Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 44-45.

Ezekiel here refers to those who are “uncircumcised in heart and flesh”.  He condemns the people of Israel for bringing those who wee “uncircumcised in heart and in flesh” into the Temple, in to God’s sanctuary.  He goes on to say that after the restoration of the Temple, no one so uncircumcised is to be allowed into God’s sanctuary.  I think it noteworthy that priority is given to being uncircumcised in heart over being uncircumcised in flesh. Further, I believe that this prophecy has application to the Church today.  All too often the Church has failed to tell those who refuse to accept its teachings that they need to go elsewhere.  Time and again we see people who argue for changing the Church’s teaching on a subject continue to do so after the Church has debated, prayed, and accepted the Holy Spirit’s guidance on the issue against their stance.  Such people must be told that they are no longer welcome to take part in discussions about Church policy.  If they believe the Church is wrong, they should find like-minded people and form their own group which worships God according to their understanding of His will.  God’s Spirit will reveal, over time, which group He truly resides among.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 39-40.

Starting in Chapter 38, which I read yesterday, Ezekiel prophesies that Gog, prince of Magog, Meschech, Tubal, and perhaps Rosh (there is some debate as to whether the last is the name of a country or an adjective meaning “chief”).   We do not know exactly where Ezekiel would have believed those lands to be located, but everything we know says that they would have been in the lands around the Black Sea, most likely in areas which are now part of Turkey.  Ezekiel tells us that a day will come when the ruler of those lands will decide to attack what he perceives to be a defenseless Israel.  Ezekiel then prophesies that God will draw the armies of these nations to attack Israel.  But when they do, He will utterly destroy them, revealing His glory to the entire world.  Ezekiel prophesies that the force which will attack Israel and be defeated will be so large that the people of Israel will use their weapons to fuel their fires for seven years and it will take seven months to bury the bodies.

This prophecy of Gog attacking Israel and being defeated has long been considered a prophecy of the end times.  In the 1970s, those seeking to interpret the prophecies about the end times from the Bible looked at this passage and concluded that the lands to which it referred were the lands of the Soviet Union.  Some of the arguments used to make that case seemed fanciful to me.  Based on what I know today, those fanciful arguments were not necessary.  However, when I look at the world today, it seems to me that if God were to fulfill this prophecy right now, the attack would be led by Turkey.  However, the most important aspect of this prophecy is God’s promise that when it comes to pass He will pour out His Spirit on the people of Israel and they will know that He is the Lord their God.  We can look at this prophecy from many directions, but let us never forget that God will fulfill this prophecy in a way which shows the entire world that He alone is God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 41-43.

Today’s passage continues Ezekiel’s description of his vision of the restored Temple.  I have never really received any spiritual insights from such detailed descriptions.  However, in chapter 43 Ezekiel describes his vision of God’s glory returning to the Temple.  Unlike his previous visions of God’s glory, he does not go into a detailed description.  This time Ezekiel merely tells us that what he saw was like his first vision when God called him to be a prophet and like his vision of God’s glory leaving Jerusalem when God ordered its destruction.  I am unsure if this prophecy was completely fulfilled when the Holy Spirit entered into Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost, or if there is yet another fulfillment of it in physical Jerusalem.

When the Holy Spirit entered into Jesus’s disciples gathered in the upper room at Pentecost, it was entering into the Church, which was the Temple which Jesus had built.  This is really rather significant.  Each and every one of us is part of God’s Temple.  Which means that God’s glory resides within us.  Therefore, when we sin, we are doing the sort of thing which Ezekiel condemned in his visions regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.  When we sin, we are offering sacrifices to idols in the presence of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 34-36.

God gave Ezekiel a prophecy against those who had taken positions of leadership over His people.  This prophecy came in the metaphor of shepherds over a flock of sheep.  It is a very appropriate metaphor for many reasons, but I want to focus on the idea that shepherds profit from their position of leadership over the flock.  A careful reading of this passage reveals that God intends for those He appoints as shepherds over His flock, those to whom He gives positions of leadership, to profit from caring for the people over whom He has put them in charge.  The condemnation of the shepherds in this passage comes not from the fact that they profited from being over the flock, but that they did so without doing the job for which they had been appointed.  The shepherds profited from the flock, but did not take care of the sheep.

This prophecy should be a warning for many of those in positions of leadership today.  All too many of them use their positions to get rich and get into ever more powerful positions without making any effort to care for those under their power, those who should be under their care.  However, those of us who are not in positions of leadership do not get off easy in this prophecy, because Ezekiel goes on to condemn the rich and powerful who are not leaders for abusing the poor and weak.  So, each and every one of us, whether we are in positions of authority or not, need to examine ourselves and how we live our lives.  Are we doing things which interfere with others receiving the good things in life which we have already received?  Do we find ourselves spoiling other people’s happiness?  Moreover, do we use whatever power we do have, however limited it might be, to care for those less fortunate than ourselves?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 32-33.

