Category: God

The Clay City (Part 2)

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It has been my observation that the Clay model of Jerusalem built by Ezekiel in the fourth chapter was an interesting tool to illustrate the 390 years of apostacy within the House of Israel and the 40 years of sin for the house of Judah. First, he was asked to lay on his right side for 390 days. Then he is asked to lay on his left side for 40 days. You might wonder how he managed to eat. Well, God provided explicit instructions on provisions and food preparation. Everything was planned for Ezekiel to be successful for the 430 days (390 + 40) of hanging out on display with the clay model of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 4:4-8 says — Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So, for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel. After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm, prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege [NIV].

In my essay titled ‘The Clay City (Part 1) I outlined the creation of the clay model and the 390 days of lying near the model on his left side to display the sin of the House of Israel. Now we take a look at the 40 days he laid on his right side to bear the sin of the House of Judah. This 40-year period demonstrated the reign of King Josiah.

In 2 Kings 23:27, we read — I will banish Judah from my presence just as I have banished Israel. And I will reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple where my name was to be honored [NIV].

I think this suggests that in spite of Josiah’s meager effort to turn the nation back to God, the House of Judah was already too deep into rebellion. The judgement of God was moving forward, the actions of the few could not hold back the judgement for the actions of the many. Their corporate sin and rebellion had set the course.

Ezekiel was told to set his face. This suggests he was to exude commitment and assurance of his actions; in much the same way the Babylonians were aggressive because Zedekiah broke his agreement with Nebuchadnezzar. This entire theatrical display was a sign to the House of Israel (the captives in Babylon) who were eyewitness to the actions of Ezekiel. I think the prophet was directed to use this imagery (theatrical display) in much the same way that Jesus made use of parables. Jesus constantly spoke about hearing things they might not fully understand, seeing things they might not fully perceive (see Matthew 13:14-15). In time, the apostles would gradually learn the meaning and then generate an understanding of what was plain, yet difficult to accept.

The message in this Clay City presentation from Ezekiel was designed to help the people see their sin and find the path to repentance. He was not saying the hand of God would be stayed, he was clear on the cause of their trouble. But he was saying there would be an eventual end to the trouble for those who repented. He was calling them to engage in sorrow, lament the cause of their trouble, reject the sin that pulled them away from God. As they embraced the shame of their sin, they started on the path towards God’s mercy.

These periods (390 years for Israel and 40 years for Judah) were the time of sorrow. They both ended with the emancipation by Cyrus and return of the Hebrews to Jerusalem (see Ezra 9:13). This display demonstrated why the Hebrews were bound by the cords of their sin (see Lamentations 1:14). But later

in Ezekiel’s ministry, he tells them of the redemption coming. As we continue through the analysis of Ezekiel in coming essays, we will soon see their sorrow does not last forever. I choose Jesus.

The Clay City (Part I)

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It was my observation while reading the fourth chapter of Ezekiel that God introduced Ezekiel to the House of Israel with unconventional tactics, almost theater in nature. He was bound up with ropes in his house for a while. Now, he is outside and building a model of Jerusalem in clay. He is told in clear words; this model is a sign for the house of Israel. No big amphitheater events, no drama at the river, no shouting in the streets on a soap box. This is a picture of the siege for Jerusalem that is soon to come.

Ezekiel 4:1-3 says — “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel [NIV].

These people were a long way from Jerusalem, they had been forced with the threat of death to leave their homes and walk to a place along the Kabar River to make things for Babylon. They longed to go home. Their heart was still in Jerusalem, the faithful had their eye on God (see Daniel 6:10). The presumptuous were arrogant in their belief the trip back to their home was just around the corner – after all, they were God’s people.

They were sure the King of Jerusalem would stand tall and get them back. He would get them out of the mess. It is possible that communication occurred from time to time between the captives and the people in Jerusalem. Clearly, they were not prepared for the message that was coming to them from Ezekiel. They had no sense of what was soon to happen – the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldean Army (from southern Babylon, the army of Nebuchadnezzar II) and the famine inside the city that would be associated with that siege.

This display from Ezekiel was designed to catch the attention of the more thoughtful of the group. They had to come by and look at the event. Then they had to talk about what they were seeing with Ezekiel and with others to make some sense of it. I would suspect most saw it as mere theatre, but some realized what was portrayed and wondered what to make of the message.

