PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

I always try to tread carefully in Scripture especially when it addresses women in a way that portrays them in a negative sexual light.  As you read through this chapter you will find that this is not one for the faint of heart, nor is it one who is looking for anything PG-13 and below.  Ezekiel describes the unfaithfulness of Judah and Israel in terms of women who have been unfaithful.  In the 21st century we could just as easily portray it as men who have been unfaithful, but Scripture does seem to prefer to describe the infidelity of His people using images of what is called “whoredom”.  

The graphic depictions of these two daughters is painful at times.  They are both exposed even as they pursue their passions by teaming up with the nations around them which inevitably leads to their wanting the gods and idols that the nations around them have.  This is the root of the problem.  It is not that they are friendly with the nations around them.  But rather that they have taken on the gods of these others nations and they have worshipped other idols and been drawn away from the God of Abraham.  This is the real problem.  

There really isn’t any sign of hope or promise in this chapter.  Things just look bad.  We know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel in Scripture, but we just don’t see it in this chapter alone.  Let’s move on to another chapter.

The primary image in this chapter is that of blood.  There is blood seen as the city seems to hemorrhage as a result of the idolatry that has led it to defile itself.  As a result it has become a disgrace to the nations.  If you look at vs.6 you see that those who are in power in Israel were bent on shedding blood, and as a result they are now reaping what they have sown.  The list of abominations in which they were involved is jarring and not worth repeated.  Suffice it to say that the theme is that of blood and this blood comes as a result of the abominations that are committed.

God is not only frustrated but relegates Israel to a place where they will receive and fully experience the wrath of God.  You can find that in vs.21.  This fire of wrath was seen first hand as the nation is taken into captivity into Babylon.  So, we find ourselves in the midst of a contested election.  But notice how things are going.  Things are pretty quiet as people are counting votes.  The uniqueness of our system and the way in which we are able to persevere even in this very strange time is an incredible testament to the system that we have established here in this country. We are all waiting for the results…peacefully.

I am always careful in making too many parallels to Scripture and any sense of manifest destiny that some within our country might feel.  We are no better nor closer to the kingdom of God than any other country on the face of this earth.  But I can think of no other country that is able to make the types of transitions that we make while the people of the land wait peacefully for the results.  It ought to make us not proud, but certainly grateful and even more motivated to find ways to encourage our governments to more closely align with the kingdom of God and that which Matthew 5 and Matthew 25 encourages.  Take heart, we are an amazing country with amazing people from every end of the spectrum.

We are being dragged, it seems, back and forth across the oracles and this chapter contains, once again, a sense that God will not hold back his hand in order to bring wrath upon Israel.  the chapter before we read how God did prevent his hand from falling, or to use this imagery, the sword from falling, because he wanted his people to save face so that he would also save face.  But here there is none of that.  The sword falls and the people perish and are taken into captivity.  I know that this oracles reflects more of the current situation than a prophecy of the future, but we are able to catch the ebb and flow of God’s words which remind us that God is full of grace, but there is also a time for wrath.  

Babylon remains the protagonist, in some sense, because in many ways even without it knowing it, it is being used as God’s agent to bring about judgment.  We see that later in Romans 13 where Paul says that we are to respect the authorities, even while those authorities are even looking to destroy complete any Christians who might be in the land.  Paul says that even the most brutal of rulers can be used for God’s purposes.  It is not that they know they are being used, but simply that God is able to use all things, even the most brutal ruler, to bring about God’s purposes.  Even Babylon is able to be used to bring about God’s purposes.  That’s a hard pill to swallow.

We find ourselves with a bit of a history lesson here.  Ezekiel is approached by the elders who find themselves in captivity along with Ezekiel and they ask for an audience with him ostensibly so that he would prophecy that good things are about to come.  But he sends them on a history lesson.  They have come to consult with him.  But God tells Ezekiel to remind them of the “abominations” that their ancestors committed, which in turn, as we saw in the last chapter, they committed as well.  We know that their children will not automatically suffer the same fate as they have, because they will not be punished for the abominations of their ancestors, but only if they commit the same abominations themselves.

There is a repetition in this history lesson where we hear: “Then I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them…but I acts for the sake of my name, so that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations.”  God holds back his wrath, God holds back his anger and his discipline against his own people because he basically did not want to embarrass them in front of the other nations.  You know how they say that families shouldn’t air out their dirty laundry in front of other people.  This is why God hesitated to bring wrath down.  

This cycle repeats itself.  God provides a covenant filled with grace and the people turn their back on it and commit abominations.  God wants to destroy the people, but changes his mind and provides another grace filled covenant.  I think it is time for another grace filled covenant.  What Jesus did for us by providing a covenant based solely upon his sacrifice and his resurrection is enough to save all of humanity.  But we have refused and we have turned our back on that.  It is time for another one since we have long since committed numerous abominations.

Just to be clear, this is a lamentation and it is used as a lamentation.  So, as we read in Ecclesiastes, there is a time and a season for all things, including lamentations.  A lament is a time when we identify ways in which we are feeling abandoned and distraught because of the life situations that are a part of our current reality.  Every now and then it is important to make clear that we are in a time of lament.  The author of Ezekiel wanted to make clear that what he had just written in very poetic form was meant to be a lament.

We find two very different images that are given to us in order to depict the current state of the nation of Israel.  The first is that of a lion which we find in Genesis 49:9 as the depiction of the son of Jacob whose name happened to be Judah.  Okay, it didn’t happen to be, it purposefully was Judah.  Remember, at this point Israel and Judah are both the people of God and Judah represents the Southern Kingdom.  So here we find this lion who is captured and brought for all to see in its captivity.  That would be Judah, the southern kingdom.  

