It is important, when reading Ezekiel, to be reminded of the historical context. The first part of Ezekiel’s ministry was during the turbulent period after he, the King Jehoiachin and many others from Jerusalem were taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar (597BC). Zedekiah was left to rule in Jerusalem as a Babylonian puppet. Zedekiah would rebel against Nebuchadnezzar about ten years later which would bring about the final destruction of Jerusalem and the final deportation of exiles. Ezekiel’s oracles here belong in this period leading up to the final blow. One would think that, by this time, Judah would have recognised the symptoms of her conflict with God, but she refused to see it. There are always symptoms for us to recognise when our lives are in conflict with God. Often, however, we ignore the symptoms. If bad things happen to us, it is not always because we are in a bad place. The challenge of hardship is a normal part of the life with God. But sometimes God does let things deteriorate in our lives to crisis point to wake us up to something. At the very least, as I said a few days ago, it is worth doing a bit of self-examination just to ensure that we are seeing the signs if there are signs we need to see. In any case, if we are in conflict with God, we should want there to be indications of this. It would be far worse to be in conflict with God without being alerted to the gravity of our situation.
Ask God to keep you alert to yourself and your situation always.
Read Ezekiel 22
