Take 5 Ezekiel

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Ezekiel The Lord is My Shepherd

Week 19 Day 1

Reading: Ezekiel 34:11, 15, 22-24 "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out... I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, declares the Lord GOD... I will rescue my flock. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them." ESV

Thought: This is the way in which the Lord works, He is the shepherd, He seeks us out, He makes us lie down, He rescues us, He judges us, He feeds us. He is both our shepherd and our God. The word from Ezekiel is that the Lord is our shepherd and that He shall come from the line of David. This prophecy tells us that the Christ must come from David, yet be fully God also. This is the picture we see in Jesus, fully man and fully God, eternally unified in the person of Jesus, to bring us who are human to unification with God, through the offering up of His own body. In this way we are reunited with God, leading forth to the overflowing of His Spirit into our lives as a comforter, a councillor, a helper, a defence, a guide and an everpresent connection to the heart of God, that to us He should reveal His will and establish our steps by the power He has placed alive in us.

Prayer: Lord, it so pleased You to send Your Son that we might be reconciled to You. It so pleased You to send Your Holy Spirit that we might be joined to You. Lord, it so pleases us to share these gifts You have given according to Your purpose to others that they too would know You. Let Your Spirit pour forth, break down the barriers of sin and yield forth a heart of flesh, that they joined with us in Your Son might ever be lifting up glorious praise to You.

The Unbearable Borne

Day 2

Reading: Ezekiel 4:4-7 "Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. When you have completed these, lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city." ESV

Thought: The days Ezekiel lied on his sides were the number of years of the kings of Judah and Israel who had not followed the commandments of the Lord. Ezekiel bore their punishment upon his arms, lying on his sides for 14 months. Then he was commanded to lift his arms and prophesy against the city. Imagine the pain he would have gone through, the anger which would have risen in him against the city. Yet all that pain was but a slither of


what Jesus went through and bore. The prophecy made against Jerusalem was completed in the exile, it was destroyed. The Jews were forced to bake bread in lands not their own, and in Jerusalem bread and water became scarce. But all was not lost, there was a hope for salvation, the prophecy which came through Jeremiah, "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place" (Jeremiah 29:10).

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You continue to correct and warn us when we fail. Thank You Lord that You do instruct, rebuking us for our failings, and correcting us towards righteousness. Thank You Lord, that even though we might feel like the full weight of Your anger is upon us, You always have a plan to show grace, something in which we might put our hope. Be with us, leading us from sin, pouring out Your grace.

The breath of God

Day 3

Reading: Ezekiel 37:4-6 "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." ESV

Thought: The dry bones represent those who are separate from God, when we rejected Him and lived only in the world. We were dead. Dead people can't seek God. They do not have ears to hear, or eyes to see, they are incapable of comprehension. This is as we were, unable to call to God because in our sin we made ourselves dead to God. But God sent His Son, so at the price of His own life He might give life to the dead, such that we died to sin and were made alive in Christ. We then received the Spirit of Jesus within us such that "it is no longer" we "who live but Christ who lives in" us (Galatians 2:20). Yet there was one thing left to give, we had received the life of Christ which is the Word of God, but as yet we had not received the breath of God, so He breathed into us, establishing His Holy Spirit within us that we "may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). A Spirit by which we would be joined with God; ever connected with Him, that we should be reminded, rebuked and retrained in righteousness to the glory of His name. In doing all this Christ brought us from death into life, from not knowing God to knowing that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 37:6), that evermore we should praise His name, establishing the Holy Spirit within others.

Prayer: Lord, for at once I was separated from You, unable to look upon Your glory, but now Lord You have restored me to You; welcomed me into Your embrace, established my steps and fortified my soul. Thank you Lord that Your Spirit lives in me, so that there is no death in me, but instead there is Your life. Be with me Lord in every day, be my strong tower and my place of refuge throughout all my days. To You be the glory forever.

The Temple

Day 4

Reading: Ezekiel 43:11 "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever." ESV

Thought: When the Law was given to Moses and the construction of the Ark of the Covenant had been completed, it pleased God to dwell with man, seated upon the Mercy


Seat on top of the Ark. There the Spirit of God rested and indicated where the Israelites made camp during their time in the desert. When the Lord moved the Israelites moved, stopping when the Lord stopped, and each time the Ark would be placed in the Most Holy Place, where the presence of God would rest. With Solomon it pleased the Lord to have a house built for Him that He should rest in the Temple at Jerusalem. The Temple was like the Tent of Meeting the Israelites moved; a Most Holy Place was built where the Ark and altar were, and a heavy curtain separated it from the rest of the Temple. But now the curtain is torn and the presence and Spirit of God are with us, our bodies become the temple of God, being purified by the blood of the sacrificial Lamb.

