BITS and PIECES
271st Edition – November 30, 2025
A random collection of news and views compiled by Frank McClelland for the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.
THE MOST DIFFICULT BIBLE BOOK?
Those who are using the church’s daily Bible reading guide are now in Ezekiel. During the sixty years of my ministry, I have met many pastors and ministers, and in talks have discussed with them what they think is the Bible’s most difficult book. Invariably, the answer is Ezekiel, but don’t allow that to deter you from reading it.
A gold miner must shift a lot of material to locate the little nuggets that will enrich him. Ezekiel is a bit like that, for in the text that speaks much of the sin, wickedness, judgment and idolatry of Israel and Judah, and several other nations, there are golden nuggets in Ezekiel that will enrich our spiritual experience.
Ezekiel, whose name means “God is strong,” was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel, and was one of those carried captive to Babylon. He opens his prophecy by saying he saw “Visions of God.” [1:1]. A key phrase is “The glory of God” [1:28].
The prophet, in picturesque language, relates how this glory, which represents the presence of God, left the Temple [9:3]. It was the visible light that shone between the cherubim in the most holy place. It moved to the door of the east gate [10:18,19], then to the Mount of Olives [11:22,23]. Then slowly, reluctantly, and majestically, the “Glory of the Lord” left the Sanctuary. It was a sad time, but there is a promise of its return [Chapter 43]
Other precious nuggets are the fact that the Lord will preserve a remnant people [6:8].
What an evangelical promise is this that God would take away their stony heart and“will put a new spirit” within them [11:19] and that the Saviour is coming [21;27]. Sixty-four times, the Lord reminds the sinning people that “I am the Lord.” These are just a few of the gems of Ezekiel. Read the book slowly and carefully, and you will be surprised at the wealth you will find. The Lord will surely reward your diligent study. Rest on God’s truth, not man’s speculation.
THE MESSIAH PROMISED IN EZEKIEL
Ezekiel’s ministry started about 600BC, and he was able to prophesy the coming of Jesus about 600 years later. Can you imagine us prophesying some event that would occur in the year 2625? Impossible.
Ezekiel chapter 34 is an oasis from the burning sun of judgment of the rest of the book. It is a chapter where God instructs His prophet to point out the errors of the under-shepherds of Israel. The Lord berates them that “Ye feed not the flocks” [34:3]. Yet in that time, He gives Ezekiel this glorious word of encouragement,
“I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them; even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.” It is then that the Lord says, “There shall be showers of blessings.” And He also says, “I will raise up for them a plant of renown” [34:23,26 & 29].
All this was fulfilled miraculously to the letter 600 years later. “Thy word is truth” [John 17:17].
“A LITTLE SANCTUARY”
One of the most encouraging things about Ezekiel’s prophecy is that the Lord said to His people that He would be “a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come” [11:16].
Canada, until recently, was mostly made up of English and French, but many others, facing troubles in their own lands, have come to Canada for safety and opportunity to work. This multicultural nature of society is reflected in our churches. It is good to see a culturally diverse congregation united in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is also good that immigrants, who may look back with a degree of nostalgia to the land of their birth, discover that no matter where they are, or what trying circumstances they face, the Lord is a “little sanctuary” to them wherever they may be.
The infinite Lord deigns to be a “little” place where we can rest. He does not say a great impersonal cathedral, but a “little sanctuary” more than sufficient for our needs.
“On land or sea, what matters where, where Jesus is, ‘tis heaven there.”
