23 “‘They will never again defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, or any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the places where they have been living and sinning; and I will cleanse them, so that they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David will be king over them, and all of them will have one shepherd; they will live by my rulings and keep and observe my regulations. 25 They will live in the land I gave to Ya‘akov my servant, where your ancestors lived; they will live there — they, their children, and their grandchildren, forever; and David my servant will be their leader forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give to them, increase their numbers, and set my sanctuary among them forever. 27 My home will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 The nations will know that I am Adonai, who sets Isra’el apart as holy, when my sanctuary is with them forever.’”
5th Week of LentI will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Ezekiel 37:26-27)
Think about the way a hen gathers her chicks. She will spread her wings out to provide a safe place for them if there is any danger. As the chicks burrow under their mother’s wings, you can’t even tell they are hiding there. Well, this is how God wants you to think of him.
The children of Israel had turned away from him and gone after false gods. They had turned away from their covenant with him, and now they were reaping the consequences of their sin: their Temple was destroyed, and they were sent away in shame to live as exiles in a foreign land. Still, even as they adjusted to their new status as refugees, God promised through the prophet Ezekiel that he would gather them back under his wings. He would forgive them and renew his covenant of peace with them. He would deliver them from exile.
What God promised for the Israelites he has also promised for us—and he has fulfilled that promise in a surprising, powerful way! When we were lost in the exile of sin, he sent his Son Jesus to bring us home. On the cross, Jesus gave up his life so that we could find shelter in our Father’s wings.
This is who your God is. He gathers and he protects. He heals and he delivers. He is very near to us, always ready to welcome us with open arms. Even if we feel unworthy or distant, that’s not how he sees us. He sees us as vulnerable children needing his protection and guidance—something he’s always ready to give.
So run to the shelter of God’s wings today. Place your trust in him. When you feel tempted to be angry or give into ungodly thoughts, when you feel downcast or worried, when you are unsure or confused, run to him. He will never refuse you!
“Thank you, Father, for your love and mercy! Thank you that I can run to you at any time to find your protection and comfort. You are my deliverer, my shelter, my hope. All I need is in you.” Amen!
(Psalm) Jeremiah 31:10 (11) For Adonai has ransomed Ya‘akov,
redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
11 (12) They will come and sing on the heights of Tziyon,
streaming to the goodness of Adonai,
to the grain, the wine, the olive oil,
and the young of the flock and the herd.
They themselves will be like a well-watered garden,
never to languish again.
12 (13) “Then the virgin will dance for joy,
young men and old men together;
for I will turn their mourning into joy,
comfort and gladden them after their sorrow.
13 (14) I will give the cohanim their fill of rich food,
and my people will be satisfied with my bounty,” says Adonai.
John 11:45 At this, many of the Judeans who had come to visit Miryam, and had seen what Yeshua had done, trusted in him.
46 But some of them went off to the P’rushim and told them what he had done. 47 So the head cohanim and the P’rushim called a meeting of the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? — for this man is performing many miracles. 48 If we let him keep going on this way, everyone will trust in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both the Temple and the nation.” 49 But one of them, Kayafa, who was cohen gadol that year, said to them, “You people don’t know anything! 50 You don’t see that it’s better for you if one man dies on behalf of the people, so that the whole nation won’t be destroyed.” 51 Now he didn’t speak this way on his own initiative; rather, since he was cohen gadol that year, he was prophesying that Yeshua was about to die on behalf of the nation, 52 and not for the nation alone, but so that he might gather into one the scattered children of God.
53 From that day on, they made plans to have him put to death. 54 Therefore Yeshua no longer walked around openly among the Judeans but went away from there into the region near the desert, to a town called Efrayim, and stayed there with his talmidim.
55 The Judean festival of Pesach was near, and many people went up from the country to Yerushalayim to perform the purification ceremony prior to Pesach. 56 They were looking for Yeshua, and as they stood in the Temple courts they said to each other, “What do you think? that he simply won’t come to the festival?”
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