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

March 9, 2025

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 6^th 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 7^th year they were not to farm. Every 50^th 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)

February 23, 2025

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 2^nd 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:

“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).
“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…”

I’ve Seen Fire & I’ve Seen Pain (Ezekiel 20:45-49)

February 16, 2025

“Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.”

You are officially a Trekkie if you recognize that phrase. It comes from Star Trek: The Next Generation in an episode where the Enterprise encounters the Tamarians. They are a species that speaks entirely in metaphors drawn from their mythology. Captain Picard is taken and stranded with Captain Dathon, who offers him a dagger and says, “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.” Picard initially mistakes it for a threat. The next morning, when a predator appears, he comprehends Dathon is inviting him to fight together against the common danger, just like “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.”

All I have to say about that is, “The LORD & Ezekiel kindle the fire.”

Ezekiel was God’s 6th century prophet to the Judean Jews exiled in Babylon. A remarkable number of his prophecies were presented as silent theatrical dramas. When he did speak, Ezekiel frequently did so utilizing riddles, allegories, and metaphors. So much so that Ezekiel could say (in verse 49), “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’ ”

Ezekiel describes the third and final siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians as if it were a catastrophic forest fire.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1Don’t Be Dry In The Fire, and #2 Don’t Despair In The Fire.

#1- Don’t Be Dry In The Fire

What is the deadliest job?

It’s not crab fishing. It is sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office of the White House as President.

Forty-five men have been president. Twenty of them, 44%, were the subject of assassination attempts.
Four out of forty-five presidents were assassinated – Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy.

Still, a deadlier job was OT Prophet.

Stephen, on the verge of martyrdom, asked, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who foretold the Just One” (Acts 7:52).

We can be sure that was not lost on Ezekiel. Jewish tradition holds that Ezekiel was murdered by fellow Israelites in Babylon.

Ezk 20:45 Furthermore the word of the LORD came to me…

God’s Word came to him in some of the weirdest ways in all the Bible.

In the opening chapters of Ezekiel he shared the Word of God in silence, acting-out the LORD’s messages to the Jews. Here is a list of the enacted prophecies:

The Siege of a Brick (4:1-33). Ezekiel inscribes a brick with the name Jerusalem and stages a mock siege against it, symbolizing the impending Babylonian siege of the city.
Lying on His Sides (4:4-8). He lies on his left side for 390 days to represent the years of Israel’s sin and then on his right side for 40 days to represent Judah’s sin.
Eating Defiled Bread (4:9-17). Ezekiel prepares bread using inferior ingredients, then cooks it over cow dung, symbolizing the scarcity and defilement the people will experience during the siege.
Shaving His Head and Beard (5:1-4). He shaves his head and beard, dividing the hair into three parts: burning one-third, striking one-third with a sword, and scattering one-third to the wind. This act represents the various fates awaiting the inhabitants of Jerusalem – death by plague, sword, and exile.
Packing An Exile’s Baggage (12:1-7). Ezekiel packs his belongings as if going into exile and digs through a wall to carry them out, symbolizing the forthcoming exile of Judah’s inhabitants.
Trembling While Eating (12:17-20). He eats his food with trembling and drinks water with fear, illustrating the anxiety and dread during their captivity.

His prophesies are also replete with metaphors and allegories. The word translated can also mean riddles. Here are some of those:

The Vine That Was Burned (ch15). Israel is compared to a useless vine that is burned, symbolizing God’s dashed hopes for Jerusalem.
The Unfaithful Wife (16). A parable of a woman (Jerusalem) whom God cared for, but she became unfaithful, representing Israels spiritual adultery.
The Two Eagles and the Vine (ch17) A riddle about two eagles (Babylon and Egypt) and a vine (Judah), illustrating Judah’s rebellion against Babylon.
The Boiling Pot (24:3-14). A parable of a cooking pot filled with meat, symbolizing the siege of Jerusalem and its coming destruction.
The Parable of the Lion’s Cubs (19:1-9). A lament comparing Israel’s kings to lion cubs who were captured and taken away, symbolizing the downfall of the monarchy.
The Parable of the Withered Vine (19:10-14). Israel is compared to a strong vine that is uprooted and burned, symbolizing the nation’s judgment.

This story is often called the Parable of the Two Trees, but the focus is on the fire, making the Parable of the Forest Fire a better title.

Ezk 20:46 “Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South,

I wonder if he didn’t receive this as a vision? It’s visually stunning.

Ezekiel is called “Son of man” 90x to highlight that he served the LORD as the human representative between He and His people.

He rises and turns south to prophesy against the south and the forest land of the South. In the Hebrew Scriptures, these are three distinct words. It is similar to how we refer to the southern United States as the South, the Deep South, and Dixie.

Ezk 20:47 and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.

Why not just say it plainly? Think of a story, whether in print or on screen, that builds up to a dramatic reveal. Star Wars is a perfect example. Hearing Darth Vader declare, “No, I am your father,” at the perfect moment, carries far more impact than simply stating it beforehand.

Ezekiel warned of Jerusalem’s fall, with the forest as Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple, and the trees as its people – some righteous (evergreen), others not righteous (dry).

This is a timely metaphor in that we all have seen some images of the recent devastating fires in Southern California. My childhood was spent living in the foothills of San Bernardino. It was not unusual to have a fire engine stationed in our driveway. I can recall at least two times we were ordered to evacuate.

