Sheepwrecked (Ezekiel 34-35)

Most of you could quote the opening nine words of Psalm 23.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

David goes on from that to skillfully & beautifully exalt the Great Shepherd and His sacrificial care of His flock.

What happens when the human leaders appointed to under-shepherd God’s  flock are selfish, immoral men?

They recite the little-known “dark” Psalm 23.

The Lord’s sheep are mere property;

I don’t care what they want.

I make them lie down in barren pastures;

I lead them beside muddied waters.

I command their fear

and drive them on paths of self-righteousness.

I force them through the valley of death

with no regard for their lives.

My rod and my staff – they bruise and break them.

I prepare a feast for myself

disregarding their hunger.

I anoint my head with oil;

meanwhile their cup runs dry.

Surely corruption and cruelty shall follow them

all the days of their lives,

And they shall dwell in desolation forever.

We are going to be among some of these shepherds, enough to make us a little bit sick to our stomachs. Like we Italians say, we skeeve them.

Ezk 34:1  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 34:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Ezk 34:3  You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.

Ezekiel was God’s prophet to exiled Jews in Babylon. He warned of Jerusalem’s fall and the Temple’s destruction. None believed him until a messenger arrived shouting,“The City has fallen.”

The remainder of Ezekiel’s prophesying looks to the End Times. Before we press on, here is a glossary of End Times terminology:

  • Resurrection and Rapture of the Church
    The dead in Christ are raised, and living believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air (before the Great Tribulation begins).
  • Seven-Year Great Tribulation
    A time of unprecedented judgment on the entire Earth, divided into two 3½-year periods. God’s wrath is poured out, Israel is saved, and the world is prepared for Christ’s return.
  • Second Coming of Jesus Christ
    Christ returns bodily and visibly with His saints to defeat His enemies, deliver Israel, and establish His kingdom on Earth.
  • One Thousand-Year Kingdom on Earth (The Millennium)
    Jesus reigns from Jerusalem in perfect justice and peace. Satan is bound, Israel is restored, and the nations worship the Lord.
  • Eternity
    After the final judgment, God creates a new heaven and new earth. Believers dwell forever with Him, and all sin, death, and sorrow are gone.

Ezk 34:4  You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

In what these shepherds did do, and in what they didn’t do, we can see what God wanted them to do.

The Lord wants you to be a healthy, well-fed, well-loved, and protected sheep – safe in His care and fruitful in His service. Pastor Chuck Smith used to encourage Calvary Chapel pastors to see to it the sheep under their care were “the best-fed, most-loved flock.” He also often said, “Healthy sheep beget other sheep.” When you’re spiritually nourished and well cared for, you’ll not only grow stronger in your own walk, but you’ll be able to encourage other believers – and naturally share the love of Jesus with those who don’t yet know Him.

Ezk 34:5  So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.

Ezk 34:6  They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

They were exiled, but not scattered. This is a prophecy we have seen fulfilled. When Rome destroyed the Temple around 70AD, Jews were scattered all over the Earth. It is called the diaspora. It continued until May 14, 1948, when Israel became a nation in a day.

Ezk 34:7  “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

Ezk 34:8  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.

Ezk 34:9  Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.

Ezk 34:10  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey

Ezk 34:11  “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.

Ezk 34:12  I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

  • The scattered Jews return on “that dark and cloudy day.”
  • The LORD “will hold [the shepherds] responsible” for how they treated His flock.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus returns after the “dark and cloudy” Day of the Lord to judge unbelievers for how they treated the Jews.

Ezk 34:13  I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live.

Ezk 34:14  Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.

Ezk 34:15  I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.

Sure, since 1948 Jews have been & are returning. But notice that the Lord says “I Myself” will be with Israel, on Earth.” Is He? No. This is a prophecy.

Ezk 34:16  I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes – feed them justice!

One-third of Jews will survive the Great Tribulation. So will a multitude of saved Gentiles. They will go on into the Millennium in their mortal bodies.

Ezk 34:17  “And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.

This is precisely what Jesus will do at the end of the Great Tribulation.

Ezk 34:18  Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

Ezk 34:19  Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled?

Ezk 34:20  “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.

Ezk 34:21  For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.

Ezk 34:22  So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.

Ezk 34:23  And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.

There will be a judgment after the Second Coming, separating “scrawny” sheep (believers) from “fat” goats (unbelievers). The sheep enter the Millennial Kingdom as its first mortal inhabitants. The goats “will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Ezk 34:24  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken!

The Old Testament saints, including David, will be raised at the Second Coming.

For those whose theology leads them to believe we are in the kingdom now, where is David?

Ezk 34:25  “I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.

Ezekiel’s animals remind me of Isaiah’s vision of the Millennium, where wolves live with lambs, lions rest with calves, and even snakes cause no harm. A world at peace under God’s reign.

It will, however, be an enforced peace. The generations of children born to the original inhabitants will cause a lot of trouble, and finally rebel in the end against Jesus.

Ezk 34:26  I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.

Ezk 34:27  The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 34:28  They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them.

Ezk 34:29  “And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations.

Ezk 34:30  In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.

Ezk 34:31  You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Some of this is recognizable today, e.g., Israel’s thriving agriculture. That’s merely stage-setting. It whets our spiritual appetite for prophecy.

You are going to encounter leaders in small & large groups who are somewhat like these men. Like Thanos, they are inevitable.

The Lord beautifully shows Himself as your Good Shepherd:

  • Are you weak? Jesus strengthens you.
  • Are you sick? Jesus heals you.
  • Are you injured? Jesus binds you up.
  • Are you straying? Jesus brings you back.
  • Are you lost? Jesus seeks you.

The words “feed,” “fed,” or “feeding” occur about 18 times in this chapter. Obviously feeding is central to the health of the sheep.

God’s Word is our spiritual food. We say it is all you need… And that is true so long as you are saved and have the permanent in-dwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

I’ve been working on a quote about this. So far, this is what I got: “Apart from God the Holy Spirit’s in-dwelling, the Word of God may be grasped intellectually but not spiritually. Only the Spirit enables us to see its true meaning, respond in faith, and live in obedience. Without Him, Scripture may inform the mind but it cannot transform the heart.”

One more thing. No matter how you are being shepherded on earth, Jesus is always your Shepherd. Psalm 23 says the Lord is my Shepherd not that He will be after my trial is over or after I get out of my circumstance. Psalm 23 speaks of our enemies and our death.

Chapter thirty-five might seem out-of-place, but I think we will see why it isn’t.

Ezk 35:1  Again a message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 35:2  “Son of man, turn and face Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people.

Mount Seir is Edom, the country of the descendants of Jacob’s twin, Esau. God judged them for their hatred of Israel and for taking their land after its fall.

Ezk 35:3  Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: “I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely.

Ezk 35:4  I will demolish your cities and make you desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

This prophecy can be put in the ‘Fulfilled’ column.

Ezk 35:5  “Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins.

Ezk 35:6  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!

Ezk 35:7  I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return.

Ezk 35:8  I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.

Ezk 35:9  I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 35:10  “For you said, ‘The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!’

Ezk 35:11  Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you.

Ezk 35:12  Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, ‘They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!’

Ezk 35:13  In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!

Ezk 35:14  “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.

Ezk 35:15  You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel’s territory. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the LORD.

If you know a little geography, you know Petra is located in Mount Seir. A city hewn in the rocks, it is almost completely hidden. It is entered through the narrow Siq gorge, making it easily defensible.

Now this chapter feels very much in place. One commentary reads, “Evangelical dispensationalists [that’s us!] believe that 3½ years into the Great Tribulation the Jewish remnant will flee to Petra (or the region around it) for several interrelated reasons, drawn from biblical prophecy, geography, and historical symbolism.”

Petra is going to be the ‘bug-out’ location that Judean Jews flee to when the antichrist defiles the Temple smack in the middle of the Great Tribulation. He assaults them there, and they cry out to Jesus as Savior.

He saves them. He’ll save you…When you believe.

We’ve Got The Watch (Ezekiel 33)

“End of Watch” is a solemn phrase used in law enforcement and the military to mark a service member’s death or retirement.

The radio dialogue for a law enforcement line-of-duty death follows (more or less) this order:

  • Dispatch alerts all personnel to clear the air and to stand-by for priority traffic.
  • Dispatch then makes several attempts at contact. There is empty air on the radio.
  • Dispatch announces Final Call, then declares “End of Watch,” followed by the appropriate information regarding the officer.

Lastly all hear, “Thank you for your service. We have the watch.”

In our verses, Ezekiel has an experience we could call an “End of Watch-man.”

By the rivers of Babylon, the exiled Jews Were anxious for news from Jerusalem. They had already received news from God, however. For 7yrs Ezekiel had been providing news to them in advance via prophecy. The Temple & the City were going to fall.

The captive Jews rejected his message, convinced God must protect His Temple.

Ezekiel’s first watch ended with a blunt message from Jerusalem: “The City has fallen.”

When covering lengthy Old Testament passages, it is helpful to use a clear, conversational version of the Bible. Today, we’ll use the New Living Translation.

Ezk 33:1  Once again a message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 33:2  “Son of man, give your people this message: ‘When I bring an army against a country, the people of that land choose one of their own to be a watchman.

Ezk 33:3  When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people.

Ezk 33:4  Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die.

Ezk 33:5  They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives.

Ezk 33:6  But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’

It is a simple illustration from everyday life in a walled city.

Usually “the people of that land choose one of their own to be a Watchman.” People didn’t choose Ezekiel. God chose him. After reading both Jeremiah & Ezekiel, you’d agree that anyone they chose would lie about what was going to happen. People tend to choose what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

Ezekiel also didn’t choose himself. Believers often push forward, overestimating their abilities. That’s likely why Scripture features so many reluctant servants. Eagerness isn’t wrong, but it’s not a fruit of the Spirit.

Let God do your choosing.

This exhortation to Ezekiel about his responsibilities & the consequences of disobedience is really for the benefit of the Jews. Because Ezekiel was a righteous person, he would faithfully conduct his watching & warning. The onus would be on them.

Notice this parallelism: “[The Watchman] is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the Watchman responsible for their deaths.” Being killed or being taken captive were the two possibilities. This is not about eternal life. Not even a little.

Ezk 33:7  “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.

God commissioned Ezekiel to a second watch.

What greater honor than being given more to do? Every Christian longs to serve more. Talk to Jesus about what that looks like in your life.

Ezk 33:8  If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

Ezk 33:9  But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.

“Saved yourself” from death. Again, not eternal life.

In Deuteronomy twenty-eight, God promised His chosen nation blessings if they obeyed Him, but “curses” (His word, not mine) if they disobeyed. One example was rain & rainfall:

  • In Deuteronomy 28:12 the blessing for obedience was, “The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season…”
  • In Deuteronomy 28:24 the curse for disobedience was, “The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.”

Rain means rain; condensed moisture of atmosphere falling in drops. It isn’t a metaphor for spiritual blessings & curses from Heaven.

If you’re still not convinced this is not about eternal life, ask yourself this question: “Does God condemn you for my disobedience?” Of course not.

