Year 2, Week 20, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 20, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Ezekiel 24-25.

Today’s reading continues the Book of Ezekiel. Today’s reading completes the first segment of Ezekiel (chapters 1-24), which is a series of prophecies about impending judgment on the people of Judah for their persistent disobedience to the LORD. Today’s reading also starts the second segment of Ezekiel (chapters 25-32), which is a series of prophecies about judgment against seven nations surrounding Israel and Judah. This second segment is a reminder that every king and kingdom will ultimately bow and give account to the LORD. Ezekiel 24 forms a final word of judgment about Jerusalem, which is depicted as a cooking pot: “And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Set on the pot, set it on; pour in water also; put in it the pieces of meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder; fill it with choice bones. Take the choicest one of the flock; pile the logs under it; boil it well; seethe also its bones in it” (Ezekiel 24:3-5). Ezekiel 25 contains oracles of judgment against Philistia as well as Ammon, Moab, and Edom: “I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them” (Ezekiel 25:17).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the personal experience of Ezekiel on the eve of Jerusalem’s destruction: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded” (Ezekiel 24:16-18). The death of Ezekiel’s beloved wife-the delight of his eye-serves as a sign act that communicates something important concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. Just as Ezekiel would be forbidden to fully grieve the loss of his wife, so would the exiled people of Judah not be allowed to fully grieve the destruction of Jerusalem: “Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another” (Ezekiel 24:21b-23). When the news of the fall of Jerusalem, which, like that of Ezekiel’s wife, is labeled as the delight of their eyes, reaches them, their grief will be muted.

Ezekiel 24 unfolds sometime about 588 BC as the final siege around Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar begins. Within two years Jerusalem will be totally destroyed and the Temple will be completely burned: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust” (Ezekiel 24:6-7). Ezekiel had been warning the people of Jerusalem of the impending judgment in hopes that they would repent and turn to the LORD. But the people refused. The patient warnings were complete. Now, without any mention of the LORD offering a clemency, the clear announcement of judgment is issued: “On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the LORD. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 24:13-14). There is no turning back. The preparations for judgment are set.

And yet, as the judgment commences Ezekiel 24 ends with glimmers of hope: “As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters, on that day a fugitive will come to you to report to you the news. On that day your mouth will be opened to the fugitive, and you shall speak and be no longer mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 24:25-27). The LORD informs Ezekiel that on the day that Jerusalem-“the delight of their eyes”-falls, then Ezekiel’s mouth will be opened. Early in Ezekiel’s ministry, the LORD closed the prophets mouth so that the prophet would not intercede for Jerusalem, but speak only as the LORD directed: “And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezekiel 3:26). But on the day that Ezekiel’s prophecies against Jerusalem began to be fulfilled, the prophet’s mouth is unleashed to intercede and declare words of comfort and hope.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe