Ezekiel 43:5 – The Spirit carries him into the inner court, a place where he likely has never been in real life. A place that only a few men have gone and only a few times. Imagine how that would have felt to have God bring you into his most private place. (After reading further (Ezekiel 44:15-27), I don’t think this is the most holy place, behind the curtain, where the high priest would only go once a year. Still, it’s the inner court, a special holy place, with special rules and only the Levites are to go there.)
Ezekiel 43:10-12 – Now I know why there was 3 chapters on the design of the temple.
Ezekiel 43:18-27 – As I read this ritual for cleansing the alter, it struck me how rediculous and scandalous Jesus would have seemed. God is Holy, He reequired elaborate steps from us to purify us that we may approach His holines. It is not a simple thing, it requires a lot of specific, sacred steps to be in the right condition to approach God.
But along comes this Jesus, and He talks as if God can be your best buddy in comparison. He brings all sort of unholy folks around him and doesn’t even attempt to cleanse them. It would seem as though he’s triffling with God, treating him with contempt. It would seem that Jesus is mocking the rituals that remind them of God’s holiness. He’s not, of course, but I can imagine how hard that would be to see.
Ezekiel 44:9 – God demands holiness and purity.

Ezekiel 40-42 – Three entire chapters of measurements and descriptions of a temple. Cubits, cubits, cubits! It’s hard for me to follow, yet in Ezekiel 40:4 God tell Ezekiel to “set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.” Perhaps the detailed description is because Ezekiel took that charge seriously and wanted to bring back an accurate description of what he had seen.
I have to admit, I only skimmed these chapters. I always wonder if I’m missing the point of passages like this. I suspect it had more meaning to Israel than it does for us today.

Ezekiel 38 – Is this prophesy concerning a time after Israel would be gathered again after God scatters them in judgement? He just told Ezekiel at length how Israel (and the surrounding nations) would be judged and punished, and then how Israel would be restored. Now this additional prophesy of how Israel would be scattered again. I’m confused.
Ezekiel 39:1-6 – Ezekiel 38 made it sound like Gog was an instrument of wrath against Israel, here God says he will strike down Gog. I guess I misunderstood, God was allowing (bringing?) Gog against them to strike Gog down and show His name to Israel, if I got that right.
Ezekiel 39:9 – Seven years worth of wood from burning the fallen enemy’s weapons. That’s a large army that was felled.
Ezekiel 39:17-20 – Israel always prepared sacrificial feasts for God, now God was preparing one for them.
Ezekiel 39:23-24 – It was important to God that the nations see Him sealing with israel’s sin. It wasn’t just their (the nations’) sin that he judged, he judged Israel too. God does not show favoritism, sin is sin.

Ezekiel 36:7 – After all this judgement and wrath, this paragraph reads like more is coming. And then this:

Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

And He goes on:

But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 36:8-15

Ezekiel 36:22 – But God is not acting for their sake, but for His name’s sake. On the face it sounds selfish, acting for himself and not for them, however God understand that His reputation is more valuable than their short term welfare. It is His reputation that will allow the salvation of mankind. It is His reputation that will draw men to Him. If He allows man to damage it, that will prevent Him from having a relationship with some of them. Those relationships are more valuable than Israel’s welfare at that time.
It is not that God doesn’t love them. Although it’s not state explicitly here, His love is stated many times in many other places. It’s simply that His concern for His name is of greater importance than His love for them. They need to understand that as well, to humble them and that they would not dismiss their former sin (Ezekiel 36:32). God is not dismissing their sin because of them, but because of Him.
For me, this gives me a sense of security. I worship a God who’s is love. Not because of me or any great man, but because it is who He is. He doesn’t shower His love on me because He thins something of me, but because He has to be who He is, and He is love. Thanks goodness, because assuming He could be fooled into thinking I was something great, He’s figure it out eventually. Then if it was for my sake, he’s leave me. But it’s for His, and in that I can be secure.

