Good Morning, Siblings!
Today’s readings are 40-42
Read today’s Bible readings at BibleGateway by clicking here.
Rabbit Trails
Today I want to backtrack and cover something that I’m honestly not sure if I’ve mentioned so far in my notes. You see, you’re reading my notes one day at a time but on the back end I am working on notes a few days ahead for Ezekiel and then I’m also researching and working on notes for other books as well. As a result, sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with what I’ve written about for my personal notes and what I’ve put in notes on Seeking Scripture. But y‘all show me much grace in this and it is always appreciated.
Today I want to talk about Ezekiel being mute.
What? But he’s been talking all this time!
Yes, but if you recall back in chapter 3
26 And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 3:22-27
In this the Father clearly mutes Ezekiel, He closes up His mouth and does not allow Him to speak. The key here is that He allows him to speak YHWH’s words only. However, Ezekiel does not have a voice for his own words.
This has been profound for me, especially during these turbulent times we live in. Daily, I see more and more that needs to be spoken out against and I see the adversary weaving himself throughout the community of believers, enticing us to use our tongues to divide us further than we already are. Recall that in Proverbs 6 we read and discussed the following:
here are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19
While He hates all sin, this passage tells us that there are some sins which He carries an especial hatred of, to the point of them being an abomination to Him. These are things that, as believers, we should avoid at all costs. Again, recall that three out of seven things that the Father considers an abomination involve our speech. A sure sign (along with many other Scriptures to back it up) that a wise person who seeks to follow the way of YHWH will learn to control their tongue.
We don’t accidentally commit one of these sins.
We consciously choose to commit them regardless of whether we are able to admit that or not.
The Father sees using our tongue in these evil ways to be an abomination to Him. An abomination, y’all. This has been a big gut check for me because right now, with all that is going on in our world and all of the infighting I see in our country – I’ve got opinions. I’ve got frustrations. I’ve got admonishments. And my flesh tries to compel me to share them. Compel.
But when we take these things through the filter of the Father, most of what we want to say doesn’t meet the requirements. It is neither befitting of a child of the King nor does it bring glory and honor to Him. Rather, it brings further honor to the adversary and dishonor to the name of the one we claim to represent. And so, in the interest of full disclosure, I confess that I whined to the Father a bit about this. I whined about not being able to state my opinions like so many others are free to do. I whined about how good it would feel to speak my mind on social media. I whined about all of the anger and hate I have seen on the platforms and how I needed to get in there and add in my two cents. And the Father answered me.
He presented me with two questions:
Why is it so important for me to share my opinion when we have His word? What does my opinion matter so much to me in light of that?
We get so caught up in the outrage of this world, in following the ways and leadings of this world, that we forget we only have a secondary citizenship here to begin with.
We are kingdom citizens first and foremost, and yet we often behave as if we only plan on visiting there one day.
And so, for a couple of years I challenged myself to only post Scripture on my personal Facebook page. It has been a challenge and it has pushed me to grow spiritually in ways I did not expect. But I’ve seen how the Father can use things like this to temper us spiritually and transform our passion so that it honors Him.
He must increase – but I must decrease. John 3:30
And Y’all, it is a process – and what a process it is at times! Just remember, when you’re passing through that refiner’s fire, you’re also being held in the refiner’s hand. No matter how hot the flames, there is no better place to be. Let us show grace and love to one another as the Father continues to work on us.
Moving on to today’s brief notes:
Ezekiel 40:4 And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”
In this passage, the instruction to “look with your eyes and hear with your ears” seems a bit obvious. However, as humans we are so prone to shutting our eyes and closing our ears to the truths right before us because acknowledging them might require us to step out of our comfort zone or change an aspect of our lives that we love.
Let’s take a step back and look at the whole verse now:
4 And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.” Ezekiel 40:4
Declare all that you see to the house of Israel. This prophecy is of special significance to Israel as His chosen people, with their special role in all of it.
We read some measurement in Chapter 40 and I thought the following conversions would help:
- Cubit – 18 inches
- Reed – 6 cubits, or 9 feet
There is a great deal of descriptors in today’s reading and much symbolism throughout what Ezekiel is shown. However, rather than interpret or try to explain it, I want you to pay special attention to these details and try to remember them. We must be more diligent in knowing prophecy than we are in trying to imagine how it will be manifested, so that if it is manifested differently than how we envision it, we do not miss realizing when it is being fulfilled before our very eyes. And siblings, make no mistake, prophecy is absolutely being fulfilled in our time.
Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21
We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!
May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!