The third and final siege against Jerusalem by mercenary forces of King Nebuchadnezzar would play-out like a fast moving fire that could not be quenched. I believe it’s called a conflagration.

“Parables do not stand on all fours.” We shouldn’t force every detail to carry meaning unless the parable itself requires it. The clear yet terrifying message here is that Judah, Jerusalem, the Temple, and the remaining Jews in the city would experience violence.

This parable is not meant to give us any insight into eternal life or eternity. It is not an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. It is entirely earthly. It is strictly about the historic events of 586BC.

The righteous suffered along with the unrighteous.

Didn’t Abraham plead with God about Sodom & Gomorrah, saying, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23). God granted Abraham his ask, sparing Abraham’s nephew, Lot, but it was’t a universal promise. He didn’t say that the righteous would never suffer alongside the unrighteous. Historical records suggest most Christians fled Jerusalem before its destruction in 70AD, heeding a divine warning noted by Eusebius and Epiphanius.

However, the righteous are not always exempt from suffering in a fallen world.

Saints suffer.

We pointed-out that prophets were customarily killed. OT believers had “trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise” (Hebrews 11:36-39).

We sometimes fare no better. The apostle Paul has a long section on suffering in Romans 8 with the theme, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG.”

At many points along the timeline of humanity, being a Christian is the deadliest job.

Historical Christian Persecution Statistics:^[1]

More than 70 million Christians have been martyred in the course of history. More than half were martyred in the 20th century under communist and fascist government (Gordon-Conwell Resources).
In the 21st century, roughly 100,000 to 160,000 Christians were killed each year (Gordon-Conwell Resources and World Christian Database, respectively).
Roughly 1,093,000 Christians were martyred, worldwide, between 2000 and 2010 (World Christian Database).

Modern Global Church Persecution Statistics:^[2]

322 Christians are killed for their faith every month (Open Doors).
214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed every month (Open Doors).
772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, rape, arrest, etc.) are committed against Christians every month (Open Doors).

How should a believer respond? Habakkuk, a 7th-century prophet to Judah, learned of the coming violence. In his short book, he describes his reaction, saying “I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror (3:16).

In the very next verse Habakkuk describes the response of the righteous in the time of the Babylonian exile: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls – Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills” (3:17-19).

In verse 16 his legs were “trembling,” and he could not walk. Next minute he is leaping in the mountains like a deer!

This is not the result of positive thinking. It didn’t come to Habakkuk through meditation. He wasn’t making a positive confession. What happened to him was supernatural.

With the full revelation of Scripture, we see that Habakkuk encountered the Holy Spirit, as his rejoicing reflects the Spirit’s work. True joy is a fruit the Spirit produces in believers.

If you are not saved, the Holy Spirit is with you, testifying about your need for Jesus.
If you are in Christ, embrace the reality that you can do all things through Jesus.

God the Holy Spirit is our indispensable, inexhaustible supply of living water. Drink of that water and you will never thirst again.

#2 – Don’t Despair In The Fire

In the I-don’t-recommend-you-ever-watch-it category is the screen production of Jesus Christ: Superstar. Judas is the protagonist. At one point he says to Jesus, “Why’d you choose such a backward time and such a strange land? If you’d come today you would have reached a whole nation… Israel 4BC had no mass communication.” It makes you wonder… But not for long is you understand that God is always trying to confound mankind. His wisdom always seems foolish to the unsaved, unregenerated in heart. John Stott represents many who explain that the timing was ideal both politically and culturally. Rome had unified much of the world, Greek was a common language, and roads facilitated travel, aiding the spread of the Gospel.

I can almost see that. But if it’s all about roads & language, in would have been better to come later. We must emphasize the wisdom of God which seems foolish to mankind.

Jesus came at the perfect moment, the prophesied moment, the propitiation-ary moment in human history.

The LORD declared (v48), “All flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”

Ezekiel didn’t see it that way. He said (v49), “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’ ”

Ezekiel’s words carry a sense of despair, as no one truly listened. If they did, they dismissed him as merely a storyteller, an entertainer playing the roles of actor, comedian, chef, riddler, and singer of laments.

If we’re not careful, we can begin to act as if our commentary on the words of the Bible somehow enhances it. In reality, sometimes our commentary can get in the way. God‘s word can stand on its own.

I believe it was Jerry Bridges who felt led to teach Revelation by reading it over three Sundays, and he saw great fruit from it. We need more confidence in the Word as alive and powerful.

I can understand Ezekiel’s frustration. He must have felt that God’s Word deserved to reach beyond the small, unbelieving audience of unrighteous Jews by the River Chebar in Babylon.

I wonder what he thinks now?

 [+]

References
↑1	Gordon-Conwell Resources, World Christian Database
↑2	Open Doors

National Inquirers: Idolatrous Minds Want To Know (Ezekiel 20:1-44)

February 9, 2025

My mother was convinced I’d be arrested and led away handcuffed to jail.

I was on my way to the movies. She warned me that theaters were cracking down on people smuggling outside snacks instead of buying a $20 candy bar at the concessions stand.

My mom, you see, got all her news from the National Enquirer. After all, “Enquiring Minds Want to Know.”

