August 23rd

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 24:15-25:17, Jeremiah 34, 21, Ezekiel 29:1-16, Ezekiel 30:20-31:18

Today I wanted to focus on the story of Ezekiel's wife.

There are two things I took from this story.

The first one is that Ezekiel's wife was a true preacher's wife. She walked faithfully beside her husband and stood behind her husband as he fulfilled his calling to God, preaching to a group of people that didn't want to listen to what he had to say. And ultimately, she sacrificed her life. I want to challenge you to do something to encourage your pastor's wife this week. Email her a word of encouragement, send her a note, bring her a meal and thank her for supporting her husband in his ministry at your church. Here is an excellent (and short!) sermon I found by a pastor's wife on this very topic.

The second thing that jumped out at me is this: there is a cost to following God. Sometimes, as it was for Ezekiel, the cost is high indeed!

In his sermon, When the Cost Comes Home, Pastor David Legge, says

We read that with one blow God took away the prophet's delight of his eyes, his only beloved, his dear wife, suddenly like a plague. Ezekiel was told in the morning that his wife would die, and that very evening just as he was told his wife died - and he was expected to go out and preach it to the people. This is remarkable, and I want you to enter into the spirit of these words tonight, I want you to try and grasp and imagine in your mind what this would have been like. Can you imagine God's prophet this day, the date that you have before you, getting on his face before God as was his custom early in the morning before the sun rose? Can you imagine him bowing before God, and the Holy Spirit of God coming upon the prophet, and getting this word from the Lord? Can you imagine the heartbreak when he got this revelation? Put yourself in his shoes! Losing your spouse, and losing your spouse at the hand of God for a preaching illustration to a rebellious and hardheaded, stiff-necked people!

The amazing thing to me about this is that there are no recorded protestations from this man. He doesn't cry to God and argue with God; he didn't run away from God like Jonah; he didn't weep before God like Jeremiah; he didn't in despair, like Elijah, run underneath a juniper tree and get depressed, and say: 'You're not asking anybody else to do the like of this, why should I do it?'. (Pastor David Legge, emphasis mine)

And what was this illustration supposed to tell the people of Israel?

'This means that the delight of your eyes will be taken away in a blow too. Jerusalem, the delight of your eyes; the temple, the delight of your eyes; the monarchy - all of it will be wiped away in one split second with God's hand. It will be buried, the temple will be destroyed and desecrated by heathens. Your sons and your daughters will be killed and will be scattered, and you will not mourn!'. Now, Ezekiel tells the people: 'If you want to mourn, God wants you to mourn for your sin!' - but it was too late now. They did not seek the Lord when He was to be found. They didn't call upon Him while He was near. God tells him in verses 25 to 27 that when the city falls fugitive, one man will come and one man will tell Ezekiel a message and give him power to speak. Imagine this: Ezekiel's wife dies, Ezekiel is told not to mourn, when the city falls under siege Ezekiel is not allowed to speak - in fact he is made dumb, he's not allowed to say anything from God to the people, why? Because it's too late! They no longer needed any preaching, do you know why? Because the judgement had come.

It amazes me that even in personal grief Ezekiel was still God's prophet. Do you know something? That is the struggle of cost, the struggle of the cost of being called of God. You see, this is the difference between a prophet and a pretender. When the cost comes home, when there's something more than just a message, but your whole life has to become that message. (Pastor David Legge, emphasis mine)

To me, the real kicker is, that from a human perspective, Ezekiel lost his wife in vain! Nothing changed. The Israelites didn't listen to his message. There was no dramatic revival, no repentence followed by a miraculous deliverance from God. Nothing.

