Ezekiel 36 -- One Of My Favorites!

My commentary says that God will give Ezekiel messages of restoration, regeneration, resurrection, and reunion, and He begins this chapter with restoration.  It has become one of my favorite “action promises” of God.  He’d given them the land as part of His covenant with Abraham.  “That settled their ownership of the land, but their possession and enjoyment of the land depended on their faith and obedience.”  It’s much the same with us.

In verses 16-38, God tells of regeneration – how He will cleanse the people.  They deserved nothing because of their sin, but God in His grace and in His desire to reclaim the glory of His name, which they’d caused to be sullied, was going to do something amazing.  He lists nine things:

1)      He will cleanse them from their sins

2)      He will give them a new heart

3)      He will give them the Holy Spirit within

4)      He will claim them again as His people

5)      He will cause the land to flourish

6)      He will cause the people to abhor their sins

7)      He will restore their fellowship with him

8)      He will multiply their population

9)      As a result, His name will be glorified

This same thing should be readily apparent in our lives as believers today:

“The Lord has washed us, given us new hearts and His Holy Spirit within, and because of this we should have a holy hatred of sin.  We have the privilege of communion with God and prayer for our needs, plus a desire within to do His will.  God wants to make our lives abundantly fruitful so we will glorify His name.  The Lord has made us a part of His new covenant so that our union with Him through Christ is eternal and unchanging.”

Father, stoke those fires within me!  As I recall old sins, don’t let me wallow in them or enjoy the thought of them, but instead help me to agree with You about how destructive the were to me and to want them out of my life and my mind.  Help me to desire to obey You every minute of every day.  Remove the hardness that may still remain in my heart, and transform it into a heart that desires what You desire.  Make me more like Christ.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 34-35 What WE'RE Supposed To Be Doing

God had harsh words for those who were supposed to be shepherding His people.  Specifically, they’d been enriching themselves and hadn’t fed His flock, hadn’t strengthened the weak, or healed and bandaged the hurt.  They hadn’t brought back those who had strayed or searched for the lost.

God was taking them out, and He was going to do the job Himself.  And as for those sheep who were shoving others aside, trashing resources, and monopolizing what little time the shepherds did spend on them, He would judge that behavior as well.

God once again delivered a message of hope for the nation of Israel, promising to break the power of their captors, and promising to bring them back from the nations (not just the one nation of Babylon) one day and blessing them in Israel.

God also promised that Esau’s land of Edom would become devoid of inhabitants and would one day become an empty ruin for the way in which they’d tried to thwart God’s will with his people, the Jews.

Over and over God says, “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”  His people would one day know that in a good way, receiving His blessings and His watchcare.  But His enemies would also know that He is the Lord – when they suffer defeat at His hands.  How much better to receive His blessings instead, through our obedience to Him!

Father, I believe You call us today to the same duties You mentioned for these shepherds.  We are to help make the weak strong, to bandage and care for the sick and injured, to bring back those who have strayed, and to search for the lost.  Help us to be Christ’s body on earth to Your sheep, and not to simply watch out for ourselves.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 33 -- Regret vs. Remorse vs. Repentance

God called Ezekiel His watchman.  His duty was solemn.  If he failed to sound the alarm and deliver God’s message, people would die and their deaths would be blamed on him.  Often God’s messages won’t be popular with the people, but we have the responsibility to tell them as they are anyway.  God wanted to leave no possibility that a sinner could claim that he hadn’t heard God’s Word and that God was therefore not being fair.

God also distinguished between regret, remorse, and true repentance.  My commentary said, “Regret is an activity of the mind; whenever we remember what we’ve done, we ask ourselves, ‘Why did I do that?’  Remorse includes both the heart and the mind, and we feel disgust and pain, but we don’t change our ways.  But true repentance includes the mind, the heart, and the will.  We change our mind about our sins and agree with what God says about them; we abhor ourselves because of what we have done; and we deliberately turn from our sins and turn to the Lord for His mercy.”

