Tag: Ezekiel

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 16 Listen: (10:36)

Read: Philippians 3 Listen: (3:21)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 16:15, 47

15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.

47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they.

Reflection: Atypical Prostitute

By Erin Newton

Ezekiel 16 should come with a content warning. The graphic description of Jerusalem (both men and women) is described in a vulgar display of childbirth, shameless prostitution, and sexual violence. It is one of the most difficult passages to read, especially for sensitive readers who know the reality of such trauma or sympathize with those who do.

The language is jarring and upsetting. The image of the violence against the woman is not an action that is condoned, but the shock value of the image is likely the key to understanding why Ezekiel would talk about God’s people this way.

God’s people were once orphaned and rooted in a family tree of idolaters. It wasn’t Jerusalem’s excellent heritage that bonded her with God. It was God’s own love that chose her, in her loneliness, in her unworthiness, in her rejection by her own family.

She was clothed in honor and dignity. Her fame spread among the nations on account of her beauty—beauty given by God. All that was good of God’s people was because it reflected God himself. They were like radiant faces of those who had seen the Lord on the mountain.

But she was swayed in her devotion. Political alliances were made, spoken of here as sexual relationships with any passersby. She was not even a typical prostitute; she gave all that she had. She received nothing.

From history we know of these alliances with foreign nations. In most cases, they were attempts to find security in foreign power. They were made against the advice of prophets and always ended in disaster.

This harsh image is meant to awaken slumbering souls that had long forgotten the sound of God’s voice and only looked for new lovers. They traded their dignity for false security in someone else’s arms.

Have we grown in spiritual maturity so as not to act in this way? I’m not sure we are so different.

Like the metaphorical woman, Jerusalem, we were left to die, unloved and unwanted, before God clothed us with his love. But many times, we are quick to pledge our devotion to someone other than him, and these lovers only take and take with nothing to give in return. Let us not be swayed by anyone claiming to save us apart from God alone. He has promised to stand with us forever. May we commit our hearts only to him.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Cry of the Church

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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The Sins Behind Sexual Sins

When we are willing to kiss any ring, shake any hand, or endorse any person…we are prostituting ourselves in lust whether or not there is sex involved.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 14 Listen: (4:09)

Read: Philippians 1 Listen: (4:03)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 14.1-5

1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’

Reflection: Scrupulosity of the Spirit

By John Tillman

The elders appeared before Ezekiel with something they thought was a secret—idols in their hearts and wicked stumbling blocks before their faces.

These exiled elders may not have had physical idols in the temple (as in Ezekiel’s previous vision) but they had them in their hearts.

Do we appear before God in this way? Do we trust God but keep our idols? Do we seek God’s truth or do we have “stumbling blocks” before our faces? Do we stumble trying to justify a policy, a position, a sin? Do we stumble looking for biblical backup for what we already worship?

Recently, Russell Moore discussed the term “moral scrupulosity” with Alan Noble. Moral scrupulosity describes a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder in our spiritual lives. A person suffering from OCD may compulsively wash their hands over and over, even when there is no sign of them becoming contaminated or dirty. A person with moral scrupulosity may compulsively obsess over whether they have really confessed and repented enough for God to forgive them even when there is no sign of sinful actions or thought patterns.

Having written recently about “secret idolatry” and “stumbling blocks” in our hearts, I want to be careful not to send anyone into a spiral of moral scrupulosity. Neither do I want to inspire people to use freedom to enable sin or to shrug and say, “God will forgive me,” while making no effort to obey.

God’s answer to those who seek him with idols and stumbling blocks sounds harsh but there is grace in it. The purpose of his harsh answer is to win back our hearts. He reveals our inner idols so that we can repent. He wants us to come back to him free of our idols. God wants more than to forgive us of sin. He wants to free us from its grip.

So examine yourself, inside and out, with sober judgment. Ask that your idols be revealed.  Trust the scrupulosity of the Holy Spirit, not your heart’s obsessions. Deal with what is revealed and joyfully return to the Lord.

Do not give yourself excuses. But do not excuse yourself from God’s grace.

Renounce prideful self-sufficiency. But do not embrace incapacitating self-doubt.

Humble yourself. But do not spiral into self-loathing.

Confess sin. But avoid obsessive self-flagellation.

God’s mercy should set us free, not bind us.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse

Open, Lord, my eyes that I may see.

Open, Lord, my ears that I may hear.

Open, Lord, my heart and my mind that I may understand.

So I shall turn to you and be healed.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Grabbed by the Hair
Embarrassment leading to purification is a blessing. Complacency that leads to destruction is a curse.