Ezk 33:10  “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’

Ezk 33:11  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

The people claimed their sins were too heavy, but not from conviction. They blamed God for the burden. Ever met someone like that? They act hopeless, when all they need is to repent. God doesn’t want to crush you. He wants to carry your burden(s).

After listening to a believer share their burdens, we could ask them to choose: “Crush? or Carry?”

Do you believe that God wishes sinners to turn to Him? Your immediate answer to that says a lot about what you believe about God’s character.

Second Peter 3:9 is similar in presenting God’s wishes: “The Lord is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Reformed pastor J. Montgomery Boice commented, “Second Peter 3:9 is not talking about the salvation of all men and women, but only of the elect… God has delayed [Christ’s return]… because He wants to bring to repentance all whom He has determined in advance will be gathered in.”

We argue that “all” means whosoever will believe.

Ezk 33:12  “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.

The Jews in Jerusalem ‘worshipped’ the LORD alongside idols. They thought this would insulate them from punishment. It would not. Can’t serve two masters.

Ezk 33:13  When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins.

The CEV translates this, “These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins.” They would suffer Capital Punishment.

California’s legal framework is comprised of:

  1. Tens of thousands of statutes across 29 codes.
  2. Approximately 396,000 regulatory restrictions.
  3. Numerous local ordinances.

If you get a speeding ticket, you cannot argue that you kept hundreds of thousands of other laws, expecting the Judge to overlook the one law you broke.

Ezk 33:14  And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right.

Ezk 33:15  For instance, they might give back a debtor’s security, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die.

Ezk 33:16  None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.

These verses picture life in Israel as it was meant to be – sin confronted, repented from, followed by obedience, and the sure promise of blessing and life in the land.

Ezk 33:17  “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.

Ezk 33:18  For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die.

Ezk 33:19  But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.

  • Obey Him, and they would enjoy an abundant life in the Promised Land.
  • Disobey him, and they’d be dying a slow death.”

Ezk 33:20  O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”

Jeremiah was God’s prophet in Jerusalem He warned that the Jews felt invincible because of the Temple. But its sacrificial system showed God would not overlook sin.

Ezk 33:21  On January 8, during the twelfth year of our captivity, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!”

Much that outwardly marked Israel as God’s chosen – His presence, the Temple, the city, and the land – was now gone.

Ezk 33:22  The previous evening the LORD had taken hold of me and given me back my voice. So I was able to speak when this man arrived the next morning.

I forgot Ezekiel was voluntarily mute for most of 7 years. It forced him to act-out the prophecies he received. That may seem like a hindrance, but if you ask me, signs are often a better communicator than words.

Ezk 33:23  Then this message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 33:24  “Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land. We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’

Ezk 33:25  So tell these people, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent. Do you really think the land should be yours?

Ezk 33:26  Murderers! Idolaters! Adulterers! Should the land belong to you?’

They appeal to Abraham. The LORD listened, then responded, “I know Abraham. I walked with Abraham. Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My covenant. Judah – you’re no Abraham.”

Ezk 33:27  “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die by the sword. And I will send wild animals to eat those living in the open fields. Those hiding in the forts and caves will die of disease.

Ezk 33:28  I will completely destroy the land and demolish her pride. Her arrogant power will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will even travel through them.

Ezk 33:29  When I have completely destroyed the land because of their detestable sins, then they will know that I am the LORD.’

God warned the survivors would die by sword, beasts, and plague, and the desolate land would testify to their sin.

This pivotal chapter marks the start of “The Time of the Gentiles,” when the Jews no longer have full control of Jerusalem.

  • It began with the captivity.
  • It continues today.
  • It ends when the prophesied King, the Son of David, returns and has sole control of Jerusalem.

Ezk 33:30  “Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the LORD is saying!’

Ezk 33:31  So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.

Ezk 33:32  You are very entertaining to them like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!

Ezk 33:33  But when all these terrible things happen to them – as they certainly will – then they will know a prophet has been among them.”

The cry, “The City has fallen!” would have struck Ezekiel like a blow to the heart. Yes, he had seen it coming. He had carried that burden for seven long years. But as a believer, and as God’s prophet, he must have still hoped for repentance. To know Jerusalem was lost, and that the name of the LORD would be dragged through the mud by Gentiles – it would have pierced him deeply.

I’ll risk saying it. Ezekiel may have felt like a failed Watchman. Given the chapter’s tone and human nature, I know I would have.

This is a wonderfully tender way of God saying to Ezekiel, “Well done My good and faithful servant.”

Are we Watchmen? Sure, but not the same way.

The church, and by that I mean Church Age believers, are described as a household of faith, consisting of living stones, put together as a holy habitation, being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. As a household of believers, each of us is Watchman to the other:

  • We are Watchmen by heeding the many “one another” verses in the Bible. (Look them up).
  • We are Watchmen when we discover and exercise the gifts that God has given us that are anointed by God the Holy Spirit.

(Don’t stress about discovering your gift or gifts. It shouldn’t be a burden, but a blessing. Just start hanging around Christians, especially the church when it meets, and get to know people. Pretty soon you’ll be ministering to them in ways that the Lord puts on your heart).

  • We are Watchmen when we are watching for the Lord to return.

I discovered this compilation of ten of the New Testament’s encouragements for our Watch:

“As believers, we are called to live in eager anticipation of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return. Our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we await our Savior, who will transform our humble bodies to be like His glorious one. We are to wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us not be like those who sleep, but let us be alert and sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Let us be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. May we fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and as we eagerly await His return, let us purify ourselves, just as He is pure.”

Crocodile Done Doomed (Ezekiel 29-32)

I’ll say a word & you say the first word that comes to mind: Egypt.

For my generation it would be King Tut. Not the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit that first arrived in the US late 1976.

No, I’m talking about Steve Martin’s song & skit, King Tut, that first debuted on SNL in 1978.

Born in Arizona, lived in Babylonia,

(Got a condo made of stone-a)

King Tut

With the exception of Israel, Egypt is mentioned in the Bible more than any other country.

One of the first illustrations of the Christian life you are likely to encounter as a new believer is that Egypt typifies the world system in opposition to God. It makes sense because you feel as though you’ve been set free from your own Egypt.

When we say Christians go “back to Egypt,” we don’t mean on a flight to Cairo. We mean returning to the old life, drawn back to the flesh after being set free from sin to serve the Lord by the Spirit.

On occasion, Egypt was a place of refuge, as when Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled there from King Herod.

In the 6th century, Jews hoped an alliance withEgypt would protect them from Babylon. Ezekiel shattered that hope with a series of seven prophecies, each beginning, “The word of the Lord came unto me…”

Judah should have been turning upward to God for help, not southward to Egypt.

There are a lot of different ways to teach God’s Word. We’re trying something different this morning.

Most of you use a daily devotion. Typically there is a verse, a brief summary for context, the author’s commentary, and often a short prayer.

We’re going to adopt that structure & write our own devotional from these seven prophecies.

The 1st Prophecy – “Killer Croc”

(Ezekiel 29:1-16)

In verses one through sixteen, Pharaoh boasts he created the Nile River. God condemns Pharaoh’s arrogance portraying him as a sea monster (crocodile). Egypt will endure 40 years of desolation and exile. A restoration is promised, but Egypt would never again be a dominating empire.

(29:3) Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, Who has said, ‘My River is my own; I have made it for myself’

Man or monster is a thrilling horror theme. Whether it’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or the Wolfman, or Hulk, their stories explore the inner beast.

Pharaoh saw himself as a god who made the Nile. The Lord saw him as a man who had become a monster on account of his pride.

As long as we are in these corrupt bodies we will possess an insane desire to be like God.

That a man or an angel could be like God is THE lie that undermined the entire human race.[1]

Satan is the father of lies. I never totally understood that until recently. THE lie, that man can be like God, is the original lie from which all other lies originate.

Satan is presented as the most beautiful of God’s created angels. After he fell due to pride, he became a grotesque monster, e.g., in the Book of the Revelation.

When a Christian yields to his flesh, to his propensity to sin, he goes from mimicking the beauty of Jesus Christ to being a monster.

You might even say that Christian is walking like an Egyptian.

I’ve heard lots of reasons from Christians why their marriage problems can only be resolved by divorce. “We should never have gotten married” is popular. I will grant that can be true. We’ve encouraged many couples not to marry, who have gone on to divorce.

It’s a lie to think you can divorce because you should never have gotten married. Now that you are married, you live in First Corinthians chapter 7, where Paul tells you to stay in the marriage unless there are biblical grounds for divorce.

Don’t unleash the beast.

The 2nd Prophecy – “Workman’s Comp”

(Ezekiel 29:17-21)

In verses seventeen through 21, we learn that God, by His providence, sent Babylon to besiege the coastal city of Tyre. It took 13 years to defeat them. When they did, they found no plunder. The Tyrians had sent their wealth away by ship. God reveals that Egypt will be Nebuchadnezzar’s reward for his difficult campaign against Tyre.

(29:19-20) Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD.”

The evacuation of over 338,000 Allied troops in 1940 was widely viewed as an act of Divine Providence. A break in bad weather, and Hitler’s unexpected halt order, resulted in the Miracle of Dunkirk.

Had it failed, Britain would have lost its army, leaving it defenseless. France would have fallen faster, Hitler’s control solidified, and history itself changed.

In our text, nothing could be clearer than the fact God was influencing Babylon to accomplish His will.

Does it not follow that He can and does continuously and compassionately work behind the scenes of your life, causing “all things [to] work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose?”

Jesus has begun a good work in you. He promised to complete it. A.W. Tozer put it this way: “The refining process is hard, but the end result is worth it. God is more interested in your character than your comfort, and He will finish the work He started.”

The 3rd Prophecy – “Days & Confusion”

(30:1-19)

In chapter thirty, in verses one through nineteen, Ezekiel announces a coming “Day of the Lord” that brings judgment on Egypt and its allies. Egypt’s pride will be broken, its cities destroyed, and its people scattered.

(30:3) “For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.”

“The Day of the Lord” can refer to any historical judgment the LORD decrees. It can also mean the future climactic judgement that begins with the 7yr Great Tribulation and extends through the Millennial Kingdom.

Today, Israel does not have 100% sovereignty over Jerusalem. Thus the time of the Gentiles persist. It will end when the King returns to rule not just Jerusalem & Israel, but the kingdoms of the world.

Another term is “the fullness of the Gentiles.” This refers to the complete number of Gentiles who will be saved in the current Church Age in which we live.

Just when unbelievers are seeking answers about current events in the End Times, many churches are attacking the pre-tribulation rapture as heresy, and teaching that the Church will have to endure the seven year Great Tribulation.

Know what you believe about the resurrection and rapture of the church, the 7yr Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Second Coming, the Millennial Kingdom, the final White Throne judgment, and eternity.

The 4th Prophecy – “He Should Have Armed Himself”

(Ezekiel 30:20-26)

In verses twenty through twenty-six, Egypt’s downfall and Israel’s eventual restoration showcase God’s sovereignty over the nations.

(30:24) “I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he will groan before him with the groaning of a mortally wounded man.”

God portrays Pharaoh as having already suffered one broken arm & about to lose the use of the other, symbolizing Egypt’s complete military impotence.

