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Read: Ezekiel 24:1-26:21, Hebrews 11:1-16, Psalm 110:1-7, Proverbs 27:14

Son of man, with one blow I will take away your dearest treasure. Yet you must not show any sorrow at her death. Do not weep; let there be no tears. (Ezekiel 24:16)

Relate: I am not married. I have never been married. I’ve lived a good chunk of my adult life believing I never will be married. It is difficult for me to understand the depth of love that exists between a husband and a wife. Ezekiel is not a young man at the time of this writing. He was one of the leaders taken during the first exile to Babylon. He was a respected member of his community. The other elders and leaders come to him for advice. So, as a respected older good Jewish man, he had probably been with his wife for a long time. They were probably more than just husband and bride. They were friends, partners, confidants. And now they are torn apart. But Ezekiel, by command of God, cannot cry.

I have no familiarity with marriage, but I am no stranger to grief. Over the summer just before I started college I had two different friends killed in two different accidents. Since that time I’ve lost a grandfather, an uncle, my dad, two aunts (one on my father’s birthday just less than a year after his death), a couple cousins (one who was also my roommate for over a year), my sister and her newborn (on Mother’s Day), and more. Each loss in its own way is hard. Each brings its own grief which cannot be tempered by the sorrows that have gone before. I cannot imagine God telling me, “Do not cry.” I do not think I could obey, even if He did.

React: As important as it is to be real with others, there is also a time to take that real and bury it. Ezekiel could grieve, just not publicly. He could mourn, but not go through the traditional (very healthy) mourning rituals. Even in times of greatest distress, he was still serving a higher purpose. There were others who knew and loved his wife as well. There were others who needed to hear and respond to a word from God, and at a time when emotions are so raw and open, they were far more likely to truly listen. But only if Ezekiel focused on the message and not on his own grief. How we handle grief has the potential to be the greatest opportunity to witness we might ever have in another’s life. Are we willing to use it?

Respond: God, I know You are not the author of evil, but You can bring good from it. Death is an enemy, but it is one that You have defeated. Thank You for the hope that Your victory brings. Thank You for the confidence I can have that I will be reunited with  Your children in my family and loved ones who have gone on before. I know that one day death itself will die. Until that time help me to use each one that I am given, whether I am walking on sunshine or passing through the valley of shadows, for Your glory.

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Read: Ezekiel 20:1-49, Hebrews 9:11-28, Psalm 107:1-43, Proverbs 27:11

For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

Relate: I have a friend who grew up on a farm. They used to raise cows and like most families that had animals, those cows were given names. Unlike the names you might give a cat or a dog, and unlike even the names you might give a cow (only Bess comes to mind), they named those cows with their purpose in mind. Those poor animals were named Filet Mignon, T-Bone, Sirloin, and such like. Wise parents. They taught their kids that as cute as you might think little Prime Cut is now, don’t forget, one day that cow is going to be on your dinner plate.

React: Jesus came to this earth with one purpose in mind. He came for my redemption. He came for your redemption. From the moment he drew his first breath in that barn, he had an appointment with the cross. You can see this how when he is asked to perform a miracle and when he is warned of danger he says,  “My hour has not come” but on entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and multiple times just before his crucifixion he says, “The hour has come.” He knew his purpose. He knew that His blood needed to be shed so that my sins can be forgiven.

Respond: God, I thank You for the cross. I thank You that You were willing to come and to suffer and to die. That You shed Your blood… for me. Don’t let the power of that simple fact, the fact that the Creator of the universe willingly stepped up to that cross for me, ever lose its impact. Help me to live a life of gratitude for You.

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Read:  Ezekiel 18:1-19:14, Hebrews 9:1-10, Psalm 106:32-48, Proverbs 27:10

They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight. (Psalm 106:38-39)

Relate: Sacrificing children to the idols of Canaan. It sounds so ominous  doesn’t it? Why on earth would anyone take their child and allow it to be killed to satisfy some foreign god? Who would want to worship something so evil? The fact is, the sacrifice is the end result of worshiping the idols of Canaan. Nobody was thinking, “Hey, lets go out and kill a baby today. Sound like fun?” It was more along the lines of, “We worshiped  this god and she gave us a baby. We can’t keep it so lets give it back.”

