his hand stuck out

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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his hand stuck out

Ezekiel 6:11-14 (JDV)

Ezekiel 6:11 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry out over all the evil and repulsive practices of the house of Israel, who will fall by the sword, famine, and epidemic.
Ezekiel 6:12 The one who is far off will die by epidemic; the one who is near will fall by the sword; and the one who remains and is spared will die of famine. In this way I will exhaust my wrath on them.
Ezekiel 6:13 You will all know that I am Yahveh when their murdered ones lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak – the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols.
Ezekiel 6:14 I will stick out my hand over them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the open country to Diblah. Then they will know that I am Yahveh.”

his hand stuck out

Ezekiel was commanded to display signs in this passage which are usually signs of a highly charismatic religious experience. But what they were intended to do was get the people’s attention. The LORD wanted his people to know that some terrible things were about to happen, and he was behind them.

It seems to me that when bad things happen nowadays, we preachers fall all over ourselves trying to convince others that God is not to blame for them. We don’t want to give anyone the impression that our God is to blame.

Well, in this case, what God wanted Ezekiel to proclaim is exactly that. He wanted the survivors to see that the tragedy was directly connected to the treachery. When bad things happen, it is not always God acting in judgment, but it can be.

LORD, give us the wisdom to see your hand in history, even in the events we cannot understand.

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not without a reason

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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not without a reason

Ezekiel 6:8-10 (JDV)

Ezekiel 6:8 “Yet I will leave a remnant when you are scattered among the nations, because throughout the countries there will be some of you who will escape the sword.
Ezekiel 6:9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are taken captive, how I was crushed by their promiscuous hearts that turned away from me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will detest themselves because of the evil things they did, their repulsive actions of every kind.
Ezekiel 6:10 And they will know that I am Yahveh; I did not threaten to bring this disaster on them without a reason.

not without a reason

The LORD told Ezekiel that he was not going to totally wipe out all the Israelites, but he was going to allow them to be almost wiped out. He had his reasons for this disaster that would ravage his people. His honor was one of those reasons. His heartache over being abandoned by them was another. His awareness that the survivors would remember him in their captivity was another.

Lots of bad things are happening in this world today, and lots of them are being experienced by us. But not one thing is happening without a reason. We must trust our God and seek to do his will in the midst of the disasters that come. He is still in control and he can still be glorified in our lives.

LORD, show us how to trust you and obey you so that your reasons for everything will become evident.

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against the mountains

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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against the mountains

Ezekiel 6:1-7 (JDV)

Ezekiel 6:1 The word of Yahveh happened to me, and this is what he said:
Ezekiel 6:2 “Son of Adam, face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.
Ezekiel 6:3 You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahveh! This is what the Lord Yahveh says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Notice, I am about to bring a sword over you, and I will destroy your high places.
Ezekiel 6:4 Your altars will be desolated and your shrines smashed. I will throw down your murdered ones in front of your idols.
Ezekiel 6:5 I will lay the corpses of the Israelites in front of their idols and scatter your bones around your altars.
Ezekiel 6:6 Wherever you live the cities will be in ruins and the high places will be desolate, so that your altars will lie in ruins and be desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your shrines cut down, and what you have made wiped out.
Ezekiel 6:7 The murdered ones will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahveh.

against the mountains

As a hiker, I am used to describing my success by listing the mountains I have summited. To name a mountain region you have hiked is to quantify your success. The majestic mountain ranges are a source of pride, and remembering your experiences on them a source of pleasure.

Ezekiel’s people saw the mountains as a source of pride as well. But they were proud of their mountains because they had turned them into idols, setting up high places to worship the false gods of the nations all around them.

The LORD would not stand for that. He told Ezekiel to face those majestic mountains and prophesy against them. He was to predict murder and mayhem, destuction and desolation. No longer would these mountains be places of pride and hypocrisy. They would become places of punishment and shame instead.

What are the things in your life that you are proud of, but distract you from worshiping God? You should have no other gods before Him.

LORD, rid us of the majestic mountains that keep us from acknowledging your glory.

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a disgrace among the nations

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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a disgrace among the nations

Ezekiel 5:13-17 (JDV)

Ezekiel 5:13 When my anger is spent and I have vented my wrath on them, I will be appeased. Then after I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I, Yahveh, have spoken in my jealousy.
Ezekiel 5:14 “I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.
Ezekiel 5:15 So you will be a disgrace and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and furious rebukes. I, Yahveh, have spoken.
Ezekiel 5:16 When I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them, arrows for destruction that I will send to destroy you, residents of Jerusalem, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of bread.
Ezekiel 5:17 I will send famine and dangerous animals against you. They will leave you childless. epidemic and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, Yahveh, have spoken.”

a disgrace among the nations

In yesterday’s text, we saw how Jerusalem would learn that being in the center of the nations would not be safe for them. Their stubborn refusal to repent and obey God would lead to their being punished by him. The city who was supposed to display God’s glory would instead experience his wrath.

In today’s text, the LORD explains the details. That wrath would entail famine, attacks by dangerous animals, childlessness, epidemics and being ravaged by war.

Instead of displaying God’s glory among the nations, Jerusalem would be made a ruin and would display disgrace among the nations. Their sin was public. Their punishment would be just as public.

Personally, we need to learn from this text that one cannot presume that a position of prominence will keep him from experiencing the consequences of sin.

LORD, may we all learn to come to you in repentance and humility, and not presume that we are protected by a position of prominence.

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the center of the nations

Posted on July 10, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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center of the nations

Ezekiel 5:5-12 (JDV)

Ezekiel 5:5 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: I have set this Jerusalem in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.
Ezekiel 5:6 She has rebelled against my rules with more guilt than the nations, and against my prescriptions more than the countries that surround her, because her people have rejected my rules and have not walked in my prescriptions.
Ezekiel 5:7 “Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Because you have been more arrogant than the nations around you– you have not walked in my prescriptions or kept my rules; you have not even kept the rules of the nations around you –
Ezekiel 5:8 therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Notice, I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments within you in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel 5:9 Because of all your repulsive practices, I will do to you what I have never done before and what I will never do again.
Ezekiel 5:10 As a result, fathers will eat their sons within Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your survivors to every direction of the wind.
Ezekiel 5:11 “Therefore, as I live” – this is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh – “I will withdraw and not look compassionately, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your repulsive acts and repulsive practices. Yes, I will not spare you.
Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by epidemic and be consumed by famine within you; a third will fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter a third to every direction of the wind, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.

center of the nations

The inhabitants of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day thought they were safe because God had set them in the center of the nations. But their rebellion and indifference to God’s covenant and law turned that safe position into an unsafe one. God was going to withdraw from them, resulting in death by disease and warfare. Those who did not die would become hunted refugees.

God’s favored people are the ones who have ears to hear his word, repent of their sins, and seek his face. Being in the center of the nations made Jerusalem more responsible to listen to their God and obey him. It was not a safe place for hypocrisy.

LORD, give us the wisdom to stop trying to hide our hypocrisy. May we be more concerned to be in the center of your will than in the center of the nations.

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shave and a hair cut

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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shave and a hair cut

Ezekiel 5:1-4 (JDV)

Ezekiel 5:1 “Now you, son of Adam, take a sharp sword, use it like you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.
Ezekiel 5:2 You are to burn a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended; you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, because I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Ezekiel 5:3 But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.
Ezekiel 5:4 Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it. A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

shave and a hair cut

When Ezekiel first heard these words from the LORD, how he must have cringed. For him, personally, to shave his head and beard would have meant he was forsaking the priesthood. It would have been a rejection of his inheritance.

As a prophet, he would also recognize the symbolism that his people would suffer loss, shame and even the ones who did survive would be in mourning.

The cost of a shave and a hair cut is much more than two bits. The cost that this event predicted was astronomical.

LORD, as we contemplate the cost of Judah’s rebellion and sin, may we learn its lesson. May we grow strong in obedience, and quick in repentance.

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our sensitive God

Posted on July 8, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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our sensitive God

Ezekiel 4:9-17

Ezekiel 4:9 “Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days.
Ezekiel 4:10 The food you eat each day will weigh eight ounces; you will eat it at set times.
Ezekiel 4:11 You will also drink a ration of water, a sixth of a hin, which you will drink at set times.
Ezekiel 4:12 You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.”
Ezekiel 4:13 Yahveh said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their impure bread among the nations where I will banish them.”
Ezekiel 4:14 But I said, “Oh, Lord God, notice I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”
Ezekiel 4:15 He replied to me, “Notice, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that.”
Ezekiel 4:16 He said to me, “Son of Adam, notice I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat food they have weighed out and with anxiety drink rationed water
Ezekiel 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their violation.

our sensitive God

A few years ago, I was reading an article in a local health magazine about healthy bread and cereals. It featured a brand of bread called Ezekiel 4:9. It actually does appeal to me more than the normal stuff, because I like foods with lots of ingredients mixed in. But the point of Ezekiel’s prophecy was that things are going to be so bad in Jerusalem that people are going to eat whatever they can get. Ezekiel himself was repulsed at the idea of cooking his food over human dung, an impure and shameful thing to him. The LORD was sensitive to him and assigned him cow’s dung as fuel instead.

Thank you, LORD, for being sensitive to the feelings and wishes of your messengers. You are a kind and compassionate God.

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an uncomfortable messenger

Posted on July 7, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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an uncomfortable messenger

Ezekiel 4:4-8 (JDV)

Ezekiel 4:4 “Then lie down on your left side and place the violation of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their violation for the number of days you lie on your side.
Ezekiel 4:5 For I have assigned you the years of their violation according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the violation of the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 4:6 When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the violation of the house of Judah. I have assigned you forty days, a day for each year.
Ezekiel 4:7 Face the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.
Ezekiel 4:8 Notice, I will put cords around you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.

an uncomfortable messenger

I thought about calling this post “the lying prophet” but decided against it.

The message Ezekiel had to give would put him in an uncomfortable position for over a year. He had to lie down on his side for 390 days (symbolizing the exile of Israel) then switch sides and lie down again for another 40 days (representing the exile of Judah). His difficult days would also represent the horrible siege of Jerusalem. The Lord actually tied the prophet in place for this to assure that he did not turn.

The numbers are significant. The total (430 days) correspond to two different periods of 430 years. It matches the years Israel was enslaved in Egypt, and it also matches the number of years between the captivity of Jehoiachin (597 B.C.) and the Maccabean revolt (167 B.C.). This was bad news — in that it predicted another long period of slavery to Gentiles. But it was also good news in that the slavery would not be permanent.

Anyone who has ever been bedridden knows how uncomfortable this experience must have been for the prophet. He was bearing the violation of these people, so being uncomfortable was required.

The message you and I are called to share is good news, not bad. But sharing the excellent message may at times cause some discomfort for us. We need to trust the one who called us to share. He knows how to reach those who will inherit permanent life.

LORD, give us courage to do what must be done to pass on your message — no matter how uncomfortable we may feel doing it.

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playing in the dirt

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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playing in the dirt

Ezekiel 4:1-3 (JDV)

Ezekiel 4:1 “Now you, son of Adam, take a brick, set it in front of you, and chisel ‘the city of Jerusalem’ on it.
Ezekiel 4:2 Then lay siege to it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides.
Ezekiel 4:3 Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Face it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

I have been asked to do some interesting things as a minister of the gospel, but nobody has ever asked me to get down in the dirt, and play like I did when I was a kid. It must have been embarrassing for Ezekiel to do this — out in front of everyone.

But we cannot avoid the call to prophesy, even if it puts us in embarrassing situations sometimes.

The apostle Paul said “since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching” (1 Corinthians 1:21 NET).

LORD, if the people you call us to communicate with cannot hear the message any other way, give us the courage to embarrass ourselves preaching it.

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a frustrating life

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Jefferson Vann

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a frustrating life

Ezekiel 3:22-27 (JDV)

Ezekiel 3:22 The hand of Yahveh was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and I will speak with you there.”
Ezekiel 3:23 So I got up and went out to the plain. I noticed Yahveh’s impressive appearance was present there, like the impressive appearance I had seen by the Chebar Canal, and I fell face-down.
Ezekiel 3:24 The Breath entered me and set me on my feet. He spoke with me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.
Ezekiel 3:25 As for you, son of Adam, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them so you cannot go out among them.
Ezekiel 3:26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute and unable to mediate for them because they are a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 3:27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says.’ Let the one who listens, listen, and let the one who refuses, refuse – because they are a rebellious house.

a frustrating life

The LORD was teaching Ezekiel that his life was going to be a mixture of good and bad experiences. First, he sends him out to the plain, and Ezekiel has another experience of God’s impressive appearance.

From there, the same Sacred Breath moves him to go back to his house and shut himself up inside it. He was symbolically imprisoning himself. The LORD wanted him to know that his own people would tie him up so that he could not go out among them. Even the LORD would keep him from mediating for these people.

The consequence of these two truths meant that Ezekiel would have a frustrating life. He would learn much about God but there would be few in his generation who would care to learn from him.

The consequence for us is this remarkable revelation that we can now read, and see in our minds the magnificent glory of Ezekiel’s God — who is our God.

LORD, thank you for using Ezekiel’s frustrating life to reveal your glory to us.

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