Today's Scripture
Ezekiel 24:15-27
Today’s reading Ezekiel 23-24
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 Mortal, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners. 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning, I did as I was commanded.
19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting this way?” 20 Then I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me: 21 Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and your heart’s desire; and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; you shall do just as he has done. When this comes, then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
25 And you, mortal, on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their heart’s affection, and also their sons and their daughters, 26 on that day, one who has escaped will come to you to report to you the news. 27 On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
RJ's Devotion
What does the passage say?
V. 15 -18 God tells Ezekiel that God will take away Ezekiel’s wife to show a message to the people of God. This was a continued message of the previous analogy of Israel, described as sisters who violated the covenant.
V. 19-21 This captured the attention of the people, and they came and asked what is going on. Ezekiel delivers the message of God, of the plans of desolation.
V. 22-23 Ezekiel does what was commanded by God, even though he must have grieved from the inside.
V. 24-27 God continues to proclaim God’s Lordship.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
We are reading through the Book of Ezekiel, according to the One Year Bible reading challenge.
How can a person not grieve, or at least refrain oneself, during the time of this harsh prophecy?
Maybe, one might say, ‘I don’t believe in that God, who does such things.’ And it is true. It’s hard to understand.
The point God is making, however, is ‘God is in charge.’ God gave and God takes away.
God is who initiated the building of God’s temple. God provided the resources and the builders for God’s temple.
People forgot, who it was from and for, and defiled the temple. It was a pride of their identity, they failed to live according to that identity.
God is destroying that identity, with a plan to rebuild.
The pain and groaning inside might have been necessary, for a new identity to emerge.
Still, this is a hard text.
“17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17, NRSV)
God is creating something new. Sometimes it might be painful, but trust that God is our everlasting Lord.
Prayer
Lord, create in us, a new identity, worthy of your call. In Christ Name, AMEN.
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