Changed by worship

Ezekiel 46:9b No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate.

This verse is talking about the people who come to participate in worship and I was struck by this part of the verse that reminded me that my encounters with God should have me leaving by a different “gate.”  I do not know what the “real” meaning of this was for the children of Israel, although it seems to speak to the orderliness with which God wanted the temple worship to be carried out, but what I saw for myself here was the need to be different in some way whenever I leave God’s presence.  If I am always coming and going toe same way, the implication is that I am no different from the encounter with God and that means staleness.  If I am leaving out from the “opposite gate,” the implication is “change.”  That is what God wants for me.

My possession

Ezekiel 44:28 I am to be the only inheritance the priests have.  You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession.

The priests were God’s representatives to the children of Israel as well as the people’s representatives to God so theirs was a very important task.  They needed to be able to be fully attentive to their responsibilities and for this reason God wanted them unfettered, unhampered, by things that could distract them.  Possessions have a way of doing that to us.  Possessions and inheritances have a way of taking us over if we are not careful.  For me, this is my reminder that God wants to be my number one “possession” with everything else taking second place.  It is only then that I am able to honor and serve the Lord in my own life, even though I am not a full-time priest as those priests in this verse were.  The principle is the same for me as a member of the “royal priesthood” (I Peter 2:5).

The heavenly spotlight

Ezekiel 38:23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations.  Then they will know that I am the Lord.

God allows mankind to go any direction they want to go spiritually.  He is available to any and all who want to believe, trust in and live for Him.  However, I see over and over the book of Ezekiel statements about the efforts God takes, or will take in the future, to make His trustworthiness and His greatness so obvious to unbelievers that they cannot deny it.  He will do whatever He can to show His greatness generation after generation.  “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”  They will be without excuse (Romans 1:19-20) on the Day of Judgment.  In my mind’s eye I picture a world-sized spotlight shining on God in that day, spotlighting His greatness and his holiness in order to accomplish that goal.

Vindication

Ezekiel 36:23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name … and the nations will know that I am the Lord when I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

 I looked up the word “vindicate” in the dictionary because it is not a word we use very often in our daily language and I am glad I did so because it gave me much more food for thought as I meditated on this verse.  To vindicate means to clear, as from an accusation, to justify, or to defend against opposition, or to assert one’s right to a possession.  What great understanding as to what God is telling His people here!  He is accused, even in our day, of being an unloving or harsh dictator and His goal is to clear His name from such an accusation by saving people from sin and wickedness.  By His powerful actions of salvation and provision and His miraculous ways of rescuing people from spiritual and physical danger He is defending Himself to man and to Satan, and He is asserting His right to His children and to His holy name.  When I see God at work in my own life or in the lives of those around me, I am seeing God vindicate His great name.  And when I reach heaven, whether at death or at Jesus’ Second Coming, God will have vindicated His holiness completely, without question, for eternity.  And, as Ezekiel reminds us in just about every chapter of the book at least one time, then the nations will know that He is the Lord.  He has done, is doing, and will continue to do everything He can to convince people to worship Him and Him alone.

God's pleasure

Ezekiel 33:11 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.

In this verse, I see that God has great pleasure in those of us who choose to love, honor, obey and live for Him.  He created man to be a reflection of His own glory and so that is what brings the greatest pleasure to Him.  My life, when lived the way God intended when He created me, not only fulfills me as an individual, but also fulfills Him as the Creator.  When I live according to His Words, I have more peace, greater joy, and a satisfaction that is deeper than I could have any other way (Proverbs 6:22)  and God finds greater satisfaction in His creation.   This verse also reminds me that God does not want to have to punish anyone … He is not a harsh judge.  He would far rather save us than judge us.  He is a loving Creator God, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the Truth.

The Lord my God

Ezekiel 28:26 They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them.  Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.

There are so many examples in Ezekiel of what God will do to make sure the Israelites, or in some cases, their enemies, will know that HE is the Lord.  In this verse, God says that the way the Israelites will know He is the Lord their God is when they have calm, secure, safe lifestyles while their enemies go through hard times.  There have been many times I have looked at my easy, safe, secure life and wondered at the blessing of God on me.  I cannot always explain why my life is so much easier than many others, but maybe some of that is in some way related to my being reminded that He is the Lord my God.  Then, too, even when things are not going well for me I still see God's presence in my life and circumstances and that is the contrast between me and an unbeliever who has no peace.  Either way, God uses my situation to remind me that He is the Lord my God.