Prayer: Lord, lead me I pray as You did the Israelites in the desert. Show me the places You are working in that I too might see You and glorify You. Move my heart Lord for what moves Yours, and break my heart for what breaks Yours. Let everything I am be to Your kingdom's cause, forever and ever.

Springs of living water

Day 5

Reading: Ezekiel 36:25 "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you." ESV

Thought: It was commonly regarded within the Jewish culture that God never interacted with people who were unclean based on the Law. As a result the Gentiles and those who performed particular professions were instantly labelled as unclean. Uncleanness though is not a matter of the body, but a matter of the heart, being unclean is being separate from God. As a result when Isaiah is first called he refers to himself and the Jews as having unclean lips; that is they don't know how to talk. Jesus notably did not hang around with those who were "clean" but those who were unclean. Gentiles, Samaritans, tax-collectors, shepherds, Galileans, terrorists, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the possessed etc... We this is in the passage also, Ezekiel is not calling up, but God is calling down, reaching to those who are unclean, sprinkling them in clean water, the living waters which flow from Him. He washes us clean, washing away our sins and rebellion to idols. It has to do with the spiritual impact of Baptism, that is the confessing and washing away of sins, and for us who are in the baptism of Christ our sins are washed away by His blood, as Christ is the fount of living waters.

Prayer: Lord, by Your blood we have been set free, cleansed in Your blood that washes away all sins. Your blood has given us clean garments to wear that all would see the salvation You provide, therefore Lord make us and lead us to be beacons of Your name, let us be torches for You, aflame that all would see and follow. May You be ever present with us, stirring up our hearts to find those who are burdened by the weight of their sins, find them Lord and set them free, to Your glorious name.

A new heart

Day 6

Reading: Ezekiel 36:26-27 "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." ESV

Thought: If uncleanness is a matter of the heart, then during the process of being washed a new heart must be installed, or the cleaning only lasts till dirt is accumulated once more.


At the hands of Jesus a new heart and a new spirit was placed inside of us. In His death we died to sin, our heart no longer beats for it. In His resurrection we have received a new heart, the heart of Christ. Our heart now beats for Jesus, a beating we are to bear witness to, for the heart of Jesus beats to see others call upon His name. And our spirit which was set on the world has been replaced by the Spirit of God, set on heaven. We then are not people of the world because we do not conform to the world. And the Spirit testifies for us when we live according to the way of God. Therefore we are to seek full conformity with the ways of God by listening to the Spirit, for "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). Therefore listen to the Spirit which has been given to us, discern His purposes and His will, for "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Prayer: Lord, wonderfully You have worked, placing in me a new heart and a new spirit, thank You Father that the heart of Your Son and Your Spirit now live in me. Give me Lord a gift of discernment to understand the ways and purposes of Your Spirit, leading me to testify of Your glorious name. And may the heart of Your Son be alive in me, beating constantly for love of Your people.

The Greatness of the Glory of the Grace of God

Day 7

Reading: Ezekiel 33:11-12 "As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live... Son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness." ESV

Thought: We have a God of grace, a great God, a glorious God, and in the ways He chooses to reveal Himself is all in effect to display the glory of His grace, because "the glory of God shines most brightly, most fully, most beautifully in the manifestation of the glory of his grace." Through showing grace to individuals God is glorified through their lives. The cross is the very centre of this, there is no greater, no more glorious, no more gracious act that could ever be conceived of; God stepping down to die for the sake of His people. Thus "the entire universe exists to display the greatness of the glory of the grace of God... this is the ultimate aim and the final explanation of all things" (John Piper). But not all glorify God when they receive His grace, they harden their hearts. If they were to be counted among His people, they would not glorify Him for they have not embraced the sacrifice of Christ, the instruction of the Father and the whispering of the Spirit. The Pharisees were much like these people, self-righteous and arrogant, not open to God but living the practice. We then, who are the elect, those chosen by God to glorify Him through the receiving of salvation must be ever ready to glorify God, to rebuke those in the church who are living contrary to the gospel, and to bear witness to those who are still separated from God.

Prayer: Lord, there is no one more wonderful than You! Thank You Lord that Your grace was given to me. Help me Lord to glorify You every day by being an effective witness to Your name. Help me to reach out to those who do not know You yet, help me to correct those who live contrary to Your grace, and help me to avoid all forms of self-righteousness and arrogance. Make me to be Your servant for Your name I pray.


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