EZEKIEL: VISIONS OF GOD
29 meditations on Ezekiel by Dr. David Feddes
Get ready. Brace yourself. You are about to enter some wild and astonishing territory. You are about to see and hear things you’ve perhaps never seen or heard before.
The prophet Ezekiel had what he called “visions of God.” Through these visions we glimpse strange and splendid pictures of supernatural creatures and of the shocking glory of God himself. We see things worse than any disaster movie: walls collapsing, cities aflame, civilizations sinking like ships. We also see thrilling wonders: scattered bones becoming people, ruins rising into splendid structures.
In Ezekiel’s visions of God, we see God as we’ve perhaps never seen him before, and we see life as we’ve maybe never seen it before–from God’s point of view. There’s much in Ezekiel for us discover. There’s also much in Ezekiel that we won’t be able to understand or explain, but that’s an important discovery, too: God, his world, and his ways are greater than we can grasp.
The book of Ezekiel explodes any idea that life is ours to manage and control as we see fit, and it wipes out any picture of a small, safe God who fits neatly in a box. 65 times in Ezekiel God declares, “Then they will know that I am the Lord!” The God we meet through Ezekiel is more terrifying than we ever feared and more wonderful than we ever dreamed. So get ready to be stirred, stretched, even stunned.
Ezekiel 1:1-3
VISIONS OF GOD
While I was among the exiles… the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. Ezekiel 1:1
Age thirty was the time for a priest to complete his training and start ministering at the temple in Jerusalem. But Ezekiel wasn’t anywhere near Jerusalem. He and some other Israelites had been torn from their homeland by invading troops and were forced to live in Babylon. What an identity crisis! How could Ezekiel remain an Israelite in a foreign land? How could he serve as a priest of God so far from the Lord’s temple?
But God can show up in the last place you expect to find him, at a time when you fear he’s abandoned you and perhaps even doubt he’s real. July 31, 593 B.C., started out as just another grim day in a place Ezekiel didn’t want to be, among fellow exiles along the Kebar River south of Babylon. But there, in that dreary place, God opened the curtain between heaven and earth. Ezekiel saw God’s majesty, heard God’s voice, felt God’s hand.
The Word of the Lord, the angels of the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord came sweeping into Ezekiel’s life. The man without a country, the priest without a temple, was overwhelmed by the awareness, “God is real, and God is here!”
It was still July 31, 593 B.C. Ezekiel was still south of Babylon, still in exile. Same day, same place, same problems–but everything was different. Once you’ve been in touch with heavenly reality, earth never looks quite the same again.
PRAYER–Almighty God, when I feel out of place and you seem far away, show me you are real, you are here, and you have a special purpose for me. Amen.
Ezekiel 1:4-21
AMAZING CREATURES
The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. Ezekiel 1:14
The universe is bigger, stranger, and grander than we realize. Beyond everyday life and the people around us, beyond animals and birds and the very forces of nature, are vast and astonishing realities of which we know little.
In visions from God, Ezekiel glimpsed four out-of-this-world creatures called cherubim (10:14). Each cherub somehow combined the features of a human (smartest creature on earth) with the features of a lion (fiercest of wild beasts), an ox (strongest of obedient animals), and an eagle (most splendid of the birds). The cherubim glowed like fire and moved like lightning.
Ezekiel’s vision doesn’t mean that a cherub is a weird jumble of body parts from various creatures pasted together. A cherub is a spirit without physical body parts. Still, each cherub has genius surpassing humans, fierce royalty beyond lions, obedient strength to outwork an ox, splendor soaring above eagles, more energy than fire, more speed than light. Traits that exist separately in physical, earthly things are combined in amazing ways in angelic spirits. These spirits constantly adore God and (unseen by us) affect the lives of people, animals, birds, and the forces of nature.
The wisdom of God’s all-seeing eyes and the power of his ever-present Spirit direct the wheels of God’s working in the world and order the actions of the cherubim. If cherubim can combine so many qualities, what countless excellencies must be combined in their Creator! If cherubim are so mighty and magnificent, what must their Master be like?
PRAYER–“Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works, everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Amen.” (Psalm 103:21-22)
Ezekiel 1:22-28
GLIMPSING GOD’S GLORY
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Ezekiel 1:28
In an old episode of the comic strip Hagar the Horrible, the pudgy Viking Hagar is looking for a fight. He bangs on a castle door and shouts, “Is Og the Awful in there? Come out and face me!” The castle door opens and out steps a ferocious giant, bristling with weapons. His waist is higher than Hagar’s head. Little Hagar shrinks back in terror and gasps, “Are you Og the Awful.” “No,” replies the giant, “I’m just his butler.”
Heavenly creatures (like the cherubim Ezekiel saw) are mighty and overwhelming. But great as they are, cherubim and seraphim, angels and archangels, are still only God’s butlers, his servants and throne attendants. The Lord himself is infinitely higher, greater, and more glorious than all of them combined.