It continued:  “The Jews debated with Ezekiel and affirmed that God wasn’t being fair and that His ways were unequal.  This response in itself proved that they had not really repented, because repentant sinners don’t argue with God.”  It also said that we have personal privilege (hearing the Word), personal responsibility (obeying the Word), and personal accountability (being judged by the Word that we’ve heard).”

Perhaps this sums it all up:  “The important thing at the judgment seat of Christ won’t be how much Bible we studied or learned, but how much we loved and obeyed.”

Father, thank You for placing Your Holy Spirit inside the believer to produce godly sorrow when we have sinned.  Thank You for helping us to admit that we’re wrong and You are right, and most importantly, for giving us the willpower to turn from our sins and come back to You, leaving them behind and agreeing with You that we have sinned.  Your love and mercy and grace are incredible!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 31-32 What Pride Does

God had given Ezekiel a personal message for the king of Egypt and his fellow countrymen.  It is one they definitely would not want to hear.

Egypt had been prideful for centuries, and not it dared to compare itself to Assyria.  God in effect said, “Go right ahead and be proud and compare yourself to Assyria, for I used Babylon to destroy them, and I’ll use Babylon to destroy Egypt as well!”

In images reminiscent of the plagues God sent to cause Pharaoh to release the Israelites under Moses, Ezekiel describes how Egypt would lose not just its citizens, but also its livestock to war.  The waters of the Nile would flow unimpeded because no human or animal would be left to wade in it or cross it!

Father, pride was at the root of the destruction of Egypt, You said, as well as Assyria.  Help our nation to understand that pride will bring us down if we don’t keep it in check and trust You to be our king.  Direct our paths and help us to look to You for guidance.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 29-30 Watch Out America ... Look At Egypt

God gave Ezekiel seven messages about Egypt in four chapters.  Israelites conveniently forgot about their slavery in Egypt and kept returning there for help rather than depending on God, so God was going to take Egypt out of the pictures so Israel would know that such a course of action was futile. 

Pharaoh Hophra was full of pride, taking credit for what God had done, and he was also disloyal to Israel.  God was therefore going to send the Babylonian army to decimate Egypt in payment for the long and fruitless siege on Tyre.  Even Egypt’s neighboring allies would suffer at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 

My commentary said, “Nations never seem to learn that God is serious about what happens to His people Israel … In opposing God’s purposes for Israel, Egypt invited God’s judgments on their own nation, for the Lord always keeps His covenant promises.”

Verse 16 in chapter 29 says, “The Israelites will never again depend on Egypt.  Instead, Egypt’s punishment will remind the Israelites of their sin in turning to Egypt for help.  Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”  Until last year’s Arab Spring, Egypt, out of all the Arab countries, had allied with Israel and moderated the Arab response, so it would seem that this particular prophecy has yet to be fulfilled.  But God is still in the business of keeping His covenant promise of protection for Israel.

Father, show our nation the wisdom of following Your Word and allying with Israel and offering protection for them.  Even show us that there are Jews in Ukraine who are now suffering at the hands of Russia, and we as a nation cannot stand by idly and watch.  Let us not make the error of sinning against You by not offering our help.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 27-28 Hello, America?

God was letting the captives in Babylon know that Jerusalem wasn’t the only place that would suffer for their sins.  Tyre was a great coastal trading city and its commerce had an impact on all of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and even down to central Africa.  I wondered if there are clues here to warn nations today.  Tyre had farmed out its security to noncitizens and had also built its vast trading network with too much reliance on foreign nations – not a good thing.

Also, Ezekiel’s message gave dire warnings to Tyre for the pride of its ruler, who thought he was a god.  They could be warnings to us today:  “You think you are as wise as a god, but you are a human, not a god … You are too proud because of your riches … But I will bring foreign people against you … They will destroy all that your wisdom has built, and they will dishonor your greatness.”

