Today's Scripture
Wake up call: Ezekiel 11:14-24
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Ezekiel 9-12
14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heartand put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia[c] in the vision given by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.
What does this passage mean to me/us
Reading through the chapters of judgment is hard. Not only because we didn’t see the wicked ways of the people, but also because of our understanding of God being a God of forgiveness. At the same time, we don’t want to see ourselves in the shoes of the people who were punished by God.
Some people emphasize how we need to follow God to avoid the consequences of sin. However, we shouldn’t dwell on the consequences of sin, since God sent Jesus to bear that cross. Instead, we need to focus on the call on how God calls God’s people to remain in the covenant.
The reason why God shares this prophecy of hope, after the prophecy of judgment, is to remind God’s people that God really wants the people to remain in the covenant.
Sometimes, there will be these wake-up calls in our spiritual journeys.
When it happens, God wants us to see the call instead of focusing on the event.
Prayer
Lord, help us to remember your call to remain in the covenant you have for us. Help us to be faithful to that call today. In Christ name, AMEN.
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