God is “the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen nor can see” (1 Timothy 6:15-16). Ezekiel did not see God himself in his full glory. He saw only “the appearance of the likeness”–just a glimpse of a glimmer–“of the glory of the Lord.” But that was enough to flatten him and leave him in shock for a week afterward (3:15).
We glimpse God’s glory through his Son. “God … made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). When Christ’s glory flattens and fills us, we become new people in him.
PRAYER–“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor. We give you thanks and praise your glorious name.” Amen. (1 Chron. 29:11,13)
Ezekiel 2:1-3:3
WHETHER THEY LISTEN OR NOT
“You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen.” Ezekiel 2:7
God called Ezekiel to be a prophet, not a salesman; to be faithful, not successful. Ezekiel was not told to take a survey or to give people a message they liked. He was simply to say what God said, no matter how people reacted.
Preachers whose main goal is attracting people often “succeed.” “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). But no matter how many people prefer myths, God’s messengers must “preach the Word … in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2), when it’s popular and when it’s not.
What made Ezekiel faithful? He had glimpsed God’s glory (1:28), so he cared more what God said than what people said. He was filled with God’s Spirit, so he had power within him greater than any in the world (2:2). He ate God’s Word and found it tasty and nourishing (3:3), so he knew by experience that only the Word can bring life and happiness to empty souls. His resolve was hardened by God, so he was ready for thorny times (2:6, 3:8-9).
Awed by God’s majesty, filled with God’s Spirit, nourished by God’s Word, toughened for God’s work, you too can be faithful and bring God’s Word to others–whether they listen or not.
PRAYER–Lord, speak to me, that I may speak in living echoes of your tone. As you have sought, so let me seek your erring children lost and lone. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Ezekiel 7:5-27
HIGHWAY TO HELL
“Doom has come upon you… I am about to pour out my wrath on you.” Ezekiel 7:7-8
“God won’t punish you; he’s kind and loving, so do as you please. All religions are helpful, and all roads lead to God, so believe what you like.” That’s the kind of “openminded” approach many people in Jerusalem were taking.
They weren’t satisfied with the Lord. They thought nature worship or charms or images or different supernatural powers might be more useful. Their leaders crammed the Lord’s temple with items from various religions (Ezekiel 8). Although these leaders sounded openminded, the real reason they felt free to mix many religions in one pot was that deep inside they thought the Lord God Almighty was out of the picture (8:12).
But God thundered, “I will not look on you with pity or spare you; I will repay you according to your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes the blow” (7:9).
Scripture says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25). Not all roads lead to God. Rather, all roads lead to hell–except one. “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,” says Jesus, “and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 6:13-14). “I am the way” (John 14:6). “I am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11).
PRAYER–Lord, to whom else shall we go? Salvation is found in no one else. Only you can save us. Turn us from every wrong road and lead us in the Way of Jesus. Amen.
Ezekiel 9:1-11
MARKED FOR MERCY
“Put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things.” Ezekiel 9:4
Ezekiel sees six “men” with deadly weapons, plus one keeping records. These seven are angels in charge of Jerusalem. They have often defended the city from enemies, but now the angelic warriors are getting ready to destroy it. God tells them to mark certain people for mercy and to slaughter everyone else.
Something similar will happen at God’s final judgment of the earth. An angel will call out to other avenging angels, “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” (Revelation 7:3).
God’s judgment is so overwhelming that Ezekiel feared the Lord’s nation would perish and Jerusalem would vanish. But God’s grace is great. He marks many with mercy, and he is building a new Jerusalem which will stand forever. “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4).
Who gets marked for mercy? Only the brokenhearted: those who weep at wickedness and false religion and who feel disgust at their own dreadful offenses against God’s glory. The rest who merrily keep doing their own thing remain hellbound.
What is the mark of mercy? The name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We who trust and worship the Lord today have his holy name on our foreheads, sealed outwardly by baptism and inwardly by the Holy Spirit’s gift of repentance.
PRAYER–God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Move me to despise evil and to glory in you. Make me your servant, marked by your mercy, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Ezekiel 10:1-19
GOD SAYS GOODBYE
Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple. Ezekiel 10:18
The Lord can show up where you don’t expect him (as Ezekiel learned in his first vision of God). But God can also leave places you expect him to be–even his own temple! For centuries God’s glory had been linked to the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem. But the evil and idols became too disgusting for God to stay any longer, and so the Lord’s cherubim and his glory left the temple as Ezekiel watched. God left nothing of himself behind except burning coals and raging fire (10:2).
The Lord cannot be tied down to any place or group. His supreme passion is for his own glory, so anybody and anything that goes on dishonoring his glory will be abandoned to his fiery wrath. “If we disown him, he will also disown us… for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:12-13).
If God could say goodbye even to his holy city and his holy temple when they became unholy, he can surely say goodbye to us if we provoke him to do so. Jesus warns a church which no longer shines with love for Christ and for each other, “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:5).