The 6^th century Elders of Judah were ‘National Enquiring.’ The chapter begins, “It came to pass… that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.”

That’s great!! Wasn’t it? No, it wasn’t great at all.

In verse three the LORD said, “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live… I will not be inquired of by you.” ’

“Inquiring of the LORD” means seeking a divine revelation concerning a particular question.

They didn’t need a revelation because they didn’t heed what the LORD had revealed.

To paraphrase Maverick & Goose, “They had a need…The need to heed.”

I’ll organize my comments around two questions: #1Looking Back, Have You Heeded The Lord?, and #2 Looking Ahead, Will You Heed The Lord?

#2 Looking Back, Have You Heeded The Lord?

(v1-33)

The LORD enjoys reviewing the history of Israel.There are many such long recitals, like the fifty-three verse recap given by Stephen in the Book of Acts.

In our text, the LORD recounts five periods: the Exodus (v5-9), the wilderness (v10-26), the Promised Land (v27-29), the present (v30-38), and the future Millennial Kingdom (v39-44).

Ezk 20:1 It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.

Ezk 20:2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 20:3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ’

We are not told exactly what they inquired about. Most likely they were asking if the plan to ally with Egypt would get them free from Babylon. No it wouldn’t; and the LORD had been telling them that for decades through his prophets. No need to inquire; it had been asked & answered.

You may have experienced times when it seems as though God is not telling you what to do, where to go, and what to say. Likely He has already told you.

Let’s take the common experience of issues in the workplace. Are you praying for your boss to change? Or your fellow employees? That’s great – especially if you are praying for their salvation. Or maybe you are asking the Lord to provide you a transfer out.

Are you thanking God that you are worthy to suffer for Him that you might show grace and thereby glorify the Lord? Are you abiding with joy, producing the fruit of the Spirit, so that they might see Jesus? Because that is why you are there. If you are not heeding Him, God likely will seem silent when, in fact, He has spoken volumes to you in the Word.

Ezk 20:4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.

A better translation is, “Are you willing to warn them?” The Gospel is both good news and a warning of the consequences of rejecting Christ.

Evangelist Ray Comfort likes to say that no one puts on a parachute unless they know the plane is going to crash. Sinners must be told that they need saving.

Some of you here today need a salvation parachute period.

God pointed out “the abominations of their fathers” to show them that their own abominations were exponentially worse.

Ezk 20:5 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God.’

Ezk 20:6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands.

Ezk 20:7 Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

The Jews in the Exodus worshipped the gods of Egypt. The LORD swore 3x that He would deliver them, despite their idolatry. In fact, the nation continued in idolatry until the Babylonian captivity.

The LORD treated them like a work in progress. He was confident in Himself that having begun the work of transforming them He would complete it.

Jesus is our confidence as well; He will finish what He started.

The LORD didn’t need to swear an oath 3x. He did it so that we would never entertain doubt that He would, or could, forsake them.

Ezk 20:8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’

“Fury” & “anger,” and grace.

Ezk 20:9 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

Ezk 20:10 “Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

Ezk 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’

In Ezekiel 39:23 it says, “The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.”

Though Israel’s rebellion was not the testimony God desired, He used it to reveal His grace to the Gentiles. We should never take sin lightly. Nevertheless, where sin abounds, grace abounds.

Randy Alcorn writes, “Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable about sinning is not biblical grace. God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary, it empowers us to say no to sin and yes to truth.”

Ezk 20:12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Ezk 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume

Israel began observing the Sabbath only after God instituted it during the Exodus. Prior to this, there is no biblical record of Sabbath observance by anyone.

Didn’t God rest on the seventh day, thereby establishing the Sabbath? He rested, but there is no indication that it was to be a continuous observance. There is nothing about Adam and Eve or their children observing it.

Here’s the clincher: If the Sabbath was a universal command for mankind, how could the LORD make it “a sign between them” and Himself?

Ezk 20:14 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezk 20:15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands,

Ezk 20:16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.

Ezk 20:17 Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

Ezk 20:18 “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Ezk 20:19 I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;

Ezk 20:20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

Ezk 20:21 “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.

Their fathers adopted the surrounding cultures – their laws but more awful, their gods. God intended His special nation to be separate, in order to reach the Gentiles with grace.

Ezk 20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezk 20:23 Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,

Ezk 20:24 because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.

The Jewish scattering, called the diaspora, began with the Babylonian exile and continues today. More than half of the Jews live outside Israel.

Ezk 20:25 “Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;

Ezk 20:26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD.” ’

God “gave them up,” letting Israel suffer the consequences of adopting pagan laws. Romans chapter one shows how a nation deteriorates when it rejects God.

Ezk 20:27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me.

Ezk 20:28 When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings.

Ezk 20:29 Then I said to them, ‘What is this high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day.” ’

Ezk 20:30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing harlotry according to their abominations?

Ezk 20:31 For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.

Ezk 20:32 What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’

“It will never be.” Is God’s interference a type of determinism? Is God forcing the Jews? No.

Geno pointed out that we believe the Bible teaches Relational Sovereignty. Theologian Roger Olson says it “seeks to harmonize divine sovereignty with human free will, suggesting that God’s governance is relational and interactive.”