He was told to build small structures representing the temporary forts built by the Chaldeans. He placed an iron pan between the clay city and himself. Most think this represents the inflexible position of both sides. The Chaldeans were pressing to become masters of the city, crushing the culture and the government. The Jews were resolved to resist, but eventually after about 13 months they lost the event.

I should also say that the total timeline for the siege was 18 months. There was about 5 months in the 18-month window that the Chaldeans were preoccupied with an advancing Egyptian army (see (Jeremiah 37:5-8). Once that situation was resolved by pushing back the Egyptians, they continued working the siege to completion (see Jeremiah 52:4-6).

After the clay model was built, Ezekiel lay on his side for a long time (390 days, yes over a year) to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation. Most commentators suggest the 390 days spoke to the 390 years of Hebrew apostacy from Jeroboam (approximately 929BC) to the fall of Babylon by Cyrus (approximately 539BC). This is the period of time that the house of Israel (the ten tribes) had been in rebellion. It was Cyrus who sent the House of Israel back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God will have his way. He is sovereign.  I choose Jesus.

I am not doing This for Your Sake

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It was my observation the message in the first part of Ezekiel 36 is a broad scale explanation of why God has hammered the friends and neighbors of the Hebrews. They understand what is going on and some are still defiant, others are perplexed. In their discouragement, they know of their unworthiness, and they are unsure of their future. They know their resistance was strong and unabated. God feels their uneasiness and chooses to introduce them to their distant future.

In this chapter we find a powerful promise of a new covenant. They are not specifically told it is a new covenant, but the messianic promise is clear. God has a new plan. He does it all, we are the recipients of a new life. He delivers a promise that we would be prepared, reformed by his grace and mercy, to walk with him. In the end he makes it clear that this message is page two of their life.

There is more, God makes it clear there is life with Him after exile; there is a path out of their dilemma, there is a way to extract themselves from spiritual infidelity. At first, they did not see the solution but it explains why they were in Babylon. The subliminal message feels like ‘absence makes the heart grow fond once again’. The separation from the thing they have known all their life was soon felt and that which they had taken for granted, now absent, was missed and then lamented.

I think the exile is also intended as an introduction to the full impact of the new covenant of grace, the full power of grace is magnified by the harshness of the exile as an antithesis to walking with God. You might recall the messianic hints in Ezekiel 34. In that chapter we explored a promise of the coming shepherd, and all the implications of that shepherd. Now, in this chapter, we expand on that message, we talk about the promises of the Holy Spirit, and the richness of the soon-to-be new covenant. We get a glimpse of his gracious influence, methods of operation, sanctification model, and the process for justification.

Yet, he also knows that some may still resist. They will remember their ways and not believe that God can and will forgive them. In that mindset, they truly lament, then he offers honesty and hope…

Ezekiel 36: 24-32 says — For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct! [NIV]

In our worst day, defiant of his grace, we will always find self-love at the core of our sin. What causes us to repent? It’s simple, I suspect repenting occurs when we cannot but wince when we notice the absurdness of our action that set us at odds with God. But before we can get to that point there will be a self-quarrel to accept the facts and then reconcile to the need to repent. It is constant, this wincing thing, because our mistakes and transgressions are non-stop. How then shall we live?

We find solace in the Goodness of God. His goodness overcomes our badness and leads us into the proper state of mind to repent. We resist kicking and yelling right up to the point where we relent and repent (or we do not repent and consequences happen). It is a repetitive cycle. Our God loves us through it all. He smiles as we struggle, because he knows the outcome and humors us as we work through the details. Who could love us more than God does. Anyone? I suspect not. Our wife and children take a close second in that race, but he is king of the hill. I choose Jesus.

Rebellion is their Name

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It was my observation after reading Ezekiel chapter 1 and then progressing to chapter 2 that we are given a detailed image of the throne. Why did God show this to Ezekiel? Consider the message that Paul heard on the Damascus Road. Paul was clearly chosen by God, things happened around hi to be sure he got the message. There was no question in his mind what had happened. Now in the case of Ezekiel we see something similar.  His nickname appears in this chapter – Son of Man.  I suspect God applied this phrase to Ezekiel as an affectionate nickname; as a term of endearment. The Hebrew term for Son of Man is Ben-Adam. We see something similar in Daniel 7:17, we find the term Son of Adam, Son of the earth. I think this means he was called to be a representative of God on earth.