Talking about God being in charge of the nations doesn’t have that devotional impact on the heart that we are looking for. But if ever we needed to be settled in our hearts that God is in charge, it would be now, in these tumultuous times.

Be honest with yourself. Are you afraid, afraid of the future? These people were: Abram, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Elijah, Hezekiah, Mary, Zacharias, Joseph, the Shepherds in the fields, and Paul. They are those to whom the the Lord said, “Fear not.” It’s always what He says to those who fear. If you will listen, you’ll hear Him.

“Fear not” is a command. It is accompanied by the power to obey. You can’t learn how; you simply believe.

The 5th Prophecy“Egypt is Fallen & She Won’t Get Up”

(Ezekiel 31:1-18)

In Ezekiel 31:1-18, Assyria is portrayed as a towering cedar brought down by pride, serving as a warning to Egypt.

(31:10-11) “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height, therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.”

God felling the cedar tree reminds me of some of the Instagram videos I’m hooked on that capture amateur tree trimming disasters. Please do us all a favor and hire a professional. At the very least brush up on basic physics, like For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.

One of the first Christian songs I learned after I was born again was Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up higher and higher.

Humility is not our strong suit, not before we are saved, or after. All I can suggest is that we each measure our humility quotient by these words of the apostle Paul: Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

In your marriage, in your family, at work, or when you are in a trial – Have you humbled yourself to the point of death? Then there’s room for more humility!

The 6th Prophecy – “The Crocodile Who Thought He Was a Lion”

(Ezekiel 32:1-16)

Chapter thirty-two, verses one through sixteen, is a lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt. It portrays Pharaoh as a sea monster brought down by God. Egypt’s land is laid waste, waters fouled, and people scattered. God declares He will darken the heavens and bring terror to the nations through Egypt’s fall, and the earth will mourn. The lament ends with a poetic funeral dirge for Egypt’s once-great glory.

(32:2-3) “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘You may have called yourself a lion among nations, but you’re a monster at sea. You thrash about in your rivers, muddy the water with your feet, and relieve yourself in the rivers. This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I’m coming fishing for you! Right in the sight of many nations they’ll haul you up in my dragnet.”

You can almost hear the excitement in these verses by those who catch the monster. “We got us a tree shaka. Choot ‘em! Choot ‘em!” (With apologies to the Discovery Channel’s Swamp People).

We call lions the King of Beasts. They are regal. Pharaoh saw himself as a lion, but he was no more than a crocodile stirring up mud and filth.

In a Seinfeld episode, Elaine buys a dress that looks great in the store mirror but looks awful when she tries it on at home. She eventually figures out that the store uses a “skinny mirror,” a trick mirror designed to make customers look better than they really do in the clothing.

God’s Word is a mirror – not for our outward appearance, but reflecting the inner person being daily transformed into the image of Jesus.

Christians are notorious for using trick mirrors.

Are you like Fonzie, looking into the mirror, about to run the comb through your hair, but you stop yourself – thinking you look perfect?

Consider this: Since we won’t be perfect until eternity, every time we open God’s Word, He’s showing us something to change – by His grace – to become more like Him.

If you’re not coming forward for prayer today,  use the time to ‘comb your hair,’ if you get my meaning.

The 7th Prophecy – “I See Dead Pharaoh’s”

(Ezekiel 32:17-32)

In verses seventeen through thirty-two, Pharaoh is escorted to the realm of the dead, joining other conquered nations that refused to repent and believe.

(32:18-19) Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, And cast them down to the depths of the earth, Her and the daughters of the famous nations, With those who go down to the Pit: ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.”

When we were taking trips to the Philippines in the 1980s, we did not walk up to a person, engage in conversation, and then ask them, “Have you been circumcised?” It just didn’t feel right!

We would ask if they had been born-again. 

Circumcision began in Genesis 17 as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, marking his descendants as His people. The prophets later used it to point to a deeper truth – the need for a circumcised heart, symbolizing belief and repentance.

Have you been circumcised, in your heart? If you have, then according to the promises in the New Covenant, you have been placed into the body of Jesus, and you have received the permanent in-dwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit.

He is not a force, but, rather, a Friend and Comforter. It is exactly like being with Jesus 24/7/360 (Using Dead Sea Scrolls calendar)!

After I became a Christian, after I was born again, I set Steve Martin aside in favor of Keith Green. His song, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt, was just the  ‘theology’ I needed.

To quote my mom & dad, “Quit eating that junk. It will ruin your appetite for dinner.”

If you are not enjoying your walk with the Lord, or something seems off – especially if you’ve lost a desire to read God’s word and be among God’s people – quit snacking in Egypt.

References
1 According to LDS doctrine, those who follow Christ and keep God’s commandments can inherit all that God has and ultimately become like Him, including the potential to have spirit children and rule over worlds. It literally IS “the lie.”

SupernaturalisticFallenAngelsAreAtrocious (Ezekiel 28)

You’ve likely heard of the Upside Down.

It is the dark parallel dimension affecting the real-world in the SyFy mega hit, Stranger Things.

In Ezekiel 28 God shows us the unseen realm and how it affects the nations of the earth.

The chapter divides like this:

  1. The Prince of Tyre, historically Ethbaal III, is rebuked for claiming to be a god, or god (v1-10).
  2. A supernatural menace, the King of Tyre, is at work in the unseen realm (v11-19).
  3. God pronounces judgement on Sidon, a sister-city to Tyre (v20-24).
  4. The future promise of Israel’s restoration, ultimately pointing to the certainty of the Millennial Kingdom (v25-26).

When confronted by Hulk during the Battle for New York Loki declared, “I am a god.” Hulk grabbed Loki around both ankles and proceeded to slam him into the floor from one side to the other. Afterward the Hulk uttered the iconic line, “Puny god.”

The Prince of Tyre was a puny god.

Ezk 28:1  The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

Ezk 28:2  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ [He was referencing the sea power of ancient Tyre. Maybe he thought he was Poseidon or Triton]. Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god.

  • Pharaoh Rameses II referred to himself as “a god in human form.”
  • Emperor Hirohito of Japan was considered a living god. He was made to renounce his deity.

Ezk 28:3  Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!

Ezk 28:4  With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;

Ezk 28:5  By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches).”

Torn from his home as a teen, almost certainly mutilated as a eunuch, and trained among Babylon’s Magi, Daniel lived under a king who once ordered their slaughter.

It was definitely a hostile work environment, but Daniel endured & excelled.

Ethbaal considered himself wiser than Daniel. For all his reputation, Daniel was a captive.

Daniel was the LORD’s captive.

Paul, chained by Rome but captive to Christ, turned his imprisonment into a pulpit, writing the Prison Epistles.[1] We serve the Lord. He decides where, when, and how.

Ezk 28:6  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,

Ezk 28:7  Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.

Ezk 28:8  They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.”

Being God-like is the lie from Eden. The Serpent tempted humanity with divinity. It’s been his most effective strategy for going on 7000yrs.

You may not crave worship, but every unbeliever (obviously) lives as the god of their own life. Believers sin like our parents in the Garden when something or someone takes Jesus’ rightful place.

Ezk 28:9  “Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god’? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.

Is there a level that is below “puny god?”

Ezk 28:10  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Circumcision was the physical sign of God’s covenant with believers. Ethbaal would die an unbeliever at the hands of other unbelievers – alienated from Israel’s God – the one, true God.

People play god. For example, some US school boards have initiated gender transitions without parental consent.[2]

What’s a believer to do?

  • Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
  • Ephesians 6:13 – 14, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore…”

The equipment is great. Did you notice the strategy that was repeated three times: “Stand.”

In G.I. Jane,[3] Demi Moore’s character endures strenuous Navy SEAL training. In one scene, she’s ordered to stand her post, unmoving, for hours through storms and exhaustion. She just stands.

In the movies, a scene like that represents our digging deep into our reserves & resolve. In our lives, we depend completely on the grace of God to enable us to obey Him.

A sudden, dramatic shift occurs in verses eleven through nineteen. We meet the King of Tyre. It quickly becomes clear that he is not human.

“Ezk 28:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 28:12  “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Ezk 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God…”

Some scholars say this is Adam in Eden, but the details soon rule him out.

Ezk 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

Ezk 28:14  “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

“Cherub” is a classification of heavenly beings, likely a type of angel. We conclude that this person is the devil, that Serpent of old, Satan.

My favorite part of this description is “timbrels and pipes.” He was his own band.

What is “the mountain of God?” Fragments of the book First Enoch were among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enoch isn’t to be considered Scripture, but early church fathers received it as a true history. Peter & Jude ‘assigned’ it as recommended reading.

Enoch reported that 200 rebellious angels descended on Mount Hermon. They are those who “in the days of Noah” mated with human women and produced a race of giants, the Nephilim.[4]

Mount Hermon is adjacent to Caesarea-Philippi. The Hebrews, especially the sect known as the Essenes, referred to the geography there as… “The Gates of Hell.” This suddenly got a whole lot more interesting!

Jesus deliberately went to the place of the rebellion described by Enoch and threw down, saying the Gates of Hell would not prevail.[5] A few days later He went up the mount and was transfigured. It was a sign of things to come – the glorified Lord Jesus ruling & reigning.

Ezk 28:15  You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

Ezk 28:16  “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

Charles Feinberg says the “fiery stones” reflect “the surroundings of divine glory,” suggesting the Cherub had free access to Heaven until God banished him.

Ezk 28:17  “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…

The cause of Satan’s fall is his pride[6] caused by his beauty.[7]

Ezk 28:17  … I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

Ezk 28:18  “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

Ezk 28:19  All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”

When did this happen?? The fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is always paired-up with Ezekiel 28. There we read, “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying:Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’”[8]

  • Isaiah wrote about this episode as future.
  • Ezekiel wrote about this same episode as past.

God speaks of the future as if it has been fulfilled.

Let’s explore a little more Angelology. In Deuteronomy 32:8&9, when translated according to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint,[9] reveals that at Babel[10] God disinherited the nations. God established a new nation, Israel, through one man, Abraham. He would Himself govern that special, precious, apple-of-His-eye people to the end, and “all Israel will be saved.”[11]

When God disinherited the nations at Babel He assigned them to “Sons of God.”[12] These are angels. Besides the King of Tyre, we know the locale of two more such Sons of God in the Bible. Both are referenced by Daniel. They are the Prince of Persia,[13] and the Prince of Greece.[14]

In his final chapter, Daniel reveals that the archangel Michael is the special protector of Israel.

Does every nation have fallen angels who hinder and faithful ones who help? Can’t say for sure.

You cannot hope to make sense of history – past or future – without factoring in the unseen realm.

Minneapolis AND ??? St. Paul.

Some cities just seem to go together. Tyre AND… Sidon are like that in the Bible.

Ezk 28:20  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 28:21  “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her,

Ezk 28:22  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified in your midst; And they shall know that I am the LORD, When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.

Ezk 28:23  For I will send pestilence upon her, And blood in her streets; The wounded shall be judged in her midst By the sword against her on every side; Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 28:24  “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”

Sidon is depicted here and elsewhere as having  contempt and hostility towards the Hebrews.