You know, as any human being would read this story, I think one of the questions that would come to your heart is this: is it worth it? Now let's be honest here tonight: was it worth it for Ezekiel? To suffer all that he did, and then in the end to lose the delight of his eyes, was it worth it? I think Ezekiel would have had a problem fitting into church life today, where we give to the Lord of that which costs us nothing. Famous lines today are: 'OK, I'll do my best for God, but when it starts to affect my home or it starts to affect my personal life, well then I'll draw the line'. My friends, this was when the cost came home, this is when the cost was great - was it worth it? Well, you can only judge whether it was worth it or not, depending on which world you are living for - whether you are gathering treasures down here to enjoy now, or whether you're gathering them up in glory where moth and rust doth not corrupt, for your reward in heaven and for all eternity. That's how you will know if it is worth it! (Pastor David Legge, emphasis mine)

Are we letting our lives be the message? The Great Commission was to everyone. We can't pass the buck on this one by saying we're not preachers. Are we willing to count the cost? Are we willing to let our lives shine the Light in the darkness that surrounds us? Where are we storing up our treasures?

Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 32-33, Ezekiel 26:1-14

Sunday Guest Post By Alicia

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is:
EZEKIEL 22:17-23:49 2 KINGS 24:20-25:2 JEREMIAH 52:3-5 JEREMIAH 39:1 EZEKIEL 24:1-14


" 'I the LORD have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
Ezekiel 24:14

This verse made me think of how a parent gets at times. When you have just had it and you resolve that the line is drawn, this kid need to learn such and such and you are not going to let them get away with it anymore. You are not going to give into letting it slide. Of course, God is perfect righteousness, we are not and the struggle to parent properly will never be what we want it to and will always take us to our knees. Still, I recognize a bit of God's "I've had it" in this final verse from the passage today. It's actually quite scary to read. Don't you think?

Oholah and Oholibah- Samaria and Jerusalem; Ongoing Discontent

God made a covenant (symbolized by marital language) to these two. The children from there were considered the children of that covenant. The language of this story really punches the reader with the emotions God really has about his people and what they have done. It's uncomfortable, convicting and heart breaking when one reminds oneself that these women symbolize his passionate love. Thus, the imagery of the wife. It's the same old story but more intense this time.
Think about it. While in the wilderness, what were we hit with the people doing over and over? Complaining, and being discontent. Back then it was "little stuff" like food and water, the basic essentials. They struggled over and over to trust God for His provision and be happy with what he did give them.
Now, the story of the two sisters shows us the level of depravity the people have gone and the depth of their adultery.
The sexual imagery is intense, and in fact, it is said to be the most pornographic chapter in the bible. Probably not one you want your husband to read at family time. Yet the shocking imagery is to show the intensity of lust. The lovers virility symbolizes their strength and military might. Instead of trusting the God of their covenant to fight for them with slings and stones and men of little might, they are craving the connection to power. The sexual imagery is to give us a taste of the intensity of their lust for this when God is on the other side wanting that simple yet satisfying intimacy with His people. It's loud and obvious and a huge blow to Him as their God. In order to gain this military might they have to "go to bed" as the saying goes, with these foreigners. They have to sacrifice their devotion, intimacy and communion with God to attain it, and they decide it's worth that price. Just as an adulterous woman would decide it was worth breaking communion with her husband to give herself to her lust for a man.
These women now had to take on the religion of their lovers, the political views, and worse of all, the battles they fought. The lovers are fighting for power, and selfish gain, and the sisters have to fight right along side them. These are not the motivations of the Holy God of Israel, but of bloodsheding men. That is why the passage says that their is blood on their hands. When God sent them to kill, it was for HIS purposes and it was therefore a righteous war.
Trust in another power, another provision, another might are all problems in this story. Trust enough to give up oneself in the most intimate ways. Mind, body and soul are given over. All which God wanted for himself and he wants from all of us.
I think Ezekiel will tie in well with Hosea and I think some of us will be having flashbacks when we get there. The journey of these people gets seemingly worse before it gets better, but it allows us to see the passion of God for his people and the heartache we can cause him with our idolatrous hearts and minds and even bodies.





Tomorrow's passage:
Ezekiel 24:15-25:17; Jeremiah 34:1-22; Jeremiah 21:1-14; Ezekiel 29:1-16; Ezekiel 30:20-31:18

Saturday, August 21-guest post by Pamela

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 20-22:16.

Scripture: Ezekiel 22: 13 & 14

"I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made and at the blood you have shed in your midst. Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it."

