July 26, 2026 - Ezekiel 4-7

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 their sight on human dung.  And the LORD said, ‘Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them’” (4:12-13).  More directly, the Lord declared, “I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by” (5:14).  And, “I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.  Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken” (6:3-4).  But, at the end of the day, “they shall know that I am the LORD” (7:27).  The Lord means what he says, and it is good for us, as we often contemplate his promises, that he will do all he has said, both blessing and discipline.  Considering this truth, may our prayer always be:

God of our life, through all the circling years,

we trust in you;

in all the past, through all our hopes and fears,

your hand we view.

With each new day, when morning lifts the veil,

we own your mercies, Lord, which never fail.

God of the past, our times are in your hand;

with us abide.

Lead us by faith, to hope’s true Promised Land;

be now our guide.

With you to bless, the darkness shines as light,

and faith’s fair vision changes into sight.   --Hugh Thomson Kerr (1916)