Week 3 May 2026, Devotion Part 1

Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep nor shall your tears run down.   Ezekiel 24:16

 “Son of man, behold….” Son of man is the biblical emphatic form of “man,” meaning human being, and occurs 93 times in the Book of Ezekiel. When we yearn to pray differently – in order to make the difference Jesus desires on behalf of His Father’s glory – we first learn to unlearn former prayer habits. Forget the piously closed eyes and boringly religious tongue that too often drips with presumption and faithless familiarity. When God bores into us with the drill of His Spirit, He does not open the mouth, but the ear. Perhaps we need to hear Him say daughter or son of man 93 times until the heart is pierced sufficiently to grasp the stark reality of a familiar phrase, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).

In total surrender to His sovereignty, a troubled Ezekiel soon found himself in a bind. Exiled to Babylon in 597 B.C. with ten thousand fellow Jews, he was ordered by God to “act out” the coming fall of Jerusalem. “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” (4:8). It was carried out by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C., but God wanted unrepentant Judah to know that His judgment that would devastate them was now on the march. When His plans pierced the prophet’s heart, he shook violently. “Son of man, tremble…” (12:18). This Hebrew word is used elsewhere to describe an earthquake.  Part 1 of 2

Comment: In November last year “Coffee with Pastor Lance” revealed that the Book of Ezekiel was much on his mind and in his preacher’s heart.  It’s not an easy read, he cautioned, which compelled me to leave this comment: “While reading from the Bible to my young granddaughters, I would frequently say, ‘This is one of my favorite books,’ and they would giggle and reply, ‘Grami, every Bible book is your favorite one!’  Well, Ezekiel happens to be one of my extra favorite ones.  His prophetic gig was a tough one, but his many pivotal encounters with God’s glory enabled him to be tenderhearted toward Jerusalem.”  Using imagery we might attribute to AI, he likened the city to an iron pot with the citizens being the meat stored inside. Instead of getting cooked in the heat of Yahweh’s anger as the rebels deserved, they were lifted into the saving hands of their Redeemer God. I won’t “beseech” anyone to read Ezekiel with my kind of enthusiasm, but I’d love if some pearls of wisdom would cause others to be blessed by Paul’s reminder in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". Infused, as it were, with God’s glory, Ezekiel consistently stressed His sacred Sovereignty.  Acts 4:31 states that the disciples prayed to the “Despot” ruling their nation, and that the place shook as they were emboldened to speak boldly for God.  Ezekiel shook; his book has holy shock value.