https://literalword.com/esv?q=Ezekiel+12
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 15 September 2026:
Ezekiel 12:2 — “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.”
Israel’s problem was not that God had failed to make Himself known. They had His Word, His prophets, His law, His temple, and generations of His faithfulness. They had eyes capable of seeing and ears capable of hearing, but rebellion had made them spiritually blind and deaf. The problem was not primarily understanding; it was willingness. They did not want to see what seeing would require them to change.
Jesus repeatedly used this same language because the problem had not changed. People heard His words and saw His works, yet many refused to recognize who stood before them (Matthew 13:13-15; John 9:39-41). Spiritual blindness is often less about lack of evidence than about competing desires. Jesus said plainly, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). We can read Scripture, attend church, know Christian doctrine, and still resist what God is saying whenever His Word threatens something we do not want to surrender.
We should expect that struggle because we also live “in the midst of a rebellious house.” The world continually teaches us to build our own kingdoms rather than seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Our flesh has been trained by years of self-centered desires and habits, and the devil works through lies, fear, temptation, and accusation to turn our attention away from God (Ephesians 2:1-3; 6:11-12). Following Jesus therefore cannot simply mean adding Him to a life that remains fundamentally our own. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Paul describes the resulting life even more radically: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Union with Christ opens our eyes not merely so that we understand more about Jesus, but so that His life increasingly becomes our life. Where am I asking God to help me understand something He has already made clear because I do not really want to obey it?
Ezekiel 12:3, 6-7 — As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house…. In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.” And I did as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.
God now makes Ezekiel himself part of the message. He is to pack the belongings of an exile, carry them out before the people, dig through the wall, leave at twilight with his possessions on his shoulder, and cover his face. The people who believed Jerusalem would survive and the exiles would soon return were watching a picture of what was actually coming: Jerusalem would fall, and those still there would join them in exile.
But one word reveals something remarkable about God’s heart: “Perhaps.” God knows they are rebellious, yet He keeps speaking. He has already warned them repeatedly, but He gives them another sign and another opportunity to turn. His patience should never be mistaken for indifference toward sin. It is mercy giving sinners time to repent. Peter makes the same point when people later mistake the delay of Christ’s return for evidence that God will not act: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,” desiring that people come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God’s warnings are themselves acts of mercy.
Ezekiel’s response is equally simple: “I did as I was commanded.” He does not know whether anyone will repent. He is not responsible for producing the response; he is responsible for obeying God. That matters whenever faithfulness seems unlikely to make a difference. We often measure obedience by visible results: Will speaking truth change anyone? Will serving accomplish anything? Will standing for Christ cost more than it gains? Ezekiel obeys because God commanded him, not because success was guaranteed. Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father even when obedience led to rejection and the cross (John 6:38; Philippians 2:8). Life in Christ increasingly frees us from needing results, approval, or recognition before we obey. Faithfulness itself becomes the goal because we love the One we follow.
Ezekiel 12:10-13 — Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel…. And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out…. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.
Ezekiel’s strange actions specifically picture what will happen to Zedekiah. Jerusalem’s ruler will not lead a triumphant resistance against Babylon. He will flee the city at night, be captured, and be taken to Babylon without seeing it. Years later the details unfolded exactly as God had said. Zedekiah escaped Jerusalem by night, was captured near Jericho, saw his sons killed before him, had his eyes put out, and was carried to Babylon (2 Kings 25:4-7; Jeremiah 39:4-7).
The people had placed their hope in a king, a city, defensive walls, and predictions of deliverance. God dismantles every one of those false securities. Zedekiah may escape Jerusalem’s wall, but he cannot escape God’s “net.” Human power can sometimes change circumstances; it cannot overturn the purposes of God.
That same temptation remains. We place enormous confidence in leaders, governments, money, careers, institutions, military strength, medicine, technology, relationships, or our own ability to manage circumstances. These may all be gifts God uses, but none can carry the weight of ultimate trust. Jesus offers a kingdom that cannot be shaken and a King who cannot fail (Hebrews 12:28). The Gospel transfers our deepest allegiance from the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). That does not make earthly responsibilities unimportant; it puts them in their proper place. Everything we depend upon in this world can eventually be taken from us. Christ cannot.
Ezekiel 12:15-16 — “And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the Lord.”
Again we encounter one of Ezekiel’s central themes: “they shall know that I am the LORD.” Even judgment serves God’s purpose of revealing Himself. Israel had lived as though God existed to preserve their nation, protect their prosperity, and maintain their way of life. God strips those things away so they will finally see Him as He truly is.
Yet judgment does not eliminate mercy. God preserves a remnant, and those survivors will tell the nations about “all their abominations.” Their testimony will not be about how badly Babylon treated them but about why God was right to judge them. Grace has begun doing its work when we stop making ourselves the victim of every consequence and become willing to say what our own sin has done.
