Ezekiel 40:1-5 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
The Jews were in exile in Babylon, and had been there for many years. As far as anybody could tell, they were stuck in Babylon forever. There appeared to be no hope for change or improvement. Those who had gone into exile quoted a proverb that said, “”The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (Ezekiel 18:2) The exiles were alive and no longer suffering as they had been; however, they were busy blaming their fathers and forefathers, conveniently ignoring the effect of their own sins. Blaming someone else for our problems is a very human thing and a hellishly easy habit to fall into. If we can only assign blame to someone else, then we don’t have to face up to our own contributions to our problems. And self – pity feels SO comforting! Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest” says that “self – pity is of the devil.” And it is in that setting that God gives Ezekiel a vision of a brand – new temple, a new Jerusalem, and a restored land of Israel.
Perhaps today you feel that you have lost everything. The job you once held has evaporated. You may have had to allow your house or car to go back to the bank because you could no longer make payments. While others are singing, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” you are cringing and thinking “I’m dreaming of a bleak Christmas.” If this is your situation, God wants you to know two things: you have a hope and a future, and God has magnificent plans for your life. But you must be on the lookout for divine provision because it can appear in strange ways. Sometimes God may bless you with selective poverty so that you don’t sink money into something that may turn out to be a disaster. The fancy car you have had to give up might have a fatal flaw that could cause an accident.
The last few chapters of Ezekiel make very heavy reading because they are mostly descriptions and measurements for a new temple and for the division of Israel when the Jews were to return to it. But the very precision of these descriptions meant that God was not joking and that in His time the Jews would return to Israel. God has not taken His Hand off your life any more than He did for the Jews in exile. The message of Advent is a message of hope.
PRAYER: Father thank you that even though life may look bleak for us right now, you are still our Provider. Help us not to fall into self – pity but to trust that you do have a plan for our lives and that you can work things out for our good. Please give us the faith to trust where we cannot see, and to look for the ways you are already working in our lives. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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