January 23, 2023
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Ezekiel? Here’s today’s reading:
Ezekiel 14 (NIV)
Idolaters Condemned
1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?...........Continue Reading
Right away God allows Ezekiel to see the true heart of these elders that came to seek counsel from him. He was able to see that while outwardly they appeared to do what was right inwardly their hearts were sinful. I love the simple response gives to these men…repent. It seems so easy and yet we complicate it but at the end of the day we just need to get ourselves right before God.
And no one can do it for us, it is our journey, our choices that make us right with God. We can pull along a spouse or a child but they must ultimately make the choice to believe and follow for themselves. When He shared that even Noah, Daniel, and Job, men that were tested and proven to be men of great faith, still would only be able to save themselves with that faith not their family…we see just how important our individual choices and our personal relationship with God is!
When things get really bad. They console n Ezekiel thinking that in itself would appease God. They had no plans to change their hearts desire. Men like Ezekiel they kept around like an insurance policy. We are all responsible for our own actions. A relationship with a priest or pastor does not absolve us God uses Noah, Daniel and Job to show these great men could not save the people of Judah. God had already passed judgement on them. It’s a nice thought to think man has changed over the years. History continues to repeat itself
Reading Kelly’s last sentence has a truthful ‘cringe’ to it regarding individual choices….the fact that it is very possible to be separated from our loved ones in the end, is a very sad thought.
Ezekiel 14
The prophets were dealt with in chapter 13 and now the leaders in chapter 14. It is one thing to have idols in space, it is even worse to be dedicated to them in your heart, defining and investing yourself in a statue of some sort rather than the creator. How fitting it is for God to bring judgement on His people and yet He still calls them back to repentance and warns them it is coming. And no righteous person or remnant can save them, and yet the righteous will be able to be saved. And when He brings the judgment by the various means He describes, He will also save a remnant whose actions we assume will be righteous. And I love how the chapter ends, “you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Lord”. God does everything on purpose and is always justified in doing so…not that He needs anyone’s permission or approval….
Ezekiel 14. I always thought Daniel and Ezekiel were somewhat contemporarys with one another. Interesting than Daniel is mentioned, he is not that many years contextually away from Exekiel I think
yup Ezekiel was an exilic prophet and Daniel was probably part of the first wave of exiles from Judah…
Ezekiel 14
Let us focus on being right with God and be a good example as a Christ follower so others can see and want what we have.
This is such a rude awakening. God is making it very evident That we can only get ourselves right with him. It makes me question many things that I say. Like thinking I will be reunited with love ones that maybe not there waiting for me to be reunited with them again. It makes me very sad.
It is interesting that God tells Ezekiel that Noah, Daniel, and Job’s righteousness, could only deliver their own souls. It made me think of the level of righteousness that is required to stand before the living God. I believe that although these men were righteous, they were not perfect. They had a relationship with God and He knew their heart. It made me think back to a chapter where those who grieved by the sin of Jerusalem were marked and protected from God’s wrath. It was their heart revealed in their grief over sin. 9:4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
I am thankful that God gave us a Man who, by his righteousness, CAN save our souls when we place our trust in Him.