Before you inquire of the Lord, take a look back. Are you heeding the revelation that He’s already given you? If not, start there.

#2 Looking Ahead, Will You Heed The Lord?

(v33-44)

These next verses look ahead to the future one-thousand year Kingdom of God on Earth.

Ezk 20:33 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you [“Fury” is the future Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Two-thirds of the Jews on Earth will be killed; one-third will remain to enter the Kingdom]

Ezk 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.

Ezk 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face [Jesus warned that generation who would experience the time of trouble to flee into the Judean wilderness and hide from the antichrist’s armies. Facing extinction, they call out to Jesus]

Ezk 20:36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 20:37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant [The rod was a shepherd’s tool for inspecting his sheep. The LORD is here talking about the separating of believers from unbelievers at His Second Coming. In Matthew 25 He acts like a shepherd, sending the sheep into their reward – the Kingdom on Earth]

Ezk 20:38 I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 20:39 “As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord GOD: “Go, serve every one of you his idols – and hereafter – if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols.

Ezk 20:40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things.

Ezk 20:41 I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles.

Ezk 20:42 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers.

Ezk 20:43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.

Ezk 20:44 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

God will “bring [them] into the bond of the covenant.” Since this is a Millennial scene, the covenant referred to is the New Covenant. The New Covenant is first revealed in Jeremiah 31:31-34. One element of it is the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit as He takes up residence within believers, enabling us to obey God to His glory.

The New Covenant was always meant for all believers. The Church is experiencing it now, though not fully until Jesus returns.

Verses 40-44 depict a judgment upon individual Jews. It will take place on Earth, in the Millennium.

Church Age believers will appear before Jesus in Heaven prior to the Millennium, a review for rewards based on sincere service to the Lord.

What is the only activity mentioned that the LORD, Adam, & Eve did together? “The LORD walked in the Garden,” and it is inferred by His calling to them that they walked with Him.

Who observed the Sabbath perfectly while on Earth? Jesus. Matthew records one such Sabbath. Jesus took a walk with His disciples, they ate grain, and Jesus healed a man.

Walking with the Lord in a renewed relationship with Him; learning from Him; serving Him.

That’s the Sabbath.

Kings Of The Bungle (Ezekiel 19)

January 26, 2025

What is the one song you just can’t stand… besides It’s a Small World? Wind Beneath My Wings.

I wouldn’t dislike it so much if I hadn’t heard so many well-meaning but awful renditions of it at funerals I’ve officiated. It consistently ranks among the most popular funeral songs.

I’m showing my age by using the word “funeral.” Families now prefer “Celebration of Life.”

If we want services to sound more uplifting, maybe we should revive the Latin term from the Middle Ages: fūnerālia.

Funeral songs are prominent in our text today.

Two “lamentations” are on the LORD’s playlist. The CEV translates v14, “This funeral song must be sung with sorrow.”

The first introduces us to a couple of ferocious lions. Their extreme behavior makes it necessary to trap & eliminate them.
The second depicts a vine that is incredibly fruitful… until it isn’t. It is violently uprooted.

A lioness raises her cub to be a ferocious predator. Egyptian hunters trap him. The lioness raises another cub, more ferocious than the first. He also is captured, but this time it is at the hands of hunters hired by Babylonian.

A full and fruitful grape vine is planted by a stream. It towers above even the tallest trees. From its branches royal scepters for the king are made. Suddenly, but not without warning, it is uprooted and burned.

The lion, the vine, and the scepter are common emblems for Israel:

The lioness is Israel.
The two ferocious cubs are two of Judah’s last kings.

The vine is Israel.
God uproots her and puts her in Babylon.

I’ll organize my comments around two questions: #1 Is The Lord Lamenting Your Portrayal Of The Lion?, and #2 Is The Lord Lamenting Your Lack of Fruit On The Vine?

#1 Is The Lord Lamenting Your Portrayal Of The Lion? (v1-9)

A lamentation is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow directed toward God. What is it when God is the one lamenting?

Throughout the Book of Ezekiel, we’ve see that the LORD is deeply emotional, allowing the actions of His people to impact His feelings.

Scholars argue about the extent of God’s emotions. The Doctrine of Impassibility asserts that God does not experience emotional changes or suffering due to external events or actions of His creation. It emphasizes God’s unchanging nature and His transcendence over creation.

John Owen in describing impassibility once said, “It is agreed upon by all the orthodox.” Until the 19th century, almost all Christian theologians believed that God is impassible.

Opponents of impassability point out that the Bible portrays God as experiencing emotions, such as anger, pleading, laughter, and, in the incarnation, even weeping. In many ways, God wears His heart on His sleeve.

I like what one commentator said, “God is impassible but not unemotional.”

The Bible definitely portrays God as experiencing a range of emotions, such as love, hate, jealousy, joy, grief, laughter, and compassion. Since His emotions are holy and pure, He must feel to a greater extent than we do.

Have you had to put down a loved pet? Think of God having to “put down” these two ferocious lions.

Our relationship with Jesus is intimate and dynamic. He is Judge, but He is also our Father. Our actions can definitely impact Him. Otherwise, why pray?

Impassibility means we cannot fully grasp God’s feelings, but our actions do affect Him. Do you obey God out of fear of judgment or love for Him, leading to obedience to His Law?

