Category: Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16:60-62 – “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is long and honestly brutal. If you think this is a lot, you should read the book of Hosea… His entire life was an enactment of God’s people betraying him and selling themselves like prostitutes. He had to marry an unfaithful woman and keep pursuing her.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Sodom, you can find it in Genesis 18-19. Their city name literally became a slang word for really bad sinning. God is so angry with Israel in this chapter because the sins of his people have been worse than the worst heathen cities. However, today’s highlighted verses (found at the end of the chapter) give us hope. God will restore his people and make a new covenant.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s never finished with you.

As horrible as the sins of Israel were, as much as they turned their backs on God and worshiped idols and engaged in evil rituals, God didn’t give up on them. He drove the evil out and promised to start again. His covenant, or promise, was still valid despite the fact that the Israelites had broken their side of the deal. Not only that, but God’s new covenant would include others who were the worst of the worst. He would make an eternal promise to save the whole world. Jesus came to begin the fulfillment of that covenant, and he’s coming back to finish his great rescue. No matter how much you feel like God wants to give up on you, just remember he’s not done yet.

Ezekiel 17:22-23 – “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches.”

Read the full chapter here.

If you love a good riddle, you should read the whole chapter to see if you can figure it out. To sum up, a great eagle comes along and plucks a branch off a cedar tree. He plants it and it roots in the ground and becomes strong. Then another eagle comes along and the vines and shoots of the tree grow towards this new eagle. God is saying that he had given the Israelites a wonderful land to grow in, and they were doing well. But then they made a treaty with the king of Babylon and started looking to Babylon’s king instead of God.

It’s amazing how easily our hearts abandon God when we look for earthly answers. A king, or a celebrity, or a product, or an economic system, or a culture — all of these lure us in as promising more than God can offer. We forget what God has given us and sell our souls for more. In the American church, for example, we have sought governmental protection and tax benefits. Look how quickly that has turned into marrying a political party and turning our heads to overlook a whole lot of evil.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s provision doesn’t force you to compromise.

Every earthly system that we use to replace God will require us to compromise. Maybe it’s our integrity, or our beliefs, or our devotion. There is always a cost. God’s provision is free. He loves you and gives you good things willingly. He draws you to himself, heals your heart, and gives you a supernatural life that you never thought possible. As we see in today’s highlighted verses, God plants strong trees that not only do well for themselves, but provide shelter and a home for others. These verses point to the good news of Jesus, who welcomes not just Jews but all people to dwell within his branches.

Ezekiel 18:26-29 – “When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.”

Read the full chapter here.

When Jesus showed up on the scene, many Jewish people thought he was contradicting God’s law. They saw the Old Testament as proof that they were God’s chosen people and nothing could change that. If you are a Jew, you are in with God. Reading today’s passage helps us see that the Old Testament really sets the stage for Jesus’ coming. God is making it clear that being born into a certain family doesn’t save you. You have to either turn from sin or die from it.

What’s fascinating is the idea that the people of Israel disagreed with God on this. Isn’t it wrong to punish people for their sins? Come on, God, we’re your chosen people! It’s not right. Many people think similar things today. Is there really a hell? Would a loving God really send people into eternal punishment?

Here’s your freedom for today:

God desires you to have life.

In today’s chapter, verse 23 shows us that God doesn’t want anyone to die. He’s giving us chance after chance at life. But he won’t force us to take it. People can choose evil. And not just murder evil. All kinds of evil that stems from a life apart from God. He’s here, he’s for you, he’s cheering you on and calling you over to himself. But he’s just too kind and gentle to force you to love him. You have to decide that for yourself.

Ezekiel 19:1-4 – “Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:

‘What is your mother?
    A lioness among lions!
She lay down among the young lions
    and reared her cubs.
She raised one of her cubs
    to become a strong young lion.
He learned to hunt and devour prey,
    and he became a man-eater.
Then the nations heard about him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him away with hooks
    to the land of Egypt.'”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is a song, and it’s tempting to read until your eyes glaze over and nothing makes sense anymore (that’s around verse 4…). Why am I reading about lions? Why is this being sung at a funeral? Why is this even in the Bible?

When we read the Bible, we sometimes are taught to look for ways to apply it to our lives. And on some of the practical stuff in the New Testament letters, that can be helpful (sometimes). Old Testament prophecy may not be great for that. We have to come back to the strategy of asking, “What does this tell me about the character of God? How does this help me understand God’s plan for the world and his response to his people?” With that in mind, I’ll sum up: the people of Israel (the lionness) were strong. They raised up kings (cubs). Some of them got mixed up with the evil cultures around them and all that Israel was supposed to be got devoured. The nation of Israel had been exiled and enslaved many times already by this point. God wants to do something about that. Removing the evil kings (funeral song) is how he is going to do that.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God will overcome evil to make sure you stay free.

Here we see God’s heart for his people: freedom. He doesn’t want them to be exiled and enslaved by other (evil) nations. He doesn’t want their kings to lead them astray. That strong lionness image? He wants that for his people. Through Jesus, “God’s people” now means anyone who follows Jesus — whether Jew or non-Jew. So we need to apply this not to our individual lives, but to the church. How is the church in America and the global church getting trapped by imitating evil earthly systems? How can we return to the heart of God? Let’s sing a funeral song for the corruption of God’s people so that we can find freedom as a body once again. It’s like removing cancer — it hurts to cut out a part of your body, but it just might make you whole again.

Ezekiel 20:1-3 – “On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the Lord. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply. Then this message came to me from the Lord: ‘Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing!’”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is all about who is God and who is not. When a king asks for an audience, he gets it. Except when that king is making demands of God. You can’t just try to summon God as if he is a servant to you. Other way around. God makes sure he is clear exactly who’s in charge.

While we may not blatantly demand an audience with God in the same way, I think we often forget who is serving whom. How much of your prayer life centers on God making your life more convenient? While he is interested in every detail of our lives, he’s not our vending machine, secretary, or genie in a bottle.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You are most free when you are properly aligned with God.

Have you ever noticed life is pretty tough? It’s hard! We want things we can’t have, we hurt in ways we wish we didn’t, and we are far more powerless than we like to admit. There’s a reason you are not God. It’s too much for you. It is freeing to align yourself properly underneath God. Surrender your life in all its aspects to him. Allow him to lead you. Pray about what he wants you to do rather than what you want him to do for you. Just sit in his presence. Let him take care of you.