Freedom For Today

Ezekiel 19:1-4 – “Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:

‘What is your mother?
    A lioness among lions!
She lay down among the young lions
    and reared her cubs.
She raised one of her cubs
    to become a strong young lion.
He learned to hunt and devour prey,
    and he became a man-eater.
Then the nations heard about him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him away with hooks
    to the land of Egypt.'”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is a song, and it’s tempting to read until your eyes glaze over and nothing makes sense anymore (that’s around verse 4…). Why am I reading about lions? Why is this being sung at a funeral? Why is this even in the Bible?

When we read the Bible, we sometimes are taught to look for ways to apply it to our lives. And on some of the practical stuff in the New Testament letters, that can be helpful (sometimes). Old Testament prophecy may not be great for that. We have to come back to the strategy of asking, “What does this tell me about the character of God? How does this help me understand God’s plan for the world and his response to his people?” With that in mind, I’ll sum up: the people of Israel (the lionness) were strong. They raised up kings (cubs). Some of them got mixed up with the evil cultures around them and all that Israel was supposed to be got devoured. The nation of Israel had been exiled and enslaved many times already by this point. God wants to do something about that. Removing the evil kings (funeral song) is how he is going to do that.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God will overcome evil to make sure you stay free.

Here we see God’s heart for his people: freedom. He doesn’t want them to be exiled and enslaved by other (evil) nations. He doesn’t want their kings to lead them astray. That strong lionness image? He wants that for his people. Through Jesus, “God’s people” now means anyone who follows Jesus — whether Jew or non-Jew. So we need to apply this not to our individual lives, but to the church. How is the church in America and the global church getting trapped by imitating evil earthly systems? How can we return to the heart of God? Let’s sing a funeral song for the corruption of God’s people so that we can find freedom as a body once again. It’s like removing cancer — it hurts to cut out a part of your body, but it just might make you whole again.

Ezekiel 18:26-29 – “When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.”

Read the full chapter here.

When Jesus showed up on the scene, many Jewish people thought he was contradicting God’s law. They saw the Old Testament as proof that they were God’s chosen people and nothing could change that. If you are a Jew, you are in with God. Reading today’s passage helps us see that the Old Testament really sets the stage for Jesus’ coming. God is making it clear that being born into a certain family doesn’t save you. You have to either turn from sin or die from it.

What’s fascinating is the idea that the people of Israel disagreed with God on this. Isn’t it wrong to punish people for their sins? Come on, God, we’re your chosen people! It’s not right. Many people think similar things today. Is there really a hell? Would a loving God really send people into eternal punishment?

Here’s your freedom for today:

God desires you to have life.

In today’s chapter, verse 23 shows us that God doesn’t want anyone to die. He’s giving us chance after chance at life. But he won’t force us to take it. People can choose evil. And not just murder evil. All kinds of evil that stems from a life apart from God. He’s here, he’s for you, he’s cheering you on and calling you over to himself. But he’s just too kind and gentle to force you to love him. You have to decide that for yourself.

Ezekiel 17:22-23 – “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches.”

Read the full chapter here.

If you love a good riddle, you should read the whole chapter to see if you can figure it out. To sum up, a great eagle comes along and plucks a branch off a cedar tree. He plants it and it roots in the ground and becomes strong. Then another eagle comes along and the vines and shoots of the tree grow towards this new eagle. God is saying that he had given the Israelites a wonderful land to grow in, and they were doing well. But then they made a treaty with the king of Babylon and started looking to Babylon’s king instead of God.

It’s amazing how easily our hearts abandon God when we look for earthly answers. A king, or a celebrity, or a product, or an economic system, or a culture — all of these lure us in as promising more than God can offer. We forget what God has given us and sell our souls for more. In the American church, for example, we have sought governmental protection and tax benefits. Look how quickly that has turned into marrying a political party and turning our heads to overlook a whole lot of evil.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s provision doesn’t force you to compromise.

Every earthly system that we use to replace God will require us to compromise. Maybe it’s our integrity, or our beliefs, or our devotion. There is always a cost. God’s provision is free. He loves you and gives you good things willingly. He draws you to himself, heals your heart, and gives you a supernatural life that you never thought possible. As we see in today’s highlighted verses, God plants strong trees that not only do well for themselves, but provide shelter and a home for others. These verses point to the good news of Jesus, who welcomes not just Jews but all people to dwell within his branches.

Ezekiel 16:60-62 – “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord.”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is long and honestly brutal. If you think this is a lot, you should read the book of Hosea… His entire life was an enactment of God’s people betraying him and selling themselves like prostitutes. He had to marry an unfaithful woman and keep pursuing her.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Sodom, you can find it in Genesis 18-19. Their city name literally became a slang word for really bad sinning. God is so angry with Israel in this chapter because the sins of his people have been worse than the worst heathen cities. However, today’s highlighted verses (found at the end of the chapter) give us hope. God will restore his people and make a new covenant.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s never finished with you.

As horrible as the sins of Israel were, as much as they turned their backs on God and worshiped idols and engaged in evil rituals, God didn’t give up on them. He drove the evil out and promised to start again. His covenant, or promise, was still valid despite the fact that the Israelites had broken their side of the deal. Not only that, but God’s new covenant would include others who were the worst of the worst. He would make an eternal promise to save the whole world. Jesus came to begin the fulfillment of that covenant, and he’s coming back to finish his great rescue. No matter how much you feel like God wants to give up on you, just remember he’s not done yet.

Ezekiel 15:2-5 – “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!”

Read the full chapter here.

Today’s chapter is very short, so it is worth it to read the whole thing. The highlighted verses above are the first half, with the second half describing God’s judgment on his people. Israel is being compared to a grapevine, not very strong and not even that helpful in making a fire. Imagine a world with no electricity, steel, plastic, transportation, etc. Your understanding of wood versus vines would be a lot more central to life.

I felt led to write a series on Ezekiel because I think there is a message in it for the American church today. Let’s not shy away from that. Are we more like strong wood or like useless vines? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Where are the miraculous stories of love, healing, and redemption? These are found in pockets, but what would it mean for the whole church in America and globally to be leading the world in the right direction?

Here’s your freedom for today:

We become strong when we become like Jesus.

The strongest wood that has ever existed on earth are the two beams that formed the cross. They were able to contain all the love and all the evil in the world at one single moment. If this could be our image of strength, what would it take for us to become like those strong beams? We would need to live our daily lives in the imitation of Jesus, who spent a lot of time aware of the supernatural world and his mission. He was constantly connected to the Father and he walked at a pace that allowed him to do the miraculous. I’ve been feeling challenged to spend more time in prayer and less time distracted. Will you join me in living on your knees?