Category: Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36:9-11 – “See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted. I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

Read the full chapter here.

Lest we think that our only proof of God is in his destructive power, we see that phrase again, but in a different context — “Then you will know that I am the Lord.” This time, however, instead of his wrath and power, he is showing us himself through his redemptive power. We will know he is God because we will prosper like never before.

I could just sit and drink in verse 9: “See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you.” There is a depth of love there that is hard to capture with language. Instead, it burns deep into your soul. God loves you so incredibly. He sees you. He knows you. He has plans to prosper you.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s got more in store for you.

Sometimes we focus on what God expects of us, and when we do that we put ourselves at the center of the story. God’s interested in proving himself to the world, both through his power to destroy evil and his power to heal and love. It’s about him being big enough to give to you and care for you. He has more for you, not that you have to work harder to get, just more. Blessings upon blessings upon blessings. Are you open to receiving that today?

Ezekiel 37:4-8 – “Then he said to me, ‘Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.”

Read the full chapter here.

Ezekiel 37 is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible. It’s probably the reason why I chose to write an entire devotional series on this book. I can’t think of more powerful imagery that represents God’s heart besides Jesus’ death on the cross. If you haven’t read the full chapter, definitely don’t miss it!

First, let’s just notice that in verse 1 Ezekiel gets supernaturally transported to a valley of bones. Cool but creepy. God’s message is acted out as Ezekiel watches the dry bones rise up, form skeletons, regain flesh, and become a giant army. (Goosebumps!) In the second half of this chapter, we see God’s heart for the unity of his people. He wants to join back together the two divided kingdoms of Israel. Turns out death and destruction isn’t what God wants at all.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God wants to bring you back to life.

Have you ever felt dead inside? Resurrection is God’s specialty — he used it to conquer death when Jesus resurrected and he’s also promised it to all of his followers. We often call it “eternal life.” You die but really you don’t. And in the end, when the final day comes, God’s going to unearth everything dead and raise it up to life. He’s also doing that for us right now, as he makes old things new in our lives here on earth. When you hear the voice of God, move towards him. You just might find yourself breathing and living as you never imagined possible.

Ezekiel 38:8-9 – “A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel. You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.”

Read the full chapter here.

There is a lot of speculation about who “Gog of Magog” (also sometimes referred to as “Gog and Magog”) is. There was some historical connection with Alexander the Great, who supposedly defeated “Gog and Magog.” According to the 1st century historian Josephus they represented the Scythians. You can read more about it here.

In our highlighted verses we see that these prophecies, unlike some of the others from Ezekiel that refer directly to enemy nations at that time, are about the “distant future.” It’s possible that there are some connections with the end times as well. If you ever wondered why America makes a big deal about Israel, this is one of many prophetic words about Israel having a protected land that they all come back to after being dispersed. Even though the concept of “God’s people” changed with Jesus, many in America want to stay on the safe side of the end times prophecies that have some pretty big threats for enemies of Israel.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God is unlike any other leader.

Over and over in Ezekiel, we see that God is defeating a whole lot of evil dictators and general bad guys. He wants to flex to the world, proving that he alone deserves the title “God.” The end of this chapter, we see that God wants to display his greatness and holiness. He is set apart from every other leader, ruler, and god this world has ever known. It’s important to pause and consider God’s holiness, and what it means for your life and for your freedom. The rulers he aims to destroy aim to destroy you. God’s goodness is unlike anything else. His power is unlike anything else. The combination of goodness and power means freedom for you. It means an end to oppression and injustice and suffering. It means that what you see around you in the world today isn’t the end of the story. Freedom will get the last word.

Ezekiel 39:27-29 – “When I bring them home from the lands of their enemies, I will display my holiness among them for all the nations to see. Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them away to exile and brought them home again. I will leave none of my people behind. And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Read the full chapter here.

Another day another prophecy of a major bloodbath, this one particularly graphic. God calls all the birds to come for a great feast on all the rotting flesh of the enemy nations. It’s hard to know what is hyperbole and what is literal, but it’s not pretty either way. In reading the chapter, I was reminded that God acts like a divine being, not a human being. Even though we are made in his image, he has a lot of license we don’t have to bring powerful, evil rulers under control.

The end of the chapter (the highlighted verses above) remind us of God’s goal in all of this bloodshed: the restoration of his people. He wants to bring them home. He won’t leave anyone behind. He wants to pour out his Spirit on them and never leave their side again. Whenever we find ourselves far from God, it’s not him who moved. He has never chosen to break his promises or walk away as we have.

Here’s your freedom for today:

You are living in a supernaturally unique time.

When God describes pouring out his Spirit on his people and never leaving them again, he’s talking about a reality that we now live in. The people in Ezekiel’s day could only imagine what that might be like. They could only dream of a Messiah that would someday come. Living during this time after Jesus’ life on earth, after God has given his Holy Spirit to his people in a unique and new way, is a huge gift. We continue to await for Jesus’ second coming that has been prophesied, but we have the Holy Spirit in us as a guarantee. He’s our rescue ticket, and he’s also giving us supernatural understanding and wisdom that wasn’t previously available to the masses. The prophets and priests lived that life, but the direct line of communication to God was cut off. Praise God today for his Holy Spirit, and ask him for more supernatural wisdom and insight.

Ezekiel 40:4 – “He said to me, ‘Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.’”

Read the full chapter here.

The next few chapters detail the design of a temple-type structure, and we need to hang on to verse 4 (highlighted above) as we read. Pay close attention. There are things to notice. Ezekiel was given this message for a reason.

There’s a lot of measuring going on in this chapter. (Spoiler alert: it keeps going for a few chapters…). We can’t just gloss over that. We need to ask ourselves why God would show this to Ezekiel. Why would he include it in the Bible so that we are still reading it today? What does it reveal about who God is?

Here’s your freedom for today:

God is in the details.

God is not a distant being, uninterested in the details of life. He takes a lot of time to describe intricate measurements of his temple, and he does it for a reason. Remember how much God has repeated over and over again through Ezekiel: “Then you will know that I am the Lord”? He has established himself as more powerful than any ruler. He is the King of all kings. When you have that power and when you have established that you alone are the true God, you get to dictate what your palace looks like. What a unique and rich view we have of not only an ancient type of building, but also God’s personal design of his own house! As we continue to read about it, notice how much God’s power is on display. He alone is worthy of our worship.