In the passage we are about to read, Ezekiel is told — Get up. Get off the ground, I want to talk to you.  I think that God did not want to talk to the back of Ezekiel’s head. He stood Ezekiel up so Ezekiel was looking at the glory before him – this reveals the affection God has for people who walk with God.  As much as we could imagine, within the confines of extreme holiness and the translucent shroud that protected us, they were looking at each other.  Ezekiel’s instinct is to get prostrate, God says to him, not today.  I am affirming your commission.  Right here, right now. Face to Face.

Ezekiel 2:1-5 says — He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says. And whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are a rebellious people, they will know that a prophet has been among them. [NIV]

The short version of this passage is simple – Get up.  You are my prophet to Isreal.  They will not like you, but they will know one thing for sure – A prophet has been called to walk among them.  They will know that I am the Lord their God and I am not Silent.  This tells us something about how God thinks.  He is immensely pleased to work with us.  He delights in our willingness to serve.  When we show a tiny bit of interest, he is all over it.  He brings power and strength. He fills us with himself and then works from within us to accomplish his tasks.  If you ponder this for a bit, you will realize how truly amazing this situation is.  The one true living God choosing to work through us, training us in his way.  He does not need help, but he has decided to partner with us to implement his plan.  Goodness.  We are loved.


Matthew Henry said — Thus, in a similar case, Daniel was strengthened by a divine touch (Daniel 10:18) and John was raised by the right hand of Christ laid upon him (Revelation 1:17). The Spirit set him upon his feet, made him willing and forward to do as he was bidden, and then he heard him that spoke to him. He heard the voice before, but now he heard it more distinctly and clearly, heard it and submitted to it. The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our will to our duty, and thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge of it.

We find the conclusion of this passage, Ezekiel is being called, prepared, strengthened and sent to deliver a message to a rabble. A rebellious group of people who have been pushed off the island, the land of the promise to the land of Babylon.  Ezekiel knew what this was all about.  He knew it would not be an easy life.  But he had a calling and purpose.  His people were in captivity for rebellion against Gods law.  He hoped God would be gracious, but his resolve to serve was clear.  We do the same. I choose Jesus.bellion is their Name

I Am Not Doing This for Your Sake

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It was my observation the message in the first part of Ezekiel 36 is a broad scale explanation of why God has hammered the friends and neighbors of the Hebrews. They understand what is going on and some are still defiant, others are perplexed. In their discouragement, they know of their unworthiness, and they are unsure of their future. They know their resistance was strong and unabated. God feels their uneasiness and chooses to introduce them to their distant future.

In this chapter we find a powerful promise of a new covenant. They are not specifically told it is a new covenant, but the messianic promise is clear. God has a new plan. He does it all, we are the recipients of a new life. He delivers a promise that we would be prepared, reformed by his grace and mercy, to walk with him. In the end he makes it clear that this message is page two of their life.

There is more, God makes it clear there is life with Him after exile; there is a path out of their dilemma, there is a way to extract themselves from spiritual infidelity. At first, they did not see the solution but it explains why they were in Babylon. The subliminal message feels like ‘absence makes the heart grow fond once again’. The separation from the thing they have known all their life was soon felt and that which they had taken for granted, now absent, was missed and then lamented.

I think the exile is also intended as an introduction to the full impact of the new covenant of grace, the full power of grace is magnified by the harshness of the exile as an antithesis to walking with God. You might recall the messianic hints in Ezekiel 34. In that chapter we explored a promise of the coming shepherd, and all the implications of that shepherd. Now, in this chapter, we expand on that message, we talk about the promises of the Holy Spirit, and the richness of the soon-to-be new covenant. We get a glimpse of his gracious influence, methods of operation, sanctification model, and the process for justification.

Yet, he also knows that some may still resist. They will remember their ways and not believe that God can and will forgive them. In that mindset, they truly lament, then he offers honesty and hope…

Ezekiel 36: 24-32 says — For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct! [NIV]

In our worst day, defiant of his grace, we will always find self-love at the core of our sin. What causes us to repent? It’s simple, I suspect repenting occurs when we cannot but wince when we notice the absurdness of our action that set us at odds with God. But before we can get to that point there will be a self-quarrel to accept the facts and then reconcile to the need to repent. It is constant, this wincing thing, because our mistakes and transgressions are non-stop. How then shall we live?

