Ezekiel 12,13 & 14

 Ezekiel Chapter 12

Ezekiel prepares the people for exile by giving two signs warning of judgment

The first sign was about the coming captivity

      1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. 

Ezekiel was speaking to a rebellious house. The people were hard hearted even to the point of actively fighting against the Lord. They have “eyes to see, but do not see, ears to hear, but do not hear”, They have no spiritual perception.  This state of rebellion causes spiritual blindness and spiritual blindness contributes to rebelliousness.  It’s a vicious cycle. It was no different than it is today, but even Jesus dealt with this in His time;  

Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 

We need to be tender hearted and open to hearing from God.

Back in Ezekiel 12, verses 3 through 6…

3 “Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand though they are a rebellious house. 4 “Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out at evening in their sight, as those going into exile. 5 “Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and go out through it. 6 “Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.”

The Lord is telling Ezekiel to prepare the people for what is coming. Here’s another instance where Ezekiel is told to act out this scenario for the people to see (gather your baggage, dig a hole in the wall, carry your baggage out; all under the cover of darkness). Get the symbolism.  All that and cover your face, I.e. oh the shame of it all.

Verses 7 through16

 I did so, as I had been commanded. By day I brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

      8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’   10 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it.”’ 11 “Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’ 12 “The prince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land with his eyes. 13 “I will also spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, though he will die there. 14 “I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. 15 “So they will know that I am the LORD when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. 16 “But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.”

Remember the larger setting here, Ezekiel was among those who had been carried into exile under the Babylonians. Ezekiel clearly explained that he was talking about those still in Jerusalem and Judah, not those who were already in Babylon.   The warning was for both the prince and all the house of Israel.  The prince, specifically, was Zedekiah. “King Zedekiah, was always spoken of by Ezekiel as prince, never king. Jehoiachin was regarded as the true king (Ezekiel 17:13)

Ezekiel did as he was commanded. Have you been commanded by the Lord to do something?   Are you able to show obedience to what the Lord has commanded? If you have found or find yourself guilty of disobedience, there’s a really easy way to fix that problem; repent and then from now on just do what God asks.  We are to learn from our sins and move forward; trust and obey.  It does take faith to obey God.

Romans 1:4b-5 Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake,

I also want to say there are things that God asks us to do that may seem weird or strange or off putting, but we need to comply. The acting out of all these scenarios was not a normal everyday thing.  Here’s an important aspect though, we aren’t to be weird just for weird’s sake.  We need to confirm what we think we’re being asked to do is actually a command from the Lord, and it’s in alignment with the Word of God. I can testify about God asking me to do something that I am not comfortable with. Paul realized this in 1 Corinthians 4:9-10  For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

The second sign was the sign of the bread.

      17 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me saying, 18 “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. 19 “Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it. 20 “The inhabited cities will be laid waste and the land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the LORD.”’”

The anxiety and dread that Ezekiel is talking about is all because of the judgment that the people were experiencing.   Might their lives have been different had they feared the Lord beforehand and reaped the benefits of the fear of the Lord.

      21 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are long and every vision fails’? 23 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “The days draw near as well as the fulfillment of every vision. 24 “For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 “For I the LORD will speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord GOD.’”

This kind of implies a showdown where false prophets will be shown to be false.

      26 Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,”’” declares the Lord GOD.

Here, God declares the immediacy of the fulfillment of His prophecy.

Chapter 13

Here the False Prophets are Condemned by the LORD through Ezekiel

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord! 3 Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. 4 O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.7 Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”

8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord God. 9 “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord God. 10 It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; 11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out.12 Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” 13 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. 14 So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone,16 along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord God.

17 “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their own inspiration. Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who sew magic bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature to hunt down lives! Will you hunt down the lives of My people, but preserve the lives of others for yourselves? 19 For handfuls of barley and fragments of bread, you have profaned Me to My people to put to death some who should not die and to keep others alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies.”’”

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives there as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, even those lives whom you hunt as birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your hands to be hunted; and you will know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life, 23 therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the Lord.”

I guess I want to take this whole chapter as a lump and think about it in its entirety.  These false prophets of Israel mostly had an optimistic, positive message: God will deliver Jerusalem and Judah from the Babylonians, and those already in exile will come home soon. Have you ever known someone who was overly optimistic, to the point of denying the bad situation they were in.   Being optimistic is good, but not being in touch with reality is bad.   We can look beyond whatever hard situation we might be in the middle of and take hold of the promises of God for the future, but if we refuse to acknowledge a current horrible circumstance that’s just lying.   In this case it was because the prophets were looking the other way in regards to the sin of the people.   If someone is unwilling to acknowledge their sin, they certainly will be unwilling to cry out to the Savior for forgiveness.