Ezk 28:25  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

Ezk 28:26  And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God.” ’ ”

This succinctly describes Israel in the Millennial Kingdom. It is a one-thousand year dispensation in which “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”[15]

The Millennial Kingdom is not spiritual; it is material. It immediately follows the 7yr Great Tribulation and Second Coming of Jesus. It is the fulfillment of God’s unconditional covenant promises to Israel.

The Mind Flayer in the Upside Down wages war on the human mind.

Here in the real ‘real’ world, the battle is for our minds. Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Jesus called Satan “the father of lies.”[16] In Second Thessalonians 2:11, Paul writes, “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.” The use of the definite article “the” suggests a specific, well-known falsehood. Many scholars identify this as the same lie Satan told Eve in Genesis 3:5: “You will be like God.” This deception, that humans can become divine or autonomous from God, is seen as the foundational falsehood that has permeated human history.

The lie affects us now. Marriage, for instance. Speaking in generalities, if there is no biblical basis for a divorce, then you are believing a lie rather than the truth in God’s Word. Blameshifting, citing unhappiness, concluding you no longer love someone. These all spring from the lie because we are dethroning God when we disobey Him.

Stand in the storms.

References
1 Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon
2 Spreckels Union School District in Monterey County, California, 2023
3 Too old a film? How ‘bout An Officer & a Gentleman?
4 Genesis 6:1-4
5 Matthew 16:13ff
6 First Timothy 3:6
7 Ezekiel 28:17
8 Isaiah 14:15-16
9 The Greek translation of the Bible
10 See Genesis 11
11 Romans 11:26
12 Deuteronomy 32:8-9
13 Daniel 10:13&20
14 Daniel 10:20
15 Revelation 11:15
16 John 8:44

Flattened Tyre (Ezekiel 26-27)

If you are still up in the air regarding your vacation plans, you might want to ask your travel agent about shopping destinations.

A shopping vacation is a trip taken primarily for the purpose of (you guessed it) shopping. It’s a real thing. Rather than sightseeing, relaxing, or visiting cultural sites, the main goal is to buy stuff.

Recommended sites in the US include Chicago’s Miracle Mile, the Houston Galleria, the Mall of America in Bloomington MN, and the Grove in Los Angeles.

For the next three chapters the spotlight falls on the ancient world’s premier shopping destination: Tyre.

An historian wrote, “Tyre, whose merchants were princes, and her traffickers the honorable of the earth, stood at the crossroads of the ancient world’s commerce, drawing wealth from every sea and shore.”

But it isn’t Tyre’s economic dominance that is in focus. Through Ezekiel the Lord prophesied her destruction, saying, “You will become a horror, and be no more forever.”[1]

Tyre is an example to us of the peril of the love of money. It can be applied as a cautionary tale that “No one can serve two masters… you cannot serve God and mammon.”[2]

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1Choosing Mammon Over The Master Will Leave You Destitute, or #2 Choosing The Master Over Mammon Will Free You For Discipleship.

#1 – Choosing Mammon Over The Master Will Leave You Destitute (26:1-21)

It was Jesus who said, “You can’t serve God and mammon.” One and only one of them can be your master.

What is mammon? I prefer tangible examples to definitions. Charles Dickens described Ebenezer Scrooge, saying, “Scrooge was not so much a man, as an incarnation of mammon. He had no time to think of anyone but his money.”

Mammon represents more than just materialism. It signifies the dehumanizing obsession with money that had completely overtaken Scrooge’s life, making him incapable of caring for others.

For those of you who are better informed with a definition, “Mammon refers to the idolatry of wealth, where material possessions are not just valued but coveted and pursued above everything else, including God.”

In Tyre… Mammon was master.

Ezk 26:1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 26:2  “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.”

Tyre consisted of a coastal city on the Mediterranean and a small island offshore. The name “Tyre” means rock, and its inhabitants were the Phoenicians.

Tyre wasn’t a military threat to the Jews. Instead its subtle influence infiltrated Israel and Judah, rotting them from within.

First of all, the Jewish traders would find the typical depraved paganism of the ancients, only much more enticing. What happens in Tyre…

Second of all, Tyre at one point exercised a unique influence in Israel. Jezebel, whom King Ahab took to be his wife, was a Phoenician princess from Tyre. Bible savvy parents do not name their daughters Jezebel for a reason. Jezebel led Israel into idolatry and moral corruption by promoting Baal worship, opposing God’s prophets, and manipulating power through deceit and violence.

Third of all, Tyre was not above profaning the God of Israel. “You have taken My silver and My gold, And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.”[3] There is no record of Tyre participating in the destruction of the Temple. This sounds more like an episode of Pawn Stars. Soldiers from Babylon, and mercenaries who had aided in the siege of Jerusalem, undoubtedly made off with Temple treasure. Tyrian traders looked the other way in terms of its provenance.

Fourth and worst of all, The Tyrians were not above trafficking Jews into slavery. Again quoting Joel, “The people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.”[4]

Think Pinocchio & Pleasure Island.

When you prioritize profit over people… Well, that’s the plot of a ton of movies based on true events. Can you say, “Erin Brockovich?”

Ezk 26:3  “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.

Ezk 26:4  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

Ezk 26:5  It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations.

Tyre is often singled out as a prophetic proof text by Christian apologists and Bible teachers. The prophecies against Tyre in the Bible are strikingly specific and historically fulfilled in remarkable detail. This makes them a compelling case study for the reliability of biblical prophecy:

  • King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Tyre for 13 years (c. 586 – 573BC). He destroyed the mainland portion of Tyre but not the island fortress, which continued to flourish.
  • About 250 years later, Alexander the Great built a causeway using the ruins of the old city to reach the island, literally scraping her rubble into the sea just as Ezekiel described.[5]
  • Over time, Tyre became a fishing village on a peninsula – a “bare rock” where fishermen could indeed spread their nets.

Today, the island city is neither. The causeway built by Alexander has over time widened naturally, turning the island into a peninsula.

In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner says that this entire prophecy concerning Tyre, considering all the details, using the principle of probability, had a one-in-four hundred million chance of fulfillment!

Verses six through eighteen describe the Babylonian siege and its horror. Some key words: “Slain by the sword,” “battering rams,” “axes,” “pillage,” and “slaughter.”

Ezk 26:19  “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘When I make you a desolate city, like cities that are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you,

Ezk 26:20  then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living.

Ezk 26:21  I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”

The “Pit” is the holding place of souls better known as Hades. It is the place the rich man & Lazarus go after their deaths.[6] Divided into two compartments, the souls of unbelievers still go there. Since Jesus rose from the dead, the souls of believers, since the are immediately arrive in Heaven. Early Church father Tertullian wrote, “The souls of the wicked are kept in Hades, reserved for judgment, suffering punishment and awaiting the sentence of the final day.”

The dead in the Pit will be raised and judged. They then are thrown into a Lake of Fire to suffer eternal conscious torment. Something I didn’t used to consider is the mental anguish & torment folks will suffer, not just physical. It can be so much worse.

I think we need to distinguish mammon from materialism. That new car you bought, the one you park way out in the boonies sideways, taking up three stalls so that it cannot be dented. That’s materialism. It only lasts until the first ding. We’re not mastered by it. Adrian Rogers put it humorously, “It’s about time we stopped buying things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”

I would submit that mammon is less about material things because it is a spiritual problem in the heart. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 – 395 AD) equated mammon with Beelzebub, suggesting that it is akin to surrendering to and serving demonic forces.  The early believers considered mammon more than mere wealth, or even the love of money. It represented a spiritual adversary that can lead believers away from God.

I’m getting ahead of myself now, but we’re going to get the penultimate example of mammon in the next chapter. There, we are going to meet the Prince of Tyre, but not the one we can see. He is a supernatural being.

One more thing I’d like to get in real quick. The life to come is going to be material. Read the two last chapters of the Book of the Revelation and you’ll see just how real and physical eternity is going to be.

How do we defeat mammon? Lately I’ve had one answer to almost every question I’ve been asked. It is the great measuring stick of our worldview on every topic. They are words of Jesus (so you can’t go wrong!). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[7]

#2 – Choosing The Master Over Mammon Will Free You To Be Discipled (27:1-36)

This chapter is a lament for the destruction of Tyre. Think Gordon Lightfoot and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The dirge portrays Tyre poetically as a perfectly crafted ship, constructed from the finest, most expensive materials by the best craftsmen.

Think of verses 1-25 as the travel brochure. In the shops you’d find Gold, Silver, Tin, Lead, Iron, and Bronze; Horses, War horses, Mules, Lambs, Rams, and Goats; Emeralds, Rubies, Coral, and Precious stones; Purple fabric, Embroidery, Fine linen, and White wool; Grain, honey, wheat, oil, and Wine; and, of course, Slaves.

More than twenty trading partners are mentioned.

Ezk 27:25  “The ships of Tarshish were carriers of your merchandise. You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas.

Ezk 27:26  Your oarsmen brought you into many waters, But the east wind broke you in the midst of the seas.

Ezk 27:27  “Your riches, wares, and merchandise, Your mariners and pilots, Your caulkers and merchandisers, All your men of war who are in you, And the entire company which is in your midst, Will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin.

A great storm pounds the ship. Overwhelmed by the sea, Tyre is brought down. Her merchants cry out, the seafarers are appalled, and the nations that traded with her are shocked and grieved.

An individual’s or a nation’s shipwreck can seem to happen suddenly and without warning. You can be certain God gave plenty of advance warning.

  • He had given Israel & Judah centuries to repent.
  • We don’t know much about the Lord’s efforts to evangelize Tyre, but we know that is His MO. Nineveh comes to mind.

Ezk 27:34  But you are broken by the seas in the depths of the waters; Your merchandise and the entire company will fall in your midst.

Ezk 27:35  All the inhabitants of the isles will be astonished at you; Their kings will be greatly afraid, And their countenance will be troubled.

Ezk 27:36  The merchants among the peoples will hiss at you; You will become a horror, and be no more forever.’ ” ’ ”

One of our sub-themes teaching through Ezekiel has been to explore how God interacts with nations. This topic is especially relevant to us as citizens of a nation that can’t find itself in the Bible.

Jeremiah was God’s prophet to Jerusalem around this same time. He said that any nation that does what is evil, if it turned from evil, He would receive their repentance and bless them. But if a nation chooses evil, refusing to repent, He will destroy them, often using other nations to do it.

Is our otherwise great nation guilty of evil? Yes, and it goes by the term Pro-Choice.

In the US, in 2024, there were approximately 98,000 ProChoice murders each month – 3,267 each day. We are choosing to “do evil in [God’s] sight.” “And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”[8]

I am not addressing any woman who may have had an abortion. If something I say troubles you, the ladies at Crossroads Pregnancy Center would love to pray with you and share with you.

Instead of going to Chicago’s Miracle Mile for your vacation, consider going on a  Missions Trip & ask the Lord for miracles.

If you’re interested, we recommend Samaritan’s Purse. On their website they invite you to “Be a Good Samaritan.”

  • North American Ministries is what they call their disaster relief.
  • If you are in the medical field, you can volunteer with World Medical Mission.

This isn’t a rebuke. It is always as the Lord leads. Meanwhile, take this good advice from David Jeremiah: “According to the Bible, the antidote to [mammon] is generosity.”

