365 Reflections

False leaders who act spiritual while being utterly bankrupt inside is one of the great scourges on the faith from ancient times to this day. The world has no shortage of those who would venture to speak for God without a true and right relationship with Him. In Ezekiel's day, the elders practiced spirituality to impress the crowds, but they did not fool the Lord.  Ezekiel 14:1–3 (ESV) Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Notice the description. The leaders of Israel had idols in their hearts. An idol is any object or person we love instead of the Lord. More than that, notice the phrase, "set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces." What does that mean? The New Living Translation has it: Ezekiel 14:3 (NLT)

The first part of Ezekiel 13 condemns the false promises of the false prophets in Israel. The second half condemns the women who practice witchcraft and magic arts in the nation.  Ezekiel 13:17–18 (ESV) “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? The wording of their actions is essential. Verse 18 speaks of tying the hands of those who come to them and veiling the eyes. That is what witchcraft and immoral women do to a person (or nation). They blind and bind them.  Consider the story of Samson. His obsession with an immoral woman led to him being just that—blinded and bound in the pit of the Philistines. Spiritual oppression comes upon a man through a

False teachers are expected in every season of the Church. They existed even in ancient Israel as the time of judgment quickly approached. Ezekiel 13:1–3 (ESV)  The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ 3 Thus says the Lord GOD, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Ezekiel, like Jeremiah before him, describes in great detail the actions of these distorted ambassadors of the Lord.  First, their prophesy comes from their hearts, not a vision or visitation from the Lord. They are following what Jeremiah called the most deceptive part of the human body—the emotional will, identified as the "heart."  Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Ezekiel continues: Ezekiel 13:6 (ESV) They have seen false visions and lying divinatio

Having seen the glory of God depart Jerusalem's temple and settle in place among the exiles, Ezekiel is freshly commissioned to be a voice for the Lord amidst this rebellious house.  Ezekiel 12:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel is told to publicly leave Jerusalem as a symbol of the Lord's departure from the city.  Ezekiel 12:3–6 (ESV) As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight dig through the wall, and bring y

The first ten chapters of Ezekiel have been dark. God's prophet has revealed warnings of doom and performed intense street theatre to show what is coming upon them in exile and for those who remain in the city of Jerusalem.  Chapter 10 ends with a vision of God's glorious throne chariot leaving the city of Jerusalem and coming east to where the exiles are in Babylon.  Now, chapter 11 opens with what looks to be more doom and gloom from the prophet. He speaks from the East Gate of the city, the very gate where the glory of God is exiting:  Ezekiel 11:5–7 (ESV) And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of

God's fire is scattered over the city of Jerusalem in a vision Ezekiel beholds in chapter 10. The scene in the vision would be familiar to the prophet. For it is the same glorious vision of God on the wheeled chariot.  Ezekiel 10:9–14 (ESV) And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the sec