Ezekiel 10-12
Ezekiel gets discouraged. A small number of Jews have been left in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, and they are continuing to go after other gods. The priests and prophets alike have given up on God and are “doing their own thing.”
In a vision, the Lord shows Ezekiel the dilemma, and it’s almost too much for him.
However, the Lord has a plan, as He always does. There will come a day when He will bring back the jews who have been scattered abroad.
“I shall gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Israel…When they come there, they will remove all the detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh”
Restoration, sweet restoration. Don’t we love it?
What our Father did for Israel, He does for all of us in this present day. He takes us from the land of the enemy and He brings us to His own land – His kingdom. Then he puts a new heart within us. No longer do we have the heart of stone which we once had. Now our hearts are soft and pliable in His hands.
Not only that, our Father is also bringing all of the prophecies to pass for the nation of Israel. In 1948, suddenly, as if hearing a drum beat beckoning them, Jews from all over the world began to go back to their original land. The nation was finally recognized as a country, and God’s plans were continuing to come to pass.
Stop and think about that tiny little country, in the middle of so many big countries. The whole nation is no bigger than one of our small states. Yet all of the world knows about Israel.
Sometimes huge ungodly countries act as though they fear Israel. Get a map and look at it. It’s really amazing that they have so much influence worldwide.
God’s hand has been upon them. The Jews, the children of Abraham, still are in covenant with God.
And then on a spiritual level, so are we. Yet our covenant is even better. Just hide and watch. We are going to see mighty things from the hand of God.
Hebrews 13
A couple of really significant points are in this final chapter.
First is the famous verse, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.”(V. 8) When some attempt to say that healing and deliverance have gone away, they have a hard time with this verse.
Jesus is the same today. He is still a healer. He still wants to bless us. And He still wants to show God’s plan of redemption through our lives.
When others look at our lives, hopefully, they will recognize that God is good and that we can expect miracles from Him.
Which leads me to the other point. This life we live is not necessarily popular. Even though we know that out in the world there is no peace which can compare to the peace we have, many who don’t know Jesus just don’t understand that. They think that we are superstitious or fanatical when we really do believe in our God.
That’s why we have to be willing to “go outside the camp, bearing his reproach, for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” (V.13-14) We might not be doing what is popular, but we will be doing the right thing when we live our lives for our God.
And He won’t let us down.