We find solace in the Goodness of God. His goodness overcomes our badness and leads us into the proper state of mind to repent. We resist kicking and yelling right up to the point where we relent and repent (or we do not repent and consequences happen). It is a repetitive cycle. Our God loves us through it all. He smiles as we struggle, because he knows the outcome and humors us as we work through the details. Who could love us more than God does. Anyone? I suspect not. Our wife and children take a close second in that race, but he is king of the hill. I choose Jesus.

Rebellion Is Their Name

Published on by DanLeave a comment

It was my observation after reading Ezekiel chapter 1 and then progressing to chapter 2 that we are given a detailed image of the throne. Why did God show this to Ezekiel? Consider the message that Paul heard on the Damascus Road. Paul was clearly chosen by God, things happened around hi to be sure he got the message. There was no question in his mind what had happened. Now in the case of Ezekiel we see something similar.  His nickname appears in this chapter – Son of Man.  I suspect God applied this phrase to Ezekiel as an affectionate nickname; as a term of endearment. The Hebrew term for Son of Man is Ben-Adam. We see something similar in Daniel 7:17, we find the term Son of Adam, Son of the earth. I think this means he was called to be a representative of God on earth.

In the passage we are about to read, Ezekiel is told — Get up. Get off the ground, I want to talk to you.  I think that God did not want to talk to the back of Ezekiel’s head. He stood Ezekiel up so Ezekiel was looking at the glory before him – this reveals the affection God has for people who walk with God.  As much as we could imagine, within the confines of extreme holiness and the translucent shroud that protected us, they were looking at each other.  Ezekiel’s instinct is to get prostrate, God says to him, not today.  I am affirming your commission.  Right here, right now. Face to Face.

Ezekiel 2:1-5 says — He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. He said: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, This is what the Sovereign Lord says. And whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are a rebellious people, they will know that a prophet has been among them. [NIV]

The short version of this passage is simple – Get up.  You are my prophet to Isreal.  They will not like you, but they will know one thing for sure – A prophet has been called to walk among them.  They will know that I am the Lord their God and I am not Silent.  This tells us something about how God thinks.  He is immensely pleased to work with us.  He delights in our willingness to serve.  When we show a tiny bit of interest, he is all over it.  He brings power and strength. He fills us with himself and then works from within us to accomplish his tasks.  If you ponder this for a bit, you will realize how truly amazing this situation is.  The one true living God choosing to work through us, training us in his way.  He does not need help, but he has decided to partner with us to implement his plan.  Goodness.  We are loved.


Matthew Henry said — Thus, in a similar case, Daniel was strengthened by a divine touch (Daniel 10:18) and John was raised by the right hand of Christ laid upon him (Revelation 1:17). The Spirit set him upon his feet, made him willing and forward to do as he was bidden, and then he heard him that spoke to him. He heard the voice before, but now he heard it more distinctly and clearly, heard it and submitted to it. The Spirit sets us upon our feet by inclining our will to our duty, and thereby disposes the understanding to receive the knowledge of it.

We find the conclusion of this passage, Ezekiel is being called, prepared, strengthened and sent to deliver a message to a rabble. A rebellious group of people who have been pushed off the island, the land of the promise to the land of Babylon.  Ezekiel knew what this was all about.  He knew it would not be an easy life.  But he had a calling and purpose.  His people were in captivity for rebellion against Gods law.  He hoped God would be gracious, but his resolve to serve was clear.  We do the same. I choose Jesus.

Hollywood and the Open Range

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Sometimes when Hollywood was riding with Miss Tillie on the weekends, he would really be working. They would be hunting for cattle trying to bring them back into the larger herd. But for Hollywood and Miss Tillie, this was a time of pleasure.

They got to enjoy the most beautiful place on the face of the earth from their viewpoint. The trees were magnificent. The valleys were deep with streams running in the bottom. They were gloriously clear. Sometimes you could see the trout moving around in the streams. These little brook trout were so happy, playful, and so content. There were no natural predators in the valley; and there were very, very few fishermen in those days.