References
1 Ezekiel 27:36
2 Matthew 6:24
3 Joel 3:5
4 Joel 3:6
5 Tyre had causeways prior, but none as ambitious and elaborate as Alexander’s, capable of transporting an army and war machines.
6 Luke 16
7 Matthew 6:37-40
8 Jeremiah 18:9-10

Don’t Fight The Hand That Saves You (Ezekiel 25:1-17)

Have you ever stopped to consider how many hand gestures we use on a daily basis?

Thumbs up/Thumbs down… Ok… Peace… Rock On (horns)… Come here… Stay back… Hold position… Power to _______ … Fingers crossed… Hang loose… Or telephone… Shhh… Lips zipped/sealed… Live long & prosper…

Depending on when & where you got saved you might have used the One Way gesture.

The LORD employs a gesture in our text.

  • The LORD said to Ammon, “I will stretch out My hand against you” (v7).
  • To Edom He said, “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom” (v13).
  • He “will stretch out My hand against the Philistines” (v16).

This reference to the “outstretched hand,” or “outstretched arm,” is all over the OT. Twenty-five times worth. It mostly is used of the LORD when He has decided to exercise judgment. But it is also used to signify His mercy and gracious invitation. Context & usage must decide which.

I think we can see a bit of both. I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1God Stretches His Arm Out To Destroy Your Enemies, and #2 God Stretches His Arm Out To Discipline You.

#1 – God Stretches His Arm Out To Destroy Your Enemies

Have you ever tried to discipline someone else’s kid? Unless you are Chuck Norris, I don’t recommend it.

Five nations hostile to Israel – Ammon, Moab, Edom, Seir, and the Philistines – are punishable for their treatment of Israel without God’s permission. They opposed Israel out of hatred & spite.

Ezk 25:1  The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 25:2  “Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.

Ezk 25:3  Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you said, ‘Aha!’ against My Sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity,

Ezk 25:4  indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk.

Ezk 25:5  And I will make Rabbah [capital city] a stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”

Ezk 25:6  ‘For thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel,

Ezk 25:7  indeed, therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

For a moment I thought I was reading the newspaper about anti-Israel protests at Columbia University… Or watching on TV one of those gatherings when our enemies shout their hatred for the US – the Great Satan – and Israel – the Little Satan.

When is the last time you met an Ammonite? The answer is Never. And you never will.

The gloating, the celebrating, at the misfortune of others is something all of us are capable of. Each time a leader in the Church fails & falls, there are professing Christians who smell blood in the water. Not the blood of Jesus, however – the blood that forgives and heals. We ought to be about restoration rather than retribution. When a person repents, is it right to reserve believing them until they bring forth fruits of repentance? If so, how long do we wait before we receive them?

Ezk 25:8  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because Moab and Seir [another name for the Edomites] say, ‘Look! The house of Judah is like all the nations,’

Ezk 25:9  therefore, behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of cities, of the cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kirjathaim.

Ezk 25:10  To the men of the East I will give it as a possession, together with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.

Ezk 25:11  And I will execute judgments upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the LORD.”

Something you should know about Moab & Ammon. After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his two daughters took refuge in a cave.[1] Speculating that they had no future husbands, the daughters got their father drunk and slept with him two nights in a row. The older daughter bore Moab, ancestor of the Moabites, and the younger bore Ben-Ammi, ancestor of the Ammonites.

Chalk up another big win for alcohol!

The Moabites & Edomites hated Israel’s status among the nations. They considered them just another nation. Consider the origins of each:

  • Moab was born of incest. Not a good start.
  • Esau & Jacob were twins. Esau was first out of the womb and therefore ought to have inherited the Israelite birthright. With help from his mama Rebecca, Jacob was able to steal the birthright.   
  • In a total contrast, Israel was born miraculously. When it was impossible naturally for Abraham & Sarah to conceive, God made it possible.

You had a natural birth. Every human being needs & can have a 2nd birth, a supernatural birth. You must be born-again. You are born the second time, born spiritually, when you believe that God loved the human race so much that He sent Jesus to die on the Cross and resurrect in order to save you.

Israel is not like the other nations. The apostle Paul writes, “to [Israel] pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen”[2]

Everything God wished to share with humans ought to have come to them through Israel.

Ezk 25:12  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them,”

Ezk 25:13  therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also stretch out My hand against Edom, cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall by the sword.

Ezk 25:14  I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury; and they shall know My vengeance,” says the Lord GOD.

Edom aided & abetted Babylon during the fall of Jerusalem. They cut-off their escape, killing fleeing Judahites who were historically their brothers.

We aid & abet our spiritual foes when we hinder believers who are escaping from sin.The most common way that we do this is by stumbling them. You have the freedom to partake of, and be involved with, anything that is not explicitly identified as sin. Maybe I don’t have that freedom, and therein lies the problem. If you exercise your freedom around me, I can be tripped-up by it.

Freedom is good and we don’t want to encourage rigid rule-keeping as a path of righteousness. Like everything else the ultimate solution is to “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ”[3]

Do that and you won’t stumble others, nor will you be stumbled.

You can also aid & abet the devil in stumbling yourself. Every time you choose to yield to the flesh and not to the indwelling Holy Spirit, you give evil a beachhead from which to operate. He then digs in and gains more & more territory.

Ezk 25:15  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred,”

Ezk 25:16  therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites [synonymous] and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.

Ezk 25:17  I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.” ’

Dr. Frasier Crane occasionally refers to uncultured people as “Philistines.” Pop-culture references like that are the only place the Philistines exist today

These five nations lost their power, land, and identity, just as God prophesied. No trace of them exists as independent nations today.

Prophesies made, Prophesies kept.

Thomas Constable commented, “This should be a warning to any nation that spitefully treats the Chosen People of God (i.e., Israel, the physical descendants of Jacob) and that sins against the sovereign God in other ways. He will punish sin and those who abuse His people.”

Let’s apply those two things as measure of the US:

  1. Are we allies or enemies with Israel? We can confidently answer, “Yes.”
  2. Are we obeying God? We can ashamedly answer, “No.”

Wait. I thought no one could obey, for example, the Ten Commandments. True, no one can obey them internally, from the heart, because our hearts are deceitfully wicked. Our only hope for salvation is for God to take our place in death as He promised in the Garden of Eden He would.

We can, and we must, obey God’s law outwardly. I will murder people in my heart until the day I am free from this fallen physical frame. But I am held to account if I act upon that and murder someone.

I’m worried about the fact that God says “do no murder.” The nations of the world, including us, are the most prolific murderers in history of mankind. Of course I’m referring to induced abortion on demand.

God destroyed and will destroy Israel’s enemies. While their enemies are destroyed, Israel will see it. That means they will endure. Yes they would have to endure much discipline. But all of God’s promises to them are “Yes! and “Amen.”

#2 – God Stretches His Arm Out To Discipline You

The outstretched arm that destroys enemies disciplines believers.

Three words might help bring this home to our hearts: Judgment, Justice, & Joy.

First, the LORD’s arm is outstretched against the human race signifying judgment. God’s justice must be satisfied. He is holy. We fall far short of being holy. We deserve to die in our sins. Jesus promised to come and take our place as a once-for-all sacrifice for our sins. He and He alone qualifies to save us because He was & remains forever God & man. He satisfies the justice of God as our Substitute. We are in Passover season. We don’t sacrifice lambs in order to approach God; Jesus is the lamb, He is our Passover.

Second, the Lord, Jesus, had His arms stretched-out when He took our place on the Cross. What appeared to be a total defeat was, in fact, the greatest triumph over the greatest of enemies. We read, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”[4]

Third, His arms are reaching out, ready to receive & embrace. In the NT we read about a sinning son who returns home.[5] He has no hope of forgiveness. After all, he had despised and denied his father by asking to receive his inheritance early. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” One commentator said, “This parable of the prodigal son is one of the clearest images of God’s open arms of mercy and welcome. The father does not just wait for the son – he runs to embrace him.”

Jesus said, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”[6]

Jesus put His spin on outstretched hands. Speaking to the apostle Peter, after the resurrection, Jesus said, “When you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”[7]

Peter would be martyred by having his “hands” stretched out in crucifixion.

Here is something precious to bring out and examine often:

  • Before salvation, God relates to sinners as a Judge, condemning them under His righteous law.
  • But once a person is justified in Christ, God no longer judges them in a punitive sense. Instead, He relates to them as a Father, lovingly disciplining them for their growth in holiness.
  • Reformed teachers like Spurgeon, Sproul, & Packer hold this to be true.
  • Evangelical teachers like Billy Graham, A.W. Tozer, & Adrian Rogers likewise hold this to be true.
  • J.I. Packer said, “Justification is a legal idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as Father.”
  • Tozer said, “The justice of God stands against the sinner as an unmovable wall. But in Christ, that wall is removed, and He is no longer a judge to condemn, but a Father to correct and lead.”

If you are not a believer, God’s arms remain stretched out in judgment.

If you are a believer, it is because you looked to the Cross and Jesus’ hands stretched out to save you.

Stretch your hands upward in rejoicing.

References
1 Genesis 19:30-38
2 Romans 9:4-5
3 Matthew 22:37-39
4 Colossians 2:13-15
5 Luke 15:20
6 Luke 15:10
7 John 21:18-19

Killing Her Shortly With His Word (Ezekiel 24:1-27)

  • “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
  • “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
  • “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.”
  • “Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, take up the Cross, and follow Me.”

When the Lord asks, He asks big.

Ezekiel fulfilled a bunch of big asks. In our text he is given two more. The first doesn’t seem too extreme. He gets a stew going. It is terrifically overcooked, however, destroying the contents and the pot. It’s a culinary parable of what was about to occur in Jerusalem.     

It was nothing compared to what came next. “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down” (v16).

The Lord was going to end Mrs. Ezekiel.

Does God’s asking seem more like Him telling? Take teen-Mary for example. The angel Gabriel told her what was going to happen to her. She questioned Gabriel, but you don’t get the impression she could say “No.”

Likewise Moses. He put up more of a fight, complaining that, among other shortcomings, he stuttered. God overcame his every objection.

Jonah is the prime example. He said “No” to God and fled opposite the direction of Nineveh. God made it clear: “I’m not asking you; I’m telling you.”

There is a slang word that conveys this. It is ‘voluntold.’ It’s a combination of volunteer and told, highlighting the irony of being assigned a task that is voluntary. 

The Lord is our great Voluntold-er.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1When You Are Voluntold You Are Equipped, and #2 When You Are Voluntold You Are Exampled.

#1 When You Are Voluntold
You Are Equipped (v1-14)

Ezekiel was in the Chebar River region of Babylon. He had been brought there against his will as a captive. God had been predicting through him that the city of Jerusalem would fall, and that the Temple would be destroyed.

Ezk 24:1  Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 24:2  “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day – the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this very day.

The day & date of King Nebuchadnezzar’s third and final siege of Jerusalem became an iconic date in Israel. It was like November 22, 1963, or 9-11. Or sadly, October 7th.

The “men” were 25 leaders of the Jews. The phrase ‘The time is not near to build houses” is a question – “Isn’t it time to build houses?”

