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

Ezekiel continues his prophecy about the downfall of Egypt at the beginning of today’s passage.  And once more he repeats that when this disaster comes to pass, then those on whom it falls will know that God is Lord.  Those who look to someone or something else upon which to order their lives will face terrible suffering and destruction, and then they will learn that God is indeed Lord.  Once Ezekiel has concluded his prophecy concerning Egypt, he once more to his metaphor about the watchman.   The message given here to Ezekiel applies to us today.  If God gives us a message that someone’s wicked acts will lead to their suffering and death, He expects us to pass that message on to them.  He will not hold us responsible if they do not listen to that message, but if we do not speak that message to them God will hold us accountable for their suffering.  God does not wish for the wicked to suffer for their wickedness.  His desire is for them to turn to Him from their evil ways, and to do good.  We should share that desire.

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.

As I start to write my thoughts on today’s passage I am not sure how I will be able to say as much as I like out of them.  My wife always laughs when I start out this way because so often once I start writing it goes from one thing to another.    In any case, Ezekiel prophesies the downfall of Egypt.  He tells that the pride of Egypt’s rulers led to that downfall.  The Pharaoh had come to believe that he deserved credit for the Nile and the benefits it brought Egypt.  The people of Egypt had become proud and arrogant.  They had promised to support other peoples then when those peoples needed their support had failed to provide it.  All of this led to Egypt’s downfall.  And God said that when Egypt’s downfall happened, then they would know that He is Lord.  The people of Egypt saw tragedy and destruction because they thought that they need not listen to God.  If we do not freely acknowledge that God is our Lord, we will suffer terrible things so that we come to understand that He is.

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.

Ezekiel begins his prophecy against Tyre by describing its wealth and the power it gained by trading with all parts of the world.  He goes into detail about how so many nations provided goods and services to Tyre in exchange for the goods and services Tyre obtained elsewhere.  Then Ezekiel tells how people all over the world will mourn the downfall of Tyre because of the trade they will lose when it falls.  Only after all of that does Ezekiel explain why Tyre would fall.  He tells us that Tyre would be brought down because of the pride of her rulers.  The rulers of Tyre gained wealth because of their skill, but once they had accumulated wealth they began to believe that they were untouchable, that they were gods.  So it goes with all nations which rise to great wealth and/or power, in time the rulers believe that they are entitled to their wealth and power and that no one can take it from them.  They begin to treat those who are dependent upon them, and upon whom their wealth and power depends, as objects to used and disposed of for their own pleasure.  They stop entering into honest trade agreements, thinking that their trade partners have no options.  Eventually, they sow the seeds of their own destruction.

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.

Today’s passage begins with Ezekiel comparing Jerusalem to a copper cook pot.  As he describes how the pot is put over the fire, he makes the point that it doesn’t make any difference that the best quality meat was put into the pot.    I had always imagined the “heat” Ezekiel says was applied to the pot as God’s wrath being poured out on Jerusalem for their sin.  Today, it struck me that the “heat” applied to the pot was the sins of the people, particularly the sins of the elites, of the wealthy and powerful.  Their sins have boiled off that which would have made the “stew” edible until the contents were burned to the metal so that no amount of cleaning could remove it.  That is what is happening to our society today.  After finishing his metaphor, Ezekiel talks about the fall of Jerusalem and God’s judgement against the nations surrounding Judah.  Repeatedly as he describes these things God, speaking through Ezekiel, says, “Then you (or they) will know that I am God.”  Yesterday, I wrote about people doing terrible things because they had forgotten God.  Today’s passage tells us that if we forget God, He will allow terrible things to happen to us until we once more know that He is God, and act accordingly.

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.

