{"id":10249,"date":"2020-07-13T20:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T03:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=10249"},"modified":"2020-07-12T16:55:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T23:55:20","slug":"ezekiel-12_1-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-12_1-16\/","title":{"rendered":"While They Are Watching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezekiel 12:1-16 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 12:1-16.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 12:1-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime,\u00a0as they watch<\/u><\/strong>, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0During the daytime,\u00a0while they watch<\/u><\/strong>, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening,\u00a0while they are watching<\/u><\/strong>, go out like those who go into exile.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While they watch<\/u><\/strong>, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Put them on your shoulder\u00a0as they are watching<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders\u00a0while they watched<\/u><\/strong>.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 1-7:\u00a0 Here God is getting Ezekiel to act out how the Israelites are exiled from their land.\u00a0 Notice how many times the phrase \u201cwhile they watch\u201d and variations of it get repeated in these verses.\u00a0 This shows me that God is a thoughtful communicator who carefully plans out how He will engage His hearers, so as to get the most bang for His effort.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0A big part of excellence is seeking to get maximum results for your effort.\u00a0 Like God, may you be a thoughtful communicator and a pursuer of excellence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ezekiel 12:8-11 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the morning the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, did not that rebellious house of Israel ask you, ‘What are you doing?’
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel who are there.’
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’ “As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-11:\u00a0 Here the Lord gives Ezekiel a fuller explanation of the scene the Lord had asked Ezekiel to perform.\u00a0 The Lord says that this scene, or this oracle (v10), concerns \u201cthe prince of Jerusalem\u201d (more on him below) and the whole house of Israel.\u00a0 The Lord tells Ezekiel that one day those in Jerusalem will be taken captive in what would be a third invasion of Judah by Babylon.\u00a0 This would indeed happen and culminate with the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 12:12-14 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will scatter to the winds all those around him–his staff and all his troops–and I will pursue them with drawn sword.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12-14:\u00a0 Earlier in verse 10, the Lord explained that the scene He got Ezekiel to act out in particular concerns \u201cthe prince of Judah\u201d,\u00a0likely a reference to Zedekiah, who at only the age of 21 was installed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as the new king of Judah in place of King Jehoichin (see 2 Kings 25:18).\u00a0\u00a0 The Lord probably calls Zedekiah \u201cthe prince of Judah\u201d because he is so young and inexperienced to be a king.\u00a0 Zedekiah would rebel against King Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:20) and pay dearly for it.\u00a0 King Nebuchadnezzar would break through the wall of Jerusalem (represented by the hole that Ezekiel dug through the wall in his dramatized oracle \u2013 see 2 Kings 25:4).\u00a0 Then Zedekiah would be separated from his own troops (see 2 Kings 25:5), just as Ezekiel predicts in verse 14.\u00a0 Zedekiah and his family would be captured and Zedekiah\u2019s sons would be executed before Zedekiah\u2019s very eyes,\u00a0while he is watching<\/em>.\u00a0 If all this was happening when Zedekiah was 30 years old (2 Kings 25:10), then his sons were probably no older than 10 or 11 when they were executed.\u00a0 \u00a0After this King Nebuchadnezzar put out both of Zedekiah\u2019s eyes (see 2 Kings 25:7) before being led to Babylon, thus fulfilling Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy in verse 13 where it says \u201cI will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 12:15-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“They will know that I am the\u00a0LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the\u00a0LORD.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0 Here again we see God being a purposeful and thoughtful teacher and communicator.\u00a0 In both punishing the house of Israel (v15) as well as sparing the house of Israel (v16), God is intentional about sending a message so that those who see and hear the message will know that He is the Lord.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God makes the most of every situation to teach people about Himself.\u00a0 Likewise, may we learn to take the situations around us and turn them into moments where we can teach those in our care about who God is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, You are the most thoughtful communicator and teacher.\u00a0 You make the most of every situation to teach Your children about who You are.\u00a0 Help me to be a thoughtful communicator and effective teacher about You to others.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 12:1-16.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 12:1-7 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0“Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime,\u00a0as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0During the daytime,\u00a0while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening,\u00a0while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it.
\n6\u00a0\u00a0Put them on your shoulder\u00a0as they are watching\u00a0and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”
\n7\u00a0\u00a0So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders\u00a0while they watched.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 Here God is getting Ezekiel to act out how the Israelites are exiled from their land.\u00a0 Notice how many times the phrase \u201cwhile they watch\u201d and variations of it get repeated in these verses.\u00a0 This shows me that God is a thoughtful communicator who carefully plans out how He will engage His hearers, so as to get the most bang for His effort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10249"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10252,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10249\/revisions\/10252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}