The passages in verses 11-17 sound like they may have been directed at the spirit motivating the man – Satan – rather than just to the king of Tyre.  It’s a déjà vous moment from Eden.

After also pronouncing judgment on Tyre’s sister city, Sidon, God once again gives a message of hope for the captives from Judah.  The promises He gave them have not all been fully delivered, my commentary said, and some refer to the end times.

Father, our nation sounds way too much like Tyre in these passages.  And we know that Satan wants to control the nations and has even been delegated authority to rule them until Christ returns.  Please lead us to know what he’s doing and to instead place our trust and hope in You.  Lead our nation and help us to once again become the place where You are honored, worshiped, and trusted to direct us.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 25-26 It Won't Pay To Work Against Israel

God wasn’t just punishing His own people, the Jews.  He was also “judging the Gentiles for the way they had treated His people, because this was the covenant promise He had made with Abraham,” my commentary said.

The people of Ammon and Moab were blood relatives of the Jews.  Abraham’s nephew, Lot, had committed incest with his two daughters, and Ammon and Moab were sons who resulted from this sin.  What had the nation of Ammon done to Israel?  “The Ammonites had breathed a sigh of relief and had been joyful when they saw Jerusalem ruined and the temple desecrated …”  Just being thrilled at what was happening to God’s people was enough to make God decide to wipe Ammon off the map forever.

And as for Moab?  “The sin of Moab was slander against Israel, a refusal to see the Jews as God’s special people,” my commentary said.  “If you are such a special nation,” they argued, “why have you experienced such a humiliating defeat?” my commentary noted.

Edom was made up of descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother.  Esau had foolishly traded his birthright to Jacob and Jacob also had connived to steal his father’s blessing away from Esau as well.  This led to a longstanding hatred of their blessed relatives, to the point that when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem, Edom cheered, and they refused to assist the refugees trying to escape, even helping the Babylonians to capture them!

Ezekiel also prophesied against Philistia (the Philistines).  They’d caused problems for the Jews from the moment the Jews had set foot in the Promised Land.  “They cultivated a national hatred for the Jews, and seized every opportunity to harass and attack them.  God was about to put them out of His way.

Ezekiel also was given a message for Tyre, a city that had decided to profit from Jerusalem’s demise by taking over their role as the region’s trading superpower.  Tyre had once been an ally of Israel’s, when David and Hiram did business together.  But now, just desiring to take Jerusalem’s place was enough to bring God’s judgment, which led to Tyre being scraped off the face of the earth.

It’s clear that God will keep His covenant with Abraham, even long after the patriarch’s death.  Nations curse Israel at their own peril, and if we decide not to support them, God will surely bring to bear His mighty power against us as well.

Father, help us to learn from history not to take sides against You where Israel is concerned.  You’ve already made it abundantly clear what will happen if we do.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 23-24 Get Ready, For It's Coming

God gave Ezekiel another message for the captives:  With all that Judah had done, He was perfectly just in destroying Jerusalem, its inhabitants, and His Temple.  The leaders of Judah had seen everything that had happened to the northern kingdom as a result of its sin, yet rather than changing their ways, they’d done worse!

“The Jerusalem leaders were confident of deliverance because they were depending on a lie (that God would never allow His people to be destroyed) … This was a delusion and Ezekiel put an end to it.  It was because the Jews were His chosen people that God was punishing them, and because Jerusalem was His Holy City that He couldn’t allow it to continue wallowing in wickedness.”

“Any theology that makes sin easy and divine punishment unimportant is not biblical theology.  God’s judgment begins with his own people … Our world today lives on delusions … But one day God will expose the stupidity of these delusions and the world will discover too late that there are consequences to what we believe and how we believe.”

