Short Reflection from Ezekiel 33-48

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟛:𝟙𝟚

"And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'"

Most people believe that their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds or will at least cancel out their bad deeds. The standard of God is different!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟜:𝟙𝟝

""I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD."

Even if the human shepherds are bad and unfaithful, God will not give up on His church. Somebody said, "If your pastor is bad, don't leave the church so soon, pray him out (let him leave)"

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟝:𝟙𝟛

"And you have spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard it."

The Lord held them accountable for their words and boasting against God. Many people do the same these days, they too shall be held accountable on Judgment Day!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟞:𝟚𝟞, 𝟛𝟙

26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

31 "Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations."

We need a new heart to loathe sin and love God!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟟:𝟜

"Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.'""

Preachers when they are with the non-Christians are like this. With the dead ones in sin, whose bones are dried up.

Even many professing Christians are like this. Dead or dried: weakened or broken, God promises the preaching of His words to transform lives!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟠:𝟚𝟛

"I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."

Magnify

Sanctify

Simplify

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟡:𝟚𝟟

"When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations."

Sure, such action of God will make the other nations want to have a God like Yahweh!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟘:𝟜𝟠

"Then he brought me to the porch of the temple and measured each side pillar of the porch, five cubits on each side; and the width of the gate was three cubits on each side."

I’ve read this chapter 4,5 times trying to find a verse that I can meditate upon since no verse caught my attention at first reading. Still, not sure.

Just that one of the most repetitive words in this chapter is “measurement”. God cares that its measurement is known and precise. Not anyhow, there's a rule, a measurement, a standard. Indeed, for every God's action!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟙:𝟙

"Then he brought me to the nave and measured the side pillars; six cubits wide on each side was the width of the side pillar."

Measurements are made known. It was important, necessary. If God cares about the physical building, won't He care about how we worship Him?

There’re measurements, rules, standard for how we should do, not anyhow we please!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟚:𝟙𝟜

"When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people."

There's such a thing called sacred and secular. There are some dudes, who profess themselves to be wise, who say that everything is sacred and that every day is the Lord's Day, not just Sunday. While I understand their desire for everyone to live every day before the Lord, they are unwittingly robbing the sacred things (Sunday, dressing, manners, prayers, teaching) of their significance. If everyone is important nothing is important. ₹20 denomination is not as important as ₹2000. They will fight tooth and nail for it.

So, there's such thing called holy and defiled clothing, places, etc. Ezekiel says so.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟛:𝟟

"He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die""

It's more wonderful to transform an evil person into a good person than to just execute him.

And it's more wonderful if one can endure the depth of wickedness of someone and still forgive him and transform him.

That's God. He will transform the Israelites again. He is transforming us too, day by day! God is not tired, surprised, or worried.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟜:𝟚𝟛

"Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."

There's such thing called clean and unclean; sacred and secular; holy and profane; acceptable and unacceptable; and God's people must be taught and learnt of them.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟝:𝟡

"Thus says the Lord GOD, "Enough, you princes of Israel; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your expropriations from My people," declares the Lord GOD."

Power tends to corrupt, abuse, oppress, and suppress the common people. I have been the victim sometimes. And I must have been the perpetrator in some areas.

Examine yourself in the light of God's word: to repent — both to forgive and to restore.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟞:𝟠-𝟡

"When the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the porch of the gate and go out by the same way. But when the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, he who enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate. And he who enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. No one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered but shall go straight out."

The exit gates for the prince and the people are different. And the prince is to be an exemplary man of spiritual integrity. Position comes with responsibility.

I as a pastor get to stand up on the stage almost anytime which most church members never get or dare to. And that stage is not there for me to popularize myself. I must be the leading example to demonstrate that I must decrease and Christ must increase.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟟:𝟚𝟚-𝟚𝟛

"You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance," declares the Lord GOD."

Aliens (non-Israelites) are part of the program of God. Which reminds us to love all people. We must be kind, gracious, and compassionate to all people around us.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟠:𝟛𝟠

"The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there.'"