Observation: Sin has consequences

Application: We all sin and it is only through God's mercy and grace that we are forgiven. We deserve to be punished for our sins and face the consequences of our disobedience. In Ezekiel 20: 32 it says: "We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone." How true it is that we want to be like everyone else? We desire to have the same possessions, the same looks, the same car, the same house or maybe even better or more than everyone else. I think this is true even of our sins. Why should we seek to adhere to the laws that God commanded us when we see our friends and neighbours going against God's will. If they are doing it...why can't I? It's hard to stand up for what you believe and know is right and it just becomes easier to do what everyone else is doing. We know longer live in the times of Ezekiel but the struggle is still the same. We allow sin to sneak into our lives and we begin to follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God. We serve "wood and stone" or maybe more appropriately, "money and possessions" instead of God. But where does that get us?? In verses 22: 13 & 14, it is clear that there are severe consequences for our sinful actions. We have seen how patient God has been with his people. He has been slow to anger, compassionate, asking - no, begging - people to repent. And they have not. And things just keep getting worse and worse and worse. Isn't that exactly how sin takes over our lives as well. It may start off small but then it grows and separates us from God in a very harsh way. In verses 13 & 14, God promises to deal with us and our sin. The consequences for sin are very real. Let us never forget the truth of Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Prayer: Dear Lord, Sometimes we need to realize that our sin is very real and it is only through your grace that we can be forgiven and not have to face the consequences that we so rightfully deserve. Please help us to not want to be like everyone else. Your plan is for us to be separate and yet we often find ourselves wanting and yearning for the temporary things of this world. Guide us to desire the eternal things instead. Lord, you always say what you mean and mean what you say and it gives us comfort to know that you are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: EZEKIEL 22:17-23:49 2 KINGS 24:20-25:2 JEREMIAH 52:3-5 JEREMIAH 39:1 EZEKIEL 24:1-14

August 20th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 17-19

So yesterday my best friend came over and wanted to share with me something that she had read in her Bible that day that had really impacted her and guess where it was? Ezekiel 18. Coincidence? I think not.

My friend's husband has made some very poor choices (putting it mildly) and she was very concerned about her son and what kind of chance he stood with such a poor example for his father, especially if there is no miraculous ending and they end up divorced as expected at this point.

Maybe you're in a similar situation. Or maybe you're young and worried the like-father-like-son saying will prove true for you. If that's the case, these words will be of great comfort to you, like they were to my friend.

Or maybe you've been relying on the righteousness of your parents to save you, in which case these words will be very convicting ones.

The soul who sins is the one who will die. Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just right....That man is righteous; he will surely live," declares the Sovereign Lord. "Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things (thought the father has done none of them)...Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head. But suppose this son has a son who sees all teh sins his father commits, and thought he sees them, he does not do such things...He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is teh one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him." Ezekiel 18:4b, 5, 9b-11a, 13b, 14, 17b-20

You are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of your wicked parents. The cycle can be broken! You are not responsible for anyone else but yourself.

If you are a righteous parent and your child is not living for God, do not despair. Though we are obviously accountable for how we parent our children, we are not our children's Holy Spirit and we cannot make them become followers of God. Even if they are currently living in sin, do not despair. As long as there is breath in their bodies there is hope of them turning to God in repentence. Even if it is on their death bed, God will not turn them away. Sayings like "once a cheater, always a cheater" (or any other type of sin) do not have to be true. Nothing is impossible with God.

If you are married to a wicked man or woman, there is hope for your children. They will have the chance to make their own decisions, they are responsible for no one but themselves.

But you can also not ride the coattails of your righteous parents. There is a very accurate saying that God has no grandchildren, only children. You cannot inherit faith. You need to make it your own.

Whether this passage is convicting for you or comforting for you will depend on your life circumstances and the state of your own personal relationship with God. The Holy Spirit both convicts and comforts, we just need to be willing to let the Spirit work.

Every soul has a personal relationship with God. When you stand before God you answer only for yourself. You will not be rejected for your father's sin. You can't slip in on your wife's righteousness. We are what we are by our own choice. (Chuck Smith, emphasis mine)

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 20-22:16

August 19th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 14-16

The passage of today's readings that I found rather fascinating was the section on Noah, Daniel and Job.