Sometimes Hollywood would hear God speak to him in the wind when he was high in the hills. He would dream about what it was like for the men of old in Scripture who heard God’s voice speak a message of hope and then repeat that message to people in the city.

Remembering a vision in Ezekiel, it felt like he could almost see God at sunrise or sunset. He wondered how many times he bumped into an angel out there when a lone rider came by. Occasionally he would bump into somebody he did not know. This person would have a message of good cheer or questions, or he just had a pleasant smile on his face and said hello as he passed by.

Today, Miss Tillie and Hollywood were enjoying the afternoon as they searched for strays. When they found them, they brought them back to safety 1 by 1. After the stray calf could get down off the horse, the stray calf would start letting out little whelps to help mom find the calf. The mother would hear their calf calling out as they got closer to the herd and you could see the mother moving through the herd so that calf could find her. Then they would engage in a lot of nuzzling and then off they go.

Sometimes the mom would turn back and look at Hollywood, but not too often. She knew that was what Hollywood did for her. The cattle kind of just expected it to happen. At least that is how it felt to Hollywood. But they were grateful.

One time when they were out hunting for strays, they came across a trapped calf. The stray calf got stuck between two trees and it just looked a little silly. He could not go forward and he could not go backwards. After a bit of analysis, we realized all he needed to do was breathe in, compress his lungs, and then his rib cage would let go of those trees.

We took a close look and made sure he was ok to ride back to the herd. And then we gently eased him out from the two trees. He was injured pretty badly, so we cleaned up his wounds. We even put some gentle bandages on him and then threw him up on the horse with Miss Tillie. We rode very slow, so the calf did not feel too much pain. They worked their way back home and then put the calf back into the mom’s protection.

And the two of them kind of looked at each other and the mom licked the calf side. All was well. Few days later we checked in on that calf, healing was moving forward nicely, Hollywood suspected the calf hardly remembered the incident. Miss Tillie talked with me about my feelings when we are out in the in the High Plains. From that conversation, she took notes and created a short poem. This is what she wrote —

The open range is calling me across the miles, as I sit before the open sky, I guess I’ll dream a while.

I sit on a porch all day, with distant canyons steep, I think about my Jesus, His grace, a gift to keep.

Out in the open I can hear, where the wind cry’s, God sings on that distant ridge, he is calling out to me.

A trail that leads to somewhere, like a floating log, a song on a river, its calling me to God.

The first time Hollywood heard that bit of prose that Miss Tillie put together, he teared up a little bit because Hollywood did not realize how he sounded until she captured his bits and pieces together in a poem.

The next morning, we were out hunting for strays again and we came across three of them that had backed themselves into a corner of a draw and for some reason or another they got lost in this little bitty bit of heaven. They could not find their way out. We could see them; they had been moving around. There was water there, and there were things to eat, so maybe they just were not that anxious to leave. But there they were, kind of playing with each other, ignoring us. We rode in. We looked around to make sure no predators were in the area. When we knew they were clear, then we gathered them up, and got them heading in the right direction.

They were actually a little resistive, Miss Tillie thought they liked the little place they had found. But we needed to get them back to the herd, so we started moving them along. Now Miss Tillie could not help but notice Hollywood looking to the left and to the right. It was an unbelievably beautiful draw, the pine trees, and the craggy rock. It was stunning. Then we came across a stream and that is where they were getting their water. It was crystal clear and was not very wide, but it was enough – a spring fed water source.

We took a detour and rode back up the stream a little bit, following the stream until we came to the place where it came out of the earth. It was just magnificent, just a bubbling, gurgling little pool of water gradually going out. And it became a beautiful source of water.

Eventually we found our way back to the herd. The day was coming to close; the sunset was glorious. Hollywood started thinking about Miss Tillie’s poem. He knew that God had provided a beautiful day to celebrate life.  He enjoyed the evening breeze and the rocker on his porch.  All was well on the ranch…

Ezekiel 1:25-28 — Then there came a voice from above the vault [heavens] over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking (NIV).

Please note: In 1956 a cowboy poet, Jim Jennings, published a short book about his experience working at ‘dude’ ranches in the west. My Great grandmother, Goldie Livingston, obtained a first edition copy of Jim’s self-published book in the fall of 1956. The poetry in this story is adapted from Jim’s book.