Sitting in church doesn’t make you safe from God’s judgment–and avoiding church certainly doesn’t make you safe. “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17-18)
PRAYER–Hear us, you who sit enthroned between the cherubim. Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved, through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Psalm 80)
Ezekiel 11:14-25
HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them.” Ezekiel 11:19
Ezekiel and other exiles had been taken from Jerusalem several years earlier, but Jerusalem had not yet fallen. The temple still stood. Many in Jerusalem remained in their homes, and they took this to mean that God favored them and rejected the exiles. That made the exiles feel more hopeless than ever.
But God turned the picture upside down. He said Jerusalem and the temple were doomed. He also said the exiles had a temple better than any building: “I have been a sanctuary for them in the nations where they have gone” (11:16).
Soon God would destroy Jerusalem, and the survivors would be carried off to join the earlier exiles in Babylon. Hopeless? No, through such hardship God advances his glory and his people’s good. The agony of exile would make his people take him so seriously that never again would they worship other gods. Also, their time in a strange land would wean them from the belief that God is bound to any particular place and show them that God reigns within his people wherever they go. Their worship would be spiritual, from the heart. They would return to their old homeland as new people.
Centuries after Ezekiel, a hopeless, divorced outcast asked Jesus about the best place to be close to God. “Believe me,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21,24).
PRAYER–Lord, be our temple wherever we go, and make our hearts your temple. Revive our hope through Jesus, and renew our worship through your Spirit. Amen.
Ezekiel 13:1-16
WHITEWASH WON’T WORK
“When a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash.” Ezekiel 13:10
When a building is in bad shape, it needs more than fresh paint. A crumbling foundation must be rebuilt. A rotting wall must be replaced. Paint can’t save a building with faulty foundations or weak walls.
You are a building. You need more than a new paint job; you need to be rebuilt from the ground up. You don’t just need a new self-image; you need a new self. So beware of preachers who help you feel better without becoming better, who speak only of blessing but never of judgment, who say “Peace,” when there is no peace. They are whitewashing and brainwashing you, covering your flimsy life with pleasant paint.
Reassurance without repentance is ruinous. God’s fierce storm of judgment will demolish every whitewashed wall and destroy every false prophet who keeps painting instead of calling sinners to face their problems and rebuild their lives on a solid foundation.
Jesus says, “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and puts my words into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6:46-49).
PRAYER–I love you, O Lord, my rock, my foundation and salvation. Remove my sin and flimsiness, and build me into a strong temple for your Spirit. Amen.
Ezekiel 13:17-23
CHARMING CHEATERS
“Woe to the women who sew magic charms… I will save my people from your hands.” Ezekiel 13:18,23
Phony spirituality is an equal opportunity business: women can do it as well as men. Women can dream up ideas and label them “prophecy” (13:17). Women can call on magic and devilish powers through charms, voodoo, crystals, ouija boards, seances, fortune telling, or horoscopes–for a fee, of course (13:19).
In Israel’s history, women of faith such as Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah honored the Lord and spoke his Word. But in Ezekiel’s time, far too many women rejected the glorious God of their mothers. They tried to connect with different supernatural forces and encouraged behavior that clashed with God’s commandments.
God hates mantras and magic and psychic silliness, whether from men or women. These things dishonor the Lord and damage people. Magic seeks to control an impersonal power; faith seeks to honor an all-powerful Person. Magic is Satan’s idea; faith is God’s idea.
God will unmask and destroy all charming cheaters. Does that mean God is nasty? No, lies wreck lives, so God must deal with liars who discourage the righteous and encourage the wicked. In God’s great love, he promises to deal harshly with deceivers and protect his people from their charms, so that everyone will know who the true Lord really is. God’s warnings may sound mean, but they really show his mercy; for in these warnings he keeps the faithful from going astray, and he gives charming cheaters a chance to change before it is forever too late.
PRAYER–Lord, may your love and your truth always protect me. May all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Amen. (Psalm 40)
Ezekiel 15:1-8
FRUIT OR FIRE
“Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? … the fire will yet consume them.” Ezekiel 15:3,7
The wood of some trees is good for making houses or furniture, but the wood of a vine isn’t good for making anything, not even a simple peg. A vine is valued for growing grapes. If it produces no fruit, its only other use is as fuel for a fire. If anything remains after the burning, its only use is to be burned some more.
You and I are branches of a vine. The Lord has a plan to glorify himself in each branch, one way or another. In those who “produce fruit in keeping with repentance,” (Matthew 3:8), God glorifies his love and goodness by granting them eternal life. In those who bear no such fruit, God glorifies his justice and majesty by burning them in hell. “The Lord works out everything for his own ends–even the wicked for a day of disaster” (Proverbs 16:4). Either we glorify God willingly as fruit-bearing believers in his mercy, or else–if we’re dead wood–we glorify God unwillingly as fuel for his fiery justice.
God’s design for his people is “that we might bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4). Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:5-6).
