Welcome to another theatrical presentation from Ezekiel. I mean that in a good sense of the word, as his words give us a dramatic picture of God’s judgment and punishment on Israel for their spiritual adulterous ways and idolatry. God told Ezekiel Babylon would lay siege to Jerusalem that day,…
Two weeks ago, we read about the older of two adulterous sisters, Samaria, in chapter 23. Newer readers can find previous reading comments on the blog, http://www.tracieheskett.com/blog/. In the next part of this chapter, Ezekiel wrote about the younger sister, Jerusalem. A reader observed much repetition in Ezekiel’s message. Why?…
Throughout Ezekiel we’ve observed the principle of a remnant. God knows our hearts, and He knows there will always be one or more who steadfastly follow Him. Those people uphold the Lord, His Word, and faith from one generation to another until Jesus comes. In this passage, I believe the…
The Lord said Israel’s king broke God’s covenant. Ezekiel faithfully recorded God’s Words regarding judgment and a new relationship with the Lord. God added a piece to the overall theme in Ezekiel’s message: I the Lord have spoken. Israel needed to pay attention to God’s Word as well as His…
We don’t really have snow–yet. And I could count on less than ten fingers the number of sunrises I’ve seen this year (although there have been a few). Photos like this remind us God is faithful through it all. Ezekiel’s writing invites us to read slowly, study, pause, savor, and…
In this chapter, God spoke to Ezekiel with a word picture, like a parable. The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken…
In Ezekiel’s words of judgment, doom, and gloom, we’ve observed God’s hand at work, His character, and the remnant He kept for Himself. This week and next month are the same as last week and last month: we pray for God to give us eyes to see Ezekiel’s theme, that…
Ezekiel emphasized his theme, you will know that I am the Lord, in the second half of chapter 13. God struck out in wrath against the false prophets. He removed their power to sway the people and lead them astray. Ezekiel didn’t describe this remnant, but the Lord said He…
Ezekiel used simple, literal language in much of this passage. It’s interesting to note, though, that he used four different words to discuss God’s upcoming judgment of captivity. To shed light on this concept in our language, “captive” means to take prisoner. Another word Ezekiel used means “capture,” which means…
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession’” (Ezekiel 11:14-15). Ezekiel heard the Word of the…