Father, reveal the delusions we’ve become so attached to.  Show us the fallacy of our thinking and our logic.  Open our eyes and ears and hearts to Your truth and help us to change our lives and hearts.  Draw us back to You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 22 -- The Results Of Dishonoring His Name

God gave Ezekiel a message for the captives in Babylon – He was done with Jerusalem and all the people left there.  He’d wipe it off the face of the map.  My commentary said, “The Lord had chosen Zion.  He had desired it for His habitation … But now the city of Jerusalem and the Temple would be invaded by ‘unclean Gentiles’ who were brought there by the Lord!”  God described the people there as defiled, doomed, debased, deceitful, and disappointing, my commentary added.  About them, it said, “People who forget God gradually become their own god and begin to disobey God’s Word, mistreat other people, and take God’s gifts for granted.”  That’s exactly what they’d done, and God was about to rid Himself of them.

Father, please keep me ever aware of my place before You, of how I must relate to You and honor You.  Don’t let me slip into sin and dishonor You and Your name like these people had done.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 21 -- I Tremble For My Country

When we usually think of God drawing His sword, it’s done to rid the world of unbelievers.  Here, God was telling Ezekiel to let the captives know that He was drawing it against the land of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and the holy place of the Temple.  They were so proud of the fact that they were God’s chosen people, but they couldn’t imagine that God would attack those same people, even when they rebelled against Him.  He’s longsuffering, but He is also just.

His sword in this case was the Babylonian army.  And at that moment, God told Ezekiel that army was at a fork in the road, and they were inquiring of their gods which way to proceed – to Rabbath to attack the Ammonites, or to Jerusalem.  God used their feeble attempts to determine the will of nonexistent gods to send them where He wanted.  My commentary said, “If His own people won’t obey Him, at least the pagan nations will!”  It also said that in these chapters we get “ … a fresh realization of the tragedy of rebellion against the Lord.  Israel had a long history of rebellion against the Lord, but the other nations weren’t any better, except that Israel was sinning against the light of God’s Word and His providential care over His people.  If any nation had the obligation to obey and serve the Lord, it was Israel, for the Lord had blessed them abundantly.  Instead of becoming a holy nation to the glory of God, she became like all the other nations and failed to be God’s light to the Gentiles.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote something similar, it noted, about our country:  “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.”

Father, we as a nation sin against the light of Your Word.  You have formed us and blessed us, planning for us to be the shining city on a hill that would show the world the value of living by Christian principles.  For decades, we fought against evil.  Now, we have allowed it to erode us from within.  Help us, O God.  Turn our nation back You.  I tremble to think what You may already be doing to get our attention.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 19-20 God Reveals Himself Through Chastening

Ezekiel had given the captives God’s message about individual responsibility.  In these chapters, the religious leaders show up at his house wanting to “inquire of the Lord”.  “But the prophet knew that their hearts were not right with God and that they had no right to ask the Lord for instruction.  A willingness to submit and obey is the mark of the person who can seek God’s guidance and expect to receive it,” my commentary said.  We cannot really expect to receive God’s guidance today if we have no willingness to submit and obey.

Over and over in these chapters, we hear God saying that He chastened the Israelites “for the sake of My name”.  God’s name represented His character, and He couldn’t play favorites and allow the Israelites to get away with what other nations were doing in sin.  He had to be consistent.

They were sinning and it was obvious that even as God’s chosen people, they didn’t know the Lord, but God was going to reveal Himself to them through how He chastened them.  One way or another, they would know Him, and they would again learn to respect His name.

Father, please give me and give those I love a willingness to submit to You and obey You.  Only then can we seek Your guidance and even expect to receive it.  Help us not to kick against the goads, but to instead feel Your yoke upon us not as a burden, but as the hand of a loving Master who wants to keep us close, to love us, and to bless us.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 18 -- It's Not God Who's Unfair

This chapter pretty well says it like it is.  The captives tried complaining about how unfair God was, punishing them for their ancestors’ sin, but God showed them otherwise.  Through various examples, He told them they couldn’t blame their ancestors, nor could they blame Him.  They could only blame themselves.  My commentary really made it easy to understand:

“If they would truly repent and turn to the Lord, He would work on their behalf as He promised … However, if they persisted in sinning, the Lord would continue to deal with them as rebellious children.  God has no delight in the death of the wicked, but He isn’t obligated to invade their minds and hearts and force them to obey Him.”