Ezk 19:1 “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

We often say, “God is on the throne,” and He is – as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and ruler over all nations. However, the specific throne of David in Jerusalem remains unoccupied. The world awaits the true heir, who will one day take His rightful place as “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”

Jacob, the patriarch of Israel, fathered twelve sons who became the fathers of the twelve tribes. In Genesis 49, he bestowed leadership upon Judah, likening him to a lion and prophesying that a ruler would emerge from his line. Hebrews 1:8 states, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”
The Bible leaves no doubt as to the identity of the Lion. In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.”

Judah would fall in 586BC, just a few years after Ezekiel delivered these laments. God sang them some two years prior to the fall of the city. They simultaneously signaled the inevitability of the captivity, but also the possibility of repentance.

Singing the laments before they were conquered gave hope.

The prophets and the godly remnant of Jews knew the times. In the days of David, we are told that the tribe descended from Issachar “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (First Chronicles 12:32).

Understanding the times is more than knowing we are in the Last Days excitedly awaiting the coming of the Lord to resurrect & rapture us.

Understanding the times is knowing what God is doing to further the redemption of humans & the restoration of His creation. It is knowing how we ought to live.

A marvelous way to know how to live in the Church Age is to read about the apostle Paul. He said we should imitate him the way he imitated Jesus” (First Corinthians 11:1).

Paul famously said, “Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (Second Corinthians 12:9-10).

When it was midnight in his life, he sang.

Remember people saying “Party like it’s 1999?” We should “Praise like He’s coming for us is today.”

These are parables that the Lord has set to the music of “lamentation.” “Princes of Israel” means kings in their succession.

Ezk 19:2 and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.

Theologian C.H. Dodd is attributed with saying, “Don’t make a parable walk on all fours.” We shouldn’t try to assign meaning to every detail. Some details are necessary simply to further the story and nothing else. You are looking for the one, main lesson.

Ezk 19:3 She brought up one of her cubs, And he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, And he devoured men.

Ezk 19:4 The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.

Historically, Jehoahaz was the king deposed by Pharaoh Neco II, who “led him with hooks” – likely literal hooks through his nose or jaw attached to a rope – and took him to Egypt, where he died in captivity.

Ezk 19:5 ‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

Ezk 19:6 He roved among the lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men.

Ezk 19:7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring.

Ezk 19:8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, And spread their net over him; He was trapped in their pit.

Ezk 19:9 They put him in a cage with chains, And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in nets, That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.

Jehoiachin was the king deposed by Nebuchadnezzar. Mercenaries caught & caged him. He was released after 37 years in prison.

Jehoahaz & Jehoiachin were The Ghost & the Darkness of Judah. That’s the title of the film based on the true story of two man-eating lions in Tsavo Africa. They terrorized workers during the building of the Kenya-Uganda Railway in 1898. They killed at least 35 men, maybe over 100, until hunted and killed by Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson, a British engineer and soldier.

Both lions of Judah violently “devoured men.” No matter exactly what “devoured” means, that description is not fit for a King of Judah portraying the future, final lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ. We are not imitating Jesus if we can be described using such words.

For some time now there has been a hipster attempt to call believers “Christ-followers” in favor of “Christians.” Both are accurate. I like Christian for at least two reasons:

First, it is biblical. “Christian” appears in Acts 11:26 & 26:28, and First Peter 4:16. In Acts it reads, “and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” I ran into something I need to research further. There are scholars who translate “called” as “divinely called.” In other words, God revealed to them they ought to be called Christians.
Second, I like “Christian” because it means “like Christ.” It reminds me that my life is a portrayal of Jesus. I am following Him, but that’s only one aspect of imitating Him.

Mariano Rivera, the legendary New York Yankees closer, famously entered games to Metallica’s Enter Sandman. He didn’t choose the song. It was chosen by those who watched him.

People watch us. What song would they associate with me? With you?

In Zephaniah 3:17 we read, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

What song is the Lord singing over you?

#2 Is The Lord Lamenting Your Lack Of Fruit On The Vine? (v10-14)

The Bible is the best commentary on the Bible.

The parable-lamentation of the vine in Ezekiel nineteen finds its best in-depth commentary in Psalms 80:8-19.

You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it. Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!

Israel’s national history is depicted as a vine transplanted from Egypt to the Promised Land. Due to persistent unbelief, they became a fruitless vine. Nevertheless, God promised restoration and salvation for Israel.

In his commentary, John Gill wrote, “Lamentable was the case of the Jews already, but it would be still more so when all that was foretold of them should be accomplished. It denotes the continuance of the sad estate of that people; and perhaps may refer to their present condition, which will continue till they are turned to the Lord.”

Ezk 19:10 ‘Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters.

Ezk 19:11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.

The “scepter” that the Lord carries is also called a “rod.”

If you are talking about a shepherd, you called it a rod.
If you’re talking about the king, you call it His scepter.

Jesus is our Shepherd-King.

Ezk 19:12 But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them.

Ezk 19:13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land [Babylon was lush; this describes them spiritually]

Ezk 19:14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, So that she has no strong branch – a scepter for ruling.’ ”This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.

God sang this “lament” before the final siege of Jerusalem. It then became their lamentation when conquered.

The Lord was making funeral plans for Judah These were the songs He had written for them.

