Kristi Burchfiel

God states in Ezekiel 36 that He us going to restore Israel. God is going to bring it back from the state of judgment that He has been describing in prior chapters. Why? God explains starting in verse 22. God is going to restore them not because of anything they have done, but because of His Name. His Name is holy and they have profaned it. He is going to restore it to show his holiness to the nations. Do we seek to show the holiness of God? He is worthy and if we don’t exalt His holiness, God may use us in other ways to demonstrate His holiness, which…

In Ezekiel chapter 35 God proclaims judgment upon the mountain. Mount Seir has been involved in several situations that have been harmful to the children of Israel. God comes to the place where he decides it’s time to act against this mountain, and a mountain will be laid waste and desolate. It’s interesting that God references the mountain specifically and not just the people who live on it. I’m sure that the people on the mountain have been part of the issues and concerns that have come up against the children of Israel, but God indicates the mountain as the recipient of judgement. What are we spending our time around?…

The whole goal of a Shepherd is to take care of the Sheep. In Ezekiel chapter 34, we read about Shepherds who had completely lost their goal. The shepherds have become selfish and were no longer taking care of the Sheep. The Sheep were left to fend for themselves as no one was protecting them from enemies. No one was feeding them. No one was leading them to good ground. The shepherds had all become selfish, focused on their own pleasures and gratifications. God has placed us in a position to be Shepherds, but are we truly selfless? Are we seeking to help the Sheep to become better, and protect…

We are Watchmen. In Ezekiel chapter 33, God goes through and explains the responsibilities of a Watchman. When someone sets up a Watchman, that person is responsible for keeping watch and then warning people of danger to come. What people choose to do with the warning, is up to them. However, if the Watchman does not warn the people of danger that is approaching, then the Watchman is the one who is responsible. God has set us up as Watchman. We know the truth, we have experienced the truth through Jesus Christ and we are responsible for sharing the warning with everyone else. The other people are responsible for how…

In Ezekiel chapter 32, God gives Ezekiel another Lament. Ezekiel is to Lament The Fall of the pharaoh of Egypt. God goes on to explain all of the destruction and judgment that will be coming upon the pharaoh for his failure to follow God. So many people will be judged as a result of pharaohs failure to lead them to God. As the leader of the country, his responsibility is very clear in terms of where he’s leading his people to. The end result was that the country would be destroyed and fall into God’s judgment. Where are we leading people to? Everyday People watch us and look at us…

God deals with the issue of arrogance in Ezekiel chapter 31. The people were so arrogant they believed that they were the best, the brightest, the most wonderful of all that God had created. They saw themselves in such a great light, they saw no need and no reason to give any glory to the Creator. How often do we see only the results of the creation, and not the Creator? As God has created us, he has also created all that we are and all the talent that we have to do. God gives us each amazing abilities and talents that we can use, however often we fail to…

Continuing to read through Ezekiel, we come to chapter 30. In this chapter God shares with Ezekiel a lament about the people of Egypt. The people of Egypt have not followed the Lord and they have not turned toward him. God explains the he will not continue to allow the people of Egypt to do what they have been doing. Even though they’ve been sinning, we should lament for them. God then explains that he’s going to use the country of Babylon to exact judgment and Punishment upon the people of Egypt. It can seem odd that God uses various countries that seem evil to do his work or to…

As God continues to speak to Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 29, we see him turn his prophecy toward the country Egypt. Egypt had long been used by the people of Israel as a source of safety comfort, but it represented the relying on strength rather than God. Since the people of Israel thought Egypt was more strength to them than God, and because of the Egyptians own arrogance in themselves, God planned to destroy them. Anytime we trust in something other than God, God will often find ways to remove that from us so that we forced to rely on him. Would are we relying on today? Will we turn…

God continues passing judgment on Tyre and in Ezekiel chapter 27, we see Him speaking against the King of Tyre. The whole of His argument is summed up in verse 6 where God says that the king has made his heart like the heart of God. Any time we try to become like God for our own purposes, we are going to find ourselves in trouble. As we seek to be more like God as a way to glorify and prsise God, we will find ourselves successful. Unfortunately, the king sought his own glory and not God’s. Will we seek after the glory of God or will we seek afterour…

As we saw yesterday, Ezekiel has been working with God on explaining the judgment of Tyre. In Ezekiel chapter 27, this continues. Here Ezekiel is told by God to write a lament for the people of Tyre. They had truly been a jewel of God’s creation. As Ezekiel is writing and explaining all these things, he sees the destruction of this beautiful Jewel. We must realize no matter how wonderful or great or gifted God has allowed us to be, if we are not using those things to glorify God, God has every right to take them away from us. Will we offer the things that God has given us…