Read more about Idolatry as Parody
Don’t we make idols of the things culture tells us are important?…pay and sacrifice, expecting these things to protect us, guide us, lead us, teach us?

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 9 Listen: (2:05)
Read: Romans 12 Listen: (2:58)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 9.3-4

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

Reflection: Mark of the Lord

By Erin Newton

Speculating about the end of the world has become something of a common practice for many Christians. There is the impulse to look at the news about wars and catastrophic weather and want to find a way to comfort ourselves by mapping out the future. It’s not so easily done and I’m afraid we’ll always have more questions than answers. Ezekiel shows us, however, that judgment comes for those aligned with evil.

The previous chapters detailed the level of idolatry in Ezekiel’s day. The list of gods and images worshiped spans the full spectrum of ancient Near Eastern religions. It was not that the people just stumbled; it was that they welcomed every possible way of loving anything but God.

And because of this, God is angry and responds with judgment. This chapter is difficult and painful to read. It speaks of the thorough judgment of God upon all people—no gender or age discriminated against. While we can mentally understand, even if it is emotionally difficult to accept, that God’s judgment on false worship is justified, it is never given without a sense of hope and mercy.

Placing a mark on one’s forehead is a familiar action, but usually with Revelation in mind. In Ezekiel 9, the mark was only given to those who were repentant. It was a mark that not only identified the people as righteous but also belonging to God.

As with a runaway cow, if it weren’t for tagging or branding, no one would know where it needed to be returned. The mark on that beast reveals where it belongs.

Those who are faithful (Ezek 9.4) and those who are wicked (Rev 13.16-17) exhibit the mark of the one who lays claim to their heart. One mark means life and the other mark means death—everyone is marked in one way or another.

Our tendency to throw around the term “mark of the beast” as an identifier of any modern concept (barcodes, government issued identification numbers, cell phone technology . . . you name it), shows that we don’t read the Scriptures carefully.

In many ways we want to control the future by hacking some timeline but we always come up with questions rather than certainties. Let us focus not on what the mark is, but whose mark we have. Are we showing the world faces marked for God or for false gods?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Cry of the Church

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about Wary but not Paranoid
Most of those pointing fingers at Antichrists are pointing at people they already hate or dislike. More than anything else, this indicates they are probably wrong.

Read more about Breaking the Rhyme Scheme
Christians do not believe in cyclical, neverending, repetition. We know that an end is coming and a new beginning. However, history does rhyme.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezekiel 8 Listen: (3:21)
Read: Romans 10 Listen: (5:23)

Scripture Focus: Ezekiel 8.3-11

3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.

6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

9 And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

Reflection: Grabbed By The Hair

By John Tillman

Commentaries describe God “transporting” Ezekiel in a vision to Jerusalem. Most fail to mention Ezekiel is grabbed by his hair.

I’ve never been grabbed by the hair except in a fight. But I’ve been forced to look at things I had done, broken, or allowed to happen. “Look what you did!”

God took Ezekiel by the hair to show him Jerusalm’s wickedness. He started with an idol openly standing in the temple. “But it gets worse,” he says. He has Ezekiel dig into the wall. Like Alice going through the looking glass, Ezekiel goes through the wall, witnessing the secret sins of Judah’s leaders. “Do you see this?,” God asked. “Is this trivial?”

We may ignore, downplay, defend, or minimize our sins or those of our communities, churches, or leaders. God won’t.

Within a few months in 2024, nine pastors from large churches in the DFW metroplex area left ministry due to various secret sins. Many find this upsetting or embarrassing. It may feel like being grabbed by the hair and forced to see unpleasant things. But it is necessary. Embarrassment leading to purification is a blessing. Complacency that leads to destruction is a curse.

These men needed to be (and must remain) removed from ministry. Just because their sins were secret didn’t mean they were not hurting the church before they were discovered. We should pray not only that our pastors do not sin in disqualifying ways, but also pray that if they are currently doing so, the truth would be exposed.

But if we only point at leaders and do not examine ourselves, we are foolish. We may be similarly blinded to our own sins.

We tend to look away from things we have done wrong or neglected. This includes small and large things, spiritual issues, and physical issues. They either become normal to us, like the idol in public, or invisible to us, like the sins hidden in the wall.

Are there sins that have become normal or trivial to you?
Are there sins that have become invisible to you, hidden behind a wall or in your heart?
If Ezekiel dug through the wall in your home or church like in the temple, what sins would he see?

Holy Spirit, arrest our attention!
Grab us by the hair if needed.
Dig into our walls if needed.
Bring sin to light, both in us and in our leaders.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

I put my trust in your mercy; my heart is joyful because of your saving help. — Psalm 13.5

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

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