We won’t ‘get’ Ezekiel’s parable without recalling a similar one in chapter eleven. There it was uttered by the leaders. They said, “This city is the caldron, and we are the meat” (v. 2-4).

Jerusalem’s leaders wrongly assumed God would never let His city or Temple fall, comparing themselves as choice (chosen) cuts of meat in a watched pot.

They cancelled-out the Word of God delivered by Jeremiah in Jerusalem & by Ezekiel in Babylon.

We hear the phrase cancel culture a lot these days. Truth is, unbelievers have been trying to cancel Jesus since the Garden of Eden.

There are only 280 days until Christmas. Sometime before that there will be an assault on Christmas in terms of decorations on public land.

The canceling I am most concerned about happens when our young adults get to the end of their high school years and go to college. It seems that every college, no matter your major, tries to give you an unwanted minor in anti-Christianity.

Ezk 24:3  And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it.

Ezk 24:4  Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;

Ezk 24:5  Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it, Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it.”

I’m starting to think that Ezekiel had a cooking show or a catering business. He gave us a recipe for Ezekiel bread. Now we have Ezekiel stew.

Ezk 24:6  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it, And whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen.

‘No lot has fallen” means that there would be no one left to redeem them. If that seems harsh, remember that they did not seek, nor did they want redemption.

Ezk 24:7  For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock; She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust.

Ezk 24:8  That it may raise up fury and take vengeance, I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered.”

According to the Law of Moses, spilt blood was always to be covered by dirt. The Jews, in their pagan sacrifices, did not treat blood that way. It was used to mark & anoint. Some pagan rituals called for drinking blood.

Ezk 24:9  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great.

Ezk 24:10  Heap on the wood, Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned up.

Ezk 24:11  “Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed.

Ezk 24:12  She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire!

Beef stew is a recipe in which a lot of scum needs to be spooned off as it rises to the top. The Jews in Jerusalem were all scum. The pot they trusted in would burn also.

We need to be very careful about what are called the “trappings” of religion. They are the outward symbols, rituals, and traditions that look impressive but don’t necessarily reflect true faith. Evangelical churches are blending liturgical worship, robes, rituals, incense, and historic Christian practices with contemporary evangelical theology.

As Charles Spurgeon often said, “Trappings? We don’t need no stinking trappings.”

Ezk 24:13  In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.

Ezk 24:14  I, the LORD, have spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds They will judge you,” Says the Lord GOD.’ ”

The Jews brought idolatry with them from Egypt. Nine hundred years later they not only remained idolators, they were maybe the worst ever in their history. All during that time God was trying to cleanse them.

God’s last resort, as it were, was to bring them into captivity in Babylon. Over the next 70 years, God would raise up a remnant who would return to the land, construct the 2nd Temple, and rebuild the walls.

It may sound incidental, but when Ezekiel was voluntold what to do, he needed meat and seasoning and cooking supplies. The LORD listed them. Since Ezekiel was in Babylon, it’s doubtful the local Costco had Israeli pots. I say he used his own pot, then then watched it melt.

Regardless whether that was true or not, when God volun-tells you, it will cost you.

The Richie-rich young ruler comes to mind. Jesus laid down His life for you, remarking that you were the joy that was set before Him. How can you and I not lay down our lives for Him, who is our joy?

God equips you spiritually for whatever He calls you to do. His primary means of equipping is through your involvement in a local church. A key purpose of the Church is to teach God’s Word, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.

A friend of mine was a rescue swimmer in the Navy. He told me that actual rescues are pretty rare. But you’d better be ready!

As Scar once said, “Be prepared.”

#2 When You Are Voluntold
You Are Exampled (v15-27)

I have heard too many misguided words of comfort given to those who are processing the death of a loved one. Still, if you told me that a well-meaning person said, “Don’t mourn or weep – just sigh,” I would hardly believe it. Yet that is what God commands in this instance.

Ezk 24:15  Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 24:16  “Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.

Ezk 24:17  Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.”

We often struggle with God ending Mrs. Ezekiel’s life. But from her view – would you choose a few more painful years, witnessing your city’s fall and your husband’s murder, or embrace death and be an example?

Christians should grieve, but never as those who are without hope. We need to start expressing more hope and less grieving.[1]

Ezk 24:18  So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.

King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem three times. Ezekiel was exiled in the second deportation, with about 10,000 taken. They were a small, close-knit group, processing this shocking event together.

Ezk 24:19  And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”

Ezk 24:20  Then I answered them, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 24:21  ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.

Mr. & Mrs. Ezekiel were a happily married ministry couple.

  • Just as Ezekiel’s wife has been the desire of his eyes to him, so Jerusalem was to them.
  • Just as Ezekiel’s wife was taken from him by God, so the Jerusalem would be taken from them by God.

Ezk 24:22  And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.

Ezk 24:23  Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities and mourn with one another.

Mrs. Ezekiel’s service would be unique in the history  of the children of Israel. It would happen before news of Jerusalem’s fall. Their participation in her services would prepare them for the greater tragedy.

Ezk 24:24  Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”

I compared the third siege of Jerusalem to events like JFK’s assassination & 9-11. It was far worse if you were a Jew:

  • The presence of the LORD (the Shekinah cloud of His glory) had earlier departed from the Temple.
  • Their government collapsed.
  • They had no military.
  • The only place on Earth where they could offer sacrifices was ruined.
  • The 10 tribes to the North had been scattered for almost 200 years. The tribes of Judah & Benjamin would be dispersed. No nation thus treated had ever remained pure.

Lately, many commentators use words like “exist,” “existential,” or “existential threat.” In 586BC, Israel faced a true existential crisis – it seemed like the end. But it wasn’t, because God remains faithful even when His people are faithless.

Ezk 24:25  ‘And you, son of man – will it not be in the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters:

Ezk 24:26  on that day one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears;

Ezk 24:27  on that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.’ ”

We almost forgot that Ezekiel had been a voluntold mute. He only spoke when God gave him a word for them. This would be another way he was a sign, an example.

An escapee would bring news of Jerusalem’s fall. It would confirm everything Ezekiel had staged & said for the past 4 years.

Why would someone escape only to run to the place that everyone was being deported to? Maybe the LORD voluntold him! The LORD works from both ends.

Ezekiel was an example of how to walk with God in the dispensation in which he lived.  There are a few special instructions like that in the NT, for believers in certain circumstances. I’ll give you one.

In First Corinthians the apostle Paul suggested that since times were tough on believers, don’t get married, but live single and celibate. Perhaps Paul anticipated the imminent Roman persecutions which began within ten years after he wrote. Persecution is difficult enough for a single person to endure, but problems and pain are multiplied for those who are married, especially if they have children.

The day-to-day Christian life is a voluntold to mature in Jesus. The biblical examples we mentioned seemed to have no real choice. There are other examples in scripture of believers who are volunteer told nevertheless failing to follow God. The story of lot, Abraham’s nephew, is probably the classic.

Let’s think of God‘s volun-telling us as Him commanding us, knowing He has & will equip us.

References
1 There is a lot of heated discussion on cremation. I rarely hear anything about the fact that we are supposed to have hope & express it with joy. It’s classic legalism to focus on the wrong thing – the outward body & not the inner man.

Oho, Oho, A Harlot’s Life For Me (Ezekiel 23:1-49)

John Bunyan left nothing to guess work in his classic book, whose full title is, The Pilgrim’s Progress From This World to That Which Is to Come.

  • Character’s names include Christian & Christiana, Obstinate, Evangelist, Hypocrisy & Charity.
  • The pilgrimage follows the main character, Christian, traveling from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, which is home to the Tree of Life and has streets paved with gold.

The Lord makes it just as obvious that our text is an allegory. He introduces two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, and immediately reveals, “Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah” (v4).

He describes them as unfaithful wives:

  • The LORD says of Oholah, “She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt…” (v8).
  • The LORD says of Oholibah, “Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.”

Several NT passages assume that idolatry will be a peril in our relationship with Jesus.

  • First John 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
  • First Corinthians 10:14 “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
  • Colossians 3:5 “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Idolatry isn’t just breaking God’s law. It breaks His heart in ways we cannot fathom.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1God’s Love For You Is Intimate, and #2 God’s Love For You Is Incessant.

#1 God’s Love For You Is Intimate (v1-10)

You’ve seen those parental warnings on-screen? For this chapter, it would be NC-17 for Vulgar Language. Profanity is common – even in church – but it’s unnecessary. Rather than dismissing all of those under 18yrs, I’ve paraphrased the NKJV eliminating explicit wording.

There’s almost nothing here that is hard to understand. It won’t require a great deal of commentary. The story is for impact.

The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They acted unfaithfully in their youth; there, their hearts were led astray, and they gave their devotion to others. Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; they were Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

The root word from which their names derive is ohel, meaning “tent” or “tabernacle.”

  • Oholah means her own Tabernacle.
  • Oholibah means My Tabernacle is in her.

After King Solomon’s death, Israel split into two kingdoms. The 10 northern tribes were called Israel, and the 2 southern tribes were called Judah. God had designated Jerusalem’s Temple as the only proper place of worship. His Tabernacle was in Jerusalem. The northern tribes established a man-made false system of worship in Samaria – her own Tabernacle.

Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine; and she gave her heart to her lovers, the Assyrians, Clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. Thus she pursued the Assyrians, all of them attractive men, and she defiled herself with all their idols. She did not give up her past unfaithfulness, for when she was in Egypt, they had influenced her, and she had followed after them. Therefore, I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians for whom she had longed. They uncovered her sins, took her children and daughters away, and killed her with the sword. She became an example to other women, for they executed judgment on her.”

I’ve been captivated by how Ezekiel, and the Bible, portray God’s emotions. Many scholars argue that God cannot have feelings in a meaningful sense because that would imply a dependence on us and compromise His sovereignty.

In verse twenty-five the LORD will say, “I will set My jealousy against you.” Jealousy is an extremely strong emotion. Nevertheless the Bible often attributes it to the Lord. Of course it is to be distinguished from human jealousy, which is rooted in insecurity or selfishness. God’s jealousy is holy – and I would argue that it is, therefore, far more intense than ours.

In the OT God describes Himself being affected by intense sorrow. Hosea 11:8, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? … My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.”

Jesus famously wept. In Hebrews 4:15 Jesus, as fully God and fully man, sympathizes with human weakness.

Bottom line: God has genuine emotions… But without it affecting His sovereignty.

The whole point of treating Samaria and Jerusalem as unfaithful wives is to elicit strong emotion from the Jews in Jerusalem.

Marital unfaithfulness hurts so bad. Proverbs says, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent” (6:27-29).

Spiritual infidelity is hurtful & painful for the LORD. Regardless of how we understand God’s emotions, He chose this illustration to show us the deep pain He experiences when we turn away from Him for something or someone else.

When I am tempted to physical or spiritual infidelity, I ought to think about how much it hurts My Father in Heaven, my Savior seated at His right hand, and God the Holy Spirit who indwells me.

#2 God’s Love For You Is Incessant[1] (v11-49)

God turns our attention to Jerusalem (Oholibah).

“Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became even more corrupt in her unfaithfulness, behaving worse than her sister. She pursued the Assyrians – leaders, rulers, and well-dressed warriors – all of them desirable young men riding on horses. I saw that she too was defiled, and both sisters followed the same path. But she increased her unfaithfulness even more. She saw men portrayed on the wall, images of Babylonians drawn in bright colors, Wearing belts around their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all looking like officers, images of the Babylonians from Chaldea. As soon as she saw them, she longed for them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. Then the Babylonians came to her and led her into unfaithfulness, and she became defiled by them. Yet after this, she became disgusted with them. When she openly displayed her unfaithfulness and exposed her heart, I turned away from her, just as I had turned away from her sister. Yet she increased her wrongdoing, longing for the days of her youth when she followed after those in Egypt. She was drawn to them, just as she had been before, and pursued them again. So you repeated the ways of your youth, when you acted unfaithfully with the Egyptians.”

Egypt is mentioned four times in this chapter: “They committed harlotry in Egypt… She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt… Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry Brought from the land of Egypt, So that you will not lift your eyes to them, Nor remember Egypt anymore.”

The Exodus was in 1446BC. Ezekiel is 586BC. Nine hundred years after being delivered, the Jews continued to worship the gods of Egypt.

“You can take the Hebrew out of Egypt, but it proved so hard to take Egypt out of the Hebrew;” Now replace “Hebrew” with “Christian.”

Christians bring their idols with them, too. A ‘for instance’ in the Bible would be the episode in the city of Ephesus where we read, “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19).

Letting go of the “idols” we carried into our relationship with the Lord can be a lifelong process.

“Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: ‘I will stir up your lovers against you – those whom you have turned away from – and I will bring them against you from every side: The Babylonians, all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa; all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, leaders and rulers, officers and warriors, all riding on horses.

They shall come against you with weapons, chariots, and an army of people. They will surround you with shields, helmets, and armor, and I will put judgment before them, and they shall judge you according to their ways.

“Why, God?” questions need to be put into the context of people rejecting God & being given what they want.

I will set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in fury. They shall remove what you value, and take away what is precious to you. They shall strip you of your garments and take away your fine jewelry. Thus I will remove from you the sins of your youth, and you will no longer look to Egypt for help. For thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned away. They will deal harshly with you, taking away what you labored for and leaving you exposed and empty. The shame of your unfaithfulness and wrongdoing will be revealed.

During the reigns of David & Solomon, the Israelites were a military world power. David had his “Mighty Men.” But Israel only existed and continues to exist because the LORD fought for them. Take God out of the equation and they were easily conquered & dispersed. Take no credit; point to Jesus, genuinely.

You have brought this upon yourself because you pursued the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. You have followed in your sister’s ways, therefore I will put her punishment upon you.

The next time you are struggling with an OT text that seems to point to unfairness or capriciousness in God, remember the phrase, “You have brought this upon yourself.” How much worse would suffering be if there were no God?

‘Thus says the Lord God: “You shall drink your sister’s cup, Deep and wide, You shall be filled with sorrow and scorn. You will be filled with ruin and devastation, The cup of your sister Samaria.nYou shall drink from it and drain it, Break its pieces, And tear at yourself in sorrow, For I have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, you shall bear the consequences of your unfaithfulness and wrongdoing.’ ”

The Lord also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have been unfaithful, committing offenses against Me. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, to false gods. Moreover, they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. On the very day they sacrificed their children to idols, they came into My sanctuary and defiled it. This is what they have done inside My house!

Furthermore, you sent messengers to distant lands, and when they arrived, you welcomed them. You bathed, adorned yourself with fine jewelry, and put on makeup. You sat on a splendid couch, with a prepared table before you, on which you placed My incense and oil. The noise of a carefree crowd was with her, including men from distant lands who adorned her hands and placed crowns on her head. Then I said concerning her, who had grown accustomed to such ways: ‘Will they still follow after her?’ But they went in to her, just as men go to a woman who has been unfaithful; so they pursued Oholah and Oholibah in their wickedness.

But righteous men will judge them for their unfaithfulness and for shedding blood, because they are guilty. For thus says the Lord God: ‘Bring an army against them! Let them be terrorized and plundered. The assembly shall stone them and strike them down with swords; they shall slay their children and burn their houses. Thus I will remove wickedness from the land, so that all women may take warning and not commit such acts. You shall bear the consequences of your unfaithfulness, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.’ ”

The Babylonian captivity would last a total of 70yrs. Afterwards the Jews were free to return home. However, they were not autonomous for another 2500yrs when on May 14th 1948 they became a nation again, in one day.

It followed on the heels of the Holocaust. On October 2nd 2023, they suffered the worst death toll since the Holocaust.

A bleak future looms: the Antichrist, or “man of sin,” will appear as a savior, negotiating a seven-year treaty. It marks Day One of the 7yr Great Tribulation. Midway through this period, he will desecrate the rebuilt Temple by entering the Holy of Holies, proclaiming himself as God and demanding worship.

Jesus warned those in Judea to flee from the antichrist’s persecution, possibly seeking refuge in the fortified city of Petra. In their distress, they will call upon the Lord for salvation. At His second coming, they will look upon Him whom they pierced and mourn, leading the surviving remnant to repentance and salvation.

Take an aerial view of history, mix in some Dead Sea Scrolls, then the writings of a few early church fathers, and you’ll have the Millennial Day Theory, aka, the Six-Ages-of-the-World. It links the six days of creation followed by a day of rest to six millennia of human history culminating in a millennium of rest. This interpretation suggests that each real, 24hr day of Creation symbolizes a thousand-year period of human history. The seventh day represents the Millennial Kingdom on Earth. I’m not all-in on that, but it is interesting because we are right now close to the end of the first 6000 years.

Even though nothing is impossible for God, and that there is nothing too hard for Him, the salvation of Israel and Gentile nations is no small task. It takes thousands of years to accomplish.

Be encouraged! Just as Israel is the apple of God’s eye, the Church is the Lord’s bride, His body, and His Temple on Earth. He began the work of saving us; He carries it forward; He must complete it.

References
1 unremitting, unrelenting, eternal, constant, unceasing

There’s A Gap For That (Ezekiel 22:1-31)

If you know me at all, you know how much I enjoy doing maintenance around the house. 

If you don’t believe me, stop by some time and I’ll show you. In just about every room, as well as in the yard, you’ll see all manner of deferred maintenance.

I am so good at it that I’m considering retiring as a Deferred Maintenance Man. My slogan will be, “Do you really need a garbage disposal?”

For over five millennia of human history, walls were essential for defense. Cities like Jericho, Babylon, Troy, and Gondor were noted for their seemingly impenetrable walls. Jerusalem was a walled city.

Defensive walls must be maintained by inspecting for gaps and repairing them swiftly.

The final Babylonian siege was upon the Jews. If ever there were a time to fill gaps it was now.

Not unexpectedly, in verse thirty Ezekiel records, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land…”

This imagery was common. But notice something as we read on. Babylon wasn’t the invader. It was the LORD!  “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

Ezekiel was not talking about their stone & mortared wall. He was using the wall to represent a spiritual condition.

The Jews had ‘built’ a faulty religious wall by turning their backs to God. Their disobedience created significant gaps through which spiritual enemies had entered.

The gaps created by the Jews’ negligence are a problem for us as well. I’ll organize my comments around the three times Ezekiel said, “The Word of the LORD came to me,” in verses 1,17 & 23.

#1 Immorality Creates Gaps In Your Wall (v1-16)

Have you ever heard someone say, “You can’t legislate morality?” Frank Turek comments, “Legislating morality is not only biblical, it is a necessary responsibility of government.”

The sad truth in America is that we have been legislating immorality.

The Family Law Act of 1969 in California introduced no-fault divorce. Before that you had to prove wrongdoing.

God is on record that He hates divorce. He permits divorce & remarriage in certain circumstances, e.g., adultery and desertion. No-fault divorce legislated immorality. It opened up a moral gap that grows & grows. A scholarly paper in the University of Arkansas Law Review commented, “No-fault divorce proliferated; same-sex marriage evolved from nonmarital cohabitation and newly established status arrangements similar to marriage; assisted reproductive technology permitted parentage independent of marriage, sexual intercourse, and genetic connection; single persons, unmarried cohabitants, and same-sex couples could adopt children freely.”

How do the godly stand in that gap? By honoring biblical marriage, for one. God hates divorce; you hate divorce along with Him. Remain married unless you have solid biblical grounds. Marry wisely.

Ezk 22:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying…

God’s Word comes to you in the Bible, interpreted and applied by God the Holy Spirit, who indwells you. Your part is to be pre-submitted to God’s word.

Ezk 22:2  “Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations!

Cities adopt slogans. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… Keep Austin Weird.

Jerusalem in the 6th century was The Bloody City.

“Blood” or “bloody” are used six times in this chapter.Viva for Vice & Violence.

Ezk 22:3  Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself.

Ezk 22:4  You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made…

Pagan religions incorporated rituals that involved self-inflicted cutting and bleeding. Shedding your own blood is idiotic. We need the blood of Jesus.

Another connection between blood and idolatry was the worship of Baal. It involved sacrificing infants. I don’t need to tell you that our murder of infants is an especially evil legislated immorality.

Ezek 22:4…You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years, therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.

Ezk 22:5  Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.

Their discipline was accelerated by their sin. In the NT the apostle Peter says that we can hasten the Lord’s coming, not for discipline but deliverance (Second Peter 3:12). He takes us home!

Ezk 22:6  “Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you.

Ezk 22:7  In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Laws protecting the most vulnerable were ignored. Lack of godly compassion and empathy is a gap.

Ezk 22:8  You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.

Note the plural. There were other Sabbaths, e.g., every 7th year they were not to farm. Every 50th year was Jubilee with its many requirements.

Ezk 22:9  In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness.

“Slander” can lead to bloodshed. There are those who cite the constant slander of President Trump as encouraging the assassination attempts.

The “mountains” were sites of idol worship, tied to fertility rituals involving sexual deviance.

Ezk 22:10  In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness…

Dr. Michael Heiser explains that “uncovering your father’s nakedness” is a euphemism for sleeping with one’s mother or stepmother, as seen by comparing Leviticus 18:6-8 and 20:11.

Ezk 22:10… in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity.

Ezk 22:11  One commits abomination with his neighbor’ wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter.

It was like an event co-hosted by Sean Combs & Jefferey Epstein with Bill Cosby as the entertainer.

Ezk 22:12  In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,” says the Lord GOD.

Sounds like the Mafia. Have you ever watched Amish Mafia? It’s so fake, it’s funny.

Ezk 22:13  “Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst.

Ezk 22:14  Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and will do it.

Ezk 22:15  I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you.

Ezk 22:16  You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

Too harsh? Much of their behavior deserved capital punishment. Instead dispersion would ultimately “remove their filthiness.” We can trust that there was no other way to bring them to repentance.

#2 Impurity Creates Gaps In Your Wall (v17-22)

Looking down from Heaven, surrounded by its wall, Jerusalem looked like a crucible for heating metals. The LORD brought the heat and found only impurities in His people.

Ezk 22:17  The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 22:18  “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver.

Ezk 22:19  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

Ezk 22:20  As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you.

Ezk 22:21  Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.

