RTW August 15
NOTE: Yup, I did it again, I said it was August 16th, but it is the 15th. Sorry for the confusion.
The Right Attitude Toward A Wrong Response
You must give them my messages whether they listen or not.
Ezekiel 2:7
My Takeaways
Something Old
We cannot make others obey God.
We cannot make others listen to us.
….And we can’t have an attitude about it, because they don’t.
We are responsible for the obedience not the outcome.
Something New
King Zedekiah seems like a weak king. He seeks prophecy from Jeremiah, who was is in prison, but tells Jeremiah not to let his officials know. Weak leadership.
Something to Do
Listen to His Words carefully, then obey them.
My Takeaways: I think I could write a book over the reading today. So much to take in. So much symbolism. Where do I begin? My heart broke for Jeremiah today. He was so abused they flogged him, imprisoned him, moved him to a cell in the Temple courtyard, and dropped him into a big hole, to keep him quiet. Being a prophet was quite the life!! My reading ended in Ezekiel 3 verse 15 with a very appropriate line – “I sat there among them for seven days, overwhelmed.” Just reading chapters 1 & 2 overwhelmed me today . But I am looking forward in starting this Book of Ezekiel to uncover the truths God wants me to know.
Something Old: I had to take a double take today, because at times I thought I was reading the book of Revelation. Some tough reading for me today as I struggled to make sense of all the symbolism. But there were somethings that were old to me. Like the word Ezekiel which means “God strengthens” – very fitting for Ezekiel since he has the difficult life of being a prophet. It was interesting for me to remember that Jeremiah was prophesying in Judah, whereas Ezekiel was prophesying in Babylon to the exiles from Judah. These two were doing their work at about the same time, but in different places. I think it was important for Ezekiel to prophesize to the exiles, even though his
message communicated judgment for sins committed, he also provided the people, some hope for the future. This helped me to remember to seek out the Lord in those dark times when I feel lost, to examine my own live, and to align myself with the one true God just like Ezekiel did.
Something New: I loved the Lord’s first instructions to Ezekiel-eating the scroll of God. “Son of man,” He said, “open your mouth and eat what I am giving you. Eat this scroll!” Ezekiel opened his mouth and God fed him a scroll. When he ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey – even though it had words of doom upon it. “Let all My words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then, go to the people in exile and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not” (2:8; 3:1-3, 10, 11).
“Eating this scroll,” consuming God’s Word, is a life-long process. For His Word to sink deep into my heart, I must meditate on it, which takes time. Time is something that I often
misuse. How can I share it with others if I don’t know it? How will I know it, if I don’t consume it? How will I consume it, if I don’t take time to eat it?
Something To Do: Eat the scroll!
After reading today I meditated on the song by Josh Groban,”You Raise Me Up:” You may want to listen to it, too on You tube. Music always sooths my soul.