prophet Ezekiel – Page 3

Ezekiel 39:25-29 – What Mercy Looks Like

Read Ezekiel 39:25-29

We’ve heard about the doom and devastation, and now we see how God displays his mercy. The time of exile will most certainly end. God’s people will return to their homeland where God will watch over them. What a peace provoking prophecy this is as it summarizes God’s merciful plans with no more mention of Gog!

Deuteronomy 7:9 says this about God’s mercy. “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” God’s mercy is extended to those who stay faithful. Many in Ezekiel’s audience had forgotten what it meant to stay faithful. Continue reading “Ezekiel 39:25-29 – What Mercy Looks Like”

Ezekiel 39:1-24 – Good vs. Evil

Read Ezekiel 39:1-24

The episode of oracles involving Gog concludes here with God’s victory. However, Gog and Magog are mentioned again in Revelation 20. I find it curious that such a mystery exists around who Gog and Magog actually are. I think that’s because they are not real people but symbolic representations of something much bigger than two individuals or one individual and it’s land.

The mind can be boggled when you let yourself explore the vastness of God and his plans for his people. Ezekiel and his audience would have been confused, too, since scholars and teachers cannot concur on Gog’s identity. Continue reading “Ezekiel 39:1-24 – Good vs. Evil”

Ezekiel 38:1-23 – Gog Who?

Read Ezekiel 38:1-23

When I read the name Gog, my mind immediately went to video games and the digital platform by the same name. But in this case, God refers to someone he wants to contact. In fact, this is the first of two readings we’ll have in the “episode” about Gog.

Scholars have puzzled over who this “Gog” represents. Gog isn’t one of the “regular” enemies of God we read about. If not a particular historical person, then perhaps God was referring to Gog as a symbol for evil. Continue reading “Ezekiel 38:1-23 – Gog Who?”

Ezekiel 37:15-28 – Reunited

Read Ezekiel 37:15-28

With all that is going on in the present-day geographical area of the land of Israel and Judah, Jacob’s inheritance, it’s hard to read this passage and wonder if the land and people will ever be united like this again? I’d sure like to think so. So many years and generations have passed.

There were days that fulfilled this prophecy when the captives started returning home to Jerusalem. When we read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we are reminded that, for the most part, the people were on board with wanting to know more about their God and very much interested in pleasing him. You’ll always have the “outliers” who were still drawn in to idolatrous behaviors, and even the rebuilding years weren’t perfect. Continue reading “Ezekiel 37:15-28 – Reunited”

Ezekiel 37:1-14 – Them Dry Bones

Read Ezekiel 37:1-14

This passage is one of those memorable ones we always recognize and associate with Ezekiel. If you’re like me, you have the “Dry Bones Song” going through your head, recalling how all the bones connect and then walk around. The lyrics say Ezekiel tells us to “hear the word of the Lord!” That’s exactly what Ezekiel was doing – hearing and listening to God, and then taking action by doing what God says.

This is another one of those “transporting” visions where Ezekiel is whisked away. This time he is standing in the middle of a valley with dried up bones scattered all around him. What do you think Ezekiel was thinking in this moment before the teachable moment he received from God? Continue reading “Ezekiel 37:1-14 – Them Dry Bones”