Conversely, have you ever known an Eeyore the donkey; someone who is always complaining.   Their situation is always worse than anyone else’s.   They have a “victim’s” complex.   I don’t believe there is any metaphysical ‘law of attraction’ kind of thing, where what you say is what you get.  There was a book called “The Power of Positive Confession”.  In other words, don’t ever say anything negative because that will come back to bite you.

Related to our sin problem, if you think bad things happen unfairly, and don’t take responsibility for your part of the problem, you exclude yourself from receiving a resolution to the problem.   If we are like a whitewashed wall, the outside may look good, but the inside is, as my dad used to say, “as ugly as a mud wall”.

I try to be practical in these matters, but another aspect we need to be aware of is that there are false prophets out there.   They might sound good, and encouraging and inspiring, but they are void of the Holy Spirit; teaching doctrines of demons.   The danger is real. False prophets objective is deception.  Their end goal is power, money, fame, influence.   We need to stay close to Jesus.   He not only has the truth, in His Word, but He himself is the truth.

Chapter 14

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

Verses 1 through 8

1 Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols, 5 in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.”’

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the Lord will be brought to answer him in My own person. 8 I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

My question for us is, can we, or have we set up idols in our own hearts?   Have there been stumbling blocks (of iniquity) put in front of us.   There are influencers, and even some famous people who would use the name of Christ, and espouse hindu and/or Buddhist beliefs and practices.  There are those who would espouse Christian terminology but place patriotism above Christ Himself.   There are those who kind of place God and Country on an equal level of reverence.   We have a lot of good and wonderful things in and about our country and our society.   But Christ is over our lives and whether or not they acknowledge Him, He is King over our country.

Verses 9, 10 and 11…

9 “But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the Lord, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, 11 in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord God.”

This section speaks to God’s sovereignty over even the false prophets.  Make no mistake; there are those in our day and age who preach a false gospel (i.e. false prophets).  God is sovereign to show mercy to us, and He is sovereign to show justice and judgement to the false prophets. It is His choice.  We are still responsible to choose Him, but it is He who chooses first to show mercy to us, or justice and punishment to those who willfully disobey and to put it in modern terms, preach a false gospel.   A false gospel comes in at least two forms; either a gospel of licentiousness or a gospel of legalism.  Licentiousness, meaning it doesn’t matter what you do or how you live after you profess faith in Christ.   

Licentiousness, often translated as "debauchery" or "sensuality" in various Bible versions, refers to a lack of moral restraint, especially in sexual conduct. It is characterized by a disregard for accepted rules and standards, particularly in matters of sexual behavior. The term is frequently used in the New Testament to describe behaviors that are contrary to the teachings of Christ and the moral law of God. Biblical References Galatians 5:19-21 ,Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. " Ephesians 4:19 , and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.  1 Peter 4:3 , For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  Romans 6:12-13 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  Romans 13:13-14 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.  Greek 766. aselgeia -- licentiousness, wantonness ... licentiousness, wantonness. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: aselgeia Phonetic Spelling: (as-elg'-ia) Short Definition: wantonness, lewdness

Galatians 2:16 , nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. Romans 3:20 , because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.  Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  The Danger of Legalism Galatians 5:1 : It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Matthew 5:20 . For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven

The City Will Not Be Spared

Verses 12 through 23…

12 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, 14 even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God. 15 “If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts, 16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate. 17 Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’ 18 even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered. 19 Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20 even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

21 For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it! 22 Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. 23 Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it,” declares the Lord God.

One thing in here speaks to me, and I suspect most of you believe this as well, and that is that Daniel, Noah and Job are all real, historical people that we learn about in the Bible.  The Bible can be trusted as literal actual history. The Bible isn’t, as many contend, mythical, allegorical stories just for our ethical learning.  

The lesson here though is that we can fall into the trap of either blaming others (it’s everyone else’s fault) or we can fall into the trap of trying to ride on the coat tails of others…

These chapters we’ve looked at tonight really do have a common theme.   Here, even if the most righteous people in the Bible lived amongst us, we would not be spared because to their righteousness, we would be judged based on our own deeds.  God holds us each responsible for ourselves.  And the only deed you can do to be saved would be the “work”, so-to-speak, of faith in the Lord Jesus.   God is unencumbered by anything.   He is not bound by anything except His own character and nature of Righteousness, Justice, Mercy, Holiness and Grace.   So don’t place your trust on the fact that you know about Noah, Daniel and Job.   Place your trust in personally knowing Jesus Himself as your Lord and Savior.   Going to church doesn’t save us.   Going to a particular church, named Calvary Chapel, doesn't save us.   Having the most famous or least famous pastor doesn’t save us.   Even if our dad was Billy Graham we wouldn’t automatically inherit the kingdom of heaven.   Salvation is by God’s grace, through Faith in Jesus Christ.   Subsequent to being saved we walk with God as our loving saviour and friend.   Our lives are changed as a result of being saved because God the Holy Spirit takes residence in our heart and life (that’s what it means to be born-again.)

