Devotions from Ezekiel

Passage Read: Lamentations 5 - Ezekiel 3 Meditation Verses: Ezekiel 3:5-7 If he had been sent to foreigners, they would have listened to Ezekiel, but he was sent to his own people, and they would not listen to him. Though he spoke the Word of…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 4-7 Meditation Verse: 6:9 The Israelites have no understanding of how they have hurt and offended the Lord by their disloyalty, by their whoring after other gods that are just idols. They have broken His heart but don't understand. He is God,…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 8-11 Meditation Verses: 11:17-20 Those who remained in Jerusalem looked on the exiles as lost and hopeless, and they rejected them, as if they themselves were the better, were chosen, the favored of God. But God says of the exiles that it…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 12-15 Meditation Verse: 13:22 The false prophets make sad the righteous, though God has not brought pain on them, because by their lies they strengthen the hands of those who do wrong so that they won't repent and live. The righteous hear…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 16-19 Meditation Verse: 18:24 If the righteous lives by faith, then his faith must produce righteousness. And if he turns from his righteousness, then something has gone wrong with his faith! How can he who fears the Lord and believes in Him…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 20-23 Meditation Verse: 20:49 Wow! This is how people write off the Word of the Lord! If it is parables, then they have an excuse why they can't understand it, but if it is plain language and exactly what it says, then…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 24-27 Meditation Verse: 25:3 Though the Lord was forced to punish His people, yet He does not take kindly to the pagans who rejoice over the destruction He brings on His people. He is still jealous for His people, He has not…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 28-31 Meditation Verses: 31:13-14 Assyria was once the greatest empire on earth, but it was overthrown because of its arrogance, because it abused God's people. And to be a sign to all other great nations, that none of them can last forever,…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 32-35 Meditation Verses: 34:17-22 Not only are the shepherds abusing the flock, not caring for the needs of the sheep but caring only for their own wants and needs, so also the fat sheep bully the thin. They take all the good…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 36-39 Meditation Verse: 36:32 The Lord promises to return Israel from exile and give them a heart of flesh to obey His commands and statutes. But He assures them that He is not doing it for their sake, as if they have…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 40-43 Meditation Verse: 43:11 Only if the people are ashamed of their ways, their waywardness, only if they're ready to change their ways and seek the Lord in truth, then Ezekiel is to show them the measurements and statutes of this new…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 44-47 Meditation Verse: 47:22 Uncircumcised aliens are not welcome in the Temple, but aliens who live among the Israelites are to be granted land as an inheritance just like a native Israelite. But they will be subject to all the laws and…

Passage Read: Lamentations 5 - Ezekiel 3 Meditation Verse: Ezekiel 3:27 Thought Ezekiel wasn't made responsible for the response of the people, but he was responsible for his response to the Lord. He was supposed to speak what the Lord told him, but he wasn't…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 4-7 Meditation Verse: 6:9 Thought God is grieved by our adulterous hearts, which turn away from Him, and our eyes, which lust after idols. He is jealous and heartbroken that we find Him lacking and unattractive, though He has given everything we…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 8-11 Meditation Verses: 9:9-10 Thought "The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see" was the excuse the Israelites gave for seeking other gods. But the truth was that they had sought other gods first, which caused the Lord to…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 12-15 Meditation Verse: 13:22 Thought There are workers of magic and lies that actually cause grief to the righteous and encourage the wicked not to turn from their wicked ways. They cause grief surely because they encourage people to remain in their…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 16-19 Meditation Verse: 16:63 Thought When God makes His atonement for our sins, it shouldn't result in pride and arrogance. That's what happened at the beginning, when God first chose Israel, they became prideful because they had been chosen by the Lord.

