Ezekiel - Part 2

This week, we cover chapters 18-29 of Ezekiel.  It's impossible to imagine what Ezekiel was going through as he prophesied to the people.  If what was happening to God's people wasn't bad enough, the death of Ezekiel's wife also becomes something of an object lesson.

If someone were to argue that God doesn't take sin seriously and that the judgment is just a formality because everyone will be saved anyway, please direct that person to Ezekiel.  That God is disgusted with sin and punishes it severely is obvious throughout Ezekiel.

It's not just the Hebrew people who are guilty of sin; God punishes the surrounding nations as well.  Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt will also experience God's judgment against sin.  

It's only when we understand our own sin and how much God hates sin that we can fully appreciate what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  No longer are we subject to punishment; rather, we've been redeemed/saved from judgment and given new life and forgiveness through Jesus.

As you read through Ezekiel, what messages stand out to you?  What messages still seem applicable today?  How would Ezekiel be received in 21st century North American culture?

Enjoy your reading!  Please share your reflections and questions.  Be sure to use the guiding questions as you read.

Our guiding questions are these: 

What stood out to you in the reading?

Was there anything confusing or troubling?

Did anything make you think differently about God?

How might what you read change the way you live?  

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