In the Lion Lament, the lioness is described, “She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.” It suggests a familiarity with other lions. She wanted to be among them and excel them in their wickedness. There was no separation from them. She thus became like them.

God’s people once asked Him for a king to rule over them. The reason they gave was that they wished to be like the other nations. They didn’t understand that they were chosen to be separate to show the nations the glory of God.

Christians can be too attracted to ideas and principles that have their origins not in the Bible. We want to be like others, like unbelievers. “In the world, but not of the world” – there is no better way to put the measurement of our separation.

We close with this Tozer quote. “The Christian is called to separation from the world, but we must be sure we know what we mean (or more important, what God means) by the world. We are likely to make it mean something external only and thus miss its real meaning.”

The Daddy Made Me Do It (Ezekiel 18:1-32)

January 19, 2025

It’s just about time for “Don’t Blame Me” bumper stickers.

It doesn’t matter whether things improve or worsen. There’s a strange sense of catharsis in declaring that despite your candidate’s loss, you remain unwavering.

“Don’t Blame Me I Voted For Harris” stickers are available now for $5.95 on amazon.

The 6^th century Jews had a “don’t blame me” proverb. It’s quoted here, in verse two, and in the prophecies of Jeremiah. ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

It was a protest proverb. The generation of Jews in Judah were soon to be overpowered by the Babylonian empire. They put the blame on their parents.

The LORD stepped in, saying, “You shall no longer use this proverb in Israel” (v3). The LORD holds each person responsible for the way they live their life.

Human beings have been passing the fig ever since Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. God held all three responsible.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Accept Your Responsibility & Walk Righteously, and #2 Admit Your Responsibility And Repent For Walking Unrighteously.

#1 Accept Your Responsibility & Walk Righteously (v1-24)

We must address an important question: Do the terms righteousness, unrighteousness, life, and death in this chapter pertain to eternal life, or do they focus on our earthly, temporal existence?

We immediately think of eternal life at any mention of righteousness. We can’t say enough about the Lord declaring us righteous when we believe in Jesus Christ.
A Jew reading this would immediately think of righteousness as the practical, daily keeping of God’s Law.

These verses, this chapter, describes how Israel was expected to live on Earth.

In His covenants with Israel, the LORD promised to physically & materially bless the Israelites for obedience, but punish them for disobedience:

Blessings for obedience included material prosperity, fruitful harvests, protection from enemies, and health.^[1]
Penalties for disobedience included famine, defeat by enemies, disease, and exile from the Land.^[2]

The Church is nowhere promised physical & material blessings while in our corruptible bodies.

In fact, the apostle Paul makes it clear in Ephesians that we are promised spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

Ezk 18:1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

Ezk 18:2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

Cultural proverbs do not need to make sense, they only need to convey a singular idea. The Jews in Judah were facing a third incursion from King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They blamed their predicament on the decisions of their parents.

Ezk 18:3 “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

The LORD interrupts and says, “No, nope, no way, absolutely not, not a chance, under no circumstances, never in a million years!”

Ezk 18:4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

The Titanic sank and 1,514 souls were lost. Maritime and aviation disasters use the word ‘souls’ to be sure everyone is counted, e.g., passengers, crew, etc. The LORD uses ‘souls’ in that same way here. It means people; it means everyone.

From here all the way through verse nineteen the LORD repeats the works of righteousness and the works of unrighteousness that reveal whether a person is obeying or disobeying God’s Law.

Characteristics of the righteous souls include:

Doing what is lawful and right.
Not eating on the mountains. (This is referring to attending feasts to pagan gods of nature).
Not lifting up eyes to the idols of the house of Israel.
Not defiling your neighbor’s wife.
Not approaching a woman during her impurity.
Not oppressing anyone, but restoring to the debtor his pledge.
Robbing no one by violence, but giving bread to the hungry and covering the naked with clothing.
Not exacting usury nor taking any increase.
Withdrawing your hand from iniquity and executing true judgment between man and man.
Walking in God’s statutes and keeping His judgments faithfully.

Characteristics of the unrighteous person include:

Eating on the mountains.
Defiling your neighbor’s wife.
Oppressing the poor and needy.
Robbing by violence.
Not restoring the pledge.
Lifting your eyes to the idols.
Committing abomination.
Exacting usury and taking increase.

The LORD illustrates using the example of a father, his son, and the grandson.

God introduces the obedient father (v5-9). His daily walk and work are righteous, resulting in physical and material blessings.
His son, however, engages in sin and will face consequences for his own actions, regardless of his father’s righteousness (v10-13).
The wicked son’s son observes his father’s sins but chooses righteousness and obedience to God’s Law.

The argument ends where it began. Each individual is accountable for their own actions; righteousness leads to life/blessing while wickedness leads to death/punishment (v14-19).

There is a near-perfect example. Less than 150 years earlier, Judah experienced a succession of kings:

King Hezekiah was obedient, walking in righteousness.
His son was Manasseh, Israel’s worst king.
Manasseh fathered Josiah. He was a great & godly king

This succession of kings serves as a clear refutation of the proverb about sour grapes, demonstrating that each individual is accountable for their own actions.