When I read today’s passage I see parallel’s to our society today.  Ezekiel describes Jerusalem as a society which condemned itself by the blood it shed and the idols it made.  All too many of those in its government use(d) their power solely for their own interests, even when it brought suffering and bloodshed upon those whose interests they were supposed to look after.  Children are taught to treat their parents with contempt.  God tells people through Ezekiel that they have despised His holy things and desecrated His Sabbaths.  He goes on describing behaviors which sound so much like our society today.  Then He tells them that they have forgotten Him.  They do all of those terrible things because they have forgotten God…and they have forgotten God because they want to do all of those terrible things.  Perhaps the greatest failing Ezekiel mentions is that of the religious leaders.  They intentionally fail to distinguish the holy from the common and teach that there is no distinction between that which is sinful and that which is good.  With a society of whom those things are true, God is looking for people who are willing to build up the wall against such things, by pointing out the distinction between that which is clean and that which is unclean.  God is looking for people who are willing to stand in the gaps in the wall against such wickedness, pointing out that which is unclean.  Will He find such people in our society today?

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 20-21.

The thought which struck me here was how Ezekiel listed out the failures of previous generations to faithfully follow the instructions God had given them, but he did not condemn the current generation for the failure of their ancestors to live righteous, faithful lives.  No, he condemned the current generation for their own failure to live righteous, faithful lives.  When Ezekiel looked at the failures of the past generations, he pointed out that their failure was a failure to follow the guidelines of what they knew to be good.  The failure of the current generation was not that their ancestors had failed to do what was good.  The failure of the current generation is their rejection of what their ancestors knew to be good, and that they also know to be good.  The failure of the previous generations was not that what they claimed as the standard of good behavior was not good.  The failure was that they did not live according to that standard.  In the same way today, the failure of our ancestors was not that the standard they proclaimed was bad.  The failure of our ancestors was that they did not live up to that standard.  Ezekiel did not say that the failure of the previous generations to live up to their standard meant that we should abandon that standard.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 17-19.

I have rarely given much thought to the message of chapter seventeen.  However, today I realized it gives us an important lesson for understanding the implications of how a country implements its foreign policy (and from that, some lessons on our own actions).  When King Josiah ruled, Judah was an ally of Babylon against Assyria, while Egypt was an ally of Assyria.  Josiah was killed in battle trying to prevent Egypt from marching to Assyria’s aid.  Egypt deposed Josiah’s eldest son and put his second son (Jehoiakim) on the throne as a puppet.  A little over a decade later, Babylon deposed Jehoiakim’s son and put Zedekiah on the throne.  As part of that process, Zedekiah swore oaths of loyalty to Babylon.  However, he was soon convinced to renounce those oaths and rely on Egypt for support against Babylon.  In this passage Ezekiel condemns Zedekiah for breaking his oath to Babylon, pointing out that Babylon had provided Judah with the means to thrive during a tumultuous time.  Zedekiah thought that by throwing his support to Egypt he could capitalize on being in between these two powers.  The end result was that instead of thriving as a client state of Babylon Judah became a mere province of Babylon, and later of Persia.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 13-15.

Today’s passage begins with a prophecy against false prophets, against those who prophecy out of their own imagination.  He compares them to masons who whitewash a wall to hide where it is starting to fall apart rather than repair it.  I really love this metaphor, and the way Ezekiel keeps coming back to it throughout his prophecies.  Prophets are called to speak a message which addresses the places where people are falling short of God’s will, a message which addresses the ways in which people are behaving unjustly.  Ezekiel is condemning those who prophesy things which cover up the ways in which people behave unjustly, which cover up the ways in which people anger God.  God sends prophets to tell people about the things they need to change, those who tell people they can keep on doing whatever they want are false prophets.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 9-12.

In chapter eight, which I read yesterday, Ezekiel was given a vision of various ways in which the people of Jerusalem, in particular the leadership, committed detestable idolatrous practices while claiming to worship God.  In chapter nine, which begins today’s passage, that vision continues with Ezekiel seeing God send a “man” to mark those who were grieved by those detestable practices and who lamented that people did them.  God then sent six “men” to follow that man to kill those whom the man did not so mark.  After the man was finished marking people he returned to God’s presence and Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart from Jerusalem’s temple and from Jerusalem.  So, the question we need to ask ourselves: are we grieved by the detestable acts the people around us perform?  Do we lament the failure of those who claim to serve the Lord to remain faithful to Him?

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