It seems that the people were under some sort of delusion that God wouldn't actually punish Israel because of the faithful remnant - reminiscent of Abraham praying to save Sodom if there were 10 righteous men in the city.

But Ezekiel firmly and repeatedly states that people are not saved corporately, they are saved personally.

Our parents, no matter how devoted they are to God, cannot save us. Going to a Bible-preaching church won't save us.

Every single individual needs to have their own personal relationship with Jesus in order to be saved.

Now, why these 3 men in particular? I looked up a few different sermons and commentaries and here are some of their thoughts....

Mark McWhorter (in a children's sermon) says that It is possible that God is representing different aspects with the three men. Noah represented preaching to the world. Daniel represented preaching to a nation. And Job represented preaching to a family. These three great men fulfilled their roles well. Yet, not even these men, if they preached at this time, could get God's people to listen to them. (It is interesting that Daniel was living at this time but was not prophesying as yet.)

Here is another possible way God was using the three men. Noah represented the preaching realm. He preached to the world. Daniel was in the political realm. He had a good amount of power and was close to the ruler. Job was a wealthy man with many possessions as well as a loyal family. He represented a family man. These men were successful in each area of life represented. But even if they could bring the message that Ezekiel was bringing, it would not matter. The people that Ezekiel was speaking to were not going to listen.

According to this sermon, another possibility is that the 3 men represented different portions of the scripture at the time (the Law, the Prophets and the Writings which were everything else) - Noah was the earliest patriarch and represented the Law or the Torah, Daniel represented the Prophets and Job the Writings. The Word of God (the Law, the Prophets, the Writings) cannot save us either - only the saving blood of Christ can save us. The Word is obviously extremely valuable to the believer, but is not what saves us.

The same sermon or commentary adds that we can see some symbolism of the Trinity here, with Noah, the father of nations representing God the Father; Job, the suffering servant representing the Son; and Daniel, the prophet, representing the Holy Spirit.

The three men also represent the universal nature of God's work.....
Noah was the father of all the nations, of course, after the Flood. God made a covenant with him that was supposed to apply to all humanity, not just Israel (see Gen. 9:12-16). Job was from the land of Seir (Edom), as far as we know, probably before Israel even left Egypt – he was not an Israelite. Finally, Daniel lived almost his entire life in Babylon & Persia, and his prophecies – unlike those of the other Major Prophets – focused primarily on the rise and fall of empires outside Israel, rather than the future of Israel itself. They were the perfect characters to illustrate the universal problem of sin and judgment (”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Rom. 3:23), and the universal solution that God provides – salvation through the blood of Jesus (”all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” Rom. 3:24).

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 17-19

August 18th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 10-13.

Scripture
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

Observation
True conversion, brought about solely by the grace of God, results in obedience out of love for God.

Application
An undivided heart refers to the desires of our souls. It is human (sinful) for our hearts to be focused on many different gods (be they tangible idols, or intangible ones such as money and power). An undivided heart would be a heart that is focused on serving God alone.

A heart of stone obviously does not refer to our physical hearts as we would be dead if we actually had hearts of stone. And that is the exact spiritual application. Without God we are spiritually dead.

In his sermon The Heart Transplant, Ben Edgington says....
We do not love him, we do not believe him, we do not trust him, we do not delight in him, we do not obey him. As far as God is concerned, our inner beings are as responsive as rocks.

This is the way we are born. Not one of us was born with a heart that is alive to God. Ever since the Fall, we have inherited a defect that has left us with a heart problem; a heart made of stone; an inner being that is dead towards God.

The prophet Jeremiah, a contemporary of Ezekiel's, says, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Our heart condition cannot be cured. We cannot make ourselves alive to God. We cannot make our cold, stone, lifeless hearts beat with warmth towards God any more than we can take a rock and make it live.

I really like the analogy Ben uses in his sermon. Our heart of stone is the diagnosis, the treatment is a heart transplant, the only doctor that can perform that surgery is God himself, and the donor for the heart transplant is Jesus Christ.