PRAYER–Holy God, by your Spirit join us to Jesus through faith, that the life of Christ may be in us and that we may bear fruit to your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ezekiel 16:4-22
A FAIRY TALE RUINED
But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. Ezekiel 16:15
A young king makes a disgusting discovery. He finds a naked newborn, covered with bloody slime, birth cord still dangling. She has been left to die. Nobody wants her. But the king, in tender love, decides to give life to the filthy, helpless baby. He has her clothed, fed, educated, and housed in one of his estates.
Years later, while visiting that estate, the king sees that the baby has become a beautiful young woman. He falls in love with her and marries her. The king prizes his queen and gives her gorgeous dresses and jewelry. Her beauty becomes famous worldwide. It’s like a fairy tale.
But the queen, proud of her beauty, becomes a prostitute! She sells her body to any stranger willing to pay. She kills the babies she had with the king. When her beauty fades and nobody will pay to enjoy her body, the queen starts paying others to act out filthy fantasies with her (16:32-34). Shouldn’t her husband divorce her and–in his role as king–punish her severely?
When Israel was a filthy, helpless newborn, God loved her with fatherly pity. When she matured, God loved her with husbandly passion. What wondrous love! And how hideous to betray it!
Sometimes history repeats itself. Many people in our society call themselves Christians and belong to a church. The church is Christ’s bride. With so much pride, sexual filth, baby killing (abortion), superstition, and greed, what kind of bride are we?
Hell hath no fury like a Savior spurned.
PRAYER–Thank you, Lord, for love that rescues the helpless and cherishes them as your bride. Save us from pride, that we may love you with grateful, holy passion. Amen.
Ezekiel 18:1-20
FAMILY ISN’T DESTINY
“He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live.” Ezekiel 18:17
Some families go to church on Sunday; others stay home. Some parents live for Jesus and share him with their children through Bible reading, prayer, Christian education, and holy example; others ignore the Lord and speak Jesus’ name to their kids only as a swear word. Growing up with godly parents in a healthy home is a great help; growing up with ungodly parents in an unhealthy home is a serious hindrance. But family isn’t destiny.
You may have the holiest parents in the world, but if you turn away from God, you will go to hell. You may have the most abusive, godless parents in the world, but if you reject their evil and turn to Jesus, you will go to heaven. You won’t be condemned for someone else’s sin, and you won’t be saved by someone else’s faith. You can’t be dragged to hell by rotten parents, and you can’t ride to heaven on dad’s coattails or mom’s apron strings.
You may be glad to have good parents or sad to have bad parents, but you still have to deal with what kind of person you are. At the final judgment your parents must answer for how they treated you, but you must also answer for yourself.
Do you have a personal, living faith in the Lord Jesus? Do you strive to obey him and be like him? Your parents may help or hinder you, but in the end your own personal relationship to God determines your destiny.
PRAYER–Lord, I can’t live on my parents’ faith, and I can’t blame them for my own sins. I must answer to you. Move me to trust and obey you in Jesus. Amen.
Ezekiel 18:21-32
A NEW HEART
“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.” Ezekiel 18:31
Valentine’s Day is a time to get hearts: paper hearts, cupcake hearts, candy hearts, balloon hearts. Getting valentine hearts is exciting. But getting God’s kind of heart is far more important.
In Ezekiel, after showing that family isn’t destiny, God shows that your past doesn’t lock in your future. Change is possible, for better or worse. If you’ve been bad for many years but then turn from sin to God, the Lord promises not to hold your past against you. On the other hand, if you’ve been a decent, religious person for years but then turn from God to wickedness, you will perish for being unfaithful.
How can a bad person become good? By getting a new heart. How can an outwardly good person be kept from going bad? By getting a new heart. The only way to make positive change, and the only way for positive change to be permanent, is to have a new heart from God that beats to the rhythm of God’s Holy Spirit.
In Ezekiel God often warns of judgment. That’s not because he takes pleasure in the death of anyone. Rather, God is delighted whenever anyone turns to him and lives. God has gone so far as to sacrifice his Son Jesus on a cross to wipe out the wicked past of those who turn to him. He sends his Holy Spirit to replace a corrupt, dying heart with a holy heart that live forever. Now that’s a heart worth getting!
PRAYER–Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. For Jesus’ sake, Amen. (Psalm 51)
Ezekiel 24:15-27
NUMB WITH GRIEF
I am about to take from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not … shed any tears. Ezekiel 24:16
It’s hard to be a prophet: hard to preach harsh words, and even harder to act out deadly dramas. Ezekiel had to lie on his side for over a year, eating a skimpy diet cooked over fires fueled by dried manure. This dramatized Jerusalem under siege, where people would be unable to move freely and or eat properly (4:1-16).
Ezekiel had to shave his head and beard. Then he had to burn a third of the hair, strike a third with a sword, scatter a third to the wind, and save just a few hairs. This dramatized how the Lord would destroy most of Jerusalem’s people and scatter the rest, saving only a few (5:1-17).
