Day 220- Ezekiel #2

• Today’s passage continues directly after yesterday’s passage where we read that Ezekiel was given a scroll. Today we read about a request from the angel for Ezekiel to eat the scroll! What do you think might be the significance of this? Were God’s words “tasty”? Do you consider God’s word “as sweet as honey”?
• Ezekiel continues to be challenged in Ezekiel 3 regarding the difficult mission he had ahead of him to share God’s messages with the exiled Israelites. Who was he specifically to prophecy to? How did God say they would react? What attributes of Ezekiel would help him in his job?
• What was Ezekiel’s reaction as the angel left? Was it similar to any other experiences of other Old Testament figures who also had interactions with heavenly beings?
• Psalm 137 is written from the perspective of the people taken away from Jerusalem to Babylon during one of the exiles. It was to these people Ezekiel was chosen by God to speak to. What was the mood of the people, according to the psalm? Does this help you to consider Ezekiel’s job?
• Ezekiel 24 is a turning point in the book. Chapters 22-23 show us increasingly strong condemnations of the sin of the Israelites, and in Ezekiel 24:1-2, the final destruction of the city of Jerusalem occurred (which we have already read about of course). Don’t forget that Ezekiel was taken away before the final destruction of Jerusalem.
• Ezekiel 24:3 onward show a parable in the form of a vision of a pot with meat in it. What is the vision, and what do you think is God’s message? See if you can understand any of it before you read my next comment.
• The pot represents Jerusalem, and the meat inside, the people. They were celebrating, arrogantly, that they were not taken during the first exiles to Babylon. Their happiness was cut short though, as the pot was overturned and the meat was burned up. This represents the destruction of the city. Ezekiel 24:23-24 show us God’s anger at the actions of the people.

God hates sin. These passages help point out to us the seriousness of sin. The more we understand that our condemns us, the more we will come to understand the joy to be found in the gospel of grace that’s found in Jesus. We, like the people in Jerusalem, deserve God’s fury against us, and we too have had warning after warning to turn away from it. It is a challenge again to us, as Christians, to continue to seek Jesus and turn away from whatever we might be doing that displeases God.