The war in Sudan doesn’t get a large amount of media coverage. That doesn’t lessen the suffering of Sudanese civilians. As we consider exiled persons during Ezekiel’s day, this is the reality of people in Sudan today.
More than 10.7 million people have been uprooted from their homes since April 2023, including 9 million displaced internally within the country. This has made Sudan the country with the highest rate of internal displacement worldwide, surpassing even Syria’s figures. Additionally, about 2.3 million people have fled across borders into neighboring countries, seeking refuge in places like Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.
The exiles of 597 BC and 2024 have only the clothes on their back and a few possessions they are able to carry with them. Everything else has been lost to the destruction of war. Reports from Sudan highlight how women and children are most vulnerable to the horrors of war.
Please join me in praying that God will speak a word of hope to the victims of war in Sudan, offering comfort and strength in what feels like a hopeless situation. This was God’s word through Ezekiel to the exiles in Babylon.
Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.
I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
So that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11.17-20).
Many innocent citizens are facing horrific events in Sudan. In contrast, the exiles were not innocent, yet God graciously extended to them an opportunity for cleansing and redemption.
I remember using this passage from Ezekiel over 20 years ago in a class that invited people who felt distant from God to draw near to Him. After the class, a man approached me with great interest and asked, “Can God really give me a new heart?”
The good news is that no matter how far away you are from God, the answer is yes—He will give you a new heart if you turn to Him with all your heart.
No Games with God
Jeremiah taught that the heart is deceitful and difficult to understand (Jeremiah 17:9). When we come to God in repentance, seeking a connection with Him, our repentance must be sincere.
In the case of both those who remained in Jerusalem and the exiles, God made it clear that if they did not repent, judgment was coming.
But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God (Ezekiel 11.21).
Let’s remember that the vision Ezekiel had, which began in chapter 8 and concludes with these verses, took place in the presence of some of the elders who had been exiled with him to Babylon.
We can trust that he is recounting to them the events, which include the departure of God’s glory from their beloved city, Jerusalem.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city, and stopped on the mountain east of the city.
The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me.
And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me (Ezekiel 11.22-25).
Why does God reveal His will through prophets? I believe He does this because He wants to warn humanity about the consequences of turning away from Him. The social ills that result from following substitutes for God are the last thing He desires for the earth. God loves people and wants the best for them.
When pride and greed lead to the displacement of millions, as we see in Sudan, God hates it. He knows that the idolatry of money, power, and everything that comes with it causes these problems.
In His love, He calls people back to Himself, desiring that through repentance, He can give them a new heart and they can experience new life.
It is my habit to pray over the verses I read in the Bible. As I’ve prayed through this passage, I’ve asked God to reveal the idols in my life and to show me the areas where He wants me to repent.
I believe this is a good practice for all of us to consider.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 