Daily Thoughts From God's Word

The Lord looks and he finds unfaithful shepherds among his people. He will cast them aside. But he himself says, “As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep” (34:12). This is always our hope and encouragement, i.e., that the Lord himself cares for and watches over us. Moreover, the Lord says to his people: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone

As with Isaiah and Jeremiah, the prophet Ezekiel now begins to address the nations surrounding Judah and Jerusalem: Ammon, Moab and Seir, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt. Some interesting stuff here. Yet another reminder that all nations and all peoples are accountable to the God of Israel. The Lord seems to threaten particularly harsh judgment against Tyre and Egypt; at least, Ezekiel has much more to say about these nations than the others. But, interestingly, though

Wow, these are rough chapters. Judgment upon judgment against Jerusalem because of her sins. The people have been sinning even from the days in Egypt, and they continue to do so. The Lord threatens a sword against them, Ezekiel’s wife dies, and the city comes under siege by the Babylonians. Did the people think that the word of the Lord, declared by so many prophets for so many years, would not come to pass? How hardened and how foolish they were. I’m reminded of the wo

Ezekiel emphasizes the matter of personal responsibility: Everyone is responsible for his or her own actions. The wicked will die; the righteous will live. Here’s a wonderful promise, though, even for the wicked: “. . . when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life” (18:27). The Lord calls out to Israel and pleads with her to turn and to live: “Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have

Just one chapter this morning. I probably should be thinking about the meaning of the parable which is told in chapter 17 about the eagle and the vine. The story represents Israel, who has been planted by the Lord, but is uprooted because of her treachery against the Lord. Good lessons here. But, I was thinking about how God so graciously accommodates us when he speaks to us. As a parent gets down on the level of a young child when talking with that child, so the Lord sp

I have always thought that chapter 16 is one of the most powerfully descriptive texts in the prophetic books. The Lord found Israel in the desert, having just been born, and he took her and washed the birth stuff off her. He blessed her and clothed her with the finest clothes. He put fine sandals on her feet and beautiful jewelry on her. Her fame spread abroad and her beauty was legendary, all because of what the Lord had done for her. But she acted like a prostitute and

Lots of bad news in these chapters. Ezekiel is in Babylon, but by way of a vision, the Lord takes him back to Jerusalem and the temple. Ezekiel had been taken into exile in 597, and the final destruction of Jerusalem and the temple have not yet taken place. The Lord shows him all the abominations that are taking place and shows him the terrible judgments that are to come. But, at the end of this vision, the Lord’s longsuffering and grace are again in evidence: “And I wil

Ezekiel’s ministry as a prophet overlapped that of Jeremiah just a bit. Both prophets told of the coming siege and fall of Jerusalem and the resultant exile to Babylon. As did Jeremiah, Ezekiel sometimes acted out his prophecies as directed by God, for example: “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. And put siege works against it” (4:1-2). Also, Ezekiel was to eat barley cakes before the people, “baking it in t

The book of Ezekiel begins: “In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. . . . the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there” (1:1-3). The prophet saw a cloud, lightning, four living creatures, wheels within wheels, a throne in appeara

As many times as I read the book of Lamentations, I find myself drawn back, each time, to the same verses. Though the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Babylonians, and the people are afflicted, and the prophet is in mourning, he is able to affirm: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ say

We’re not yet finished with Jeremiah. For so many years he had prophesied the fall of Judah and Jerusalem and the people’s exile to Babylon. He was one of the very few who were left by the Babylonians in Judah and now he looks out over the city of Jerusalem and laments, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave” (1:1). One who had o

As did Isaiah, Jeremiah spoke not only to the people of Jerusalem but to other nations, also. After all, the God of the prophets is Lord over all, not merely Israel, even though there is that special covenant relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Of Egypt, she “shall be put to shame” (46:24). Concerning the Philistines, “the LORD is destroying the Philistines” (47:4). “Moab is destroyed” (48:4). Ammon “shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned wit

The Babylonians had come into the city. The city was destroyed, the temple was in ruins, and the people were being taken into exile to far-away Babylon. For a time, Jeremiah had been arrested and placed in chains but was then released. A fascinating episode then transpired: “The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, ‘The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned aga

“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their s

From chapter 33 of Jeremiah, I remember my Grandma Anderson having a plaque hanging in her living room with verse 33 inscribed on it: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (33:3). The God of Israel not only knows the future but directs it, and he will bring the armies of Babylon into Jerusalem and destroy and burn it because of its great evil. The city would become desolate but not without end for the Lord dec