Recap

So far in Ezekiel, we’ve read through Ezekiel’s commissioning, his prophetic acts, and finished the accusations against Judah and the nations. The book started five years after the first group of Israelites had been exiled to Babylon. Jerusalem was still standing, and many Israelites still lived there. Ezekiel received a vision of God on his chariot throne over Babylon. He was not limited to Israel. His authority is over all the earth.

God charged Ezekiel with speaking to the Israelites still in Jerusalem to repent and change their ways before it was too late. But God also warned Ezekiel that the people would likely not listen to him. After taking a week to process all he had seen and heard, Ezekiel started acting out prophetic declarations. These included making a miniature model of Jerusalem and acting out sieges against it, laying on his side while eating unclean food, and shaving his head and beard.

Ezekiel had a vision of the presence of God leaving the temple and entering his throne chariot carried by the four living beings. So God declared judgement over the people, their leaders, and the prophets. God used many metaphors to depict Israel. An unfaithful bride, a proud lion now caged, a great vine that was dug up an left in the wilderness. The language was often highly graphic and was intended to be shocking. 

Then the siege of Jerusalem started. God's wrath was starting to pour out. And Ezekiel's mouth was freed so he could now move from declaring judgement on Israel to judgement on the foreign nations. We read through judgements on Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. We then started the judgement of Tyre, a city nation focused on trade, which was much longer than any of the others. God rebuked Tyre's king for trying to set himself above God, which doubled as a rebuke for the spiritual beings who tried the same.

Then we read the judgement on Egypt. In the same way, the rebuke against Pharaoh was also a rebuke against chaos itself. Finally, Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed, freeing Ezekiel up to focus on prophesying about the future hope.

Ezekiel 34-36

We start the new section of Ezekiel focused on the future hope for Israel and the nations. God comes to Ezekiel and challenges the leaders of Israel, comparing them to shepherds. Unlike good shepherds, they have not protected their people, the sheep. They didn't heal them when they were hurt, or feed them, or go out looking for the sheep that had got lost. The people have been scattered into exile because there were no good shepherds to keep them together. And so God is against the shepherds, the leaders. He will hold them responsible for all that has happened to his sheep.

God then sets himself up as the shepherd over his people. He will gather them together again and make sure they are fed. He will hunt down the ones that are lost. He will heal those that are wounded.

God turns to his sheep and warns them. Any of his people that oppress one another, that push others away from food so they can have more, or dirty sources of water so others can't drink, God will do away with. He will lead his people with justice, and will avenge the oppressed.

He is also going to set up another shepherd, a king from the line of David, who will also make sure they are fed and looked after. God will then make a new covenant, a new binding contract with his people. He will protect them from the attacks of their enemy, surround them with blessing, and let them rest in peace. And in return, they will know God.

Next, God begins to prophesy against Mount Seir, in Edom. While God is speaking to the mountain, the mountain is a metaphor for the whole nation. God will make the nations a wasteland, destroying cities and people. The Edomites have always celebrated Israel's losses at war and have even helped their enemies from time to time.

Because of this, God will spill blood in their land, leaving so many dead bodies you would need to hollow out the mountain to store them all. When Israel and Judah were separately destroyed and taken into exiles, it was the Edomites who saw this as an opportunity to claim the land for themselves. They mocked God with their arrogance. So God is going to bring destruction their way so they will know that he is God.

It may seem strange that in this section focused on a future hope for Israel that God would spend more time passing judgement. But this is intentional to set up the contrast between the old ways of the wicked and the future hope that God is establishing.

While the old ‘shepherds’ of Israel were wicked, God will establish a new shepherd to lead his people. While Israel’s enemies have turned their land into a wilderness and seek it for themselves, God will restore it to his people and cause it to flourish.

As Israel's enemies have now seen this empty land and are planning on claiming it for itself, God speaks to these mountains and places that have become wastelands to speak hope over them. God has seen these wicked nations and their plotting, and he will punish them for it.

But as for Israel, the lands that have become barren wastelands will once again burst into life and bear fruit. God will bring his people back into the land and will spread harmony. The people will not hurt the land anymore, and the land will not hurt the people.

God initially cast the Israelites out of their land because they had dishonoured him with their wickedness. God had to make sure that these people that were tied to his name weren't dragging it through the mud. When God brings the people back, he will put his spirit in them, so that they might live in a way that defends his good name.

God will cleanse them of all their sin, guilt, and wickedness. He will take their stubborn hearts of stone, and, with his spirit, give them fresh new hearts. These new hearts will have the desire to obey God and live rightly. As they live in obedience, God will make them clean and justified, and provide them with abundant food and resources.

Then as they live in this abundance, they will remember their past wicked ways, and remember how badly that ended for them. God will take the places that had become dead and desolate, and make them abundant and full of life. He will take the rubble and rebuild from it strong cities. Then the people will know that he is God.

Psalm 39

This psalm is attributed to king David and is titled to Jeduthun. It falls into the category of lament, though this psalm is more abstract than previous lament psalms. Rather than being about a specific struggle, this psalm is a reflection on fleeting life is, leading the psalmist to confess their sin. 

Jeduthun was one of David’s lead musicians (1 Chronicles 16:41). Jeduthun’s name may also be similar to the Hebrew word for confession, and so it may also be a play on words. 

Psalm 39:1-3 - I am guarded before the wicked

Psalm 39:4-6 - My life is transient 

Psalm 39:7-9 - Deliver me from my transgression

Psalm 39:10-13 - Have mercy on me and hear me

The psalm opens with the psalmist talking to themselves. They had decided to keep quiet and keep to themselves. Life is too short and too difficult to warrant, drawing the attention of the wicked. 

Unfortunately, this didn’t last long for them. Though at first they kept silent, this only led to be more frustrated and angry with what they saw. This became like a fire building inside them.

So instead, they turn to God, asking him why life is so short. The unspoken question here is that it all seems so meaningless, where life is but a breath while the wicked seem to prosper.

Working through this thought, the psalmist is then led to repent, stripping everything back. God is their source of hope. In the midst of all this, their trust has to be found in him. They have become too focused on what the wicked were doing that they had failed to seek after God.

The psalmist now fully turns to God and asks for mercy. They ask God to forgive their distrust in his order, and to remain close.

The point of this psalm is to not get caught up in the mundane, or the business of life. Don’t despise any of it. Instead, allow life to find meaning in God.