The Gospel takes us much further. We do not merely confess that God was right to judge our sin; we discover that the judgment we deserved fell upon Christ. Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the tree” so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). We therefore do not hide our sin to protect our reputation. We confess it because our identity no longer rests on appearing righteous. In Christ we are forgiven, reconciled, and being made new. Our failures can even become part of our testimony—not to glorify the sin, but to glorify the Savior who rescued us from it.
Ezekiel 12:18-20 — “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety…. They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay…. on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel now acts out another part of Jerusalem’s future. Even eating and drinking—the most ordinary activities of life—will be filled with fear. The security they had taken for granted will disappear as violence, siege, and judgment consume the land.
God specifically identifies their own violence as part of the reason. Their society was not simply guilty of private spiritual mistakes. Turning from God had changed how people treated one another. That connection runs throughout Scripture. When love for God collapses, love for neighbor eventually collapses with it. Jesus joined the two great commandments together for precisely this reason: love God with everything you are and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). A society cannot continually reject God’s authority, redefine good and evil around human desires, and expect human relationships to remain untouched.
But again the Word must first search us before we use it to diagnose our generation. Violence begins much earlier than murder. Jesus traces it into anger, contempt, and the heart that treats another person as worthless (Matthew 5:21-22). John says we cannot claim to love God while hating a brother (1 John 4:20). The Spirit of Christ therefore works in us in the opposite direction, producing love, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). God is not merely trying to make Christians less sinful than the culture around them. Through union with Christ, He is forming people who increasingly display the character of His Son within it.
Ezekiel 12:22-25 — “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? … The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision…. For I am the Lord; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”
God’s patience had created another danger. Because judgment had not yet come, the people concluded it never would. Every additional day seemed to prove Ezekiel wrong. What should have led them to repentance instead made them more confident in rebellion.
That way of thinking is still with us. Sin often appears to work. People reject God and continue prospering. We compromise and nothing immediately happens. A culture can increasingly call evil good and good evil while life seems to continue normally. Eventually the absence of immediate consequences begins to feel like evidence that there will never be consequences. We quietly rewrite God’s patience as God’s permission.
Scripture warns us against exactly that conclusion. Paul asks whether we presume upon “the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience,” not realizing that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Peter says scoffers will ask, “Where is the promise of his coming?” because life seems to continue as it always has (2 Peter 3:3-4). Jesus warns that His return will likewise find people eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying, and simply continuing ordinary life until judgment suddenly arrives (Luke 17:26-30).
The answer is not fearful speculation about dates. It is faithful obedience today. Jesus repeatedly calls His disciples to live awake, ready, and faithful because we do not know when our Master will return (Matthew 24:42-46). The Christian does not prepare for Christ’s return by staring at the sky but by abiding in Christ and faithfully doing what He has given us to do.
Ezekiel 12:27-28 — “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”
The people have one final way to avoid God’s Word. If they cannot dismiss Ezekiel as wrong, they can push his message safely into the future. Perhaps it is true—just not something they need to deal with today.
That may be one of the most common ways we resist God. Someday I will deal seriously with this sin. Someday I will repair that relationship. Someday I will forgive. Someday I will become generous. Someday I will share the Gospel. Someday I will surrender that part of my life to Christ. We can agree with nearly everything God says while postponing obedience long enough that agreement becomes practically meaningless.
Jesus continually presses the kingdom of God into the present: “Follow me.” Not someday. Now. The Gospel itself demands a present response because Christ has already come, already died for our sins, already risen, and now reigns. We are not waiting for some future moment when Jesus becomes Lord; He is Lord now (Philippians 2:9-11). And because we have been united with Him, obedience is not merely preparation for something that might happen later. Eternal life has already begun in knowing the Father and the Son (John 17:3), and Christ is already forming His life in us.
Ezekiel 12 therefore leaves us with a deeply personal question. God’s people could see but chose not to see, hear but chose not to hear, receive warnings but postpone responding. Where am I doing the same? What has God already shown me that I continue explaining away, delaying, or only partially obeying? Have I mistaken His patience for permission? Am I waiting for a crisis to surrender something Christ is asking me to surrender today? And if Jesus truly lives in me, what would wholehearted obedience to Him look like right now?
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 15 September 2026: Identify one thing you already know Christ is calling you to do but have delayed, compromised, or only partially obeyed. Before the day ends, take one concrete action that turns “someday” into obedience today.
Pray: “Father, You have given me eyes to see and ears to hear, yet I still resist what I do not want to surrender. Thank You for Your patience and for Jesus, who bore the judgment my rebellion deserves and has given me new life in Him. Forgive me for confusing Your patience with permission and for postponing obedience. By Your Spirit, open my eyes, soften my heart, and make the life of Christ increasingly visible in me. Give me faith to hear Your Word and obey You today. Amen.”
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