The next image is that of a vineyard which is described as “your mother”.  This would be Israel who was plucked up and trampled on and then transplanted into the wilderness, into a dry and thirsty land.  This poetry which is really quite beautiful, describes the very tragic reality that the people of God found themselves which was in captivity, both the lion and the vine of vineyard.

Is God fair?  A really interesting chapter for me this time around.  The basic premise is that while in the past we used to punish the children for the sins of their parents, as well as the parents being punished, now things are different.  If the children grow up and are righteous and do not commit the same sins as the parents then the children should not be punished.  They should not have their teeth set on edge when their parents eat a lemon, or sour grapes.  

We have transitioned from oracles to laws which have changed and which are different during this time period.  No longer will you hold the sins of the parents over the heads of the children, unless the children commit the same sins as the parents.  While there is a listing of the sins that we are talking about, I think it is wiser to not focus on the list, but rather to be able to see this transition from punishment to the future generations to: “The person who sins shall die.”  Another great quote that we find is: “The righteousness of the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his own.” 

This chapter also provides room for rehabilitation.  It states very clearly what our criminal justice policy should be: “Have I pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?”  That should be all of our goals and all of our desires that people would turn from their evil ways so that they can live.

Ezekiel is given an image that he is to share with the people.  God calls it a “riddle” and then again calls it an “allegory”.  He portrays an eagle that comes and plucks off the top of a cedar that is called Lebanon.  We know that back in that day the great trees of Lebanon were well known.  Have you ever considered why we have a city called Lebanon near us and from where did it get its name?  Lebanon, the Google tells us, means white mountain.

But this eagle, Ezekiel tells us, plants that branch of a cedar tree in another region and it begins to grow and prosper.  We have to think that the eagle is Babylon who takes up the branch called the Israelites and plants them down away from where they were plucked up and from there they begin to grow.  This is why Jeremiah tells them to grow and prosper wherever they find themselves.  

But there was a king who was chosen by God who was supposed to hang out in Jerusalem and not make any allegiances and just wait there under Babylonian rule.  But that didn’t happen.  The king tried to make allies and as a result was crushed and would not then fulfill the plans that God had for him, which was to prosper once the Babylonian conquest was over.  

Just a reminder that we are to heed God’s commands even if at the time they just might seem oppressive.  That is a hard pill to swallow.

This is a difficult chapter.  The entire premise of this chapter revolves around the image of Israel as a whore.  There, I said it, but I didn’t actually say it first, the Bible did!  I’m not blaming the Bible for something I did, but rather I’m trying to interpret what the Bible is trying to say to us as it gives us this image of Israel the whore.  We know that this isn’t the only time, in fact Israel being depicted as an unfaithful wife is not foreign.  We have the entire book of the Bible Hosea where the true prophet of the Lord is commanded to take a wife of whoredom.  

The story of Israel according to this chapter begins with Israel being an abandoned baby in the wilderness whom no one claimed.  God claimed that abandoned baby and took care of her, Israel, when no one else would.  This baby grew up into a young woman who then forgot God and her upbringing and decided to turn to the way of infidelity.  But she is different in that most who are described as “whores” (I hesitate to use this word but it really is the most accurate word in the Hebrew), normally charge and ask for money for their services.  But here the Scripture says that Israel was not even good at that.  Instead of demanding a fee, Israel paid other nations in order for those nations to abuse and take advantage of Israel.  But not all is lost.  There is hope.

When you turn to vs.59 and following you will see that God says that he has established his covenant with Israel and he will not forget her.  He will forgive Israel for all that she did and establish that covenant so that they will  know that God  is Lord.  That is something that we all need to be reminded of periodically.  God is Lord.  God is good, all the time, all the time, God is good.

Instead of the prophet being given another object lesson to show to the people, Ezekiel is asked a question by God in regards to the usefulness of a vine branch.  What purpose does a vine branch serve?  The only purpose is when it is connected to the primary vine and able to produce fruit.  If you take a vine branch off it is good for nothing.  You can shape it or use it to hang things on, it can’t really be used efficaciously as fire wood.  A vine branch by itself serves no purpose.  Only when it is attached to the vine does it serve a purpose and that purpose comes from it being attached.  

Since Jerusalem has chosen to separate itself from God by worshiping idols, then they are useless.  They serve no purpose.  The people of Israel without their vine, God, serve no purpose.  As a result we see in vs.8 that God “will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly.”  It is a reminder that every time that we turn our back on God we have become a useless branch that serves no purpose.  Stay connected to the vine.

You don’t normally see a reference to Old Testament characters lifted up as examples of faith within the Old Testament.  You see it all the time in the New Testament where Abraham and Moses are lifted up as examples of faith.  Even in James you have Rahab mentioned and other Old Testament characters lifted up as people that we ought to emulate.  But this chapter contains three fairly unlikely heroes of Scripture who are lifted up as examples of righteousness, but that even in all of their own righteousness they are not able to save others, only themselves.

The three that are mentioned are Noah, Daniel, and Job.  Noah was one who refused to back down to the people of the land who ridiculed him for building a boat in sunny skies.  He had the last laugh.  Daniel was one who was persecuted for his faith by the king of the time, but he eventually was made to be in the royal court himself.  Job was one who was ridiculed by his wife and his friends for his non-existent sin which must have been horrendous because of the state in which he found himself.  God blessed him with a double portion.

So here Ezekiel speaks out against the religious leaders who have idols ingrained in their way of life and have completely embraced the idolatry of the region and have estranged themselves from God.  No amount of prayer or righteousness could save them if they did not separate themselves from the idols.  No matter how much Ezekiel might want to intervene on their behalf, God would not spare them from the 4 deadly acts of judgment.  God says that he has done all things for a reason.  Something good for us to remember.