Ezekiel

Ezekiel was bold! He'd do anything for God. Were we all that bold! God told Ezekiel to lie on one side for 390 days, and then God told him to lie on the other side for 40 days... during both times Ezekiel was to bear the sins of Israel. I wonder if I would have done that if God had asked me.

God gives Ezekiel a lot more commands.. mostly to tell the Israelites about why they are in exile (It's punishment for their wicked ways in Judah) and then later in the book, Ezekiel tells the Israelites to have hope because the Lord is going to bring them back to the land of Israel. So, the message for me was that God punishes us for sinning, but he also gives us tremendous hope if we repent!

God says, "You will know that I am Lord" (through the prophet Ezekiel) dozens of times in the book of Ezekiel. The message is that God is sovereign!

The most famous passage from Ezekiel is "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36: 26) God is saying this to the Israelites who will be restored to Jerusalem. For me, it's comforting that God can take my hardened heart and make it new again!

Besides the living creatures and the wheel that Ezekiel saw at the beginning of his call to prophecy, the most vivid imagery in Ezekiel is God bringing the dry bones to life. Imagine seeing that!