Well there’s such a lot going on here, isn’t there? Bones, hearts, a new temple, food cooked over burning poo, much prophecy and a whole lot of ‘Son of Man.’

At one point over the past week, I was expressing what I slog I was finding Ezekiel. Nathan responded by saying how much he loves it and what a lot there is in it. He’s not wrong! There are some real gems in there, but I think all the prophecy makes it a hard read.

Ezekiel was a priest who was called to warn people of the incoming disaster due to their behaviour. Being so far into the Old Testament now, I can see a clear pattern: God does not like it when people worship other gods! For Ezekiel’s people, that’s actual gods. For us, that could be many much more subtle things.

Poor Ezekiel has the unhappy job of telling people what they’ve been doing wrong and what the consequences will be. I do not envy him! I like to preach love and acceptance where I can and I would not want to be standing on a street corner, declaring the end is nigh!

Still, Ezekiel also shares hope. He writes of God’s forgiveness, he says that even after the exile that is coming, the people will return and the temple will eventually be rebuilt. God will replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh. And then, God’s love and justice will reign.

My favourite verse: Ezekiel 34.11-12: “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

Aidan fell asleep listening to this book 4 times.

Thanks to jhrackson on Pixabay for the photo.