Ezk 22:22  As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you.’ ”

Again I’d ask, “Is this too harsh? The LORD was trying to save them. He revealed their hearts. You won’t confess & repent unless you see your sin.

Richard Baxter wrote, “See that your chief study be about your heart, that there God’s image may be planted, and His interest advanced, and the interest of the world and flesh subdued, and the love of every sin cast out, and the love of holiness succeed.”

Believers are familiar with trials being crucibles where Jesus refines us and we emerge as gold. Don’t think it strange if you feel the heat. In fact, you should feel weird if you don’t have any trials. Jesus said you would have tribulation.

#3 Indignation Closes Gaps In Your Wall (v23-31)

We will twice encounter the word “indignation” in the remaining verses. God uses it to describe His attitude towards every segment of Judean society.

Ezk 22:23  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 22:24  “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’

It is likely they had long been experiencing drought. It was a sign in the Law of Moses that the LORD was withholding blessings.

Ezk 22:25  The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

There are predatory ministries & ministers. Grifting you isn’t the worst of it. Their false teachings and heresies can keep a person from knowing Jesus.

Ezk 22:26  Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

The priests compromised, failing to teach or rebuke the people. Over time, this led to a complete loss of distinction between what was holy and what wasn’t.

It’s been said, “You can take the Christian out of the world, but you can’t take the world out of the Christian.”

Ezk 22:27  Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.

Princes were what we would call politicians. As Stan Lee used to quip, “Nuff said.”

Ezk 22:28  Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD had not spoken.

They were offering white-washed prophecies, in that they promised the LORD would repel the Babylonians for His names’ sake.   

Ezk 22:29  The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.

This is a general statement that Jerusalem had become lawless. It was an undesirable place to live.

Ezk 22:30  So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

Ezk 22:31  Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.

God said He couldn’t find anyone to make a wall and stand in the gap. That seems odd given prophets like Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel. We know that Habakkuk interceded, and he did so literally from a tower on the actual wall.

One commentator said, “It wasn’t that these men were deficient, but rather that the people were so thoroughly defiant.” They did not want to be delivered. They would not follow a wall-building, gap-man.

A shadowy OT character, Balaam, was hired to curse God’s people. Instead he finds himself blessing them! His advice to bring them down was “If you can’t beat them, join them!”

Israel’s enemy enticed them to sin, triggering the wrath of God upon His people.

We defeat ourselves when we are content with white wash and and defer repairing tiny gaps in our walk.

A.W. Tozer made this observation: “Religion today is not transforming the people – it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society – it is descending to society’s own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smiling accepting its surrender.”

The Sword In The Sigh (Ezekiel 21:1-32)

You could probably name at least five famous swords.

  • Excalibur is the traditional “Sword in the Stone.”
  • The Wallace Sword belonged to the beloved Scottish patriot, Mel Gibson.

J.R.R. Tolkien presents a grip of swords: Glamdring, Orcrist, Sting, and Narsil, which would be reforged as Andúril – Flame of the West.

Ezekiel mentions a “sword” 16 times.

It is the Sword of the Lord, who says, “I shall draw My sword out of its sheath.”

Too bad that the LORD’s sword is loaned to King Nebuchadnezzar to conquer His people, not to deliver them.

There is an emotional aspect we will explore. Twice in verse six Ezekiel represents the LORD as sighing.  Let it sink in that God sighs.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 The Sword Of The Lord Is Unsheathed To Keep You, and #2 The Sighs Of The Lord Are Uttered To Caress You.

#1 The Sword Of The Lord Is

     Unsheathed To Keep You (v1-5 & 18-32)

“Look among the nations and watch – Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up [Babylon], A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.

They are terrible and dreadful” (Habakkuk 1:5-7).

Habakkuk was astonished that God used Babylon to discipline Israel, but He did.

He did it because they were, and they remain, His precious chosen nation.

Had God let them continue on their downward spiral they would have destroyed themselves.

Ezk 21:1  And the word of the LORD came to me…

Ezk 21:2  “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

Ezk 21:3  and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you.

Ezk 21:4  Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north,

Ezk 21:5  that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it shall not return anymore.” ’

The first sword appears in Eden after Adam and Eve’s rebellion. God placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the tree of life. It was a protective act, for their good.

The Jews could not comprehend the LORD allowing the Temple to be destroyed. He is more interested in His people than any places. In Psalm 8 David marvels at the stellar heavens. Then he says, “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” God’s attention is not on the marvels of the microverse or the macroverse. They are on you.

We talked about the righteous suffering along with the unrighteous. With a fallen race, with nations lusting for power, there is going to be universal suffering. Not God’s fault.

We’re going to drop down to verses 18-32.

Ezk 21:18  The word of the LORD came to me again, saying:

Ezekiel received another prophecy and obeyed immediately. “Of course,” we say, “God spoke to him!” But God has spoken to us even more through His written Word.

Ezk 21:19  “And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city.

Ezk 21:20  Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s Public Works Dept. is told to go to the fork in the road and install signage so that the invaders will know where they are headed, Jerusalem or Ammon.

The NT uses imagery of the broad way that leads a person to destruction, and the narrow road to eternal life. When you come to a fork, your way is marked by godly wisdom, meekness, humility, etc.

How will Nebuchadnezzar choose?

The usual way – by consulting a liver

Ezk 21:21  For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.

Ezk 21:22  In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall.

They used divination. Examining the liver of a sacrificed animal… My personal favorite.

All signs pointed to Jerusalem. The Babylonians prepared battering rams, siege ramps, and towers.

We must avail ourselves of our spiritual weapons in order to stand against supernatural enemies. It hadn’t been that long since the Angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. He did it as the Jews prayed, repenting of sin, approaching God with humility.

Ezk 21:23  And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.

The people of Judah dismissed Babylon’s divination, believing God would overturn it. However, Zedekiah had sworn loyalty to Babylon, and God expected them to honor this oath.

Ultimately, it was the LORD who directed the Babylonian king, as stated in Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

This isn’t theistic determinism. We have genuine free-will. God’s stepping in to keep His plan for redemption on track is consistent with both His sovereignty & man’s free-will.

Ezk 21:24  “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear – because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

Ezk 21:25  ‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end,

Ezk 21:26  thus says the Lord GOD: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.

Ezk 21:27  Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, Until He comes whose right it is, And I will give it to Him.” ’

The Lord announced the end of Zedekiah’s authority, symbolized by removal of his turban and crown.

Ezk 21:28  “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, Polished for slaughter, For consuming, for flashing –

Ezk 21:29  While they see false visions for you, While they divine a lie to you, To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain Whose day has come, Whose iniquity shall end.

Ezk 21:30  ‘Return it to its sheath. I will judge you In the place where you were created, In the land of your nativity.

Ezk 21:31  I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath, And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.

Ezk 21:32  You shall be fuel for the fire; Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall not be remembered, For I the LORD have spoken.’ ”

While still in possession of the Lord’s power and authority over other nations, King Nebuchadnezzar  returns his attention to the Ammonites. Despite their false prophecies of victory, the Ammonites would be destroyed.

When is the last time you met an Ammonite?

The destruction of Jerusalem, and the subsequent Babylonian captivity, were awful. Israel left Jehovah no alternative. If they were going to survive as a nation and a people to bless all the nations of the world by bringing the Messiah, God must halt their apostasy.

#2 The Sighs Of The Lord Are

Uttered To Caress You (v6-17)

A few studies ago we encountered the Doctrine of Impassibility. It asserts that God does not experience emotional changes or suffering due to external influences.

Of course He does; He says so

Himself multiple times in the Bible

Relational Sovereignty is one approach to countering impassibility. It posits that God’s sovereignty is exercised in a dynamic and interactive relationship between God and His creation. God engages with humanity in a way that allows for genuine interaction, responsiveness, and mutual influence. God’s will is both purposeful and flexible, accommodating human free will. Prayer is the most potent example. It is a genuine conversation that can effect Him. .

Ezk 21:6  Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes.

Ezk 21:7  And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel is representing God when he sighs. This is much more intense than it at first seems:

  • “Knees weak as water” indicates loss of bladder control. This is really strong emotion!
  • “Bitterness” is better translated grief.

The LORD’s emotions are set down in a song

The song is in verses 8-16. Songs in our Bible study should be approached less analytically and more artistically.

Ezk 21:8  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 21:9  “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ Say: ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened And also polished!

Ezk 21:10  Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning! Should we then make mirth? It despises the scepter of My son, As it does all wood.

Ezk 21:11  And He has given it to be polished, That it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished To be given into the hand of the slayer.’

“Slayer” was Nebuchadnezzar’s super hero name. (Punisher was already taken). The LORD gave the King of Babylon authority over other nations.

God’s “son” in this song is the nation of Judah.

Ezk 21:12  “Cry and wail, son of man; For it will be against My people, Against all the princes of Israel. Terrors including the sword will be against My people; Therefore strike your thigh.

Ezk 21:13  “Because it is a testing, And what if the sword despises even the scepter? The scepter shall be no more,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel’s gestures are choreographed. It doesn’t take away the emotion; it enhances it.

Ezk 21:14  “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, And strike your hands together. The third time let the sword do double damage. It is the sword that slays, The sword that slays the great men, That enters their private chambers.

Ezk 21:15  I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, That the heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah! It is made bright; It is grasped for slaughter:

What songs evoke strong emotion from you? That take you back to a terrible time?

It’s not unusual for someone recently saved to ditch their music. Sometimes they bring it back. That’s between you & the Lord, but take care. It can be a sign of your maturity, or just the opposite.

Ezk 21:16  “Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left – Wherever your edge is ordered!

Ezk 21:17  “I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Putting His fury to rest reminds us that while the LORD expresses deep emotion, He is never out of control. He does not overreact. Yet, He fully understands my grief and sorrow. He comforts and holds me close, as One who knows what it is to be human, yet without sin.

Lets think back in Jewish history to 1445BC. After 40yrs of being prohibited from entering, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

His first obstacle was the walled city of Jericho. He went out to reconnoiter. Suddenly Joshua sensed the presence of someone else. “He lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” Then the Commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so” (Joshua 5:13-15).

The ‘Commander’ was an appearance of the Second Person of the Trinity. It was Jesus. The sword of the Lord was unsheathed to give Israel victory-after-victory.

Eight centuries later, the sword is in Nebuchadnezzar’s hand. The Jews would be forcibly removed & exiled from the Promised Land.

From that time until the modern era, Israel did not govern herself, and has had no king on the earthly throne. That all changed May 14, 1948 when the Jews returned to their homeland. It will change again at the 2nd Coming of the Lord; all Israel will be saved.

Israel started well, but fell away. Every Christian starts well… But finishing well can be elusive. Two teachings from the apostle Paul can help us:

  1. “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3).
  2. “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

BTW: Wednesday morning, at our Men’s Study, Jacob reminded us that “be filled with the Spirit” is a command. I’ve heard it translated, “Go on being filled.” It is something you need to be reminded about.

We start the Christian life well, believing Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit immediately, permanently resides in us. After, however, we tend to move away from His supernatural leading to depend on ourselves. God commands us to continue as we started, as those with the Holy Spirit.

“As for me, and my house…”