Similar scriptural passages promise the same thing....

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. Ezekiel 36:24-29a

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

This process of regeneration can only be performed by God himself, but we need to be willing patients for this surgery. And we will be able to tell if the surgery was truly successful by our post-operative behaviour.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for being the surgeon that can replace our hearts of stone with a heart of flesh. Jesus, we thank you for being the donor for us. The condition of our hearts was incurable and impossible from a human standpoint. Only your perfect sacrifice and the miraculous work you perform in our hearts and lives can result in our lives being transformed. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Help us to live our lives in obedience, dedication, devotion and love for you alone. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 14-16

August 17 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 5-9.

The Book of Ezekiel, Part 1 from bible.org covers the theme of the first 24 chapters of the book of Ezekiel.  A couple of excerpts from the commentary:

One of the most basic weaknesses of the church today is not having enough emphasis on the knowledge of God. J. I. Packer, in the preface of his book Knowing God, writes:


The conviction behind the book is that ignorance of God – ignorance both of His ways and of the practice of communion with Him – lies at the root of much of the church’s weakness today. . . The modern way with God is to set Him at distance, if not to deny Him altogether; and the irony is that modern Christians, preoccupied with maintaining religious practices in an irreligious world, have allowed God to become remote.


Knowing God is the basic theme of the Book of Ezekiel. The phrase, “They/you shall know that I am the Sovereign Lord” is used around 70 times in this book.


On the one hand, the book presents God as holy and sovereign. On the other, it provides the picture of the sad predicament that the people of God – in a sense the whole world – has come into because of their lack of the knowledge of God.


It is not just the lack of the knowledge of God; it is a lack of desire for the knowledge of God. The picture is of willful ignorance and rebellion in spite of God’s clear revelation. The Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament:


The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:18-23).


If God holds the heathen accountable for their willful ignorance of the knowledge of God, how much more His own people, who in spite of His clear revelation in His Word would ignore Him?

The emphasis in the New Testament is upon the love of God, and the grace of God. We do not talk much about the holiness of God and the wrath of God. However, why would we need the grace of God if there was no cause for the wrath of God? The tendency in the church today is to give them the “good” news; why talk about the bad news? However, the good news is good news only in the background of the bad news. But we do not want to scare the “seekers” away by preaching the wrath of God!
The result is that we have produced a wishy-washy Christianity that talks only about the promises of God, without mentioning commitment to God, and brings God down to the level of a vending machine. Again, hear what Packer says about the subject of God’s wrath:
The modern habit throughout the Christian church is to play the subject down. Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the church mumbles about God’s kindness, but virtually says nothing about God’s judgment.
There is no other book in the whole Bible that presents the sins of God’s people in as much detail as the Book of Ezekiel. Do you want to get the full picture of the sinfulness of man? Do you want to get the full picture of the hopeless situation of man? Do you want to get the full picture of the awesome character of God and His holiness? Do you want to get the full picture of the wrath of God? Study the Book of Ezekiel, and your life will be transformed.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 10-13.

August 16th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 3:16-4:17; Jeremiah 27-28:17; Jeremiah 51:59-64

Scripture
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. Ezekiel 3:17-19

Observation
Ezekiel was to be a watchman for Israel, and, though he was not responsible for the Israelites response to God's messages, he was responsible to deliver the message God had given him.

Application
From my Life Application bible
God's description of Ezekiel as a watchman on the walls of the city captures the personal nature of his ministry. A watchman's job was dangerous. If he failed at his post, he and the entire city might be destroyed. His own safety depended on the quality of his work. The importance of each person's accountability before God was a central part of Ezekiel's message. He taught the exiles that God expected personal obedience and worship from each of them.

Just like Ezekiel, we are responsible to share the Good News with those around us. We are not responsible for their reaction to it, but we will be held accountability for our obedience (or disobedience) to God.

This is a bit of a wake up call for me. Witnessing is not something only some people are called to do. It's not optional.