God's teaching tools

Ezekiel 24:24 Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done.  When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

Although, admittedly, I am not sure I totally understand this passage, I see yet another instance of God using a man (this time Ezekiel) to remind the children of Israel that God is God, reminding them that He is omnipotent and worship/obedience-worthy.  This time, however, God asked a really difficult thing of Ezekiel in order to use him as a minister and prophet to the people.  Ezekiel’s wife died, and God asked him to not display his grief.  Ezekiel already had skepticism from the people around him, and then he had to do this.  Being the servant of God is not always easy.  God does not always shelter you from difficulty.  In fact, He may actually USE the difficulty as a stepping stone for teaching onlookers about Himself in some way.  I need to keep this in mind when things seem to go “wrong.”  It may be one of God’s teaching tools to others.  I saw this happen when I moved to Jordan with no decent household goods.  What was hard for me (having to leave so much behind in Beirut) became the key to my ability to minister to my new friends and neighbors because they saw me as one of them, not a “rich” American.  What a powerful lesson for me then and it has stayed with me all these 40 years since then.  God will use even the most difficult things in our lives for good if we allow Him to do so.

Forgiveness is certain, sin forgotten

Ezekiel 18:22-23 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him.  Because of the things he has done, he will live.  Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the Sovereign Lord.  Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

The paragraph in which these verses are found begins with God’s statement that when a wicked person turns away from their wicked ways and begins obeying God’s ways, they find life.  It is after they have turned to God that their offenses are forgiven and forgotten.  Because of their turning from sin to God they will live, and that is the thing they have done that gives them life.  God wants that turning to happen in every person.  It is His desire to see that.  He created us and does not want any of us to be lost to Him, but it depends on our turning.  As soon as the turning occurs, so does the life and with it, the offenses are forgiven and forgotten.

Or, as a following verse (18:28) says:

Even the trees know

Ezekiel 17:24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall.  I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.  I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.

What struck me the most when I read this verse was the last phrase: “I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”  It reminded me of my childhood, when Mom or Daddy would say something like “I told you if you did that again you would be punished…”  and I would be punished!  They meant what they said, and they acted on their words.  In this verse I am reminded that what God has said He means and He will do it, even though what He says seems out of the ordinary.  Even when what He says He will do would take a miracle to do, He will do it.  Even if what He says He will do is the opposite of the natural order of things, He will do it.  He has spoken, out of His omniscience and His omnipotence, so He will do it, and there will be no question as to what He has done or that He is the One who did it.  Even “all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord.” (v.24, ESV)

Strong talk to ministers

Ezekiel 13:5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord.

This is certainly a scathing condemnation of spiritual leaders who do not do what they could have and should have done to prepare the people under their care for facing spiritual battles.  Through the years I have observed this kind of minister over and over, in various settings, and have often thought of their spiritual negligence as particularly odorous and this verse reminded me of them.  There are those on television and/or the public eye who fall into this category but I also have seen this on the more personal, local level as Russ and I have visited various churches.  One vivid memory I have is of a minister of a liberal church near us who was visiting with us in our home after we had taken him a meal when he was ill.  After we had talked for a while about God and living the Christian life, he made this comment as he was leaving, "I feel like a Volkswagon with my message of God compared to your Cadillac."  He went on to explain that he had seen and heard from us something more powerful and meaningful spiritually than he had to offer to his congregation.  We know that those ministers who fall into this category of those who have not brought people a true message from God will have to answer to God, but in the meantime, I can only trust God’s justice and mercy to bring a true message to the people under those ministers’ care who are truly seeking to know and grow.

Start at home

Ezekiel 9:6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.  Begin at my sanctuary.

This is part of a judgment God pronounced on people who had turned away from worshipping Him to the worship of idols.  He had commanded an angel to mark the foreheads of any who were grieving over that sin.  But more than the judgment itself, when reading this verse I was struck with the fact that God ordered the judgment to begin right in the sanctuary.  In His house.  Which tells me how much more terrible it is for “religious” people, for people who name the name of Christ, to leave their faith behind for some “false” religion, or for putting other things or people before Him in their lives.  God does not want to share His glory with anyone else so my goal is to always keep Him first in my life and in doing so remain safe from wandering from Him.  In the Old Testament we see tGod’s punishment of the Israelites when they strayed, but even in the New Testament we are reminded that the sin of denying the Truth after one has tasted it is a horrible sin.  It is not a pretty "picture" but nonetheless real that God will begin His judgment of sin in His own house.

Stand up and listen

Ezekiel 2:1 He said to me, “Son of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak to you.”

Why did Ezekiel have to stand up to listen to God speak to him?  I see two reasons within the context of this verse, both of which have powerful implications of what is necessary for effective listening.  First, Ezekiel had fallen on his face in worship when he became aware of the glory of the Lord.  The awe he felt at God’s glory made him more prepared to hear and heed to the voice of the Lord to him.  It was God’s Spirit that guided his standing back up (v.2).  Then, his standing was a signal for action.  What God said to him once he stood was a call to service.  God was sending him out to the Israelites with a message and he could not obey that command lying on his face, even though it was in worship.  There comes a time when we have to stop “inactive” worship and stand up and do something for God.  When that time comes the Holy Spirit will come into us and stand us up for service.