Ezekiel Chapters 6 and 7

Ezekiel Chapter 6

1 And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them 3 and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5 I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. 7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

8 “However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10 Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

11 “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague! 12 He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

God addresses Ezekiel as the son of man, here in chapter 6.  The first occurrence of that phrase in Ezekiel was chapter 2 verse 1, and that title is used appropriately 93 times in the book of Ezekiel.  We will talk about this title “son of man” later but here, God tells priestly Ezekiel in verses 1 and 2, “set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them”.   Just to get us in the right mindset, I would like for us to consider applying this to ourselves.    Set your face toward yourself and confront yourself about whatever you might be doing that’s wrong.   Okay, not here, right this moment, but I want us to be a little confrontive to ourselves.  Some people have no problem confronting others about whatever it is they’re doing wrong.

Matthew 7:1-4 says, 1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 

Then in verse 3, Ezekiel prophesies toward the mountains of Israel for a reason.  The mountains represented the physical land of Israel and the mountains represented the high-places and shrines used by the idol worshipping Israelites.   

Then in the second half of verse 3 through verse 7 God goes one step further, he says to the hills, ravines and valleys; which covers everywhere.   God denounces idol worshiping Israel and pronounces the judgements to come.   The judgments were acted out by Ezekiel in the prior two chapters, but here God plainly said, “your high places will be destroyed, your altars will be empty, and your incense censer will be smashed and you idol worshiping people will receive the death sentence.   The people should have known; God warned them in Deuteronomy, just as I read in my personal reading recently.

Deuteronomy 17:2-5  “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3 “who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4 “and it is told you, and you hear [of it,] then you shall inquire diligently. And if [it is] indeed true [and] certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 “then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones.

The Israelites were responsible for policing themselves.   They didn’t quite follow through with that did they.

I want to think through this concept that we are responsible to each other.    We aren’t responsible for each other, but we are responsible to each other.   That means, there might come a time when we need to address a brother or sister who is straying from the faith. This is not easy.   This does not come naturally to me, but if I really care about someone, and I consider that person a brother or sister, I need to shoot straight with them (SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE).

The proper approach is provided to us in Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 

Has any of you ever had to confront a brother or sister about a sinful habit or practice that they’re involved in?  

 I don’t want you to reveal who, but I want to hear about your experience.   How well did you address the issue, and how well was your rebuke or exhortation received?   

 Now in verses 8 through 10 God describes how a remnant of the people will be left amongst those carried off into captivity and dispersed among the nations.   We’ve already recounted how Babylon was the main player in this episode, but this wasn’t the only time in history that the Israelites received this type of a penalty.   In 70AD, Jerusalem was sacked by the Roman general Titus and the people of Israel were carted off to various points of the Roman empire.   The reason for this punishment was that they rejected their Messiah (our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ).   In Ezekiel’s time Israel was guilty of gross idolatry.  In 70AD what do you think was the sin that kept the Jewish nation from receiving Jesus as their Messiah?

Back to this word remnant; there was a remnant of people who were faithful to God and hadn’t gotten involved in idolatry.   But they were affected as well.  This remnant was carted off, and they had to experience being forced to leave their native country and their homes and live out the rest of their lives in a foreign land.

This concept of being a remnant is very pertinent to us today.   I used to have the misconception that a remnant (like a remnant of carpet) is something that is left over.   Some unused, unneeded extra thing that you could buy at a much reduced price.   But in our case, we are part of a remnant of people who are devoted to God and we are (I hate to say) a very small minority.   We aren’t left over, or unneeded, but we are a small number of people who are chosen by God.   We are selected by God.   We're the desired apple of God’s eye.   We too are affected by other people’s sin and God’s judgement for that sin.   This puts us in a place where we look forward to our Savior’s return.   We see many many trends and developments in our world today to seem to be setting the stage for our Lord’s return.    When I first became a Christian, we used go to these yearly Calvary Chapel prophecy conferences where they would talk about things that seemed to fit the Biblical patterns for the prophetic “end-times”.   Back then once a year was enough.   Nowadays, things have  accelerated so much that every single day something happens that fits with prophecy.

For example; does a day go by without someone mentioning AI (Artificial Intelligence)?   When I was in college, I took a class in AI and it was the “stone age” compared with what AI can do today.

