Today’s passage: Ezekiel 11:1-13
Helpful thoughts:
- Ezekiel’s prophecy now moves to the political leaders of the people. The elders had not trusted that God would not protect them from “the sword” of other nations and sinned against Him, now God is going to bring “the sword” of other nations against them. Their fears would be realized.
- The illustration of the cauldron/cooking pot and meat seems to be related to the city of Jerusalem being under siege. As the siege is being built up, the “temperature” is rising…cooking the “meat” inside.
- But God tells the political leaders they will not be defeated the way they expect, so that they will know that He is the Lord!
- Pelatiah’s judgment came instantly (Verses 1 and 13).
- Peletiah’s name means, “The LORD delivers” and he was the son of Benaiah which means, “The LORD builds.”
Questions to consider:
- To whom does God attribute the responsibility of the number of the slain in Jerusalem (Verse 6)? Why might the people and leaders have wanted to blame God or their enemies? How does God’s justice, sovereignty and providence validate His claim?
- If God is doing all of these things so that the people would know that He is the LORD, what would have been the right response? What does God’s identity and His attributes have to do with our repentance?
- What changes happen in the life of a person who surrenders to the Lordship of God and Christ? How does this match what we learn happens to a person who is saved from passage like 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 2:8-10?