As a prophet, Ezekiel wasn’t just a talker; he became a scrawny, aching, bald sufferer. Then it got worse. God told Ezekiel that his dear wife would die and that he must not mourn openly for her. Sure enough, the prophet’s wife died the next evening, and Ezekiel showed no outward sign of grief.
The evening Ezekiel’s wife died, God’s temple was burned in faraway Jerusalem. When the exiles found out that their beloved temple was gone, they would be too numb with grief to go through any of the usual grieving rituals. Then Ezekiel could connect with their grief, for his was even greater than theirs.
The Lord made these things happen. How could he? Then again, how great was the hidden grief of God over his temple and his nation, as the “wife” he had cherished now perished?
PRAYER–Father, when we grieve you, or when your ways leave us numb with grief, draw us to Jesus, who has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, and renews our hope. Amen.
Ezekiel 27:1-6,25-36
TITANIC TYRE
Your wealth… seamen … and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea. Ezekiel 27:27
In 1898 Morgan Robertson wrote a story about a splendid ship 800 feet long–far bigger than any that had ever been built. Fourteen years later a real ship was built 882.5 feet long. The imaginary ship and the real ship were both triple screw, reached speeds of 25 knots, and could carry about 3,000 people. Both had lifeboats for only a fraction of that number, but no one cared since both were “unsinkable.”
The ship in Robertson’s story started across the Atlantic with many rich, self-satisfied passengers, struck an iceberg one cold April night, and sank. The real ship started across the Atlantic with many rich, self-satisfied passengers, struck an iceberg one cold April night in 1912, and sank. The real ship was called the Titanic. The imaginary ship had been called the Titan.
The city of Tyre was a center of wealth and power, with great ships and prosperous trade. It enjoyed inventions and luxuries from many nations. Its people thought Tyre would always be rich and could never perish. But God was tired of Tyre. The Lord pictured Tyre as a ship: splendid, well built, guided by experts, loaded with luxury and goods of every sort–but doomed to sink.
If we ignore God’s warnings, we will sink like titanic Tyre. In fact, our ruin will be even more tragic and terrible. After all, Tyre had no knowledge of Jesus; we do. “I tell you,” warns Jesus, “it will be more bearable for Tyre … on the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:22).
PRAYER–Lord, when our luxury and technology make us proud, have mercy on us. Humble us and help us heed your warnings before it’s too late. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Ezekiel 28:1-10
PLAYING GOD
In the pride of your heart you say, “I am a god…” But you are a man and not a god. Ezekiel 28:2
Someone boasted of the newly built Titanic, “Even God couldn’t sink this ship!” When the mighty ship brushed an iceberg, most people on board didn’t feel a huge jolt or hear a loud explosion. One passenger recalled hearing just a faint scraping sound like a giant finger being drawn along the side of the ship.
Tyre and its king seemed unsinkable. It had the latest technology for trade and transportation. Its financial interests involved many nations. If you had asked the key to Tyre’s greatness, you’d have been told, “It’s the economy, stupid!” It took quite a man to run it all, a man as brilliant as a god–at least that’s what the king of Tyre thought. God, however, was not impressed. He said that although the king thought himself as wise as a god, he would perish like a mere man.
When we think we’re as wise as gods, our politicians boast of their achievements and see no law higher than themselves. Our scientists and doctors experiment with tissue from aborted unborns and dream of cloning headless humans to have spare parts for organ transplanting. Our entertainment industry creates high-tech, low-truth pictures that grab our eyes and poison our souls. And we ordinary folks enjoy prosperity and “progress” and do as we please, without asking what God says in Scripture. We’re smart. We’ve got everything figured out. Nothing can sink us, not even God himself!
Does anyone hear a faint scraping sound?
PRAYER–“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy.” Amen. (Revelation 15:3-4)
Ezekiel 32:17-32
HISTORY’S GARBAGE PIT
All who had spread terror … bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. (Ezekiel 32:23, 30)
Many of us don’t bother reading the Old Testament prophets, but if we do, we find ourselves yawning at chapter after chapter of judgment against various cities and nations. The nations being talked about have no impact or importance in our world. Most we’ve never heard of. Why pay attention to them?
If we had any sense, though, such chapters would not bore us; they would terrify us. The reason we’ve never heard of these nations is that they’re gone, buried forever in history’s garbage pit! They were once major world powers with mighty military forces; now they’ve been trashed. Armies that once humiliated and terrorized others have been cut off from the earth and are shamed and tormented in hell. One nation after another, one civilization after another, has perished under God’s judgment.
Will we be any different? Or will God say, “To the pit, America, with your pornography and perversion. To the pit, Canada, with your greed. To the pit, Netherlands, with your murderous ‘mercy killing.’ To the pit, China, with your vicious abortions. To the pit, Columbia, with your drug dealing. To the pit, all who trust your weapons and are brutal to others.”
If prophecies against ancient civilizations bore us, we are in greater danger than we realize. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So rather than yawn, let’s fall before God and plead for his mercy on us and on our nation.