“When they obeyed the Lord, they wanted Him to keep the terms of the covenant that promised blessing, but when they disobeyed, they didn’t want Him to keep the terms of the covenant that brought chastening.  They wanted God to act contrary to His own Word and His own holy nature.”

“Nowhere does Scripture say that we’re saved from our sins by God’s love, because salvation is by the grace of God, and grace is love that pays a price.”

If only they would seek Him by faith, God promised them a new heart.  That’s what they wouldn’t learn.

Father, I desperately need to convey this message to those I love.  Please help me to do so faithfully.  And open ears and hearts and minds so they can hear and understand Your important message for them.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 17 -- The Promise of the Messiah

Ezekiel is given a riddle to convey to what remained of the citizens of Judah.  It included a great tree (the royal dynasty of David), two eagles (Nebuchanezzar and Pharaoh), and three shoots (King Jehoiachin, King Zedikiah, and Messiah the King).

The allegory told with complete honesty the end of Judah that the captives would witness, but it also gave the tantalizing depiction of Messiah the King and how God would continue the Messianic line in order to bring about His kingship one day.

God fulfilled all of the prophecies, even down to the birth of Christ, which would happen hundreds of years in Ezekiel's future.  The designs and plans of men cannot overcome the plans and will of God.  He is sovereign and in control.

Father, thank you for this reminder that You are outside of time, that You know the future, and that you control events in Your power.  Only a God like You could still my heart and help me to know that You have all of history in Your hands and that I need not worry.  You are in control.

-- 
Your Brother In Christ,

Ezekiel 15 & 16 -- Useless To Argue With God

These chapters read like a transcript from a criminal trial.  God, as prosecutor, lays out all the evidence, of which there is no doubt at all.  He describes the requirements and punishments of the Law.  Israel (Judah) is plainly guilty.  There’s no room to claim exceptions, such as insanity.  It’s clear that Judah knew what she was doing and there was even premeditation.  It was an open and shut case.

My commentary added these points:

“Whenever God’s people turn from His Word and become satisfied with substitutes, they are indeed headed for failure …

Privilege brings responsibility, and responsibility brings accountability …

We must see here not only the dark background of Israel’s wickedness, but also the bright light of God’s love and grace …

Having described their sins, the Lord then defended His sentence.  He not only knew what they had done, but He saw in their hearts why they had done it …

First, the nation had forgotten what the Lord had done for them … Second, they failed to understand the enormity of their sins …

The people of Judah made the citizens of Samaria and Sodom look righteous!  What a terrible indictment against God’s chosen people!”

Father, it’s so important today that we as Christians understand how we can become disconnected from You and let the world creep in.  When we do, we lose our witness and actually cause people to turn from you instead of bringing them to you.  Please keep us aware of this and remind us that privilege with You does bring responsibility, and therefore accountability.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 13 & 14 -- False Confidence, False Prophecy, False Piety, and False Hope

Besides the people’s error of false confidence, my commentary said they’d committed the errors of false prophecy, false piety, and false hope.  These were keeping them from admitting their sin to God and turning back to Him.  About false prophecy, it said, “It’s a serious thing to be called of God and to speak His Word to His people.  To assume a place of ministry without being called and gifted is arrogance, and to manufacture messages without receiving them from the Lord is impertinence… Popularity is not a test of truth.”

The religious leaders among the captives in Babylon had come to Ezekiel’s house, ostensibly to hear what God had to say.  But God told Ezekiel that these leaders were outwardly serving the Lord while secretly worshiping idols!  This false piety was hateful in God’s sight.

