33As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
34I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
- P116
41I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations.
42Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors.
- P117
Nevertheless, the day is coming when God will once again establish Israel in the land where they will serve Him with undivided hearts, rejecting their idols and giving total obedience to their deliverer. As we read these words, we cannot help but think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31–46, where, like a shepherd, He separates the sheep from the goats. Not all who call Him "Lord" will enter into eternal life. In the end, God will remove those who honor Him with their lips yet hold on to sin. - P118
Ezekiel continues to speak of God‘s promised restoration to the exiledJews in Babylon. As God‘s mighty hand delivers and restores them, theywill recognize the depth of their unfaithfulness and sin. At the same time,
God‘s people will experience the grace of God, who forgives their sins andestablishes them in the land. Sadly, the people to whom Ezekiel speaks thesewords of promise hear them as parables that are irrelevant to them. Likemany in Jesus‘ day, they lack faith to hear what God is saying. The promisesof our God are beyond anything we can think or imagine. That is why wecan only receive and live in light of His promises by faith. - P118
Lord Jesus, You are the living Word, the Word made flesh. Open my heart to receive by faith Your words for my life and our world today. May Your Spirit unify my heart to obey You and grow in me an unwavering trust in Your promises. In Your name, amen. - P119
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