Bible Reading

Ezekiel Chapter 18

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He will hide me

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2 min read

Ezekiel 18 talks about how all souls belong to God and will be judged for iniquity or righteousness, based on how they have lived their life. In particular, the use of the word “get” in “get a new heart” captures my attention, because it suggests not using our current heart, but acquiring a new one.

31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”

These two verses show us that God does not want to see us die. However, it has been set that the wicked will die and the righteous will live, and God calls us to live. Therefore, we have to be righteous, to turn from our iniquities, because every soul will be judged for their own actions and lives, and cannot live or die by another’s righteousness or wickedness. This means we have to take responsibility for how we choose to live.

9

If he has walked in My statutes

And kept My judgments faithfully—

He is just;

He shall surely live!”

Says the Lord God.

We ought to live like verse 9 says. This means we have to have love too.

1 Corinthians 13

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body [a]to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

May God guide us to live faithfully by God’s word so that we will surely live.

Related Topics

Ezekiel

See Also

Daniel Chapter 5

Daniel Chapter 5

We see James 4:6 coming to pass in this chapter, through the end of Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans and Daniel being made the third ruler in the kingdom. "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”" James 4:6 Keep your heart with all diligence V4 they did the wrong thing V7 they brought in ‘the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers’. They either did not know or did not care that they should not be turning to these men to find answers. As many secular beliefs become more prevalent through the media in this day and age, we must guard our heart against these beliefs as they may corrupt our faith. In our lives today, we also should not turn to such men to find answers in our lives. "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23 V11 & 13 the fact that they still sought counsel from Daniel, someone guided by God, is interesting, because it seemed unexpected for them, given that they turned to ‘the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers’. Let us rely on God through prayer and reading the Bible to find God’s will for our lives. It can also be through people God has placed in our lives, to remind us and nudge us in a certain direction. Humility V17 Daniel did not accept the gifts. He still interpreted the writing, and was not in it for the benefits, but did so with genuineness and a humble heart, for the glory of God, and not for his own praise or glory. V29 by relying on God to interpret the inscription, he was made third ruler in the kingdom. V19 Nebuchadnezzar also took advantage of the power he was given and ‘Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down’. V20-21 God resists the proud and Nebuchadnezzar faced a downfall ‘till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.’ "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”" James 4:6 We must humble our hearts, especially since we know God and His Word. V23 they praised the gods but did not glorify God Is it the same with us today? That we know God is the One ‘who holds our breath in His hand and owns all [our] ways’ yet we have not glorified Him? Do we give praise to other things (e.g. hard work) and people in the face of success? They used what belongs to God to praise the gods of silver and gold. Do we also use what God has given us to praise other things and people? We must remember to give glory to God because God has given and provided us with these. Even what may seem like ours (e.g. our hard work) only exists because God gives us the strength and the days to achieve these things. We merely live on borrowed time, and we are but dust. "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children," Psalms 103:14-17 Every day we are given to live is a blessing. We should also not misuse our roles to oppress others. God’s Word will come to pass V25 the meaning of the inscription came to pass V27 ‘weighed in the balances, and found wanting’ could mean that Belshazzar’s life was wanted and would be taken away soon. We see that his soul was required of him that night. "But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”" Luke 12:20-21 God’s Word will come to pass. We see that V28 also came true in V31. V28 the kingdom was given to Medes and Persians V31 Darius the Mede received the kingdom. It indeed came true. God’s Word coming to pass can be something we are fearful or hopeful about. It depends how prepared we are. Since God’s Word will come to pass, let us prepare ourselves so that we will remain hopeful for what is to come with faith and not fear.

Ezekiel Chapter 47

Ezekiel Chapter 47

God subjected Ezekiel through an immersive experience in the vision of walking in the river. From Ezekiel’s first account that the water reaches his ankle, to the next encounter where the waters reaches his knees, to the point that the waters reaches his waist and finally when the waters became so deep that it was impossible to walk but one needs to swim, and even so the currents are so strong that one cannot swim across. From our personal experiences, such first-hand experiential activities leave a deeper and more lasting impressions, as compared to just seeing (visual) and listening (audial). So why did God use this approach? What key and essential message did He want to impart to Ezekiel? And what bearing does it have for us today? “And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.” “And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.” The power and significance of the river can be seen through the effects. The teeming vitality, the abundance of life brought about by the healing powers of the river. Jesus proclaimed on the last day of the feast (John 7:38 – 39), “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” And the scriptures continued to explain that the river of living water refers to the Holy Spirit. Paul also declared to us “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor 6: 19 – 20) Is this same power that God revealed to Ezekiel manifested in us as well. Do we bring God’s healing power to the people that we meet each day. Do we live up to God’s expectations of us? Have we truly and sincerely do all that we can to repay God for His great love and mercy towards us. There is definitely still much that we must do. Let us continue to stir up and encourage one another as we see the day of the Lord approaching. “But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.” Alas, we do see also that there are areas that the healing power of God do not reach. Let us however not be mistaken thinking that it is the limitation to the power of God. Rather, it is sadly the deplorable state of man’s heart as Stephen declared in Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Let us thus guard our hearts with all diligence, that we do not fall in the same error in our ways. Let us not be the barren fig tree that waste the ground (Luke 13:6 – 9), nor should we be the enlightened but to fall away and put our Lord to open shame (Heb 6: 4 – 8).

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