Ezekiel continues prophesying about the destruction of Egypt.  However, what he says in today’s passage extends beyond Egypt to include the other mighty powers of his lifetime.  For all of their apparent power at their peak, their mighty armies ended up slain by the sword.  Egypt was not different than the powers which went before her, and the mighty powers of our day will also suffer the same fate when God decides that their time has come to an end.

Ezekiel then goes on to give a more in depth explanation of his references to being a watchman.  Ezekiel was called to be a watchman to his people, to warn them of the trouble coming upon them because of their wicked actions.  Generally, when I read this I see it as a message for us to pass on God’s word to those whose wicked actions will lead to their suffering, and I still see it that way today.  However, I also see that we may be called to speak out to our society in general.  We must make sure that we pass on God’s message that if the wicked will repent of their evil and serve God, He will deliver them from the destruction which He sends upon the wicked.  We must also remember and pass on the corollary: if the righteous turn away from God and do evil, God will bring that same destruction upon them.  Let us be God’s watchmen to those around us and to our society.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 29-31.

Ezekiel prophesies here against Egypt.  The rulers of Egypt thought that the power of their land, which derived, in part, from their geographic location, was a result of their own actions.  This prophecy is a warning to all who believe that their power is a result of their own greatness.  God will bring down those whose pride leads them to believe they are accountable to no one.  I find myself struggling with this post.  When I began writing I had a clear idea of what this prophecy meant for us today, but I am finding it impossible to put that idea into words.  I will end with this, which will perhaps capture the thought I had when I started. God will use the fall of the great and mighty to bring glory to His name and to cause people to recognize that He is the true ruler of all.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 27-28.

The people of Tyre were wealthy and successful, but also arrogant.  In particular their king was so.  The king of Tyre believed that because he had the good fortune to rule over a city which was accessible only by sea that he was a god.  The king of Tyre, and the people he ruled over, were convinced that they could withstand any attack.  Ezekiel warns them that when God sends an army against them, they will fall.  King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years causing much suffering in that city and the death of its king.  Later, Alexander sacked Tyre because the king of Tyre considered himself a god greater than Alexander..  Overall, let us remember that no matter how secure our position may seem, God can bring us low.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 24-26.

I really struggled with what to write about today’s passage.  Finally it came to me that the prophecy using the cooking pot as a metaphor was directed specifically at Jerusalem.  In many of the other prophecies against Jerusalem, Jerusalem is symbolic for all of Judah, or sometimes even all of Israel.  But this one is specific to Jerusalem.  The people of Jerusalem considered themselves the elite of Judah, and at times of all of Israel.  And among the people of Jerusalem there were those who were considered better than the rest. So, I see this as a prophecy against those who see themselves as the elite of a nation.  God will hold those who see themselves as above the rest of the nation responsible for all of the sins of that nation.   The “choicest” cuts of meat were put into the pot, some “better” cuts than others.   But God will “cook” that pot over the fire until there is no distinction among them,  He will heat the pot with fire in order to turn them from their sins, but, if they do not, He will raise the temperature until they are burned to the metal of the pot and the pot is ruined.  God is turning up the heat right now, will we turn from our sins?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 22-23.

As I read through today’s passage I was struck by how Ezekiel lumped together four categories of sin: unjust gain, shedding innocent blood, sacrificing children to idols, and desecrating the Sabbaths.  In chapter 22, he starts out by writing of God’s condemnation of Jerusalem for shedding blood in the midst of the city.  He speaks of how those in authority use their power to shed blood and to make a profit off of the poor.  The context makes it clear that Ezekiel is not referring to those who make a living by providing goods or services to the poor, because the next sentence condemns those who extort unjust gain from their neighbors.  In chapter 23 Ezekiel writes about those who sacrificed their children and then desecrated God’s sanctuary by entering it on the same day.   He is clearly referring to those who killed their children and then proffered worship to God with no remorse.  And he writes about them desecrating God’s Sabbaths and despising holy things.  The implication being that all of the other sins descended from those two.

At the end of chapter 22 Ezekiel brings up a theme which comes up throughout his book; God is looking for someone to build up the walls and stand in the gap.  I feel challenged by this.  God is calling me to stand in the gap for my country, for the people among whom I live.  I feel that I have failed to keep His Sabbath holy (to the degree that this passage refers to the Sabbaths other than the weekly one, I do not currently see how those apply to me).  And I do not spend enough time in prayer.  Recently, I saw a post on social media calling on Christians to commit to dropping what they are doing at 8 PM Central Time every day and spend a minute in prayer.  I feel called by this.  The time of day is not important.  What is important is that you pick a time of day, every day, when you will stop whatever else you are doing and pray.  We can do that can’t we? Commit to take 1 minute out of whatever else we are doing to pray for the people around us?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.