The error of false hope – thinking God would surely save them because, regardless of how they acted, they were His people – was going to bring upon them four judgments:  famine, wild beasts, war, and pestilence.  His four judgments would converge to wipe out the sinful, hard-hearted bulk of the people.  “But in His grace, He would allow some of the people to escape …”  Once again, God produces hope for the nation through the faithful remnant.  God would do what had to be done and He would be just in His dealings.  His desire had been for His people to turn their hearts back toward Him, yet they had refused.

Father, don’t spare anything to keep me focused on You and what You are doing around me.  Use everything You have to keep those I love from falling away from You as well.  Fight for them, Father, even when they don’t fight for themselves because their hearts have strayed from You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 12 -- God Wants Hearts Of Obedience

Just as I’ve been taught to grab the attention of youth whom I teach in order that they may hear and understand God’s truth, Ezekiel was told by God to act out two scenes which would get all of the captives in Babylon talking.  The first had him packing up for an escape, digging through the wall of his home with his hands, and acting out an escape at night.  It probably was fine entertainment for the captives, but it had a purpose.  God was showing them how the king and his company would attempt to escape from besieged Jerusalem six years later.

The king and the entire government still holding out in Jerusalem had been giving false confidence to those still living there, claiming they could hold off the invaders and hold onto the city.  To Ezekiel’s action sermons, the nationalists among the captives claimed that nothing he predicted would come true.  But God had been patient long enough.  He called them “a people who refuse to obey.”  (He said that about them four times in this one chapter!)

Why was God doing all of this?  “So they will know that I am the Lord.”  Despite all of our sin, God wants us back.  He wants us to know him and His Son, not just as our Savior, but also as the Boss of our lives.  It’s not enough just to get fire insurance.  He wants obedience, too.

Father, I’m sorry that even though I do know You as the Boss of my life, I still find myself disobeying you.  So often, I think it comes from a feeling of entitlement, and yet I know that I’m entitled to nothing.  But for Your mercy and grace and love, I’d deserve only hell.  Please help me to continue to remember that – that You are God and I’m not.  Thank You for Your love for me, that fights my own will to get me back to You.  Don’t ever stop, Father!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 10 & 11 -- God's Wonderful Promises

“God’s providential working in this world is not aimless or haphazard.  Everything is done according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,” my commentary said.  Jerusalem wasn’t just happening to be falling apart.  God was in control despite the sin of its people.  The Jewish people had effectively spat in God’s face and God now was going to deal with that.  “The most important part of the nation’s life was to magnify the glory of God.  The presence of God in the sanctuary was a great privilege for the people of Israel, but it was also a great responsibility.  The glory of God cannot dwell with the sins of God’s people, so it was necessary for the glory to leave, and the sanctuary and the people to be judged,” my commentary said.  “The civil and religious leaders … were not interested in knowing and doing the will of God.”

The precious promises of God in verses 19-20 of chapter 11 mean so much to me, for I’ve seen God do them in my own life, and I continue to pray that He will do them in the lives of those I love:  “I will give them a desire to respect Me completely, and I will put inside them a new way of thinking.  I will take out the stubborn heart of stone from their bodies, and I will give them an obedient heart of flesh.  Then they will live by My rules and obey My laws and keep them.  They will be My people, and I will be their God.”

Father God, thank You that it is Your will that we desire You and respect You.  Thank You for not leaving us as we are, but for changing us, even down to our thoughts.  Replace our stubborn hearts of stone.  Give us hearts obedient to you.  Let us see the wisdom of living by Your rules and obeying and keeping Your laws.  Put our hearts in sync with Yours!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 9 -- The Result of Continued Disobedience

Ezekiel heard God call the punishing angels from the north along with the scribe.  They easily entered the city despite its defenses and congregated at the bronze altar in the Temple.  The scribe was told to mark the faithful remnant who were mourning all of the hateful things the inhabitants were doing.  On his heels, God sent the others, telling them to show no pity or mercy, regardless of age or gender, in killing all the rest.  And it was to start at the Temple with the older religious leaders.