PRAYER–O Lord, the great and awesome God, we have sinned. We have not listened to your servants the prophets. O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! Amen. (Daniel 9)
Ezekiel 33:1-11
A WATCHMAN
Son of man, I have made you a watchman … so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. Ezekiel 33:7
God gets no enjoyment from destroying sinners. Before he does so, he first wants them to be warned and have an opportunity to be saved. That’s why he appoints a watchman to sound the alarm.
If you’re a pastor, you’re a watchman for your congregation and community. Preach salvation in Christ alone, and don’t be too “nice” to warn about hell. Even if some people ignore you and go to hell, at least it won’t be your fault. If you don’t warn them, they will perish as they deserve, but you will also be to blame.
If you’re a parent, you’re a watchman for your children. Teach the Bible and the way of Christ. Warn against unbelief. Discipline a disobedient child, “for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death” (Proverbs 19:18).
If you’re a church member, you’re a watchman for those outside the church. God calls you to help warn your neighbors and your nation and to send missionaries as watchmen to other nations, so that all may be warned of judgment and called to follow Christ.
As watchman, you sound the alarm; you don’t control people’s reactions. Some may repent and be saved. Others may resent you and perish. In that case, they alone are to blame. Just be sure you’re not also to blame for not speaking God’s message. Make it your goal to be able to say, “I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:26-27).
PRAYER–Father, make me a faithful watchman, speaking to others on your behalf–and praying to you on their behalf. Have mercy and save them for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Ezekiel 33:30-33
ENJOYING THE SERMON
To them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice. Ezekiel 33:32
A pastor must preach clear, certain truth. If his message is confusing or doubtful, his people won’t know what to believe. A pastor must also preach with deep feeling. If he speaks of God’s majesty without awe, of God’s blessings without joy, of God’s wrath without anguish, his listeners won’t be stirred by something that doesn’t stir him. Pointless preaching leaves minds untaught; passionless preaching leaves hearts unmoved.
But sometimes even powerful preaching leaves people unchanged. Oh, they know a talented preacher when they hear one. After church they say what a fine voice he has or how they enjoyed the sermon. They like the preaching so much that they plan to return next Sunday for another performance. But the rest of the week, they do their own thing.
Ezekiel thundered, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to set fire to you… Everyone will see that I the Lord have kindled it; it will not be quenched.” The people applauded the sermon and said, “Isn’t he just telling parables?” (20:47-49) He’s got a great way with words, but isn’t hell just a figure of speech?
The faithful watchman Ezekiel warned people to forsake evil and seek God. And they enjoyed listening. They liked his lovely voice and said “Amen, brother!” But when the sermon ended, their money-hungry hearts remained sinful as ever. Although they kept coming to hear Ezekiel, they didn’t do what he said.
If you hear powerful preaching, don’t just enjoy it. Take God’s Word to heart, and put it into practice.
PRAYER–Gracious Lord, enable pastors to preach the Word with power, and enable us to respond with faith and obedience, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ezekiel 34:1-16
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
The Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. Ezekiel 34:11
Sheep with bad shepherds, or no shepherd at all, are sure to be scattered, confused, and miserable. But when the Lord becomes our shepherd, he gathers, guides, and comforts us. His wise, loving authority brings us security. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quite waters, he restores my soul” (Psalm 23). It’s a marvel that the Lord provides so richly for his people.
Another marvel is that the Lord goes after lost, wandering sinners who hardly seem worth the bother. “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays,” he says. “I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak” (Ezekiel 34:16). Even if ninety-nine sheep are home and healthy, the shepherd notices if just one is missing, and he goes out seeking the lost lamb. When he finds it, he is overjoyed and gently carries it home (Luke 15:4-6).
It’s marvelous that the Lord cares for the needy and seeks lost sinners, but most marvelous of all is the way he sacrifices himself to save his sheep. “I am the good shepherd,” says Jesus. “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Who could imagine a shepherd somehow turning himself into a sheep and allowing himself to be slaughtered in place of stupid, sinful sheep who have gone astray and deserve death? But that’s what Jesus has done (Isaiah 53:6-7). What a Savior!
PRAYER–Good Shepherd, your care is our comfort; your seeking is our homecoming; your death is our life. Guide us in your paths and fill us with your praise, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Ezekiel 34:17-31
SHOWERS OF BLESSING
I will bless them… there will be showers of blessing. Ezekiel 34:26
In studying Ezekiel we’ve seen visions that flash with the lightning of God’s judgment. We’ve heard warnings that rumble with the thunder of God’s wrath. Those who reject God are struck down by the bolts of his fiery punishment, and even those who trust God are rattled and shaken by the thunderclaps of his dreadful fury. But after lightning and thunder come showers of blessing.
After judgment comes joy. Rich bullies grab too much for themselves and pollute things for others, so the Lord crushes them in order to establish a just, happy society. Once the shepherd gets rid of these overfed, brutal sheep, God’s flock will flourish. Unbelievers and demons attack God’s people with lies and cruelty, so the Lord throws them into hell to protect the delight of heaven. Once these deadly predators are gone, the sheep will celebrate in safety. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). By destroying the old, sinful order which causes misery, God’s judgment prepares the way for joy.
Instead of tears, there will be showers of blessing. “I will pour water on the thirsty land,” says the Lord. “I will pour out my Spirit” (Isaiah 44:3). When God’s Holy Spirit waters you and God’s Son shepherds you, the Father himself embraces you and gives you a taste of heaven. That taste will become a feast when God’s judgments are complete and his kingdom comes in perfection.
PRAYER–Lord, hear my cry for mercy. Do not drag me away with the wicked. Save your people and shower us with blessings. Be our shepherd and carry us forever. Amen. (Psalm 28)
Ezekiel 36:16-27
FOR THE SAKE OF MY HOLY NAME
It is not for your sake… that I am going to do these things but for the sake of my holy name. Ezekiel 36:22
The Lord’s reputation is being ruined. The people he chose to honor his holy name have become an unholy mess. So, to show his holiness, God throws them out of his holy land and makes them captives of a foreign power. But onlookers don’t exclaim, “What a holy God! He’s too pure to put up with sin.” No, they assume God must be too weak to prevent his people from being taken out of his land–unless he simply doesn’t care.
Now what? If God gives hard-hearted sinners whatever they want, including his promised land, won’t he seem unholy? But if God’s people all perish, won’t he appear weak or uncaring? When God’s chosen people have gone bad, it seems impossible for God’s name to be glorified through them, no matter what God does.
But when God faces an impossible situation, he does the impossible. When the Lord seems caught between a rock and a hard place, he makes the hard place soft and the rock responsive to him. God replaces stony hearts with tender hearts. He replaces hardened spirits with his Holy Spirit. He washes away past sins, makes his chosen ones new and holy, and brings them from exile to his promised land–all for his name’s sake, not because they deserve it. By miraculously changing rotten sinners into splendid new creatures, God’s holiness, power, and love shine more brightly than ever, to the glory of his name.
PRAYER–Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. Then we your people will praise you forever. Amen. (Psalm 79)
Ezekiel 36:24-38
HEART TRANSPLANT
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Your doctor says your heart is in bad shape; your only hope is to get a different, healthy heart. So you wait for a donor heart to become available. One day the call comes. You are rushed into the operating room. The surgeon removes your bad heart and replaces it with a good one. The transplant succeeds. Instead of dying, you have new life and energy. You’re glad to be alive. At the same time, you can’t forget the donor who died, whose heart now beats in you. You wouldn’t have life without someone else’s death.
God gives each of his people a spiritual heart transplant. He removes our bad heart and replaces it with a good one. Instead of hellish death, we can have eternal life. What joy! But mingled with our gladness is the knowledge that we wouldn’t have eternal life without Someone else’s death.
In Ezekiel God promised to be the doctor who would perform the heart transplant we need. What the Lord didn’t tell Ezekiel was that he would also be the donor whose death would give us life. How can Christ be both doctor and donor? No single word picture can express all that our Lord has done for us. But we may be sure that only this divine doctor’s skill could do such a transplant, and only this holy donor’s death could give us eternal life.
How can we respond, except to loathe our sins and love our Savior?
PRAYER–Father, we marvel at our Surgeon’s wisdom and our Savior’s dying love. May we live forever with the heart of Christ and the Spirit’s breath within us. Amen.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
CAN THESE BONES LIVE?
“Son of man, can these bones live?” “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Ezekiel 37:3
As Ezekiel looks around, his wife is dead. God’s chosen nation of Israel is dead. Hope is dead. A heart transplant might save someone who is in danger of dying, but what if the patient is already dead? What if nothing remains but dry bones lying in death valley? Can these bones live?
It looks impossible. But Ezekiel lives by faith, not by sight. He believes that the future of the bones depends not on what he sees or feels but on what Almighty God decides. And so, at God’s command, Ezekiel preaches to the bones. God’s Word speaks life, his Spirit breathes life, and there is life!
Never underestimate the life-giving power of the Lord. God takes the bleached bones of a dead nation and raises up a vast army. God takes dead hearts and make them pound with life. God takes dead churches and brings revival. God takes horrid, hopeless situations and makes them heavenly. God takes a crucified corpse and makes it gloriously alive and immortal. And the risen Christ will take countless millions who have died and raise them to life in splendid, immortal bodies to share in his everlasting kingdom.
In the valley of dry bones, the Lord shows that nothing is impossible. Resurrection is his specialty. Death doesn’t get the last word; God does. “I am the resurrection and the life,” says Jesus. “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
PRAYER–Lord of life, may disappointment and death never drive us to despair. Fill us with faith in your resurrection power, through Christ our King. Amen.