The LORD is there. That's it. What is better than that? Heaven will not be heaven if the Lord doesn't dwell there. With the Lord, everything is at its best!

Short Reflection from Ezekiel 17-32

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[4:05 pm, 09/07/2022] S.R: 𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟟:𝟚𝟜

"All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will perform it."

This is a parable. It's really not about trees. It's about people. Human beings are much more above and more worthy than plants or animals.

In the book of Daniel, God also said about establishing kings and kingdoms and also destroying them. However, this happens very slowly from our perspective. It takes time for nations to prosper and to decline, but surely it shall. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans had their time. It doesn't happen in a day.

If we are godly and lowly now we may still be lowly and be oppressed all our life time and even in the few generations of our offspring, but then God shall fulfill it at the right time.

The ungodly who are exalted now may still remain exalted throughout their lifetime and even a few generations after them, but they shall be gone.

The delight of the godly is [primarily] the Lord, not even of his exaltation or the downfall of the wicked. May we delight in God, not just in His doings. In other words: May we love the Giver, not just the Gifts.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟠:𝟚𝟛

“"Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?"”

That's why every sinner is alive till now. That's why every sinning Christian is still alive. God wants people to repent. And in the repentance of people, God is more glorified.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟡:𝟝

"When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs And made him a young lion."

The pain of the mother of the fate of her wayward child. Judah with its ungodly king.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟘:𝟛

""Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you."'"

The Lord withdrew Himself from His people because of their abominable lifestyle. Our sins will hinder our prayers to be answered by God. We do need to confess our sins before God.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟙:𝟜

"Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north."

Sometimes, the Lord protects the righteous and punishes the wicked in times of judgment. Sometimes, He just let both the righteous and the wicked perish but remember that shall be the mercy of the Lord for the righteous. Because sometimes early death is better than horrible life, yet God decides that, not us.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟚:𝟚𝟡-𝟛𝟘

"The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice.  I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one."

Striving for justice, kindness to people and even animals around us, and generosity to all the poor and needy are expected of God's people.

I wish to develop these virtues in me, more and more. And of course, we develop by practicing them. Scriptures have commanded, and have given a lot of examples too.

To be gracious. To be generous. To be compassionate. Oh!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟛:𝟜

"Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah."

God, using this parable to demonstrate how much He loved His chosen people in spite of their sins. He wanted them to turn away from vain things and come back to Him.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟜:𝟙𝟞-𝟙𝟟

"Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come. Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet, and do not cover your mustache and do not eat the bread of men."

God expects and requires Ezekiel to fear/love Him more than he loves his wife. It was so of Abraham concerning his son.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟝:𝟞-𝟟

"For thus says the Lord GOD, "Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and I will give you for spoil to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will know that I am the LORD." Moab."

God punished the Israelites because of their sins. The Lord let them be captured by enemies. And here, God is judging the other nations for rejoicing in the suffering of His people.

Don't rejoice in the fall of the godly people. Be fearful. Tremble. The Lord doesn't have pleasure, even in the death of the wicked.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟞:𝟚-𝟛

"Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,'  therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves."

Who among us is not guilty of schadenfreude? Who among us is free from envy, jealousy, and slandering? God is not happy with such. Let's keep working on our sanctification!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟟:𝟚-𝟛

""And you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre; and say to Tyre, who dwells at the entrance to the sea, merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, " "O Tyre, you have said, 'I am perfect in beauty.'"

Tyre was proud and God had to humble her. God hates the proud!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟠:𝟙𝟟

"Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you."

This passage is well compared to Lucifer because of its denunciation. No matter who the real identity is, it's clear that Tyre had the incomparable privilege that he misused it and wanted more. Let's learn to be grateful, gracious, and humble!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚𝟡:𝟙𝟡

"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will carry off her wealth and capture her spoil and seize her plunder; and it will be wages for his army.’"