The gods of Canaan were gods of fertility. Celebrating one of them was really just an excuse to sleep around on your spouse. So an Israelite couple decides to go on up and check out this celebration their neighbor friends have been whispering about behind closed doors. They go (to what is really no more than an ancient swing party) and have a great time. But they know its wrong. They feel guilty. Then she realizes she is pregnant. He is jealous. Their marriage is strained. There’s already four kids running around and its tough in the lean months just putting food on the table. He starts hitting her. All of a sudden, sacrificing this child to Molech doesn’t seem nearly as evil as it did a year ago.

React: Child sacrifice is a natural consequence of worshiping a god of lust. It is barbaric. It is revolting. It is evil. And it will happen more than one hundred thousand times today in America. 93% of the murders of preborn children in America are acts of convenience. Take our cases where the child or mother’s health is a concern. Take out cases of rape and incest. You still have about one hundred seven thousand kids murdered daily. That is probably more than all the children burned in the hands of Molech throughout time. But what happened back then, burning a child alive, was barbaric. Today, our “modern medical procedure” of sucking that living baby into a vacuum is so much more humane.

What on earth can I do about it? How can I stop, or at the very least slow down the rate at which these children are dying? For years we’ve tried to answer that question through marching with signs outside abortion clinics and by voting in politicians who give lip service to putting an end to this evil. Clearly that is not working. It is easy for us to talk about the need for political change. I’m all for laws putting an end to this evil, but until society changes, the laws will do no good. We each can play a part in changing the culture that creates so many unplanned pregnancies and  in providing support when those pregnancies do occur. Adopt. Find ways to support and show love to single mothers or young couples. Stop doing your part to fuel the economy of lust. End the stigma against women who have had an abortion. Men, stop being so self righteously against them. It takes two to tango. Women, if you have had one, we need your story told. Most of all, everyone pray.

Respond: On behalf of the thousands of children who are going to be murdered today, God, I cry out to You. Please act. Roll up Your sleeves and come down. Restore justice at whatever cost to our land. On behalf of the sleeping church that has been all sound and fury with little action on this issue, God, I repent. I repent for the men who continue to buy into an economy of lust. I repent for the way we have ignored the needs of the mother and the orphan. I repent for a church that has passed its responsibility off on a bunch of politicians. I repent that I, personally, have done so little about a need so vital. Help me to have Your heart and Your creativity to better see how I can show Your heart to Your little children.

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Read: Ezekiel 16:42-17:24, Hebrews 8:1-13, Psalm 106:13-31, Proverbs 27:7-9

Sodom’s sins were arrogance, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. She was haughty and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen. (Ezekiel 17:49-50)

Relate: I can be arrogant sometimes. No, lets be honest, I can be arrogant most of the time. I can call it a healthy self image, personal confidence, a by product of being extroverted or whatever, but the fact is, I’m arrogant.

I can also be gluttonous. Just yesterday I went to the store on my way home and picked up some stuff to make chili. At home I was just about finished getting it all into the pot when a couple roommates came home and said they already had plans to go to Nirchis for some meatball pizza. So I jump in with them and have three slices. A bit later there I am sitting on the couch watching election results, eating a bowl of chili and almost feeling sick I am so stuffed.

I’m lazy. I can literally sit for an entire day curled up in a chair with a good book reading while my to do list goes ignored. I am a master procrastinator and the harder a task might be to accomplish, the more I will put off getting it done.

It is easier to see the needs of those around me that I do nothing about than it ever was in Ezekiel’s time. By “outside her door” Ezekiel was talking about those she (Sodom) had the power to do something about. In our day and age, we have fewer and fewer excuses for not doing something about the needs we see and hear about. Beyond that, with a bowling alley across the street, McDonalds to my right and the park to my left, there is a steady stream of people walking up and down my street who have needs that I am far too often blind to.

I am haughty. Where arrogance is an overemphasis on my own supposed greatness, haughtiness is an overemphasis on the weakness or failings in others. Sometimes I feel like I have an internal radar whose sole job is to seek out and exploit any weaknesses I can find in others. Sometimes I think that radar is far too good at its job.

React: The fact is, I am Sodom. Just as I pointed a mirror of their sins on my own life, I could do the same pointing to how Western, particularly American, culture is guilty of them all as well. The fact is, Jesus did the same when he said about the towns he had preached in that it will be worse for them at the day of judgment than for Sodom and Gomorrah. They were a very religious people, but they weren’t followers of Jesus. Sodom never heard the gospel but Israel did… America has… so have I. So the people of Jesus’ time were worse than Sodom. America and most of the Western world today is worse than Sodom. I am worse than Sodom. What about you?

