READING: Ezekiel 46-48
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: “Yahweh is There.” Those are the last English words of the book of Ezekiel. God would bring destruction on the city of Jerusalem as a means of judgment, but He would eventually return in His glory to the city. All of this we’ve seen in previous devotions.
Now, in Ezekiel’s vision, God restored the city, re-established His kingdom, and promised His presence. Indeed, the new city was named “Yahweh is There.”
Ezek. 48:35 The perimeter of the city will be six miles, and the name of the city from that day on will be: Yahweh Is There.
I am reminded today of the task given to Ezekiel. For more than 20 years he announced God’s Word. He served during the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people into Babylon. Much of his job was to announce judgment, but also to show that God was not judging Israel simply for the sake of judging; He was judging to bring them back to Him and to remind them that He was Yahweh.
Ezekiel’s job surely was not easy, but this he would know: he was on the winning side. God would, in fact, keep His Word to restore His people. He who had once departed the city would not only return, but the city would bear His name. He really would be their God and dwell among His people.
Those same truths give me confidence in doing ministry today. No matter how difficult ministry might be — no matter how hard it is to speak God’s truth sometimes — no matter how much it hurts to know people will pay the price of their sin — no matter how agonizing it is to watch people turn to false gods — this I know: God will show His glory in the end. We are on the winning side. Yahweh is here.
PRAYER: “Lord, thank You for dwelling among us. You are here. Thank you.”
TOMORROW¹S READING: Joel 1-3
