365 Reflections

The turn in Ezekiel's prophesy seems to come in chapter 24 with the death of the prophet's wife. He symbolizes for the nation that their precious possession, the Temple, will be lost, and they would be unable to grieve in captivity to Babylon for fear of seeming seditious. Now, in chapter 25, the message from the Lord to the prophet is against those nations that scoffed, laughed at, or helped in the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem.  Ezekiel 25:1–4 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your m...

Some of the things the Lord asked the prophets were difficult to understand. Perhaps at the top of the list is what the Lord asks of Ezekiel in chapter 24.  Ezekiel 24:15–18 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded. The NLT has it described in even more striking detail.  Ezekiel 24:16 (NLT) “Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. Now, the people are understandably confused by all this. But Ezekiel tells them his life is a sign for them....

Ezekiel 23 introduces us to the parable of two sisters who played the whore and were handed over to what they desired. Oholah, who stands for Samaria, and Oholibah, who stands for Jerusalem, the respective capitals of the northern and southern kingdoms.  The names have definitions. Oholah means "her tent," which commentators suggest refers to the many tent shrines scattered on "every hill" in the Northern tribes that sought after God and false gods according to their own imagination. Oholibah means, "My tent is in her" referring to the sacred tabernacle in which God dwelt that He chose to do in Jerusalem.  These two nations committed spiritual adultery on the Lord, seeking the praise and prominence of the nations around them.  The Northern tribes lusted after Assyria.  Ezekiel 23:5–6 (ESV) “Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable...

Ezekiel 22 has some of the most alarming practices of Israel listed in detail. Their heinous sins were the reason why God would no longer relent from sending disaster. They stole, they murdered, they committed sexual abominations with family members. They took bribes, extorted, and swindled each other. They were an utterly corrupt nation. And in the middle of the litany of issues Ezekiel addresses, there is this: Ezekiel 22:12 (ESV) In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD. The Lord determines to deal with the corruption through the fire of purification. Ezekiel is told that the city will melt as silver or other fine ores are melted in order to produce something useful.  Ezekiel 22:17–22 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to me: 18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are...

In Ezekiel 21 we have one of the hardest words from the Lord in the whole Bible. God will brandish a sword and strike both Jerusalem and the Ammonites from their lands. His judgment will come down upon all those who live there, and the instrument of His judgment will be the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.  Ezekiel 21:1–3 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. Other portions of scripture refer to the Word of God as a sword that pierces and divides. Here, it is a picture of judgment. God says the judgment will come and affect both the righteous and the wicked.  Ezekiel 21:4–5 (ESV) Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath again...

Ezekiel 20 shows us a familiar frame in Israel's history. When things went poorly for the people, the leaders often looked to the man who delivered the word to them in a way they didn't previously want to hear. Now its the elder's turn with Ezekiel. Ezekiel 20:1–3 (ESV) In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. The Lord will speak to them but not in the way they want to hear yet again. They will hear from this chapter the many ways in which they acted like their fathers in the wilderness and forsook the Lord.  Ezekiel 20:4 (ESV) Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers... The L...

Ezekiel 19 is a lament over the leaders of Israel who led Israel astray and brought that great nation down into their present captivity by Babylon.  Ezekiel 19:1–2 (ESV) And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs. Two pictures are presented as the leaders of Israel: the lion and the vine. The image of a lion stretches back to Jacob's blessing of Judah, the tribe from which the ruler's scepter will not depart.  Genesis 49:9–10 (ESV) Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. The tribe of Judah had incredible beginnings under the leadership of David and Solomon, but as Ezekiel outline...

When life gets difficult, God goes on trial. Why is this happening? Where is God when it hurts? What is the point of this suffering? Why is life so unfair? That is the issue at stake in Ezekiel 18. During their early years in exile, the people of Israel started to question God’s fairness. If the nation sinned in the past, why should the children of that nation suffer in exile for 70 years? Chapter 18 opens with God asking them about a proverb they invented about children suffering for the sins of their fathers. Ezekiel 18:2–4 (ESV) “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. Every generation has this sort of question. Why should I suffer because of the poor choices of ...

We cannot go beyond what God allows, even in our moments of rebellion. This is the lesson the people of Israel needed to learn while in Babylon. They ended up there due to the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, and it’s likely they despised every part of that experience. However, their presence in Babylon was part of God’s plan and foreknowledge; He was placing His people under discipline. Despite this, they sought to escape the path that the Lord had set for them. In response, Ezekiel is given a parable about their rebellion against the Lord’s discipline in Ezekiel 17. The parable goes like this.  A great eagle, symbolizing King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, plucks the topmost shoot of a cedar tree, which represents Jehoiachin, the king of Judah. He then plants it in fertile soil in Babylon. From this land, a seed grows into a vine, representing Zedekiah, a puppet king placed by Babylon. This vine spreads low, symbolizing dependence and submission to Babylon.  Then, another great eagle...

Here’s a thought-provoking question: Can rebellious believers, when fully consumed by sin, become even more depraved than those who never believed? According to Ezekiel, that’s precisely what happened to Israel. Despite being entrusted with the Law, the promises, the land, the kings, and the prophets, they descended into such profound corruption that they surpassed the wickedness of the very nations God had called them to reach. Israel's history, from her humble beginnings to the zenith of her power under Solomon, is a tragic tale of deterioration. Ezekiel 16 paints a picture of her gradual descent over the centuries, until she resembled the very people from whom God had called her out.  Ezekiel 16:47–48 (ESV) Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done...

Ezekiel 16 is a long narrative describing Israel's past from God's perspective. The terms are not flattering to this faltering nation. They began ignominiously, they failed continually, and by every estimation they did not deserve the grace God showed them again and again.  Ezekiel 16:1–5 (ESV)  Again the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. The first 5 verses include terms that we generally would not find in the Genesis ac...

The Lord asks Ezekiel a question in the beginning of chapter 15: Ezekiel 15:2 (ESV) “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? The image of a vine is an often-used picture of Israel. God planted her, dressed her, and built a wall around her. Isaiah describes in detail what the Lord did for Israel as His chosen vine in Isaiah 5:1-7.  A vine is not a thick tree with very useful wood. It's thin, and its only use is in what it produces, the fruit of the vine. Israel had ceased bearing fruit and, therefore, had become useless to the Lord's intentions for her.  Ezekiel 15:3 (ESV) Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Never forget, the Lord calls and saves to see fruitfulness and contribution to the world. Israel, though their existence alone was God's purpose, had forgotten to bless and inform the nations about Him and, therefore, were no longer usef...

Ezekiel is told the land will be devoured and the people thrown down or thrown out. The end has come, and there's no turning back on God's plan and purpose. To illustrate, the Lord references three righteous men who, if they had lived in this time, would have only escaped by themselves.  Ezekiel 14:12–14 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to me: 13 “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. The Lord repeated this stipulation three more times in the chapter to cover the four judgments on the land.  Famine would follow the ravaging of animals, then sword and pestilence.  Ezekiel 14:21–22 (ESV) “For thus says the Lord GOD: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 o...

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...