Respond: Dear God, I repent. I am sorry for my arrogance, my laziness, my apathy, and the rest. I am sorry for my sin. Help me to change. Help me to stop being so religious and start being a better follower of You. Help me also to stop focusing on the “detestable” sins of others but rather to focus on Your beauty and holiness. Slowly, gradually, step by step and day by day I ask that You would let that holiness and beauty be reflected in me that the world will see. Help me to remember that it is Your kindness that leads us to repentance.

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Scripture: Ezekiel 14:12-16:41, Hebrews 7:18-28, Psalm 106:1-12, Proverbs 27:4-6

For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

(Hebrews 7:19)

Observation: I just did a quick sampling of my facebook feed, within the last hour I had 33 status updates that had something to do with voting. Even as I counted, the page kept scrolling downward telling me that more updates were coming in. If I were to go back an hour further, there would have been just as many more, and the hour before that…

Unless you live under a rock, or don’t have internet, TV, radio, and refuse to talk to anybody today, it is clear that election day is happening in America and its kind of a big deal. But it isn’t really. Three months from now, someone will be in office, roughly half the country will be glad and the other half will be blaming him for everything that goes wrong over the next four years. A few laws might get passed. A few others might not. But laws do not change culture. Try as hard as we might, America has never been that good at legislating morality. For that, we need revival.

Application: Don’t get me wrong, we should go out and vote. God has called us to be good citizens and in America obedience to that calling means voting. It isn’t just a right or a freedom, it is a responsibility. I won’t even say that one candidate is more right than the other. God has placed certain issues dear to our hearts and the issues, or calling, that motivates me is different from those that motivate you. That might mean that for me, being obedient to God means I am voting for someone different than you are, even though you are being just as obedient.

What I am saying is that we should not, we cannot, we must not place our hope in the outcome. Our hope comes from God. No matter who comes into office, they are the man God has on America’s “throne” for this hour and we have an obligation to intercede for him. We must also remember that all the power of all the kings throughout all time are nothing more than dust on scales compared to the greatness of our God. He ultimately is the One on the throne.

Prayer: God, I pray now for both candidates and for all those running for other offices throughout our country. I pray that whoever You raise up to power would be led and motivated by what is right, not by what is expedient or popular. I pray against any bitterness that might rise up in those who voted for the losers. Most of all, I pray for Your Church. She, through Your Spirit, is the one who will bring about the change we so desperately need in our country and I pray You would cause her to rise up and fulfill her calling.

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Read: Ezekiel 12:1-14:11, Hebrews 7:1-17, Psalm 105:37-45, Proverbs 27:3

And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed. (Hebrews  7:7)

Relate: 

It seems that Christmas season starts for the stores earlier and earlier. The holiday has been so commercialized and businesses want to ride that cash cow for as long as they can. I love the primary purpose behind it. We are celebrating giving… rightfully so. Nobody is greater than Jesus. Nobody has given more than He did. Nobody has been blessed more than those who have accepted that gift. At its core, celebrating Christmas is all about celebrating the gift, the blessing, that He has given to us.

React: The thing is, buying presents is not necessarily blessing others. How many of those presents are going to end up getting traded in at the beginning of January. How many of those gift cards are going to sit in that wallet for days, weeks, even months on end until finally the gift receiver feels guilty enough to try that restaurant out? How much stress and headache will people have trying to figure out what they should be giving for that friend/family who already has plenty and won’t appreciate it anyways. No, giving presents and blessing others are not the same. Sometimes giving time if a far greater blessing. Sometimes giving an unsought thank you will be a much better blessing. Sometimes giving to someone who does not have the power to give back will be a much greater blessing. So, as we are inundated over the next two months to buy, buy, buy… lets see if we can’t find some far better ways to bless others.

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Respond: As the weather grows colder, there are tens of thousands right here in America who do not know how they will be able to afford the rising heating bills. Many, many more do not have a roof over their heads. Please pray for those for whom the winter cold is far more than just an inconvenience.

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Scripture: Ezekiel 7:1-9:11, Hebrews 5:1-14, Psalm 105:1-15, Proverbs 26:28

He said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.” Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! (Ezekiel 9:4-5)

Observation: If you were to ask me to make a list of sins, I would probably start out with the usual suspects: lying, cheating, stealing, killing, lust, etc. I might even throw in some of the ones that aren’t as easy to spot: bitterness, gluttony, pride. If I were thinking in terms of Israel back in the time of Ezekiel I would add in idolatry and prior to this verse, it is idolatry that God reveals to Ezekiel. God took the prophet to three different places where he saw 70 men, some women, then 25 men who were worshipping false gods in one way or another. Thats about a hundred people, and the implication is that there were many more, but when judgement comes it is not just the idolaters who die. Everybody whose heart does not break for the idolatry that is taking place dies. Most of the people who are judged, are judged because of their apathy.

