Jeremiah 39:11-18, 40:1-6; 2 Kings 25:8-21; Jeremiah 52:12-27; 2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Lamentations 1:1-22 The destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of nearly the whole nation occurred in 586 BC. For nearly a millennia God had warned his people what would happen if they abandoned him. Now the fullness of these consequences has come. A clear, tragic description of what happened is found in 2 Chroni...  Read More

Ezekiel 26:15-28:26; 2 Kings 25:3-7; Jeremiah 52:6-11; Jeremiah 39:2-10 What do you do when your circumstances seem hopeless? The Israelites found themselves in a state of complete hopelessness in our reading today. Babylon surrounded their walls and "the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat" (2 Kings 25:3). We are not talking about inflation prices,...  Read More

Jeremiah 32:1-33:26; Ezekiel 26:1-14 No one buys a bunch of stuff right before they move. Typically, you are trying to throw or give away everything you can. I would imagine these values would be heightened even more when you are facing an exile. The pictures we see of refugees around the world are typically of them carrying a bag or suitcase with all that they own. Jeremiah's response to exile is...  Read More

Ezekiel 24:15-25:17; Jeremiah 34:1-22, 21:1-14; Ezekiel 29:1-16, 30:20-31:18 When we are facing difficulties in life, it is easy to turn inward. We become so consumed by our own circumstances we stop seeing opportunities to serve. We become self-centered rather than others focused. Israel finds itself in a similar time of difficulty. The destruction of Jerusalem is coming (along with the destructi...  Read More

Ezekiel 22:17-23:49; 2 Kings 24:20-25:2; Jeremiah 52:3-5, 39:1; Ezekiel 24:1-14 In America the most common view of God is described as moral therapeutic deism. This is a view that there is a god, but he is primarily concerned about me being a good person more than me having a relationship with him. In this view, he exists for my personal happiness and not for his glory; and he created the world, b...  Read More

Ezekiel 20:1-22:16 Have you ever missed an ingredient in a recipe, and it just did not taste right? Similarly, when we miss aspects of God’s character, it should not feel right. We need to understand fully who God is to be able to respond to him rightly. Ezekiel wanted the “elders of Israel” to know God’s character, so he recounted the Exodus. The phrase “for the sake of my name” is repeated three...  Read More

Ezekiel 17:1-19:14 Ezekiel 17 ends with the Sovereign Lord taking a “tender sprig” from the top of the “cedar,” the messianic line, and planting the Messiah as King over Israel. The birds nesting in the tree symbolize all nations submitting to Messiah’s rule. The chapter ends with a promise, “I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.” The Messiah will ultimately reign over the world.This Messianic...  Read More

Ezekiel 14:1-16:63 I forgot. This is something I say almost daily as things go in one ear and out the other. How easily we forget things. God, in understanding the forgetfulness of his people, reminds them in Ezekiel 16 of all he has done for them. He brought life to them, raised them, married them, and provided for all their needs. Despite God's extravagant grace and provision, they ran from him ...  Read More

Ezekiel 10:1-13:23 God is gone! This may sound like some click bait article on the internet, but it actually happened to the people of Judah. Ezekiel was given a vision of God's glory leaving the temple in Jerusalem. God was enthroned over the ark of the covenant (in some sense) within the temple, but on one fateful day before the destruction of Jerusalem, he is seen to move from the temple to the...  Read More

Ezekiel 5:1-9:11 Reading the prophets may feel like you are on a hamster wheel. You are reading a lot but going nowhere. For over a month we have been reading about the imminent judgment coming upon Judah, but it still has not come. Ezekiel is speaking the same judgment as other prophets but speaking in Babylon. What would be the purpose of his prophecies since he is speaking to those who have alr...  Read More

Ezekiel 3:16-4:17; Jeremiah 27:1-28:17, 51:59-64 Ezekiel and Jeremiah prophesied at the same time but in different locations. Jeremiah was with the remnant in Judah, while Ezekiel was among the exiles in Babylon. Despite their different locations they both played a key role in communicating God's truth. This calling was so critical that God told Ezekiel, if he failed to communicate God's message, ...  Read More

Jeremiah 37:11-38:28; Ezekiel 1:1-3:15 God makes amazing things like porcupines, giraffes, hippos, and humans. Today we are introduced to “four living creatures” that reside in heaven. Their description is bizarre and hard to fully comprehend. They are like humans but with four faces and four wings, with human hands under the wings. They have legs but their feet are like that of a calf. Their four...  Read More