Passage Read: Ezekiel 20-23 Meditation Verse: 20:49 Thought No matter how clearly Ezekiel preaches, no matter how clearly the Lord prophesies through him, the people have a ready excuse to protect themselves from the Lord's message: He's just speaking parables! That way no one can…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 24-27 Meditation Verses: 24:13-14 Thought Judah refused to be cleansed of their impurity, their sin, but God would not give up on the nation. He would pour out His wrath on them until they were finally cleansed. They resisted and refused to…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 28-31 Meditation Verses: 31:10-12 Thought It doesn't matter how powerful a nation may become, how great it may be on the earth. It is still subject to the Lord and expected to honor Him. The nation or people who become proud, thinking…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 32-35 Meditation Verses: 33:18-20 Thought The Israelites wanted people to be established as either wicked or good, with no possibility of change. That was far easier than having to continually evaluate people to determine if they were evil or good. That was…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 36-39 Meditation Verse: 36:32 Thought The Lord was put to shame by the conduct of the Israelites. When he drove them out of the land, the people where they went all recognized that they were the people of the Lord, but had…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 40-43 Meditation Verse: 42:20 Thought This idea of the holy and common still needing a separation has come up several times in Ezekiel. Today we want to eliminate the difference, but this is about the future, either during the reign of Christ…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 44-47 Meditation Verse: 47:12 Thought This is a clue that suggests all this about the sanctuary and the sacrifices and the coming division of the land take place during the reign of Christ. There will be Israelites who survive the wrath of…

Passage Read: Lamentations 5 - Ezekiel 3 Meditation Verse: Ezekiel 3:7 Jesus says something similar to His disciples: Those people who are willing to listen to Jesus, to God, will listen to those who are sent by Him, who teach His Word. If they are…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 4-7 Meditation Verses: 7:2-4 Judgment begins with the people of God. How can He righteously judge the nations for their abominations if He let's His own people get away with worse things (5:6)? He will judge the nations that have plundered His…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 8-11 Meditation Verses: 11:17-21 The exiles are considered by those still in Jerusalem to be those rejected by God, but God has instead removed them from the land in order to protect them from the disaster He has planned against those who…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 12-15 Meditation Verses: 14:3-8 God sees the heart. He knows who seeks Him in truth and who seeks Him as just another possibility. In Israel, they had idols carved on the walls of the temple or standing around the temple or on…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 16-19 Meditation Verses: 18:19-22 Why would anyone be upset that the son does not bear the consequences of the father's sin? Why would Israel say that the Lord is unjust because he doesn't bring punishment on the son, who did no evil,…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 20-23 Meditation Verses: 20:33-38 God is so frustrated by His people. They continually go astray. They continually turn away from Him and embrace idols and go their own wicked way. They have profaned Him and His house again and again. They never…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 24-27 Meditation Verse: 24:14 Israel is beloved by the Lord. Jerusalem is His chosen dwelling place. Yet they have defiled themselves; they have cast off restraint and tossed aside the Law of the Lord. They do as they please. They do as…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 28-31 Meditation Verses: 29:6-7 The Lord promises destruction on Egypt because they were an unreliable help to Israel. Most of the nations around Israel have derided them and mocked them and rejoiced over Israel's misery, so the Lord has promised to destroy…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 32-35 Meditation Verses: 34:2-6 The shepherds of Israel didn't care for the Lord's flock, they didn't care for the welfare of the people, but only their own welfare. They abused the sheep and used the sheep, but couldn't be bothered to care…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 36-39 Meditation Verses: 36:33-36 These prophecies of Israel being restored to their land have been partially fulfilled: They have been restored to their land and it is miraculous. But they have not had wickedness removed far from them. They have been blessed…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 40-43 Meditation Verses: 43:6-11 A voice comes from the temple with a man standing beside Ezekiel, saying that this is His dwelling place forever among the Israelites. The Israelites are to remove the dead bodies of their kings from near Him when…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 44-47 Meditation Verses: 44:23-24 So the priests will teach the people to obey the Law of Moses in all is points, including the laws of cleanness and uncleanness. Whenever there is a dispute, they will judge the people according to all God's…