SCRIPTURE: EZEKIEL 24
THE COOKING POT (vs. 1-34)
The Lord told Ezekiel to cook bones in a a pot with water to illustrate cleansing from impurity and the judgment of God according to their conduct and actions.
EZEKIEL’S WIFE DIES (vs. 15-27)
When Ezekiel’s wife died, God told him not to lament or weep or shed tears but only groan quietly. Ezekiel did what has been commanded by the Lord. Then Ezekiel told the people not to mourn or weep when their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their hearts desires and their sons will be taken away. They will only groan among themselves because of their sins.
THJOUGHTS:
The illustration of the cooking pot showed that although people thought that they were safe and secure inside the cooking pot, the pot would actually be the place of their destruction.
Good wanted to cleanse the lives of those who turned in Jerusalem and he wants to clean our lives today. Sometimes, he tries to purify us through difficulties and troublesome circumstances. When you are in tough times, allow sin to be burned down from your life. Look at your problems as opportunities for your faith to grow.
God told Ezekiel not to mourn for his dead wife to show his fellow exiles that they were not to mourn publicly over Jerusalem when it was destroyed because the destruction was the consequences of their sins. We should be wholehearted in our obedience to God even when we don’t feel like it. Are you willing to serve God faithfully as Ezekiel did?