Ezekiel 38:14-23
THE LAST BATTLE
I am against you, O Gog… I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me. Ezekiel 38:3,16
For a long time God’s kingdom grows and prospers. Satan (though active) is restrained and limited. In the end, though, God will turn Satan loose to do his worst. Satan “will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth–Gog and Magog–to gather them for battle” (Revelation 20:8). They will surround the city of God, eager to wipe out God’s people and kingdom. But fire will come down from heaven and devour them. The demons and the humans who side with them will burn forever.
“The Lord is a warrior” (Exodus 15:3). He’s too smart to be caught by surprise and too strong to be beaten. Even the attacks of his enemies are part of God’s own victory plan. In the last battle, God will not only defeat the forces of evil; he’s the one who will lure them to attack in the first place. Why? To crush them once for all and let the whole world know him in his mighty majesty.
Meanwhile, we don’t need to figure out if this or that figure in the news is “Gog” or if some political alliance is “Magog.” We should simply stand firm in the fight of faith wherever we are, whatever attacks we face, even if we feel surrounded and helpless. For if an army combining every deadly demon and hateful human can’t stand against the Lord in the last battle, surely any lesser forces we face will never defeat God or prevent his final victory.
PRAYER–King of glory, mighty in battle, you are our refuge and strength. Deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Ezekiel 43:1-12
THE GLORY RETURNS
The glory of the Lord entered the temple… and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Ezekiel 43:4-5
It had been horrifying for Ezekiel to see the Lord withdraw his glory from the temple and destroy it. But then came a vision of another temple even better than the old one, and of God’s glory entering and filling it.
A taste of this came when the Jewish people returned from exile. They built a new temple, and God gave a sense of his presence. But that temple never matched the old one and certainly didn’t match the splendor of Ezekiel’s vision.
We must understand Ezekiel’s temple not just as a building but as a hint of something greater. Every sacred structure Israel built (or only pictured) was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (Hebrews 8:5).
Heavenly glory! Christ’s coming to earth brings God’s glory to us; his ascension to heaven brings us to glory. “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence” (Hebrews 9:24).
On earth we are God’s temple. His glory enters us when his Spirit makes “his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
In heaven God is our temple. The holy city will not have a building like Ezekiel saw but something far better. “The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple,” and “the glory of God gives it light” (Revelation 21:22).
PRAYER–Lord, make our hearts your home and our bodies your temple. May we see your heavenly beauty as our temple, and your glory as our everlasting light. Amen.
Ezekiel 47:1-12
THE RIVER OF LIFE
It was a river that I could not cross… Where the river flows everything will live. Ezekiel 47:5,9
Ezekiel sees water flowing from under the temple wall south of the altar. For Christians God is the temple at the center of life; Christ’s cross is the altar of sacrifice where sins are paid for; and the Holy Spirit is life-giving water. Where God is central and Christ is Savior, the Holy Spirit springs up and spills out.
As Ezekiel moves downstream, what started as a trickle turns into a torrent, a mighty river. You can drink, swim, and splash in this miracle river, but you can’t measure it or find any bottom to it. The further you go in the Spirit, the better he gets. You end up over your head in depths and delights impossible to measure.
In Ezekiel’s vision, the river flows down to the Dead Sea, the lowest, deadest place on earth. And what happens? The Dead Sea becomes alive with fish. Fruit trees grow along the river, each one a tree of life that never withers. Every month there is fresh, nourishing fruit and leaves that have marvelous healing powers.
You may be as low and dead as the Dead Sea, but God’s Spirit can give you life. He can even make life-giving streams flow from within you and grow Spirit-fruit in your life to benefit those around you (John 7:38; Galatians 5:22-23). Already now you can have–and share–eternal life through the Spirit. And someday you will enjoy the river of life and the tree of life perfectly in God’s new creation.
PRAYER–Lord, you are the fountain of life. Let us drink from your river of delights. Cause your Spirit’s living water to spring up within us, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Revelation 21:22-22:5
THE CITY OF GOD
And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE. Ezekiel 48:35
Ezekiel was an exile in Babylon, but he ended his book by writing of a new Israel. John was an exile on the prison island of Patmos, but he ended Revelation by writing of the new Jerusalem. Like other heroes of faith, Ezekiel and John saw beyond their earthly troubles. They were “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… They were aliens and strangers on earth… They were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:10-16).
A map of Jerusalem shows no river, but God’s people still sing, “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God… God is within her” (Psalm 46:4-5). In the new Jerusalem, the Lord is the river–and he’s the temple, the light, the joy, the everything!
Our desire for the city of God is ultimately a desire for God himself. Yes, the buildings there are grand, but the grandeur comes from the Builder. Yes, the citizens are splendid, but the splendor comes from their King. Yes, it’s thrilling to know that Christian loved ones are there, Ezekiel and other Old Testament prophets are there, John and other New Testament apostles are there, angels and cherubim are there; but most thrilling of all, by far, is this: THE LORD IS THERE!
And we will forever be there with him.
PRAYER–Savior, since of heaven’s city I through grace a member am, let the world despise or pity, I will glory in your name. Help me serve you till I see your face. Amen.