Theological Commentary: Click Here
Ezekiel is
once more shown a vision from God. He is
shown the leaders of the Jerusalem, who are bringing bad tidings to the people
who remained after the exile. These
leaders are telling the people to not build, because it’s a hopeless cause.
God has a
judgment against them. He promises them
that what they think will happen to all people will happen to them. They are afraid of the sword, so the sword
will come upon them. God has a way of
bringing what we fear upon us when we let our fear work against His will.
In contrast
to this, God has a message to the exiles.
God promises to bring them back.
He promises that they will be restored.
He promises that there exile will end.
In fact,
there is an even better promise. These
who return will remove the detestable practices of their forefathers. They will return to the worship of God. They will do this because God will give them
a new heart. God will give them a heart
that desires to live according to the ways of God. Through their exile, they will be humbled and
restored.
So often we
think of bad events as low points in our life.
It would have been easy for those who were deported by the Assyrians and
Babylonians to see themselves as cursed while those who remained in Jerusalem
would be blessed. This simply isn’t
true. It s those who are put through the
fire of exile who are purified and who will return to draw close to the Lord.
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