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

Ezekiel makes two prophecies worth thinking on in today’s passage.  First, he uses a metaphor of two eagles and a vine to describe the faithlessness of Zedekiah.  Zedekiah was put on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar and swore an oath of fealty to him.  But, once he had consolidated his hold over Jerusalem, he entered into an alliance with Egypt and rebelled against Babylon.  Ezekiel prophesied that God would use Babylon to bring Zedekiah and Jerusalem down for breaking their covenant with Babylon.  Then, at a later time, God promised to raise up a ruler over His people who would show the world that He was indeed God.

Ezekiel then goes from there to a prophecy which sits near to the center of the Christian faith.  Ezekiel is not the first, nor the only, prophet to make this proclamation.  And from the frequency with which it gets brought back up we can see that we as humans have trouble remembering it.  Each individual is responsible for their own sins. A son, or daughter, does not inherit righteousness, nor do they inherit guilt, from their parents.  If your parents were terrible, awful people, you may still choose to be a good person, and if your parents were good, righteous people, God will still hold you to account if you choose the path of wickedness.  We, also, should judge people based on their own actions, not the righteousness, or wickedness, of their parents.

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.

In today’s passage, Ezekiel speaks out against false prophets.  He appears to give a separate condemnation for female false prophets than the one he gives for male false prophets.  However, his condemnations are actually against two different kinds of false prophets, those who claim to speak on behalf of God, but to whom God has not spoken, and those who claim a source for their prophetic visions other than God.  And as I think a little more about it I realize that both types of false prophet are two sides of the same coin.  The first fail to point out the sins of society and encourage people to turn to God.  The second condemn those whose sins are relatively minor and defend those who commit more destructive sins.  In both cases, they cover up what is truly wrong and make efforts to make society’s true failings look like strengths.  Ezekiel then goes on to condemn those who might think they are exempt from his previous condemnation because they do not prophecy.  He condemns those of us who turn to God for guidance while worshiping idols we have set up in our hearts.  Let us scour our hearts for those things which we have allowed to keep us from doing God’s will.  This last condemnation should hit close to home.  Just because we do not publicly worship an idol does not mean that we do not worship one, or more.

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.

Again in today’s passage Ezekiel describes a vision of the four living creatures.  He writes that they are the same beings as those described in his first vision.  Yet the picture that I draw in my head is somewhat different from the one I draw when I read the first one.  I think  that if I had the talent to put both of these “drawings” on paper I could see how they are different perspectives on the same thing, but part of me thinks that perhaps they actually appeared different to Ezekiel and he just “knew” that they were the same beings (sort of like how in dreams you know that you are some place familiar, but when you wake up and think about that place in the dream it contains elements that are different from what you know of the real place).

However, the focus of my thoughts on today’s passage come in the section before Ezekiel describes the four living creatures.  Ezekiel saw God summon six men armed with deadly weapons and one man dressed in linen with a writing kit.  God instructed the man with the writing kit to go throughout the city and mark those who grieved and lamented over the detestable things which were happening in the city.  Then God ordered the armed men to go through the city and kill everyone, except those who had been marked by the man in linen.  So, when you look at our society, do you grieve for the terrible things which people generally accept as normal and acceptable?  Do you lament the great harm being done to others in the name of “choice”?  Let us mourn for the terrible things which are being done and pray to God that He use us to transform the lives of those around us so that they choose to live according to His word.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 1-4.

Whenever I read Ezekiel’s descriptions of the living creatures in his visions I wish I had the artistic talent to draw out what those words describe.  It always feels to me like I am missing something significant because my mental picture is incomplete.  On the other hand, another part of my wonders if perhaps we make too much of the vision, that perhaps it was just intended to convey the glory, and majesty, of God as He called Ezekiel to his mission.  In any case, I do not want to get too caught up in the description of the four living creatures because the actual message of Ezekiel’s calling is worth our full attention.

