Friday – Prophets

Reading – Ezekiel 7-9

Highlight Verse:

“The king and the prince will stand helpless, weeping in despair, and the people’s hands will tremble with fear. I will bring on them the evil they have done to others, and they will receive the punishment they so richly deserve. Then they will know that I am the Lord.””
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭7‬:‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I really wanted to find a hopeful verse in today’s passage.

Not much of that to find.

Except for those who received a mark for their repentant attitude in chapter 9, it was too late.

Perhaps they were some of the people in this verse who finally realized who God was.

For everyone else, they could only wish they had figured it out before the bearers of death confronted them.

The story is the same today.

Granted, Jerusalem isn’t captured by the Babylonians.

But every human being will someday realize that God exists and reigns supreme.

Some will repent when they figure it out.

Some will go through their lives in denial or rebellion and step beyond death’s door only to realize their folly too late.

For them, like in this passage, there is no hope.

But while we breathe, there is hope.

That hope is anchored in the sacrifice that Jesus already made and willingly offers to us.

It is the antithesis of today’s reading to those who have accepted this hope.

For those who have not accepted that hope, we need to shine the light of that hope in such a way that it is undeniable and pray that they would be able to see that light before it is too late for them.

If you haven’t yet accepted that hope, what is holding you back?
If you have accepted it, what are you doing to shine the light of hope to those around you?