The prophet Ezekiel was one of those exiles who had been taken to Babylon as a youth.  There in Babylon he ministered to the other exiles and assured them of God’s future blessings; but he also prophesied of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

In the following two prayers, after seeing in a vision the slayings of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Ezekiel cried out, “Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem” (Ezek. 9:8)?  And “Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel” (Ezek. 11:13)?

Ezekiel 9:8

So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

 Ezekiel 11:13

Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

Here, it is obvious that those who stubbornly stayed in Jerusalem (for they did not listen to the prophet Jeremiah to surrender to the Chaldeans and live, Jer. 38:2) believed that they were the faithful chosen ones to take possession of the land.  And it seems obvious from these prayers that Ezekiel believed it too.

But the opposite was true; those who believed Jeremiah and were taken as exiles were the ones whom God was preserving as His remnants (Ezek. 11:15, 16).  Yes, those who were considered deserters were really God’s secret chosen ones.  Why?  Because they were the ones who trusted in God—who listened to God’s voice through the prophet Jeremiah.

And so God promised that He would gather them together again and bring them back into the land of Israel, where they ultimately would be given a new heart and a new spirit.  And they would be His people (Ezek. 11:17-20), and Jesus will be their King forever (Ezek. 34:23, 37:22-28).

The above is an excerpt from the book Prayer A to Z.