- The message of Doom (1-24)
- The message against foreign nations (25-32)
- The message of Hope (33-48)
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Today we finish section 2 and start section 3. I am not going to “split screen” Chapter 32 BUT when I read it I pictured The Battle of Armageddon when the 7 bowls of wrath were poured out. If you have never it read: click here.
The Funeral speech is dated. Why? Look at the date. It is March 585 BC. Jerusalem was captured and the news of it reached the Exiles. They must have been devastated! This lament will bring them Peace regarding their enemy’s demise.
The first half of the book is strong because I noticed how many times it said “I” from the Lord. The Lord will handle this!
Then starting in verses 17-31 just 2 weeks later the Exiles get the best news ever! Who will Egypt see?
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, along with those who go down to the pit.
Assyria! Elam! Meshak and Tubal (Asia Minor, or what we know as modern-day Turkey). By the way, who named it Turkey, weird name?? and the Sidonians (the Phoenicians). I am sure the exiled people rejoiced when they heard this!
Now let’s get to the good stuff!! Chapter 33.
(Trish, don’t cut and paste the whole chapter!)
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
Not that you will have their blood on your hands BUT if you know the Gospel, and you know the consequences of people not knowing the Gospel AND you have not shared it….just saying. Don’t assume the lost have HEARD it. I heard it when I was 33 yrs, people assume I “rejected” it. I was never told!
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ Wait??? Was that a confession??
11 Say to them, ‘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. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
The word “turn” in Hebrew is Repent. The Lord desires to save every person. I need you to think about that. He desired repentance from EVERY person. That is very difficult for our hearts to wrap around because you may have been hurt in ways no one even knows about. It might totally suck to hear this, but what glorifies God more? Saving an obedient person or a wretch like me. You have to know MANY people (mostly family in NJ) roll their eyes at the thought of me even owning a Bible.
He LOVES repentance! The word ‘Turn” is used 23 times in Jeremiah and 23 times in Ezekiel.
Verse 21-33 It is now January 585 (back 2 months). This time the message is NOT to the exiles BUT to the ones that were still in the land that did not get swept up in the captivity.
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.’
They grew up in a Christian home, They grew up in a Hebrew nation. Surely if the Promised Land could be given to one person (Abraham), look how many we are?? Obviously, the Lord wants us to have the land! NO, we just learned what the Lord wants. After 100’s of years of telling them (do you realize Israel was taken in 722 and Judah was 586. He even waited 136 years to see if they would turn from literally SEEING what would happen, not just hearing a prophesy). He wants them to “turn”.
Unfortunately, many people will hear the message and reject it. Maybe not outwardly but in their hearts. They do not repent, it is lip service.
‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice.
Chapter 34- The Good Shepherd. This will be an amazing chapter as we have to get to the New Testament soon. This is a chapter of Hope. Go back and highlight the “I wills” in this chapter. Since the shepherds before them have failed, The Lord will be our Sheppard. Read chapter 34 and then read this:
Psalm 23 and now Ezekiel verse 23 ❤
Ezekiel 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
Who is David? Let me rephrase: Who will God bring from the House of David? JESUS! If you have time later in the day, I would love for you to reread Chapters 33 and 34. I feel like there is a parable that will sum up our reading today: Luke 15:
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Reading the Bible - 2021 