Prayer
Lord, if we truly believe the Good News, and if we truly believe in a literal heaven and hell, then we should be passionate about sharing this Good News to those around us. But sometimes complacency, or fear or rejection, or any other excuse, causes us to be hesitant about speaking out. Give us the courage we need and give us the opportunity to share Your incredible news with those around us. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 5-9

Sunday Guest Post By Alicia

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 37:11-38:28, Ezekiel 1-3:15

I'm sorry for getting this out so late, it was so much to digest that I was having a difficult time.

Jeremiah leaves us rather on the brink of the final curtain falling. We head over into Ezekiel who was taken exile after Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem on March 16, 597 BC. He was one of 10,000 taken at this time. Final destruction would come in 586 BC.
Since this is a pretty intense book of the bible, I really recommend taking the time to read the introduction to the book if you have a study bible. Although it will be interesting, it's full of difficult and debated imagery. I even found it interesting when looking at my two favorite pastor's (besides my own who is excellent) John MacArthur and John Piper did NOT have Ezekiel in their scriptural sermon menu.
The first section of Ezekiel introduces us right away to some of the most intense imagery. My personality is to investigate as much as I can to practically understand these images. So, I will link you in a moment here to what I felt was very helpful for that. Instead of reading much here, I think you would benefit more from being sent to this link, and it's not very long.
Before I do I wanted to say something I was thinking about though regarding this imagery. Like doctrinal differences, which are important, imagery interpretation (more so I think) can be a distraction from the main point God wants us to get. It's incredibly fascinating that God put this imagery and vision in scripture and I'm sure he's excited when we run with our investigations into what he put there for us. However, I was reminding myself not to forget the point of these passages. They are bringing the judgement of an all knowing, directional, focused, sovereign God on a people who he has long warned this was coming. It's obviously a huge historical occasion in God's mind to let us see the supernatural side of these happenings. Though we are awed, we have to remember this supernatural stuff is going on around us all the time unseen. God's purposes are awesome and intense. The point of the beginning of Ezekiel is to take God seriously at what he warns and says he will do. To recognize the power of his glory and might and the lesson to be learned of his judgements.
On that note, I hope you enjoy this page on the details of some of that intriguing imagery.

Tomorrow's Passage:
Ezekiel 3:16-4:17; Jeremiah 27-28:17; Jeremiah 51:59-64

August 14th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 51:15-58; 2 Chronicles 36:6-10; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:11-14; Jeremiah 52:1-3; 2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 37:1-10.

Scripture
Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. King Zedekiah, however, send Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the Lord our God for us." Jeremiah 37:2-3

Observation
King Zedekiah and his officials didn't want to listen to Jeremiah words or warning and judgement, but they still wanted the benefit of his prayers and blessings.

Application
From my Life Application Bible
King Zedekiah and his officials did not want to listen to Jeremiah's words, but they wanted the blessings of his prayers. They wanted a superficial religion that wouldn't cost anything. But God is not pleased with those who come to him only for what they can get rather than seeking to establish or deepen a relationship with him. We would not accept that kind of relationship with someone else, and we shouldn't expect God to accept it from us.

So often we want God to be a genie in a bottle. We want to be able to live our lives however we think is best, virtually ignoring Him and our so-called relationship with Him, until we need something. Then all of a sudden we have time to pray - at least the part of prayer that involves supplication anyway.

That's not a relationship. There's nothing genuine about that and God is not pleased with it in any way, shape or form. It is not acceptable.

We try to get the best of both worlds - live how we want, yet still receive God's blessings. We want to have our cake and eat it to. It doesn't work that way.

We need to be willing to accept both discipline and blessing, both accountability and mercy from our God who is not only merciful, loving and compassionate, but holy, wrathful and just. Sometimes we like to put God in a box - asking "How could a loving God send anyone to hell?" instead of "How could a just God let anyone into heaven?" We cannot limit God to any one attribute.

Prayer
Lord, we thank you that it is even possible for us to have a relationship with the Lord of the universe! Help us not to take that for granted. Help us to realize what an absolutely precious gift that is. Help us not to relegate you to genie status, but to invest in a relationship with you, to spend time with you, glorifying you and getting to know you better so we can become more like you. Give us an all-consuming desire for YOU.
Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 37:11-38:28, Ezekiel 1-3:15