Application: How often do I hear someone take God’s name in vain and I do not cringe inside? How many times have I heard the nightly news and gave little more than a passing thought to the injustices occurring all over the world. When did my heart break over the millions trapped in idolatry that we shows like Entertainment Tonight and magazines like People and Us? How often have I seen shows like Jerry, Maury, Judge Judy (or whatever the current flavor is) and seeing those wrecked lives is cause for entertainment rather than intercession? Just like Ezekiel’s day, there are many forms of sin taking place in many places in our culture. Does this cause my heart to break, or has it left me unmarked?

Prayer: Dear God, I repent for the sins of my culture. I repent for the sins of my nation. Most of all I repent for the apathy of Your Church, and especially me. Make my heart soft again. Let it break for the things that break Your heart. Don’t ever let me get used to the sins of those around me, and even more don’t let me fall into their trap. Give me Your eyes to see the reality of the spiritual world around me. Give me Your ears to hear the inner cries of the lost, but most of all, give me Your heart, that breaks with compassion for those who are desperately trying to fill the void inside with empty pursuits.

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Scripture: Ezekiel 3:16-6:14, Hebrews 4:1-16, Psalm 104:24-35, Proverbs 26:27

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:16)

Observation: I hate asking for help. I hate it. I think its mostly a pride issue. I think part of it is that if I don’t have to ask then I will never be disappointed. There are some very stupid moments of my past I would never regret today if I had only swallowed my pride and got help. This is a bad trait to have when it comes to my relationships with others. It is far, far worse when it comes into play when dealing with my heavenly Father.

Application: Look at the build up of the verses in Hebrews 4. Verse 13 warns us that there is no way to hide from God. Verse 14 that Jesus is our intercessor (high priest). Verse 15, He knows what I’m going through. So vs 16, come to Him with confidence. He takes down my reasons for keeping to myself. I say, “Nobody can know about this.” He says, “I already do.” I say, “Nobody can do anything about it.” He says, “I can and I will.” I say, “Nobody can understand what I’m going through.” He says, “I’ve been there. So come to me, there’s no excuse not to.”

Prayer: God, I come to You again. You see, You care, and You can act. Help me to be willing to lay bare all my faults, and all my needs before You. I’m sorry for my hesitancy to spend time at Your throne. Help me to truly understand that it is the best place I can ever be.

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Scripture: Ezekiel 1:1-3:15, Hebrews 3:1-19, Psalm 104:1-23, Proverbs 26:24-2

You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won’t listen, for they are completely rebellious! (Ezekiel 2:7)

Observation: Whenever a speaker is about to be announced on a stage, the emcee will first give a list of their titles and accomplishments. There’s actually dozens of websites (and even a class) to teach you how to introduce someone. Just imagine if you were given the task of introducing Ezekiel.

You: OK, Ezekiel, first I need your qualifications. What do you do?

Ezekiel: I’m a prophet.

You: OK, and?

Ezekiel: …

You: Well, um, what were you before that?

Ezekiel: Nothing, well, I was an exile.

You: I see… Great. Well, what about your experience. What experience do you bring to the table.

Ezekiel: I lay on my side for a few hundred days, then I rolled over. I broke a hole in my wall and carried everything out it. I cut my hair and scattered it around the city.

You: I don’t see how…

Ezekiel: Speaking of seeing, I once saw this really cool wheel, inside another wheel, and it had four faces and…

You: Nevermind. What about accomplishments. What you accomplish?

Ezekiel: Nothing.

Application: He was a prophet, but nobody listened. He was faithful, in a faithless generation. The worst part about it, he knew this would be the case right from the start. Would I be willing to obey God if He called me to invest my life into something and then told me, up front, that I would fail? Would you? Ezekiel’s calling is one to radical obedience. It is one that I love to admire, but I’m not so good at emulating.

Prayer: God, help me to get past the “what’s in it for me” type of attitude. Sometimes I think I love the idea of serving You far more than the reality. Help me to have such a love for You that my response to Your calling would always be instant and unquestioning. Let me live a life of worldly failure, if that’s what living a life for You looks like.

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