Ezekiel 34: True Shepherds

1. Reread Ezekiel 34

2. What characterizes the bad shepherds in verses 1-10? How is Ezekiel condemning them?

3. What does self-centered leadership lead to? What are its effects and ramifications?

4. How is David coming back to serve the people? Connect some dots in the scripture between this good shepherd promise Jesus.

5. In what ways do you know Jesus as a good shepherd?

6. What are some new ways you can reflect the shepherding heart of Christ in specific actions?

Ezekiel 27: True Sadness

1. Reread Ezekiel 27

2. Identify the context: how would you summarize the theme of chapters 1-32? What shifts in chapter 25 and continues to chapter 32?

3. How does Ezekiel deal with Tyre in chapter 26? Why does he deal with them in this way (Hint: 26:2)?

4. Why would Ezekiel waste his breath pronouncing a lamentation over Tyre when chapter 26 condemns them and chapter 28 judges them?

5. What is Ezekiel fascinated by in Tyre, seen in verses 1-25? What fascinates you about our world today?

6. Why does Tyre go down like a ship (verses 26-36)? Is this a tragedy for more than just the city of Tyre? Is it a tragedy for Ezekiel or for God?

7. Does sin make you weep? Are you seeing the tragic scenes around you or in you, or are you avoiding them? How can you break down the walls around you to really listen and see the tragic scenes of your friends, family, and neighbors?  

8. How has Christ grieved over the tragedy of sin and what has he done about it?

Ezekiel 13: You're hearing voices

1. Reread Ezekiel 13

2. Explore the context of this passage: Why is God doing different signs and acts in chapter 12? What message does chapter 12 conclude with (v. 28)?

3. In chapter 13, what are the destructive/false voices saying? How are they harming the people of God (hint: three things)?

4. What false voices have harmed you? What false voices have you used or shared to harm others?

5. What is the true voice? How does the passage characterize the voice of truth (hint: two things)? Give verses and be specific.

6. Share specific stories of times where you clutched the voice of truth, which is found only in Jesus.

Ezekiel 11:14-25 - Owner of a Lovely Heart

1. Reread the passage.

2. Name a few important notes on the context of this passage from previous sermons and from chapters 10-11. Why does it seem surprising that verses 14-25 appear here?

3. From the passage, where is God building a "new family"?

4. What is being redeemed by the "new family," both historically and spiritually?

5. What is the Hebrew concept of the heart, is it just the emotions of love and hate? What other passages in the Old Testament describe the need for a new heart?

6. Why do we need a new heart of flesh (v. 19)? Think in historical terms for both Israel and the church. Where are the needs of a new heart the same and different between Israel and the church?

7. How do we receive this new heart? Does this come in the time of Ezekiel, during Jesus' life, around the time of the early church, at the end of time, or all four?

Ezekiel 6-10: Idolatry and the Broken Heart of God

Re-read chapters 6-10

1) Where are the visible (chapter 6) and invisible (chapter 8) idols in Israel?

2) From the passage, how does God approach the idolatry of Israel? Does he approach our idolatry in the same way?

3) Where have we fashioned substitutes for the God who loves us?

4) Why must the glory of the LORD leave the temple (chapter 10)?

5) What are a few of the replacements God is leading us towards? How have you experienced these?

Ezekiel 4&5: Judgment

1) Like Ezekiel's exilic audience, we all tend to dismiss, or at least diminish, God's warnings about His righteous anger and judgment of sin. Do you agree? Why or why not?

2) Why do you think God would ask Ezekiel to communicate without the benefit of words? How do his theatrics amplify God's message?

3) If each act of Ezekiel's living parable begin with God's command to 'take', identify the three acts and explain what event each one represents.

4) In 5:5, God charges His people with not only moral failure but missional failure. What about 5:5 suggests they have failed in their mission to the world? Are there ways the Church today fails in similar ways?

5) Given the dire pronouncement in 5:8, what hope did God's people have that they might be spared from judgment? How can we be confident that we have been rescued from judgment? If we have been so rescued, how should we live accordingly? Be specific. 

Ezekiel 2:1–3:15: We are creatures first

Reread Ezekiel 2:1–3:15 and, if you are able, listen to the sermon again on the church website.

Describe the context of this vision as you move from chapter 1 into this passage. Who is the one calling the shots?

What are some of the ways the passage portrays Ezekiel as a character in the story of God?

What are some of the character traits we all share with Ezekiel? What are some character traits we do not share?

Whose message does Ezekiel carry and to whom does he carry it? How and where does the passage describe this?

How do we carry the message in the same way as Ezekiel? In what ways do we carry the message differently?

To whom do we carry the message of the gospel today?