365 Reflections

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

Ezekiel 9 introduces us to the Lord's manner of judgment upon Judah. The prophet is given a vision of executioners coming to the city. But strangely, these men of death are accompanied by a scribe. The pen is mightier than the sword.  Ezekiel 9:1–2 (ESV) Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. The movement starts with the Lord instructing the scribe to mark the foreheads of certain people. Sound familiar? Ezekiel 9:3–4 (ESV) Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the

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