365 Reflections

We are in Ezekiel 36. We look at this chapter in total and see one glaring concern on God's heart - the sake of His Name. Jesus told us to open prayer with "Hallowed by THY NAME". Our concern for God's glory should preface every prayer and pleading before Him. His name is His reputation. He raises up people to life for the sake of His name. In Ezekiel, the promise to forlorn exiles was simple: I will save and redeem you for My name's glory.  Ezekiel 36:22 (ESV) “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. God will bring the exiles back to the land not because they deserve it but so that the nations might know His grace. Look at the following verse: Ezekiel 36:23 (ESV) And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations , and which you have pro...

It's one of the most amazing things about the land of Israel. Presently it is flourishing economically, agriculturally, technologically, militarily, and diplomatically. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, this small nation continues to stand as a testament to the surety of God's Word.  Ezekiel 36 arrives on the heels of the doom announced to Edom in chapter 35, who sought to exploit Israel's discipline of exile to Babylon by taking the land for themselves. It never happened, and the land of Edom has become a desolate waste just as Ezekiel 35 foretold.  Not Israel. The exact opposite has happened to God's favored nation. In Ezekiel 36, the Lord tells His prophet to speak to the mountains of Israel and declare the blessing that will surely arrive as He brings His people back to the land.  Ezekiel 36:8–9 (ESV) “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 For behold, I am for you,...

In Ezekiel 35, the prophet again rebukes the Edomites in excoriating judgment for their attitude and actions toward Israel. The Edomites were guilty of seeking to take advantage of Israel's demise and even assisted the Babylonians in their conquest of them.  Psalm 137:7 (ESV) Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” Therefore, the Lord announces the vengeance He plans to take against this ancient nemesis against His people.  Ezekiel 35:1–3 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. Now, we find more insight into Edom's hostility toward Israel in this chapter. It was not simply a border dispute or complex relations between neighboring countries. No, Ezekiel...

Jesus told the disciples He would give them a peace the world would not understand or take away.  John 14:27 (ESV) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Philippians 4:7 (ESV) And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. In Ezekiel 34, after the Lord announces judgment on the false shepherds and says that He would come down and be their true shepherd, we get a picture of the peace he brings through types and shadows in the language of this beautiful text.  Ezekiel 34:25 (ESV) “I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. First, His peace is rooted in His covenant. We have all we need through His blood to know God's peace.  Ephesians 1:7 (ESV) In Him we have redemption through his blood,...

Ezekiel 34 is a powerful chapter in which God announces judgment on the Shepherds of Israel. A shepherd is to be selfless and serve the sheep. But Israel's leaders had grown self-interested and fat. They had used the sheep to enjoy a life of privilege. It's important to see this text not simply in a pastoral sense but also in a governance sense. The spiritual leaders of Israel were to be their civic leaders. And in this, they failed miserably.  Ezekiel 34:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? The shepherds had fattened themselves off the people.  Ezekiel 34:3 (ESV) You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The shepherds had no concern for the hurts and pains of the people. ...

In Ezekiel 24, the prophet was given a case of Mutness from God, with a sign that it would not leave until the day the city fell.  All the way back in chapter three, he spoke about it: Ezekiel 3:26–27 (ESV) And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. Later in chapter 24: Ezekiel 24:27 (ESV) On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD.” In Ezekiel 33, we come to the fulfillment of that promise as his lips are loosed to declare God's Word to the exiles headed off to Babylon.  Ezekiel 33:21–22 (ESV) In the twelfth year of our exile, in the...

The headline in most Bibles about Ezekiel 33 (not part of the biblical text) tells us what this chapter is about.  "Ezekiel Is Israel’s Watchman" What a picture of God's prophets. Watchmen. What does the term refer to? It's a military post whose job is to protect the people/nation/city from military invasions, surprise attacks, or civil disasters. The watchman also had the responsibility of declaring a new day.  Isaiah 21:12 (ESV) The watchman says: “Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.” In Ezekiel 33, God unpacks how Ezekiel will operate in this role for the people now under judgment.  Ezekiel 33:1–6 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, 3 and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then if anyone who he...