Ezk 18:20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Jim Gaffigan usually does a bit in his stand-up comedy where he acknowledges that the audience is probably wondering how many jokes he has on a certain topic. This chapter is more tragedy than comedy, but at some point, we start to wonder how many times God is going to say pretty much the same thing. You are responsible for your own deeds and decisions.

Ezk 18:21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Ezk 18:22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.

If someone makes a mistake, we say he needs to “own” it. If the “wicked” unrighteous person owns his or her sin, they repent and are restored to being blessed by God.

One eye-opening realization is that God holds “all souls” on Earth responsible to obey His Law.

Christians are adept at pointing out that no one can perfectly keep God’s Law. We use it to evangelize because God’s Law condemns us as sinners in need of a Savior. Is God being unfair? Is He asking us to do what we cannot do?

Jesus emphatically said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till Heaven and Earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18).

Heaven & Earth won’t “pass away” until after Jesus’ Second Coming, and after the one-thousand year Kingdom of God on Earth. We are going to be surprised later in the Book of Ezekiel to learn that human beings will be offering sacrifices in the Millennial Temple.

Jesus equated anger with murder in the heart (Matthew 5:21-22). This reveals our sinful nature and the impossibility of fully keeping God’s Law, highlighting our need for a new heart, as the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

God’s Law reveals our sinfulness, showing that we must repent and believe to be saved, as we cannot keep the Law to secure salvation. Yet, sitting here now, we trust others to obey the law and do not expect to be murdered.

For God to hold us personally responsible for our actions, we must possess free will. As A.W. Tozer stated, “God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, ‘What doest thou?’ Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.”

#2 Admit Your Responsibility & Repent For Walking Unrighteously (v23-32)

The Jews were attacking God’s character as someone who takes pleasure in treating people unfairly. Truth is, God treats everyone equally, and is constantly seeking to draw all men to Himself so they might be saved.

Verse twenty-three: “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Verse thirty-two: For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”

Ezk 18:24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

The main takeaway here: The righteous man who sins knew the possible consequences and did it anyway.

The consequences of your parents decisions and deeds certainly do affect your life. Some of us has a better upbringing than did others. But you are not determined by it. You choose.

Ezk 18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?

Ezk 18:26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies.

Ezk 18:27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.

Ezk 18:28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Ezk 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?

If parents are to blame for the decisions and deeds of their children, then God is unfair. He he would be holding the sons responsible for things they could not do.

Ezk 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.

Ezk 18:31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?

Ezk 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”

Ezekiel looks to Israel’s future, echoing God’s promise through Jeremiah of a New Covenant: His Law written on hearts, forgiveness, and sins remembered no more.

Jesus revealed the New Covenant at the Last Supper, saying, “This cup… is the New Covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20), signifying His sacrifice would establish it.

Israel’s rejection of Jesus delayed their full participation in the New Covenant. In the mean time the Church enjoys partial participation through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. God has not forsaken Israel; all Israel will be saved at the end of the Great Tribulation.

There’s one more thing I want to draw from this incredible text.

I am hoping it will be a word of encouragement to many who hear it. For sure you are going to want to highlight it and save it as a favorite.

The righteous father has an unrighteous son; and the unrighteous son has a righteous son.

It is not a hypothetical. It was acted out in the succession of Judah’s Kings.

Many believers endure the deep sorrow of having a prodigal son or daughter.

Part of the heartache is the inevitable, incessant blaming of yourself. You become inconsolable.

Jesus says to you, “The father [shall not] bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

We wait in hope that our prodigals would turn & return.

 [+]

References
↑1	Deuteronomy 28:1-14
↑2	Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That, The Eagle You Picked Does Not Have Your Back (Ezekiel 17)

January 12, 2025

What do they call pastors in Germany?
German shepherds

What kind of lighting did Noah use on the Ark?
Floodlights

Before Boaz married, what kind of man was he?
He was Ruth-less

I am taken from a mine, and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost everybody.
What am I? Pencil Lead

The LORD tells Ezekiel to pose a rare riddle to the nation of Judah. He had tried many other methods to communicate that their idolatry was ruining them. Maybe this would be their “Aha!” moment.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Babylon Is Not So Bad When The Lord Wants You Discipled There, and #2 Egypt Is Always Bad Because The Lord Delivered You From There.

#1 Babylon Is Not So Bad

When The Lord Wants You Discipled There (v1-21)

If I said that I went to the University of Babylon, what would you think? Besides Iraq, there’s a Babylon in Illinois, and two in New York.

Ah, but I’m a Christian trying to be clever. What I mean to convey by saying ‘Babylon’ is that my university is not Christian, but worldly.

Historically, Babylon is the ancient city and world empire that conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem in 586BC.
Biblically, Babylon is synonymous with human pride, idolatry, and the pursuit of power apart from God.
Spiritually, Babylon is often used as a metaphor for all worldly systems, e.g., its religions, politics, philosophies, psychologies, etc.

Anywhere a believer finds him or herself this side of eternity is Babylon.

Alistair Begg writes we must “realize that the place we are living is less and less like Jerusalem, and more and more like Babylon.”

To understand why Ezekiel’s message isn’t so dire, we look back to the prophet Habakkuk. He recognized Israel’s idolatry and cried out for God’s discipline. God’s response – that He would use the Babylonians to punish Judah – stunned him.

Discipline was well underway when Ezekiel wrote. King Nebuchadnezzar had come twice already to Jerusalem, taking captives.

