| THE SAD TRUTH |
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| the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and to tell it in a way that the Israelites could not ignore. "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?" (33:11). Phony Optimism The false prophets, by contrast, tended to be optimists. They overlooked their nation's corruption and predicted that everything would work out. Chapter 13 records Ezekiel's words against them. "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!" he said (13:3). They would "whitewash" a bad situation with claims that God could never let Jerusalem be destroyed (13:10-16). In the end Ezekiel got to deliver genuine good news: the promise of restored life. He saw a vision that still lives in song: scattered, bleached bones coming to life (37:1-14). In another vision, he saw God return to live in Jerusalem (43:1-5). Ezekiel didn't live to see these hopeful predictions fulfilled. But you can be sure he enjoyed making them far more than he enjoyed his predictions of disaster. Life Questions: Is there any place today for "bad news" of the kind Ezekiel proclaimed? |