Week 4 May 2026, Devotion Part 2

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

The day of August 14, 586 B.C. may have started pleasantly for Ezekiel’s wife. Perhaps she busied herself with chores best done in the cool of the morning, but briefly looked in on her husband to give him a kiss. “I’m writing a Cooking Pot parable,” he might have said with a smile. Was there a look on his face that made her ache for him? By dusk the love of Ezekiel’s life lay dead, Jerusalem had fallen and its fabled temple was a smoldering ruin. As a sign to the exiles, the prophet was ordered to forego mourning and to expressly forbid it over the loss of the Jew’s pride and joy, his ancient Holy City.

Has the axe of judgment been placed at the root of the lax modern churchmanship that is lushly overgrown with the pride of dead works and the praises of men? Do we as Christ-followers welcome the Vinedresser with his spade and manure? Son of man, will it be ruin or revival for you?  Part 2 of 2

Comment: The Jews exiled in Babylon were shocked to hear that the temple built by King Solomon was reduced to rubble, and dumbfounded by the odd stoicism of the freshly widowed Ezekiel who forbade them to mourn. The “despotes” of Acts 4:31, who manifested His benevolent presence as loving Sovereign, was a far cry from human despots who rule with an iron fist. The sanctuary cities that first sprang up in the U.S. in the 1980s, protected Central American refugees. Future historical accounts will describe the climate of fear and chaos caused by today’s masked ICE agents, and document the pile of rubble that was once the East Wing of the White House.  A sanctuary is a sacred space marked by holiness. While researching his book, I read comments by analysts who thought Ezekiel’s calling had been “bizarre,” unsure whether it had shaped him into a prophet of judgment of prophet of promise.  After reading Ezekiel 11:16, you and I decide for ourselves: "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Although I have removed them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, I will be a little sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.'"  Solomon’s temple was big and rumor has it that the ballroom at the White House will be really big.  In stark contrast, the Holy One of Israel chose to be a “little sanctuary,” an unasked for sacred presence to offer His nearness and dearness to hardcore rebels.  Perhaps this is the most shocking truth meant to come home to the reader: We want our hurt feelings publicly acknowledged, but Ezekiel personifies the God who must be muted, keeping His grief and heartbreak to Himself lest He appear to be “too human.”  So He chose to become a “little sanctuary” by arriving on the scene as a baby.  He then stayed on and stayed close as “son of man,” but betrayed His raw feelings in Gethsemane.  Have we ever wept in tender solidarity with the God who hurts?  Ezekiel 24