365 Reflections

Men seek glory. There's no doubt they will do almost anything to achieve it. They will write songs or plays to shock or inspire. They will fight in dangerous matches for sport against one another, or play a dangerous sport to win an award. They will even kill or destroy for their own name. Why? Because there's an inner desire for glory that cannot be quenched by self-glorification. The glory we were made for is the glory of God.  Ezekiel's prophetic work had to be hard among the exiles of Israel. Here was a nation in disarray and confused by false prophets, memories of former national glory, and an endless tunnel of exile in which there seemed to be no light to mark its end. To minister God's Word in such circumstances would have been demanding and exhausting. For Ezekiel, the one thing that kept him going had to be the repeated experiences with the GLORY of God. The glory of God keeps God's men and women going.  In the 8th chapter, we have another overpowering expe

Israel experienced centuries-long idolatry and cyclical obedience to God. But eventually, the end of God's grace came upon them. Ezekiel 7 picks up on that very word, "End" by repeating it several times in the early part of the chapter.  Ezekiel 7:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. Ezekiel 7:5–6 (ESV) “Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster after disaster! Behold, it comes. 6 An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. There comes a time when God's grace ceases to overlook sin and starts to deal with sin in tangible "ends" for people in hard-hearted rebellion. For Israel, the end of their time in the land had finally come. They first welcomed sin into the land from the idolatrous practices of the other nations. Now the Lord would remove them from that land for a season of discipline.  Th

Ezekiel begins to pronounce judgment upon the people starting with the land and their idols. These alternative worship structures led Israel's heart away from the Lord. In dramatic language, Ezekiel 6 captures the nature of sin in a way we often don't think about. Sin breaks the heart of God.  Ezekiel 6:8–9 (ESV) “Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, 9 then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. God's work of discipline upon His people is always to reveal the nature of sin. Sometimes the cost that we incur upon ourselves through hurtful actions, and here by the brokenness of G