Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Ezekiel, Day 2 Readings

Ezekiel Sees a Wheel and God's Exit from Jerusalem 

Today's reading is a dramatic vision of a wheel, spinning above Jerusalem, surrounded by angels.  Somehow, this wheel accompanies the presence of God, which leaves the Temple (and the Holy City), symbolizing God's complete disgust with the disobedience that the city -- and its inhabitants -- have come to represent.

God does not only offer a vision of despair, though.  While God's presence is leaving, the vision also contains a promise for God's people in exile.  Though they have been scattered among other nations, God will again unite the Jews and return them to Jerusalem, where they will again live as God's chosen people.

Read Ezekiel 10:1-11:25  (NIV)   (NRSV)   (CEB)
[links to Bible Gateway open in a new window]

Reading the Bible in Its Entirety

If you are planning to read the Bible in its entirety, you should read Ezekiel 12-19 today.