Twelve years after king Jehoiachin was detained in Babylon the Lord told Ezekiel to condemn Pharaoh, who thought he was like a lion, but he was really like a crocodile. God was going to catch him and destroy him. Babylon was going to attack and destroy everything Pharaoh held dear. Egypt would be a barren wasteland. This was his warning and could be used as his funeral song. Two weeks later, God told Ezekiel that the Egyptians would be condemned to the world of the dead, which contained the dead of many nations.
The Lord appointed Ezekiel to stand watch over the people to warn them to stop sinning. God told Ezekiel that He didn't like to see wicked people die. Rather, He enjoys seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites wanted to live, they needed to turn back to God. He also told Ezekiel to remind the people that when good people start sinning their good deeds from the past cannot save them. Also, when wicked people stop sinning their sins are completely forgiven. (We can't bank good deeds to balance out our sins.) News came of the fall of Jerusalem. The Lord told Ezekiel that the people expected God to hold up His end of the covenant even though they had abandoned theirs. God told Ezekiel that the people listened to him, but didn't do what he said. They would be punished.
The Lord gave Ezekiel a message for the leaders of Jerusalem - they were doomed! They gave themselves the best of everything and ignored the needs of the people. So the Lord would look after the people properly. God would not let the stronger ones abuse the weaker ones. He would separate the good from the bad. After that, He would give them a shepherd from the family of King David.
Tomorrow read Ezekiel 34:25-38:9
No comments:
Post a Comment