God of mercy,
you promised never to break your covenant with us.
Amid all the changing words of our generation,
speak your eternal Word that does not change.
Enable us to respond to your gracious promises
with faithful and obedient lives.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ezekiel 14 talks about people who have set idols up in their hearts. God isn’t simply going to discipline those who set up idols, but he is going to shower his anger on anyone whose heart is trying to face two directions. That is always something for us to watch! But God is clear – he is out to recapture (in the best sense) the hearts of his people.
Ezekiel 16 is a very vivid (VERY vivid) picture of the relationship between God and Israel. Beginning in verse 15 God makes the point that everything Israel used to worship false gods was originally a gift from the true God. We owe God everything. What do we give him?
16:46-51 compare Judah with Israel (Samaria was the capital) and Sodom. Many people think primarily of sexual sins with Sodom, but here we see there was more going on. Think of all of the wicked kings of Israel and the fire that rained down on Sodom, and here Judah is said to be worse than both of them. Verse 59 – God to the rescue, because he is a covenant-keeping God!
Ezekiel 20 verses 12 and 14 (and 22) are particularly interesting to me. We often think everything is about us, and God makes it clear here that he is the center. He wants us to be like him (“be holy because I am holy,” and the Sabbath is a reminder of that), and the honor of his name is his main objective.
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