The Vision, Day 13 Liars. Read Ezekiel chapter 13. The land was full of prophets. The problem was that most of the prophets were not actually prophets of God. Instead, they would put together their own vision or desire for the people, and then they would tell it to them using God’s name. Saying that God had spoken to them. Lying to the people about what they were to be doing. It’s so hard to live the way God wants you to live, when you have so many different people spouting ideas about what God has actually said. The people in this day and time we’re reliant on the prophets…

The Vision, Day 12 Equipped, but ignorant. Read Ezekiel chapter 12. Reading through this chapter, we see Ezekiel given another mission to demonstrate what is coming for the people. God starts by making the statement that the people have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear. God has used this phrase multiple times throughout the Old Testament to explain how and why people are not being obedient to him. When you look at this phrase, it’s a reminder that these people have all of the tools necessary to be obedient. They are simply choosing not to. They are equipped in every way…

The Vision, Day 11 Division. Read Ezekiel chapter 11. It’s interesting reading about division today. Here in this chapter, God is telling Ezekiel more about the judgment that is upcoming. But then, he starts to explain his restoration, and how he is going to bring the people of Israel back together. It says he’s going to give them a heart of flesh and remove their heart of stone. He’s going to help them be undivided. As I read that, I understand that unity only happens through Christ. Division will always happen when we are apart and away from Christ. As we go through this important election day here in the…

The Vision, Day 10 The filling of God’s glory. Read Ezekiel chapter 10. We see Ezekiel encountering God’s glory again. We have the visual representation of the glory of God from chapter 1. Now Ezekiel sees that moving into the temple in Jerusalem. At that point, an awe-inspiring image fills Ezekiel’s eyes. He sees the temple full of God’s glory. When God is able to fill that which is supposed to do to work of God, it is an awesome sight to behold. We understand just how truly impactful God’s glory can be. The question becomes, are we allowing God’s glory to fill us. Are we opening our lives the…

The Vision, Day 9 The mark. Read Ezekiel chapter 9. As we go through Ezekiel, I’m also reading through Revelation right now, and it is amazing to me how many similarities there are between the book of Ezekiel and the book of Revelation. Here we see one that most people think of when they think of Revelation. Revelation discusses the mark of the beast that people will have on their foreheads. Here we see God ordering a mark of repentance on the people of Israel. God is about to execute judgment on all of the people, and he goes through and has the hearts of each person tested. If those…

The Vision, Day 8 Dig a little deeper. Read Ezekiel chapter 8. Ezekiel has another vision from the Lord. Through that vision, we see that he is taken to various areas and shown Israel’s sin. When he first arrives at the place, he just sees a wall. But then, the Lord tells him to dig a little deeper and that’s when he uncovers the doorway to their sin. That decision to tell him to dig deeper is a reminder to all of us that when we are looking through our lives and understanding where we’re at, we need to dig deeper. We need to understand more about what God is…

The Vision, Day 6 Complete judgment. Read Ezekiel chapter 6. God’s judgment is coming and it will impact everyone. You see, Ezekiel has been portraying the vision of the coming judgment of God. The people didn’t necessarily believe that was coming because they couldn’t see it, and it wasn’t happening right now. Yet that doesn’t change the fact that God was going to completely wipe out the people for their sin and idolatry. God wants us to follow him and God makes ways and time for us to be able to come to repentance, but that time will run out. We are to be the warning to those around us…

The Vision, Day 5 Harsh reality. Read Ezekiel chapter 5. God walks Ezekiel through more very specific demonstrations that he is to do to share the upcoming judgment with the people of Israel. These seem harsh and difficult. God tells him that he’s going to make the people a reproach among the nations. It’s a reminder that God is ultimately the one in charge of our reputation. If we are obedient to him and are following him, then God can protect our reputation. If we are not obedient to him, then God is going to allow the other nations to know that we are not following him so they are…