Was there a king as great as Nebuchadnezzar? Yet, we used to name Alexander, Napoleon, Genghis Khan for comparison. Maybe time to be more biblical and name Nebuchadnezzar often in our conversation for a comparison! 😎

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟘:𝟝-𝟞

"‘Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all Arabia, Libya and the people of the land that is in league will fall with them by the sword.’ 'Thus says the LORD, "Indeed, those who support Egypt will fall And the pride of her power will come down; From Migdol to Syene They will fall within her by the sword," Declares the Lord GOD."

When a person suffers his companions suffer too. In World War 2, the axis power suffered along with the Nazis.

More so here. Egypt and its allies who were haughty, wicked, and idolatrous had to fall!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟙:𝟛

"'Behold, Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon With beautiful branches and forest shade, And very high, And its top was among the clouds."

The happenings around us must be lessons for us just as Ezekiel asked Egypt to look at Assyria.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛𝟚:𝟙𝟙

"For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you.’"

My favorite person in the Bible whose salvation is doubtful is King Nebuchadnezzar. If I were to be an ungodly guy, I would choose the life of him. 😂😎 See! He rules over all!

Short Reflection from Ezekiel 1-16

[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[9:03 pm, 01/07/2022] S.R: 𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙:𝟚𝟠

"As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking."

Indeed, the most appropriate response to the glory of God is to fall down and worship God.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟚:𝟞-𝟟

"And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious."

No matter what, God's minister must do his work, irrespective of the response of the people!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟛:𝟞-𝟟

"nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate."

I've some church attendees/members who are like this. They look like anyone outside, but inside their hearts/minds are locked, refusing to listen, think, and receive the instructions of God.

Still, God told Ezekiel to do his duties of proclamation. And so must I irrespective of people's response.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟜:𝟙𝟝

"Then He said to me, 'See, I will give you cow's dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.'"

God has the habit of asking his minister to do things unthinkable. After all, He is the lawgiver. Abraham to a child sacrifice. Peter to eat unclean animals. Aaron to spit on the face of his daughter.

What has God asked of us?

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟝:𝟙𝟛

''Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them."

The Scriptures teach the appeasement of God's anger, the satisfaction of God's wrath. Which actually was when Jesus died on the cross.

The modern hymn "In Christ alone" captures that phrase.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟞:𝟙𝟚-𝟙𝟛

"He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak--the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols."

I wish these things happen soon even in our time that people will know that God is alive!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟟:𝟜

'For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the LORD!'

People love to quote Jer. 29:11 as a magical wish verse for one another without the knowledge of its context. One can quote this verse too by the same standard.

However, these two verses aren't magical blessings or curses. It's the God of these verses who will bring into effect to those who listen and doesn't listen to Him!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟠:𝟙𝟝

"He said to me, ‘Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.’"

God sees and takes account of everything.  He sees far more wicked things than we have ever known, seen, or imagined!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟡:𝟡-𝟙𝟘

“Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!' But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads."”

Even if the world has become so wicked, God is still on the throne and requires His people to live differently!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟘:𝟙

"Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them."

God's throne is above all!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟙:𝟙𝟟

“Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."'”

Remember the greatness of God in His promise to gather the scattered people among the nations. He can really do smaller things much easier than this!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟚:𝟚𝟠

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,"' declares the Lord GOD."

Remember this verse about the promise and warning of God: it shall surely come to pass!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟛:𝟚𝟛

"therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the LORD."

"I will deliver," God is a deliverer!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟜:𝟙𝟡-𝟚𝟘

“"Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live," declares the Lord GOD, "they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness."”

How cool is it that God mentioned the names of Noah, Daniel, and Job! These guys should be our heroes.

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟝:𝟟-𝟠

"‘and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD."

A stern warning. God hates the unfaithful!

 

𝔼𝕫𝕖𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟞:𝟜𝟚

"So I will calm My fury against you and My jealousy will depart from you, and I will be pacified and angry no more."

Notice the following words: calm, depart, pacified, no more.

God is using the language of humans to express the seriousness of reality. We see the pain, anger, justice, patience, and goodness of God.