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.

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

In yesterday’s passage, Ezekiel prophesied about the corrupt practices of the people and leaders still living in Jerusalem and how those practices would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem.  Today, Ezekiel goes into more detail about that destruction.  Ezekiel describes how God ordered six “men” to execute judgement upon the people in Jerusalem.  God ordered them to kill without pity or compassion.  However, God sent ahead of them a “man” ordered to mark those who lamented and grieved over the detestable things being done in Jerusalem.  Those ordered to kill were also ordered to pass by those so marked.  I want you to notice that those who were marked for protection were not marked in advance.  They were not those who had at some point lamented and grieved over the sins being carried out.  They were those who were actively doing so when God’s judgement was carried out.  So, let us grieve and lament about the detestable things being done 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 9-12.

Ezekiel spoke his prophecies to the Israelites who were already in exile before the fall of Jerusalem.  While some of what he said was directed at those remaining in Jerusalem, most of it was about them but directed at those already in exile.  In this passage he makes that clear.  Ezekiel told those living in exile that those living in Jerusalem considered them to be cast off from God, that only those who were still in Jerusalem were the true heirs of Israel.  Those remaining in Jerusalem thought that they were safe because they were God’s Chosen People, living in God’s Holy City.  They also believed that it was their right to take over the land of those who had been taken to exile revoking any claim those people or their descendants might have.  Many of those remaining in Jerusalem refused to see their own sins, somehow believing themselves exempt from obeying God’s laws.  Ezekiel then tells the exiles that God had protected them while in exile and had plans to bring them back to Him and to the land He had given their ancestors.  Ezekiel also points out that not all of those living in Jerusalem were ignoring God’s laws; some of them mourned the terrible sins being committed around them.

I am having trouble putting in words the point I am trying to make here.  In Jerusalem, there were those living among the “blessed” who mourned and lamented the horrible things being done by those around them.  In exile, there were those living “far from God”, who sought to do His will, who sought His forgiveness.  Ezekiel told both that God saw them and would protect them.  There were also two groups whom Ezekiel warned of imminent disaster: those who believed their special status with God allowed them to do as they pleased, and those who believed they need not fear God at all.  Ezekiel assured those who feared God’s punishment and sought His will that they need not fear.  Let us do God’s will and not fear the disaster His word tells us is coming, while calling on those around us to turn from their wickedness (note: some of them practice that wickedness to fill the emptiness they feel because they believe there is no 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 9-12.

Again in today’s passage Ezekiel describes a vision of the four living creatures.  He writes that they are the same beings as those described in his first vision.  Yet the picture that I draw in my head is somewhat different from the one I draw when I read the first one.  I think  that if I had the talent to put both of these “drawings” on paper I could see how they are different perspectives on the same thing, but part of me thinks that perhaps they actually appeared different to Ezekiel and he just “knew” that they were the same beings (sort of like how in dreams you know that you are some place familiar, but when you wake up and think about that place in the dream it contains elements that are different from what you know of the real place).

However, the focus of my thoughts on today’s passage come in the section before Ezekiel describes the four living creatures.  Ezekiel saw God summon six men armed with deadly weapons and one man dressed in linen with a writing kit.  God instructed the man with the writing kit to go throughout the city and mark those who grieved and lamented over the detestable things which were happening in the city.  Then God ordered the armed men to go through the city and kill everyone, except those who had been marked by the man in linen.  So, when you look at our society, do you grieve for the terrible things which people generally accept as normal and acceptable?  Do you lament the great harm being done to others in the name of “choice”?  Let us mourn for the terrible things which are being done and pray to God that He use us to transform the lives of those around us so that they choose to live according to His word.

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

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

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

The thing which struck me right away was that before God sent His agents out to punish Jerusalem, He sent a messenger to mark those who grieved over the sins being committed in the city.  Then He told His agents to kill everyone without that mark.  As I read this it strikes me that God expects us to be saddened by the sins we see rather than angered by them.  This does not mean that we should never be angered by sin.  However, more than anything else, sin should make us sad.  We should be saddened by the harm which the sinner does to themselves with their sin, and saddened that they fail to even see that harm.  Yes, there is room for us to be angered by the harm they may be doing to others, but even then we should feel sadness for the sinner.

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

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

Continuing his vision of idolatry in Jerusalem, Ezekiel describes God sending men through Jerusalem to kill the idolaters living there.  However, before they went out into the city, God sent a man to mark those who were horrified by the sins and idolatry going on there.  As an aside I want to note that throughout Ezekiel he uses “idolatry” and “detestable sins” somewhat interchangeably.  This indicates to me that justifying sins is idolatry.  Back to the main thread.  Ezekiel’s vision of God sending men through Jerusalem to kill the idolaters living there.  In Ezekiel’s understanding this was the majority of the population to the point where he feared God would wipe out everyone left in Israel.  There is an interesting subtext here.  No, God was not going to kill everyone left in Israel, but only because there were a few faithful left.  “Everybody else is doing it” is no defense against God’s judgement for sin.  If everyone turns from God to sin, He will indeed kill all of us.

Prophets had been telling the people of Israel for a long time that if they did not turn from their sins, God would bring devastation on the land.  As a result, people had begun to think that these prophecies were for the distant future.  Through Ezekiel, God told the people that time was up.  The distant future had arrived.  As I read this I wondered if God is sending the same message to us today.  When I was growing up, most Christians believed that Christ’s return was just around the corner, that time was running short for people to turn to God and be saved.  I no longer get that sense.  Today, it feels like most Christians believe that God’s final judgement will be some time in the distant future.  I fear that means that it will be any day now.  We need to have a sense of urgency in order to transform society the way in which God intends.