FINDING SANCTUARY
Opening Prayer
Lord, thank You for being the God of restoration.
Read EZEKIEL 11:14–25
The Promise of Israel’s Return
14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it. 24 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia[a] in the vision given by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.
Footnotes:
a Ezekiel 11:24 Or Chaldea
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“May the Lord in his coming find me looking, longing and loving” (David Adam, Walking in the Light, 44).
Think Further
The book of Ezekiel is full of contrasts. After a long and dark vision of destruction we now read about a promise of hope and far-reaching restoration. These are breathtaking images of God’s glory contrasted with the small-minded stubborn disobedience of his people—an example of the latter being that those left in Jerusalem believe that their brethren as captives on foreign soil have been forsaken by God (14,15). As far as those who remain in the holy city are concerned, they themselves are the righteous ones (irrespective of their behavior) and the object of God’s favor (John B. Taylor, Ezekiel, 111). Conveniently, this misguided viewpoint also legitimizes their seizure of the exiles’ property and land.
Ezekiel, however, sees things from God’s perspective. God issues a wonderful picture of hope and promise for the future, which is set forth in greater detail in chapters 34, 36 and 37. Far from being the outcasts, the exiles are the true Israel. They will be kept safe—they may have lost the physical and spiritual sanctuary of Jerusalem, but they will be provided sanctuary by God himself. The destruction of the city will be complete and its leading citizens punished for their wanton disobedience. “But it never was God’s intention, as Ezekiel’s outbursts have indicated, to annihilate the remnant of his people” (Christopher Wright, The Message of Ezekiel, 124).
There is hope for Israel, although she has a long way to go before arriving at a place of repentance and restoration. God issues a wonderful promise of this restoration, involving a reacquisition of that meaningful relationship with him—a promise that echoes down throughout the centuries. Today this same God woos us, inviting us to a fresh place of belonging to him in a covenantal relationship. He calls us away from our busyness, preoccupations, and other distractions. How will you respond?
Apply
Many people are crossing national borders seeking sanctuary from conflict, starvation, and much more. How can we as the church reflect God’s character in giving hope and providing sanctuary?
Closing prayer
Lord, keep us from delusional grandeur about ourselves, our church or our country. Maintain within us a realistic view of our relationship with You.
Book and Author Intros
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