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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ezek. 18
God’s way is indeed simple and fair. Do right and live; do wrong and die. The problem I see with it is that it isn’t stable. It seems to me that a person moves back and forth between death and life with no way to ensure the outcome. Obviously, if you never did wrong the outcome would be certain. But we know that is never the case. We all do wrong at times. So how does this work? Are the good and bad things we do weighed on a scale? I see no indication of that. Is our fate determined, then, by our status at the moment of our death? Somehow that doesn’t seem quite right either.
I think part of the point in all of this is that God deals with us individually. That is right and fair. The truth I think we really need to understand, though, is found in God’s statement, “I will judge each one of you according to his ways.” (Ezek. 18:30a). The problem with that is that our ways are fickle, unstable, and generally self-serving. Not the best situation for a favorable judgment!
Thus God says, “…get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:31b). Great advice, but how do we do that? We can’t. And, ultimately, I think that is the real point. By His mercy, God made a way for those who surrender their hearts and spirits to Him to receive new ones. Then, instead of being judged according to our ways, we are judged according to His ways, which are steadfast, faithful, and God-serving. Thus, it is in turning from our ways and relying on God’s mercy that we ensure a favorable judgment and certain outcome.
Ezek. 19
This is clearly a lament for the last kings of Judah. I don’t understand much beyond that, but do see a little something in the final verse. “Fire has gone out from its main branch and has devoured its fruit, so that it no longer has a strong branch, a scepter for ruling.” (Ezek. 19:14a-b). This verse pairs nicely with Isaiah 11:1. “Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” Thus, Ezekiel’s lament is the “out with the old”, while Isaiah’s promising prophecy is the “in with the new”. It is a very graphic depiction of how God removes the human nature that initially rules us in order to make way for a better King. Jesus Christ, the eternal King of Kings, turns our lament into eternal joy.