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Day 195 – Thru the Bible
Today we continue in Ezekiel. Here’s the video for Chapters 33-48.
Video – Read Scripture: Ezekiel 33-48
Ezekiel 31 & 32 – Chapter 31 continues the description of God’s judgement against Egypt.
In chapter 32 Ezekiel paints a grotesque picture of Pharaoh’s corpse (representing all Egypt) being thrown down to sheol to rest with the other mighty nations who exalted themselves against God. With bitter irony, Ezekiel notes that the pharaoh of Egypt “will be comforted” when he sees this great multitude, for he will be able to see that he was not alone in falling in his pride before God. Everyone who raises an arm against Yahweh will be destroyed.
The ultimate point of God’s doing all this, of course, is so that “they will know that I am the Lord.” That phrase is used 19 times in this center section of Ezekiel. When God fully and finally asserts His rule, then the knowledge of the Lord—His character, His holiness, His authority—will be universal. For Tyre and Sidon and Egypt, of course, that will not be a happy knowledge; it will be a knowledge born of judgment. Those peoples go to their graves finally realizing that they have exalted themselves against the God of the universe.
For God’s people, though, it will be an exhilarating, resplendent knowledge. For they will know that their Savior has taken up the sword on their behalf, that He has defeated their Enemy, forgiven them of their sin, and made His dwelling among them forever.
Recognizing we all deserve God’s judgement, how do you celebrate the reality that because of Jesus, God’s judgement against you has been fully satisfied?
Ezekiel 33 – In chapter 33 we come finally to the moment of the great reversal. It is here that the third major division of Ezekiel begins. For the past eight chapters, 25–32, we have seen God’s judgment against other nations and their false gods. Now the focus of the book returns to God’s own people, besieged in Jerusalem by Babylon. Ezekiel sits in his house in Babylon bound up, still giving the same prophetic messages he has been giving since the beginning of the book. He knows through a prophetic vision (24:1–2) that Nebuchadnezzar has laid siege to Jerusalem, but he and the exiles have not received word yet that the city has fallen; the fugitive who escaped the battle will not arrive until 33:21. Until then, it is as if the melody of the first 24 chapters of the book continues uninterrupted. Ezekiel 33:1–9 returns to the theme of Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel, and 33:10–20 sounds the familiar note of God’s call for the Israelites to repent instead of blaming God for their plight.
Then, in 33:21, it happens—the fugitive arrives with word that Jerusalem has fallen. Everything changes. Immediately, Ezekiel is released from his bonds and his tongue is loosed (v. 22; remember 3:27). It is as if the prophet’s time of bearing the sin of Israel is finally over. The judgment has fallen; the great reversal now begins.
What other thoughts or questions does today’s video and reading bring up?
Some of these notes are from the ESV Gospel Transformation Bible study notes. We highly recommend this study Bible.
Videos produced by www.TheGospelProject.com.
All links you need to be a part of this are here – Thru the Bible in 2018.