13 August 2020

13 August 2020

 

Ezekiel writes:
I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile,

and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands;
I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.
In the morning the word of the Lord came to me:
Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 
Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel in it.’ 

Say, ‘I am a sign for you.’
From Ezekiel 12: 1-12 (NRSV)

There is a saying that actions speak louder than words and, certainly, as the people of Jerusalem watched Ezekiel pack a bag, make a hole in the wall and crawl through, they must have been seriously wondering what on earth he was up to. He could have stood in the city and told them that a siege and exile were imminent and some would have listened and taken note. But when it came to it, the chances are that they would have remembered what Ezekiel did far more clearly than anything he could have said.

    • Was Ezekiel being foolish or prophetic by acting out what was to come?
    • Why do actions speak louder than words?

Pray today for those living in exile – people who have lived through what Ezekiel prophesied for the people of Jerusalem.