God takes no pleasure in the death or demise of the wicked. Ezekiel makes that statement and before he does, you can see it in the message God sends him to deliver.  In Ezekiel 29, the prophet pronounced Egypt's doom; in Ezekiel 30, the 1, the prophet lamented her doom at God's command. In Ezekiel 31, the prophet pronounced Pharoah's doom and now in Ezekiel 32, the prophet once again laments. Ezekiel 32:1–2 (ESV) In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: “You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers. The prophet's lamentation is not so much a song of sorrow about the judgment but the sad reality that becomes a nation or leader due to that judgment. We see that clarification after the lamentation over E...

In Ezekiel 31, the Prophet poses a question to Egypt's leader, Pharoah.  Ezekiel 31:1–2 (ESV) In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: “Whom are you like in your greatness? Spoiler alert, Pharoah thought he was pretty great. But God is about to drop some truth that will render Egypt's pride as dust. He does this by talking about someone far greater than Egypt was.  Ezekiel 31:3–5 (ESV) Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches and forest shade, and of towering height, its top among the clouds. 4 The waters nourished it; the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow around the place of its planting, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the field. 5 So it towered high above all the trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches long from abundant water in its shoots. In the Bible, nations and leaders a...

Nations are like people because they reflect the will of those within them. And the will of most people is stubborn rebellion. That's how we are born. No one teaches a child to resist instruction; it comes standard in their makeup. Like people, nations will resist the will of God. Like people, nations will not learn the lessons of their past. Like people, nations will cut themselves down in their stubborn refusal to listen to the Lord and submit to His authority.  In the list of nations that should have learned NOT to mistreat Israel, Egypt was on the top. This was the captive nation who stubbornly refused, through her Pharoah, not to listen to the God of Israel. It was this nation that experienced the wrath of God for weeks through 10 mighty plagues, eventually cutting off the life of Pharoah's own son. It should have been this nation who should have known better than to ever touch Israel in a way that displeased the Lord who so resoundingly exposed their vain idols and powerl...

In Ezekiel 29, the prophet is in full force calling out the nations around Israel who disparaged or harmed them during their slide into abandoning God. Here, the target is Egypt.  Ezekiel 29:1–3 (ESV) In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’ Egypt had a long relationship with Israel. It was her captivity, her incubator as she grew, and eventually the first triumph upon her birth at the Red Sea. But there was always a forlorn desire in some to return or to trust this former captor when facing challenges from other nations. Some people can leave Egypt without letting Egypt leave them.  Many of Israel's pagan kin...

Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 1:20, "Where is the wise man?" referring to his age and acknowledging that Christ Jesus and the simple Gospel message have superseded human wisdom beyond our rational thought. Who would have thought that to save the world, God would enter it, not in prominence but in poverty, and who would have thought that to save the world, God would die on a cross and rise instead of killing His enemies?  The wisdom of every age is eventually undone by the truth of God's Word. This is the case for Tyre's king, who, perhaps at the time of Ezekiel's writing, was the wisest, noblest man on Earth. But his pride brought him down. Ezekiel 28:1–2 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— Thi...

Ezekiel 27 is a funeral dirge of prophecy against Tyre, a coastal city that had become the linchpin of ancient commerce. Every nation imaginable, including Judah and Israel, did business with this city. So the dirge opens with poetic language referring to Tyre as a ship.  Ezekiel 27:6–9 (ESV) Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory. 7 Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your banner; blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was your awning. 8 The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers; your skilled men, O Tyre, were in you; they were your pilots. 9 The elders of Gebal and her skilled men were in you, caulking your seams; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in you to barter for your wares. Then, the prophet enumerates all the nations with whom Tyre did business.  Ezekiel 27:12–16 (ESV) “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every ...

The nation of Israel had a complicated relationship with the ancient people of Tyre, or at least their kings. David and Hiram, the king of Tyre, cooperated at one time.  2 Samuel 5:11 (ESV) And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house. But Tyre, as an ancient people, was interested in its own glory far above anything else. Bible historians point out that Tyre was a political mastermind, playing Assyria and Egypt off each other to enrich itself, becoming one of the great merchant marine nations of ancient times.  Ezekiel spends a lot of time addressing this nation. Later, he will refer to the king of Tyre in satanic imagery in Eden, which elevates the content of his prophecy against this people even more.  Ezekiel 26:1–3 (ESV) In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is brok...