I want to consider three elements of Ezekiel’s calling.  God gives Ezekiel a scroll which He tells him to eat, then to go speak to the people of Israel.   To use a modern idiom, God was telling Ezekiel to internalize His message before speaking to the people of Israel.  When God gives us a message for people, our first step should be to “eat” that message and make it part of us.  Before we preach God’s word to others we should live by it ourselves.

That first element (first in my relating, not in the passage itself) I believe applies to everyone who follows God.  The next two elements of Ezekiel’s call do not.  God called Ezekiel to speak His words to the people of Israel, not to people who spoke a different language from him, or lived in a far away land.  However, because those people spoke the same language as he did, they would be stubborn and refuse to truly listen to what he had to say.  So, God would make Ezekiel just as stubborn and hard-headed as they.  We often think that being called to go to a foreign land as a missionary is the more difficult calling, but this passage suggests that may not be true.  If we find ourselves with a ministry to the members of the society in which we were born, we must be prepared to be stubborn and obstinate..  And wherever we are called to minister, we must not allow the disapproval of those around us to silence us when God tells us to speak. If God gives us a message telling sinners of their sin, we dare not keep silent.  If we do not speak the message which God gives us, their blood will be on our hands.

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 10 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 46-48.

So, yesterday I noticed something in the passage which I did not comment on because it was in the middle of a section which I cannot see a way to apply today.  However, I saw a very similar thing today, also in the middle of a section for which I do not see an application today (in both cases I believe this to be a limitation to my vision, not a comment on the value of the passage).  So, in yesterday’s passage the priests were instructed leave the clothes they wore when they were ministering to God in special inner rooms of the Temple in order to be sure not to endanger anyone by transmitting holiness to them.  In today’s passage, the priests were to prepare the offerings eaten only by the priests in special kitchens so as to avoid carrying them through the through the outer courtyard and risk endangering the people by transmitting holiness to them.   I am completely baffled as to what Ezekiel is getting at by saying that the people would be endangered by having holiness transmitted to them.  If any of my readers think that they understand this, please comment.

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 9 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 44-45.

In his vision as recounted in today’s passage, Ezekiel was told to take careful note of the regulations he was given here concerning the Temple and the use of its various entryways.  To be perfectly honest, I do not get the significance of most of the instructions which follow.  There are however a few which I think we can generalize and understand as having a timeless significance.  He tells the priests that they must be sure to follow all of God’s instructions.  Then a little bit later, he tells the princes, the ruling class, that they must use honest weights and honest measures.  It is not enough for the leaders and rulers to make sure the people know what the right thing to do is, they must do what is right.  We see the violation of this today with government leaders breaking government regulations which the common people must follow and with religious leaders breaking the sexual codes they preach.  Yes, our leaders are humans with human failings, but when they find themselves unable to live by the rules they promote for others they should step down until God’s Spirit gives them victory over that sin.

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 8 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 41-43.

In an earlier passage Ezekiel described the glory of the Lord leaving the Temple in a vision in which he saw people performing idol worship in the Temple.  In today’s passage, he describes the measurements of the Temple which he sees in a vision.  In the middle of that description he sees the glory of the Lord enter this new Temple.  In Ezekiel’s vision God tells him that the description of the Temple which he saw in this vision will cause the Israelites to be ashamed of their sins.  This suggests to me that there is some significance to the measurements and other details which Ezekiel relates concerning the Temple he saw, but I have never been able to decipher what that significance is.

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 7 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 39-40.

Today’s continuation of Ezekiel’s prophecy against Gog and Magog contains an element which has always led me to think it was figurative.  He speaks of the people of Israel using the weapons of the defeated army as fuel for seven years.  I cannot imagine modern weapons carried by an army which could be used in that manner.  This is really the only part of Ezekiel’s description of the aftermath of the battle which I cannot see how it would potentially describe the aftermath of a modern battle.  If Israel was attacked by a force such as that described here by Ezekiel, it would not be out of the question for Israel to use nuclear weapons to stop them.  It would also not be out of the question for such an army to be carrying biological agents with them.  Both of those things would explain the description of special groups being designated for cleanup of the battlefield.  Ultimately, I pray that the fulfillment of this prophecy is not ordained to happen in my lifetime.