Ezekiel bowed face-down on the ground, crying out to God, interceding for the faithful remnant – a mark of a true shepherd, my commentary said.  “The Shekinah glory had moved from the throne to the threshold of the temple in preparation for leaving the temple.”  The time for the destruction of the city was at hand.

“The judgment was coming, not because unbelievers had sinned, but because His own people had disobeyed His law!”  My commentary noted how this had happened with Abraham’s deception in Egypt, with Aaron’s idolatry, with David’s adultery, and with Jonah’s running away.  “Our good works glorify the Lord, but our sins invoke His discipline.”  And here, Jerusalem was about to be destroyed because God’s people failed to obey God’s law.

Father God, You’ve told us many times that when we sin against a flood of light, You will bring judgment.  You’ve given us much and therefore we as believers are rightly held to a higher standard.  Our conduct is supposed to glorify You, and when it doesn’t, we should know that we can expect trouble for dishonoring Your name.  Keep me ever aware of this and wake me up when I’m unaware of what I’m doing to dishonor You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 8 -- Evil In The Church

Ezekiel flashes back 24 years, remembering something that happened 6 years after their arrival in Babylon.  The older leaders of the exiles had gathered in his house and God enabled him to view what was happening in Jerusalem from Babylon!  He felt the power of God and saw the glory of God. My commentary said, “Above everything else, God’s servants need to focus on the glory of God.”  God wanted to show him what was really going on in the Temple.  “God was about to remove His glory and Ezekiel would watch it occur.  Without the presence of God, the temple was just another building,” my commentary added.

Ezekiel was allowed to see seventy elders burning incense before various idols, women openly participating in ceremonies to bring back a fertility god named Tammuz, and twenty-five men turning their backs on the Temple to worship the sun.  “While believers today may not bow before grotesque idols … we must still beware of idols, for an idol is anything that has our devotion and commands our will and takes the place of the true and living God,” it added.

Ezekiel now knew that the very core of the Jewish theocracy was afflicted by sin.  “Except for the faithful remnant, the Jewish people no longer feared God or cared about pleasing Him … When people lose their fear of God, they do as they please and don’t worry about the consequences.”  The people were justifying their sin by saying that God had forsaken the land.  “But the people had forsaken the Lord long before He forsook them.”

Father God, help us to examine what we’re doing today.  Examine our worship and our attitudes as a church and show us if there is anything or anyone we’ve placed above You.  Help us to make sure that it is You who commands our will and has our devotion and no one else.  Remind us that we must fear You and care about pleasing You.  Reveal anything that is separating us from You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 7 -- What We Give To The Lord, We Keep Forever

Four times here, God says through to Israel through Ezekiel, “I will make you pay for the way you have lived.”  Previously, God had shown mercy, but now He had to punish them for their sins, for they had defiled the land with their idolatry and broken the covenant.  “The captives would be in Babylon for 70 years, so they would spend their sabbatic years and the next Year of Jubilee in captivity – if they were alive … The whole economic pattern would be reversed.  Had the Jews obeyed God’s law, the slaves would have been freed and the ownership of the land would have been protected (by the Jubilee), but now the surviving Jews would be enslaved and their land taken from them.” 

Wiersbe summed it all up with this:  “What we selfishly keep for ourselves, we eventually lose; but what we give to the Lord, we keep forever.”

“The people had broken the covenant and were outside the place of blessing,” he said.  “Not only would there be religious chaos, but the political system would fall apart … No political power can overrule the sovereign will of God.”

There was a need for the people to give up and let go and let God be God.  Until they agreed to do that, they were fighting against His sovereignty.

