Ezekiel 14-16

Ezekiel

14:1-15:8  -  ‘Some of the elders of Israel came to’ Ezekiel. He spoke the Word of the Lord to them: ‘Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!’ (14:1,8). This may not have been what they wanted to hear. It was what God wanted them to hear. They did not want to hear this, but they needed to hear it. God was warning them what would happen if they did not make a real return to Him: ‘I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful’ (15:8). God’s Word demands a response. What will our response be? Will we say, ‘We don’t want the Lord “to reign over us”’ (Luke 19:14)? Will we be, like Peter, who ‘took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him...’ (Matthew 16:22)? Don’t be like those who dismiss God’s Word with arrogant pride. Listen to His Word, and let Him change you.

16:1-34  -  Without Christ, we are naked and dirty. He covers our nakedness and washes away our dirtiness (8-9). He is our Saviour. We must come to Him with this prayer: ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, I die’ (Church Hymnary, 83). God hears and answers this prayer. He has given us His promise: ‘Whoever comes to Me, I will never drive away’ (John 6:37). When God has heard and answered our prayer for salvation, we have this joyful testimony: ‘I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness’ (Isaiah 61:10). We rejoice in this: ‘He saved us by washing away our sins’ (Titus 3:5).

16:35-63  -  God calls His unfaithful people to listen to His Word: ‘You prostitute, hear the Word of the Lord!’ (35). He speaks to them of ‘sin, righteousness and judgment’ (John 16:8). He shows them their sin - ‘your filthiness and your nakedness’ (36). He speaks to them as the righteous God, the God of perfect holiness - ‘Your eyes are too holy to look at evil. You cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong’ (Habakkuk 1:13). He warns them that there will be judgment: ‘I will judge you” (38). Why does God speak to us of sin, righteousness and judgment? This is His way of bringing us to repentance - ‘I will make you stop being a prostitute’ - and salvation - “My anger will be over, and I will be calm’ (41-42). Our sin is great, but our Saviour is greater - ‘Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin... Praise His Name!’