Daniel 12:3-5 Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”

We could spend hours analyzing the various financial, monetary, and economic trends and see that the beast system where no one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast could easily be made a reality with the current technology. (Think crypto currency, Venmo, Amazon Go stores)

Or we could look at how various christian churches and entire denominations have strayed away from the Bible as their source of truth and foundation for doctrine and practice.   This will lead to a mass falling away (apostacy) and the beast religious system.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4  Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Revelation 13:11-14 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 

All of that should encourage us as a remnant:

1. Don’t fear but be prepared in the Word.
2. Don’t be deceived but be aware of what’s coming.
3. Don’t be quiet about your faith, but share the Gospel with your loved ones.

Do you feel chosen?   Do you feel selected?   Do you sense God’s favor in your life?   I hope you do, because you are if you have committed your life to the LORD and walk with Him through life?

This section is capped off by verse 10 which says, “10 Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.”’

“They will know that I am the LORD and they will know that I mean what I said.”   Who is the “they” referring to in verse 10?   The Jewish people under this judgement?   The surrounding nations?  Someone else?

This last section of this chapter, verses 11 through 14 says, 11 “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague! 12 He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. 14 So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

This action of clapping the hand and stamping the foot, we associate more with celebration, but this was no celebration.   It says, “Alas”, this is an expression of grief or surprise, upon seeing the destruction and the cause of the destruction being such “evil abominations”.   The reason for God’s judgement, again is so that “They will know that I am the LORD”.

We know the LORD by His love.   We know Him by His mercy.   We also know Him by His holiness and His justice.   So many people don’t accept the knowledge of God in the entirety of His character and nature as portrayed in the Bible.   Yes, He is kind, and gentle like a mother hen, but He is fierce like a mother bear.   You do not want to get between a mother bear and her cub.   Likewise, you do not want to get between a Holy, Righteous God and His justice for evil.

Chapter 7

1 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, ‘An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 4 For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the Lord!’ 

Notice; the word ‘Moreover’ at the beginning of this chapter connects this chapter with chapter 6.   In this chapter God through Ezekiel is foretelling of the punishment that is coming.  I want to emphasize Ezekiel’s title, given to him by God, ‘son of man’.   God has been calling Ezekiel by this title, ‘son of man’. What do you think this title means?   The very obvious answer is that Jesus called Himself “the son of man”, so Ezekiel, in some way represents Jesus.   But specifically, what do you think “son of man” means?

• ‘Son’ - A son represents his father

Matthew 9:6 6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home."

Matthew 16:27  "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

• ‘Man’ - Humanity (as distinct from God)

Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? It doesn’t say that God cannot become a man, just that God is not a man.  God is different than a man.  He is other. He is Higher.   He is transcendent.

Jesus had to be a man to pay the death penalty for the sin of mankind.  Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

When it says, “The end is coming on the four corners of the land” in verse 2, does this literally mean the land is square in shape?    No, this is obviously a literary device to mean the entire land in every direction.   When God says “the end is upon you”, that should send shivers down your spine.

When the word ‘abominations’ is used twice in this paragraph, it is saying you guys have been involved in the most egregious sin.   You all have committed the most heinous of violations of God’s laws.   Not only that, but it is as if God is saying, if it were just a mistake, or you had any humility, or any contrition at all, I could pity you.   But I can’t.

The ultimate reason for or the goal of this punishment is what?   Not the destruction of Israel, but that they may know the LORD is who He says He is.

Back to chapter 7, verse 5 “Thus says the Lord God, ‘A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! 6 An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! 7 Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8 Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 9 My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting.

10 ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11 Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12 The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. 13 Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 15 The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 16 Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. 17 All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. 18 They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. 19 They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

Part of the problem with the children of Israel was that they let money, wealth and luxury get them into trouble.  It would be of no help to them in this time of crisis.

This strong language indicates the LORD’s great displeasure toward His people who have turned their backs on Him.  Justice in this case seems so extreme and severe.   Nothing will be left as it was.  Nothing of value will remain (i.e. the gold and silver will become an abhorrent thing.)   There will be no strength left in the people to be able to go to battle.

Verses 20 through 27, They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21 I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22 I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

Even the Holy of Holies will be trampled.

23 ‘Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

In this section the temple itself will be profaned.   It is so sad that even something meant to bring glory to God will be overrun.   The prophets will be out of commission.   The priests will be out of a job.  The people will tremble.   Have you ever been so scared you just trembled?   Again, the ultimate goal of all this judgement is not the destruction of Israel, but that the people would “know that the LORD is who He says He is.”

I want us to take a moment and meditate on the LORD.   

• How do we know Him?   
• How can we trust He is who He says He is?