Reading
SAA Notes
In the midst of doing God’s will in ministry, Ezekiel’s wife suddenly dies. Ezekiel has the Spirit of Christ and gives His reply: Your will be done! May God use our deaths as well as our lives for the supreme good of those we love!
SJA Notes
Now is a hard personal walk for Ezekiel, and it points us directly to how God feels about idolatry and what comes from it (which we’ve been reading about).
Ezekiel wife dies. The love of his life.
More, God told him _before_ it happened that it was coming to pass.
And even more, because Ezekiel is a visible sign to the exiles of God’s will, the Lord commands Ezekiel not to weep, not to mourn for his beloved.
Because God’s beloved was to be crushed for their constant sin and manifold evil.
“Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, …”
When people turn from the Lord, when people we know, our friends and family – When they reject God (and thus turn away to something else, something lesser and broken), this passage should ring in our ears, the truth of how God sees idolatry!
It should help us, empower us (through God’s Spirit) to witness and call those around us, pleading with them to turn to Jesus.
* Father God,
We cry to You for our loved ones, those who don’t know You, those who are outside the camp.
Please save them, please call them, please chase them down and cause repentance and belief in their hearts.
Please show them Jesus.
Amen.