“In the 12th year” – God told them there would be a captivity and fall – that it would be 70 years in all. It would take a while to accomplish the maneuvering of the peoples into place – the captives and the captors, the war-ravaged and the warriors… So – as prophesied, the cherished Jerusalem would fall, and as prophesied and urged, it was important to “Stay the Course”, wait it out, be ready for God’s next move. That is SO TRUE for us today too. We best continue to open our mouths FOR the Lord rather than drop our chins in astonishment of the times. 

Don’t Gawk, Walk. 

Ezekiel had to stay the course prophesying, even if God told Him that the people might ‘smile and nod’ at what he said but then NOT do the work God wanted.

The people would NOT be obedient but times would come when they realized a prophet had been there with them. Those are the people whose jaws would drop.

SO let us NOT drop our chins, mouth open but empty, let us praise God as we travel ourselves thru His predicted times, and still be working. If we get to the end of this set of times, then let us know that we knew that Jesus had come and will come again – and put our hope IN the Lord. Let us try to work at explaining where our hope is rather than where our complaints are.

In our “x” year, we don’t know the time – Let us remember these times when the bible was saying PAY ATTENTION…

Ezekiel’s call was to tell them all.

With Jerusalem’s fall and all, he stayed the course.

Amen

——-

Ezekiel 33:21-33

The Fall of Jerusalem

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been captured!”

Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

The Cause of Judah’s Ruin

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’

“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land? You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one another’s wives. Should you then possess the land?” ’

“Say thus to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence. For I will make the land most desolate, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’

Hearing and Not Doing

“As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”