Father, so much seems in upheaval right now.  I need Your peace in the midst of it.  Guide me and help me to know that You are sovereign and in total control when it all seems like chaos.  Show me how to not try to selfishly keep everything for myself, but to let go, give it all to You, and watch You bless me as a result of my trusting You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 6 -- God's Ultimate Purpose

You can feel God’s heart wreaking in this chapter, like that of a parent mourning the tragic disobedience of a wayward child and the effect that has had on their relationship.  Again God describes the methods He will use to rid the Promised Land of His people who could no longer be called His people.  But yet again God lets hope peek through – “But I will leave some people alive …” and He rehearses their path back to Him:  “Then those who have escaped will remember Me … They will remember how I was hurt because they were unfaithful to Me and turned away from Me and desired to worship their idols.  They will hate themselves because of the evil things they did that I hate.  Then they will know that I am the Lord.  I did not bring this terrible thing on them for no reason.”

There was something deeper here, too, that God seems to be signaling by shear repetition:

“Then you will know that I am the Lord (v7)…

Then they will know that I am the Lord (v 10) …

Then you will know that I am the Lord (v 13) …

Then they will know that I am the Lord (v 14) …”

That seems to be something that we as humans either fail to see or do not desire to admit – that God Himself is the Boss of our lives!  And is there significance in the change from “you” to “they”?  “You” seems to mean those already in captivity in Babylon, watching as Jerusalem is invaded, while “they” seems to indicate those in Jerusalem who are about to either die or become part of the faithful remnant, depending on whether they know God and recognize Him as Lord.  It could perhaps even mean the Babylonian invaders, who will see God’s power in their conquest.  God’s desire is for all the world to know Him fully.  And because the Bible says, “One day every knee shall bow,” I suppose that everyone WILL know Him – some unfortunately from the lake of fire as they realize how wrong they were in their assessment of Him when He triumphs over Satan, and the rest who came to know Him and trust Him, who yielded their lives to him and will one day share heaven with Him.  Regardless of future position, every person will know God.  How crazy to end up on the wrong side!

Father, sin blinds, and just as Your own people failed utterly to recognize You and submit themselves to You in these chapters, people today face the same dilemma.  They worship self instead of You.  Please help me to wake up those You place before me.  Give me a mission and a ministry now.  Point me to those You are wanting to show Yourself to.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ezekiel 5 -- The Hope

God gave Ezekiel another action sermon.  In something totally out of character for a Jewish man and particularly a priest, Ezekiel obeyed by shaving his head and his beard with a sword.  The people watching him would have been shocked.  And he was to illustrate what God would be doing with the inhabitants of Jerusalem by what he did with the hair clippings.  One-third would die of famine and disease inside Jerusalem.  One-third would be killed by Babylonian soldiers.  The remaining third would be scattered to the winds or taken as exiles to Babylon. 

God cited His reasons for doing this and no one could dare challenge Him.  He wasn’t withholding punishment because they were His people, but instead they were being punished above and beyond what any others had ever endured because they WERE His people and should have been a witness to others!  He said, “I will have no pity, and will show no mercy.”  They had presumed on His grace and mercy and would now pay for it. 

But there was hope:  “Then My anger will come to an end.  I will use it up against them, and then I will be satisfied … After I have carried out my anger against them, they will know how strongly I felt.”

My commentary mentioned, “God’s anger against sin is a holy anger, not a temper tantrum, for He is a holy God.”  There’s absolutely no room for anyone to get mad at God for doing this, because He was absolutely right in doing it.  They absolutely deserved everything that would happen to them.  Period.

Father, it’s often tough for us to see this side of You, because our focus so much of the time is Your love, but Your holiness is just as important and it demands much from us.  We too are privileged to be called Your people, and “privilege involves responsibility and accountability,” my commentary says.  You always leave hope, and tucked into this story were the few hair clippings You directed Ezekiel to tie into the folds of his clothes, representing the faithful remnant.  Help me to be part of that faithful remnant, Father, even as I go through so much right now.  Don’t let me fail to honor You in all that I do.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford