Focus

Prepare yourself to discern what is and what is not of God today. Still yourself so you can hear how God is calling you.

Read

Ezekiel 11:1-25 (NRSV)

The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the LORD, which faces east. There, at the entrance of the gateway, were twenty-five men; among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. He said to me, “Mortal, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; they say, ’The time is not near to build houses; this city is the pot, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal.”

Then the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: This is what you think, O house of Israel; I know the things that come into your mind. You have killed many in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: The slain whom you have placed within it are the meat, and this city is the pot; but you shall be taken out of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord GOD. I will take you out of it and give you over to the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD. This city shall not be your pot, and you shall not be the meat inside it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, whose statutes you have not followed, and whose ordinances you have not kept, but you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are around you.”

Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord GOD! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

Then the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “They have gone far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.” Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord GOD.

Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the LORD ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city. The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

Reflect

God repeatedly shows mercy to God’s people. God gives us boundaries so that we do not bring the consequences of sin to our lives. However, as Ezekiel wrote in verse 21, “…I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, say the Lord God.” Often we are punished by our own sins. If I break the law, though I repent and receive God’s forgiveness, I will still have to suffer the punishment. God did not get me into the mess; I did it myself by breaking the law. Though we receive mercy, grace, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, it does not stop what we set into motion by foolishly disobeying God.

Does God want to bring us sorrow and woe? Absolutely not. In verse 19, God reveals God’s desire for the exiles: “I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them.” Following the will of God is how we can have life more abundantly. Too often some of our troubles come when we ignore God’s Word and do things our own way. God has assured us of victory.

Pray

God of love and compassion, please renovate my heart and create in me a desire to follow your Word faithfully. Please give me a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Go with God.