In this passage, Ezekiel’s personal life formed the object lesson for the Israelites. Not by choice, he lived out Jesus’ description of the cost of following God. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own…
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,…
After reading the account of Samaria and Jerusalem’s continued spiritual adultery with idols, the last third of chapter 23 describes their consequences and punishment for such detestable practices against the Lord. This passage doesn’t have quite the same glimmer of hope, but it does have a message for us. Read…
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, https://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?…
Ezekiel was quite the word smith as he described Israel’s spiritual adultery and unfaithfulness to the Lord. In this single chapter, he used more than one word for harlot, two different words for lover, and more than one word for nakedness. He also wrote more than one word for alienated…
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…
In the first part of this chapter, God stated consequences for disobedience, including His refining fire. A refining fire purifies something valuable. It’s interesting that Ezekiel wrote about this concept more than once, which makes this part of God’s Word relevant for us today. God loves us and we are…
Last week we read about God’s purposes in judgment, which also show us more of His character. In the second part of chapter 21, God described His sword of judgment and its role in disciplining His children. Read Ezekiel 21:8-12. God told Ezekiel, “Son of man,” to prophesy regarding Israel….
This week we resume reading at the end of Ezekiel 20, since chapter breaks are human, not necessarily divine. Ezekiel proclaimed a prophecy toward Israel’s south, identified by Baker as the general region of the Negev. We’ve seen in previous readings how God used multiple words to express similar concepts…
The Sovereign Lord is also a God of restoration and reconciliation. He calls His people back to Himself over and over again. He does all this for His glory, to uphold the power and essence of His holy Name. We observed in Ezekiel 19 how God remained true to His…