the Fourth Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Ezekiel 14:12-23; ; Ezekiel 15:1-8
The LORD makes His servant aware of "sore judgments" that He has in store: the sword, famine, wild beasts and pestilence (v. 21). And He declares that even the presence of three men of God as remarkable as Noah, Daniel and Job will not suffice to deliver the guilty land. The LORD links the names of these three exceptional witnesses, who lived at widely different periods (Daniel was still living in Babylon), to remind them that the fear of God and righteousness can be practised in all ages, even in those as dark as that which preceded the flood, and that He would answer them by individual deliverance (cf. Proverbs 11:8). Thus nobody is entitled to excuse his conduct on the ground of the circumstances in which he lives and the influences exerted on him.
In Ezekiel 15:1-8 the type of the vine, representing Israel, is again taken up (see also Ezekiel 17:6; Ezekiel 19:10). Having borne no fruit, cannot its wood at least be made use of (v. 3)? In no way! It is valueless, only good for burning. Terrible destiny for the sterile branches of the vine of Israel . . . and of those which the Father will be obliged to take away from the True Vine! (John 15:1-2).
