Last spring I bible journaled through the book of Ezekiel. Each day I read one chapter of Ezekiel, then I highlighted key words in the text, and wrote lists or drew pictures to help me understand the observations, interpretations, and applications in that particular chapter of the Bible. I also shared my journaling each day with #biblejournalingEzekiel on Instagram. Some friends also journaled with me and shared their pictures with the hashtag.

Here are some things that I learned from Bible journaling Ezekiel:

Why God Does What He Does

Over and over again in Ezekiel, God tells the people He is going to bring judgment on them because they are worshipping idols or not believing the message that God is telling them. When God tells them He is going to bring judgment, He says He is doing it so that “they will know that He is the Lord.” This phrase is repeated 54 times in Ezekiel! God still acts in our day so that people will acknowledge that He is God –even His own people.

God Wants Intimacy with His People

God uses sexual language to describe His close relationship with His people and to describe the heartbreak of when they turn away from Him. It was embarrassing to read about nakedness and prostitutes. In the ESV, the word “whore” is used 12 times in Ezekiel to describe the way God’s people turn away from Him.

It’s not a bad thing to be shocked by the language and the sexual descriptions. The language and picture of a sexual relationship reminds us that it’s serious stuff when we turn away from God and pursue other lovers.

Ezekiel’s Temple Leads Down an Eschatological Rabbit-Hole

At least that’s what happened to me when I was reading the end of Ezekiel. God leaves Ezekiel with a picture of a beautiful temple that has not yet been built to this point in history. The temple has water flowing from it, deep and wide. There are palm trees etched into the stones around the door frames. There is a prince/leader and a sacrifice system. What is this temple? Is it a real temple yet to come?

That depends who you ask. Those with Amillennial eschatology say it’s an impressionist painting to describe Christ and the Church dwelling together in eternity. I read Derek Thomas’ Ezekiel: God Strengthens to find out more about this view.

Those with Premillennial eschatology say that the temple will literally be built after the Tribulation in the Millennial kingdom, a literal 1,000 reign of Christ on earth. There are two types of Premillennial eschatology. Dispensational and Historic Premillennialists disagree on who the temple is for and what function it’ll serve, but they agree it will literally be fulfilled here on this earth. I read Moody Bible Commentary to find out more about the dispensational premillennial view. And I read The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views to find out more about historic premillennialism. (Note: I’d love to find a postmillennial viewpoint on Ezekiel. If you know of a resource, let me know in the comments!)

If you don’t know what you believe about the end times views, find out what your church or pastor believes. Once you have a grasp of that view, find out about the other views, too.
But don’t let the end times mentions scare you away from Ezekiel! In the midst of the chaotic descriptions of the nation of Judah in Ezekiel’s day, there are glimpses of hope of the Messiah coming both in His first advent and in His second.

Bible Journaling Guide for You

If you are interested in Bible journaling through Ezekiel, I have created a guide for you. It’s available for sale as a printable download on my Etsy shop. The guide includes a devotional thought or background information for every chapter of the book of Ezekiel along with basic instructions on Bible journaling in case it is new for you. In addition to the guide, you will receive bonus downloads of a timeline of Ezekiel’s day, a chart of the end time views of Ezekiel’s temple, a keyword bookmark, and key verse printable.

The Bible journaling guide through Ezekiel also includes group discussion questions so you can use it for a group Bible study.

If you aren’t ready for the Bible journaling guide, I also have the keyword bookmark and key verse printable available for only 99 cents. The ladies who used the Bible journaling guide this summer in their Bible study said they loved having the keywords with them as they read the book.

Have you ever studied Ezekiel? What do you remember about Ezekiel? Have you Bible journaled before? Let me know in the comments!