Some more thoughts on my study of this prophetic book:
Chapter 23 is another one of those chapters which cannot be preached through (accurately, at least) from most pulpits in America. The language used is simply too graphic for "family values" sensibilities. Samaria and Jerusalem are personified as two sexually promiscuous sisters, and the LORD has something to say about what they find appealing about their lovers. God, apparently, isn't always as "nice" as we are in the Evangelical Church.
Chapter 24 reminds me of what I observed in an earlier posting--by worldly standards, it sucks to be Ezekiel. As an example to the exiles of how they should behave upon hearing the news of Jerusalem's ruin, God takes Ezekiel's wife away in one fell stroke. He is instructed not to mourn her. The prophet writes, matter-of-factly, "I spoke this word in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. So I did as I was commanded." What really strikes me about this and all the other things Ezekiel had to endure, is that God begins his ordeals by appearing to Ezekiel in all His glory. Which, as I wrote before, makes all the junk to come worth it.
Another important lesson is contained here for the current escapists (*cough*timlahaye*cough*): Ezekiel is one of God's faithful servants. Yet, here he is in exile, suffering for his ministry, enduring incredible hardships, all for the furthering of God's purposes.
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