Now that the kids are in school (I just saw Jessica off to her first day of middle school. Yikes.), I’m going to try to get back into more regular morning QTs between Jessica getting on the bus and me going to work.
Ezekiel 34:1-6 – A warning to those who would be shepherds: God takes this role seriously. You are to take care of his people. Your position is not one of prestige, power and privilege. You are God’s servant. You can hear the disappointment and hurt in God’s voice in verse 6:

My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

Ezekiel 34:11-16 – God will do what the shepherds have failed to do – he with gather them, reuse them and feed them. But notice the end of verse 16 (emphasis mine):

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

Not only does God stand against the shepherd who grew fat while the sheep were neglected, he stands against the fat sheep who took more than their fair share. This is continued in Ezekiel 34:17-24. A scary principal for those of us in a wealthy nation.
Ezekiel 34:23 – “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.” The promise of Jesus. Take note, Jesus the shepherd. Protector. Provider. Caretaker. Not the picture I see in mind usually. I see Jesus the task master. The disciple.
Ezekiel 34:30 – “And they shall know that I am the Lord their God …” A recurring theme in Ezekiel, “they shall know”. But there are two ways, in tension with one another, that the people will know that He is God. One, through is judgement, wrath and power displayed. Two, as seen here, through his provision and compassion.
Ezekiel 34:31 – “And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”” Cool.

Ezekiel 32:2 – At first it doesnt sound like much to merit all the destruction told in the following verses. But thinking about it, it sounds like Egypt’s downfall is pride. It considers itself great and goes about meddling in things as a result, making a mess.
Ezekiel 32:18-32 – There seems to be genuine sadness in God’s words as he recounts all these uncircumcised nations brought down. It’s comforting to see God mourn over those who missed the mark and paid for it.
Ezekiel 33:1-6 – It is the calling of some to be a watchman and to sound the trumpet when the sword is coming. The people cannot escape danger if they are not warned. I think in some ways we are all called to be watchmen. We all are to keep our eyes and ears open to see if there is danger on the path that the church is taking and to speak up – sound the trumpet – when and if we see it. While we all must be aware, very few are called to be full time watchmen. It’s easy to think that that is our role, to keep watch. But rather than watchmen we become policemen, making sure everyone is kept in line.
We will see things in our church and in people that require the response and warning of the watchman. It takes discernment to know when to speak and when to keep quiet.
Ezekiel 33:1-9 – Didn’t God already give Ezekiel this speech once? I wonder why He repeated it. Do you suppose that he was slipping in his duties, that he needed a little reminder? I’d like to think so.
Ezekiel 33:10-16 – Here God lays out repentance and falling. He warns both the righteous to not feel content in their position and the wicked to not feel trapped by their sin. The wicked can rise from it, but so can the righteous fall. Neither position is permanent.

Ezekiel 29:6 – Again – after I have rebuked you and disciplined you then you will know that I am Lord. It’s a constant theme.
Ezekiel 29:13-14 – It sounds much like the promises made to Israel. Gathering from being scattered, restoration of their kingdom. That is, until you read verse 15:

It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations.

Ezekiel 30 – It’s interesting that for all the nations around Israel, not necessarily enemies (maybe they were, I don’t know), but not friends either, God laments their destruction too.
Ezekiel 30:20 – God placed His sword in the hands of the King of Babylon. I’m not sure I’d want to take that responsibility, to wield God’s sword.
Ezekiel 31:8-9 – God here compares Pharaoh to a cedar and says that no tree in His garden was comparable, or it’s equal. Interesting, what does that mean? Perhaps it’s simply a commentary on his stature relative to the kings of Israel, meaning he held more power and influence. Not a commentary on his importance to God, but on his stature in the world.

