us to pass on God’s word to those whose wicked actions will lead to their suffering, and I still see it that way today.  However, I also see that we may be called to speak out to our society in general.  We must make sure that we pass on God’s message that if the wicked will repent of their evil and serve God, He will deliver them from the destruction which He sends upon the wicked.  We must also remember and pass on the corollary: if the righteous turn away from God and do evil, God will bring that same destruction upon them.  Let us be God’s watchmen to those around us and to our society.

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

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

In the year 2000, on the 23rd day of this month, my wife married me.  So here we are on day 4 of the 20 days that I am going to wish her Happy Anniversary for 20 years of marriage.  Happy Anniversary Darling!

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

Today I struggle with Ezekiel’s prophecies concerning the nations around Judah, but was struck by something.  As Ezekiel concluded his prophecy concerning the fall of Egypt he listed other powerful nations which had fallen (or were about to fall).  As he goes through this list it contains nations with which we are familiar, both from elsewhere in the Bible and from archeology, but in the middle of the list he names two nations with which we have little familiarity: Meshech and Tubal.  To the best of my knowledge, the only source we have which mentions them which is contemporary with, or earlier than, Ezekiel, is Ezekiel.  There are later mentions of these two nations, but they all appear to be identifying their location from conjecture, either their own or that of those who preceded them. Some have concluded from this that they represent figurative nations rather than real nations.  Yet, here Ezekiel lists them among nations with which he readers would have been familiar.

Once again God gives Ezekiel the command to be a watchman over the people of Israel.  Many of us today have been given a similar command, perhaps all of us who follow Christ.  There are really two elements of the watchman’s job as described here.  The first element, the obvious element, is to warn people of coming danger; to warn them that their actions will lead to their death.  The second element is to let them know that God does not desire the death of the wicked, that He instead desires them to turn from their wickedness.  As a codicil to that second element we should realize that we should not desire the death of the wicked, we should also desire for them the turn to God.  We should desire that the wicked avoid the consequences of their sin by turning from it, rather than taking joy in the possibility that they will suffer for it.

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

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

Ezekiel wrote here about how God called him to be a watchman for the people of Israel.  A watchman is obligated to warn people when danger approaches.  If the watchman fails to warn people and harm comes to them, the watchman is liable for that harm.  On the other hand, if the watchman warns people and they fail to take action, the watchman is held blameless.  The same is true for some of us today.  God has called some of us to be watchmen (and women).  He calls us to warn people of the suffering which awaits them if they do not turn from their sin(s).  Actually, there are two messages we may receive to pass on.  We may receive a message to warn people to turn from sin and begin to act righteously.  We may also receive a message to warn people not to turn to sin from righteousness.  If those who have lived righteous lives so far turn from their righteousness and begin to commit evil acts, God will destroy them.  None of their previous righteous acts will save them.  However, if those who have lived sinful lives turn from their sins and begin to do what is just and right, God will forgive their sins and give them joy.  

Not all of us are called to be watchmen the way that Ezekiel was.  He was called to deliver God’s message to all of the people of Israel, to be their watchman.  However, I believe that most, if not all of us, have been called to deliver God’s message to a few people.  Perhaps you have been called to warn one, or a few, of your righteous friends not to turn from their godly behavior.  Do not shirk your calling.  Or perhaps you have been called to warn someone, or even just a few people, that they will destroy themselves with their sinful acts.  Again, do not shirk your calling.  You may be afraid of saying anything because you fear you will lose a friend.  If you speak up, you MAY lose a friend, but if you do not, you WILL lose a friend.