Ezekiel 32 - 34 (6th September) - Weiling

Ezekiel 32
Ezek 29-32 are chapters about God’s judgment on Egypt and its Pharaoh.
Egypt was one of the longtime enemy of God’s people. Ezekiel was speaking of a time then when Egypt would be reduced to a place of insignificance. Captivity would come and the glory of Pharaoh would fade.

An important lesson: As the leadership of a nation goes, so goes the nation. Pharaoh’s pride and false confidence in his army led to the desolation of his once mighty Egypt. Thus, do take time to pray for your leaders today.


Ezekiel 33
The Watchman (v.1 – 11)
Like the prophet Ezekiel, all of us have the role and duty to speak forth God’s word. We are God’s mouth-piece. It may be to witness to a pre-believing friend. It may be to discipline a wayward son. It may be to speak to a brother or sister in Christ whom you know is sinning or is in a dangerous position of falling. Who knows if what you say may or may not jolt a sinning brother in his path to repent and return to God? There is the sin of commission – doing the wrong things eg. Stealing. There is also the sin of omission – not doing what God calls us to do. It may not be easy to rebuke someone; you may risk losing a friend. But what would be the loving thing to do? Speak forth in love. The responsibility to respond lies with the person but we carry the responsibility to speak what God calls us to say.

God is a God of the Now (v.12 – 20)
Do not count on your past righteous “deeds” to save you, thinking you can be complacent because you may fall and sin. Do not live in the past. Even if you have led a life of sinning and rebellion, if you repent and turn to God, God is faithful and will show grace to forgive.

Practise what you hear (v. 31 – 33)
If we hear the words of God but do not practice them, we are like people who are just listening to songs. (v.32) Only when we obey God will we truly know Him. Let His Word transform you from inside out.

In James 1: 22-24 it says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

Ezekiel 34
The word goes out to the shepherds and leaders of God’s people as a reminder of the great privilege and responsibility they carry. The admonishment went out to the shepherds who had been caring only about themselves instead of the sheep that they are supposed to care for. The sheep were sickly, diseased, broken and scattered. And God said that He would take away the privilege from the shepherds of caring for the sheep and that He Himself, the faithful God, will search for His sheep and seek them out (v.11). He will feed them in a good pasture and lead them to rest (v. 11-16). He will bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick. So tender is our God.

Perhaps the responsibilities of a shepherd sound like a very tall order after we have read the passage. Perhaps it made you think twice about taking on the responsibility now. Perhaps it made you feel guilty about the job you are doing as a shepherd. Perhaps it made you think that it is easier if you had never set out to undertake the assignment of being a shepherd. But I just sense that God is saying it is an assignment that God entrusts to those whom He trusts. And it is only when we learn to shepherd will we ourselves know the Shepherd’s heart, that we will know Him from the fellowship of going through similar experiences, of loving His people. It is also an expression of our love for God. Just like in John 21 when Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” and Jesus then asked him to look after His sheep.