It’s amazing to me how God calls me back to His word. There was a time, if I missed a few days, that I heard man calling me back. The guilt of not having a quiet time, the thought that someone would ask me about it, would get me back into the Bible.
Lately, however, if I go for a time without focused reading, there comes a moment when I relize that I miss it. More than that, I can feel God, gently, tugging at me to read. It’s as if He’s saying “I’ve got more to tell you, come, listen to Me.”
The guilt was pressing, almost frantic. The pull is gentle, but determined and persistent. With the guilt, I didn’t miss the Bible or God. When I feel God pulling, I suddenly realize that I do miss Him. I like that feeling.
Ezekiel 26 – Funny, how I revel in returning to my reading, and then find little to comment on in my first chapter.
God here continues laying out his judgement on not only Israel, but on those around her. Tyre evidently rejoiced as Jerusalem’s fall, thinking that it would benefit them commercially. God say to them through Ezekiel, not so fast, your time will come as well.
Ezekiel 27 – But God does not rejoice in their destruction. Here He lifts them up, praising their one time splendor. He laments that such a mighty city should fall. Why and how should this be?
Ezekiel 28 – Here God tells us why:

Because you [prince of Tyre] make your heart
like the heart of a god,
therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you,
the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom
and defile your splendor.
They shall thrust you down into the pit,
and you shall die the death of the slain
in the heart of the seas.
Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
in the presence of those who kill you,
though you are but a man, and no god,
in the hands of those who slay you?
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of foreigners;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 8:6-10

And to the King of Tyre …

You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.

Ezekiel 8:15-17

Pride. Self importance. Arrogance, cost these men and their subjects much.
Ezekiel 28:24-26 – After Ezekiel prophesies against the surrounding towns, God gives him this work of comfort to Israel:

And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.
Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.

Before, god said they would know that he is God by the punishment brought upon them. Now he say they will know he is God because of the security they have after he punishes their neighbors. Not only so, but after everyone, including Israel, gets their due, god will be honored when He lifts Israel up from among all of them.

Thanks to Pinakidion and my friend Bill for the reminder to get back to Ezekiel. 😀
Ezekiel 25:1-7 – It wasn’t just Israel and Judah that he was to prophesy against. It seemed a little surprising that God would hold another nation to account for mocking His temple. At first I was thinking it spoke of God’s passion for His own house, and I guess it does. But I’ve learned the Ammonites were not just neighbors across the Jordon, but close relative of Israel, being descendants of Lot. So they should have know of the Lord and had some respect for Him, and they did not. So Go is calling them to account.
I guess one lesson to be learned is to be careful in rejoicing when another tribe gets disciplined.
Ezekiel 25:8-17 – More rebukes for other nations. Three of them, Moab, Seir and Edom, like Ammon, are distant relatives of Israel. One, Philistia, has no relation other than proximity to Israel.
Over and over in this, the statement is made that because of their being disciplined, they will know that God is Lord. It’s interesting to think about. Now, thousand of years later, do the people of Israel and the descendants of those nations know that God is Lord? Perhaps this understanding was only meant for that generation. What about us, though? Do we read about this with separation and fail to get that God is Lord, He can an has stuck nations down for failing to honor Him.
Earlier in Ezekiel, God implied that this discipline of an entire nation was something that would not happen again. Perhaps I’m reading into the text there, however, I wonder if we haven’t missed the lesson of Bible history. That God is the Lord and He will call us to account for our actions toward Him.

Hard to think that this marks the halfway point through Ezekiel’s 48 chapters. It seems like I’ve been reading Ezekiel for a long time and should be almost done. 😛
Ezekiel 24:1 – OK, more dates. We started in Ezekiel 1:1 in “the thirteenth year”, in Ezekiel 20:1 it was “the seventh year” now it’s “the ninth year”.
Ezekiel 24:14 – “I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent” God pushed over the edge. Of course, not like we are, loosing our temper when we’ve had enough. This is God, patiently waiting for them to return (see Ezekiel 24:14), but time has run out.
Isn’t it the same today? He gives us our whole lives to come to him. Some folks have decades and the seek only their own pleasures. Once our lives aer over, there is no going back.
Ezekiel 24:15-18 – Can you imagine? Your wife, “the delight of your eyes”, is taken (not lost, taken) from you, and you can show nothing. No sadness, no mourning, no tears. Why? As a prophesy of what Israel will do at the death of their sons and daughters. That’s a hard spot to be in.
What sort of man was Ezekiel that the Lord could put him through this kind of pain and he was still not only faithful to God, but faithful to what God had for him to do (and I know that there is more pain to come)?
Ezekiel 24:27 – Was Ezekiel mute?