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10-13-13. Ezekiel 11:1-25. I WILL GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH – my devotional

10-13-13.               I WILL GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH – my devotional

Heart-of-Stone

 Ezekiel 11:1-25                                                                            Sunday, October 13, 2013

Key Verse: 11:19                                                                        Kevin E. Jesmer

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” (ESV)

    Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, thank you for the institute of marriage. Thank you for working through marriage to reflect your truth, love and grace to the whole world. Thank you for the renewal of vows ceremony yesterday. What a wonderful time together, renewing our vows. Thank you Jesus. May you strengthen the institute of marriage across our land. Please help me to accept one word of God in my heart through this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Those Who Gave Wicked Advice (1-13).

Verses 1-13, “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; who say, ‘The time is not nearto build houses. This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.” And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mindYou have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, they are the meat, and this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and give you into the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you. 10 You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 1and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.” 13 And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” (ESV)

The people that were left in Jerusalem after the exile thought that they were the meat in the pot, while the exiles were useless bones and garbage. But this was not true. The leaders gave wicked advice. They did not preach repentance, but taught false security. They did not live by God’s word nor teach the people to do so.

As Christians we need to preach the truth and not just what people want to hear. Let’s face it, sometimes the message of God is the message of judgment. However, the majority of Jesus’ teachings were not of judgment. But they were teachings of the kingdom of God. I would guess that 10% of Jesus’ teachings may have touched upon judgment. But, this fact does not nullify the fact that there will be judgment and we should preach about it, from time to time, in the spirit of love.

What was the problem in this passage? There were some people who were teaching wrong things about God. They were not revealing the truth about their lost state. In fact they were telling the people that they were ones who were the most blessed. They were hiding the fact that they were actually heading towards judgment. This is a great crime because it hides God’s saving grace and also hides God’s way of salvation from the people and the people continue to blindly follow the path to destruction. What a crime this is! And in this passage “the princes of the people” will have to answer to God.  I can see the importance of faithfully and consistently teaching the truth and showing the way of salvation, no matter what. People’s lives and souls depend on it. Lord, help me to consistently teach and preach the Gospel.

What was their problem? Look at verse 12, “and you shall know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.” They forgot that God is the Lord and they were not walking according to the word of the Lord. Instead they have acted like the godless nations around them…when they should have been acting like God’s people. This is like Christians living as if God didn’t exist, indistinguishable from the world around them. It is like Christians letting go of Gospel faith and living by their own reason and the world’s philosophies and consensus instead. Such Christians may be saved, but their salvation will be just like a person escaping through flames.  1 Corinthians 3:15, “If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”  I realize here that I must be a Christian who walks by faith and stand with both feet on the side of Christ. I also must be a Christian who lives by the Gospel and teaches the truth, in season and out of season.

Part 2: I Will Gather You From The Nations (14-25).

Verses 14-25, “And the word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.” 22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.” (ESV)

The exiles who repented and remained faithful to God, even though they were far away from home, would be gathered by God and returned. God would give them new and undivided hearts. He would take away their hard hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh that were, tender, that is alive and responsive to the word of God. God would bring them back to the land and they would clean up the city. We can look at these words piece by piece and find some application.

God was a sanctuary to them, even in the place of their exile. Look at verse 16, “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’”  There are times when we feel like we are in exile from God. We feel far from God. For some it may be depression or anger or anything that puts a distance between us and God. When this happens we may feel like spiritual exiles (although we are not, for nothing can separate us from the love of God) but we may feel like it from time to time. But even in those times, Christ is a refuge to us. There are those who have not yet come to saving faith in Jesus. They are on their way. Jesus can be a refuge for them also while traversing a dry and weary land.

God would gather them and they would have a place to call their own. Look at verse 17, “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’” Eventually, God will gather us all. First we will be gathered into the family of God. We will become citizens of God’s kingdom. One day Jesus will come again and gather his elect from the four corners of the world to be with him forever.

My heart longs for the kingdom of God. It will be a beautiful place. Revelation 21:21-27 reads, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (NIV) There, we will be gathered to live in God’s presence, his glory, his security and peace, and his purity along with all believers from all nations.

When they come back they will have true repentance on their hearts. Look at verse 18, “And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.”  As a people of God, our hearts must be marked with repentance. We don’t have to constantly be repenting so that we are joyless. But we need to have a basic attitude to not harbor idols but to surrender our hearts to the Lord and live in holiness, before him.

What they returned to God, making him their refuge with repentance, they would have new hearts. Look at verse 19, “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” It is the work of the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. Who wouldn’t want a new spirit and a new heart? I sure do. I thank God for granting me a new spirit and heart lately. When I was in a deep spiritual rut and heavily burdened for about 13 years, God granted me a new spirit and a new heart. He set me free. Praise God for his grace in setting me free and giving me a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh is a living heart, a heart that is responsive to God. I need to grow in my responsiveness to God. I thank God for helping me to be responsive to his call to take responsibility for a couple prayer meetings of the church.

They would be a people of God, fully devoted to living by faith. Look at verse 20, “that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” If we are a people of God, we must invite Jesus into our hearts and let him lead us our Savior and Lord.

We need to be servants of God who share all the things we learn from God in the Bible, Look at verse 25, “And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.”  I have always been a Bible teacher. Today, I renew my decision to teach the whole Gospel and nothing but the Gospel so help me God. Lord, help me to be a Bible teacher with integrity.

Prayer: Lord, give me an undivided heart. Take away my stone heart and give me a heart of flesh, so that I can more fully live in your love you. Teach me how to obey your word.

One Word: God can change our heart of stone into a heart of flesh




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