With that brief background we can ‘riddle me this.’

Ezk 17:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 17:2 “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

The Bible contains many genres: Historical narrative, law, wisdom literature, poetry, songs, prophecy, sermons, speeches, epistles (letters), Gospels, genealogies, covenants, etc. Add to that parables and add to that riddle parables!

Why so many types of literature?

The Creator and Sustainer of life desires to converse with you in every way that might draw you deeper in a relationship with Him.

If singing isn’t your preference, explore historical narratives in the Bible. If Proverbs are challenging, perhaps delve into prophecy. While we should engage with the whole of God’s Word, it’s natural to have personal preferences for certain sections.

A riddle must be heard or read all at once.

Ezk 17:3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, Full of feathers of various colors, Came to Lebanon And took from the cedar the highest branch.

Ezk 17:4 He cropped off its topmost young twig And carried it to a land of trade; He set it in a city of merchants.

Ezk 17:5 Then he took some of the seed of the land And planted it in a fertile field; He placed it by abundant waters And set it like a willow tree.

Ezk 17:6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; Its branches turned toward him, But its roots were under it. So it became a vine, Brought forth branches, And put forth shoots.

Ezk 17:7 “But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, And stretched its branches toward him, From the garden terrace where it had been planted, That he might water it.

Ezk 17:8 It was planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And become a majestic vine.” ’

Ezk 17:9 “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, Cut off its fruit, And leave it to wither? All of its spring leaves will wither, And no great power or many people Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.

Ezk 17:10 Behold, it is planted, Will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”

The legend of characters is thus:

The first eagle is Babylon, “the city of merchants” (v4).
The cedar tree and the vine represent the nation of Judah.
The top of the cedar represents Judah’s king, Jeconiah.
The seed the first eagle plants is Zedekiah. He was put in charge when King Jeconiah was deposed.
The second eagle is Egypt.

The first eagle takes the top of the cedar tree and plants it in a foreign land. Babylon exiled Judah’s King Jehoiachin.

The first eagle plants a seed in fertile soil. Nebuchadnezzar replaced King Jehoiachin with his uncle, Zedekiah.

The vine grows but later seeks help from

another eagle. Zedekiah secretly approached Egypt to form an alliance against Babylon.

This disloyalty enraged Nebuchadnezzar. He conquered Egypt, then came the third time to Jerusalem, leveling it.

In verses eleven through twenty-one, the LORD reveals the decision that amped-up His discipline.

Listen for two words, one repeated four times and the other six times.

Ezk 17:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 17:12 “Say now to the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon.

Ezk 17:13 And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land,

Ezk 17:14 that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

Ezk 17:15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

Ezk 17:16 ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

Ezk 17:17 Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons.

Ezk 17:18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

Ezk 17:19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head.

Ezk 17:20 I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and try him there for the treason which he committed against Me.

Ezk 17:21 All his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken.”

“Covenant” (6x) & “oath” (4x) dominate these verses. Zedekiah swore in God’s name to serve Babylon in peace. He “despised the oath” he had made. He broke it.

The LORD called it “My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke…” God rules over the nations. He gives nations delegated authority to act freely. Nebuchadnezzar was appointed by God. He had the authority to depose Jehoiachin and to appoint Zedekiah. It was wrong to break the covenant.

Nebuchadnezzar “took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping His covenant it might stand.”

The 6^th century Jews were in danger of extinction. They would not stop sinning without an intervention. God intervened. As a vassal to Babylon they would enjoy its protection. They would learn humility. They would repent and ultimately return.

Despite his cruelty and temper, King Nebuchadnezzar appointed a Jew, Zedekiah, as governor over Judah, intending to maintain peace with the region.

Zedekiah broke the oath, driven to do so only by a desire to maintain their independence from God.

The Jerusalem Jews were supposed to submit to Babylon, even to exile, as an appropriate and deserved discipline. It was the LORD’s way of preserving them. They instead added oath breaking to their rebellion by seeking an alliance with Egypt.

In Jeremiah 29:1-8, Jeremiah urged them to settle down, build homes, marry, and seek the welfare of the city where they’ve been exiled.

We live in Babylon. Another Jeremiah, David Jeremiah, said, “We live in a world that is becoming more like Babylon every day – a world that is self-absorbed, materialistic, and hostile to the ways of God.”

The Church will live in spiritual Babylon until the resurrection and rapture, after which our forever home, the New Jerusalem, will appear.

Living in Babylon means being thrown into fiery furnaces and spending nights with lions, but also experiencing the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

We all know enough about Daniel to know that he bore abundant fruit for the Lord. He was taken captive in the first of Babylon’s incursions. When we first meet him, Daniel is in his teen years.

We don’t see him demanding his rights, wanting to be transferred to another group of Magi, or taking advantage of situations for his own advancement. He makes no escape attempts. Babylon was where the LORD had placed him. It was God’s will.

Remember what we learned in Ezekiel 16. The spiritual fruit of love requires adversity. You will never know self control unless you are in situations where you might lose control. That’s Babylon.

Kirk Lazarus wisely warned, “You never go full idolater.” God protected His nation. Don’t argue with where God places you – it may be to save you from sin.

#2 Egypt Is Always Bad
Because The Lord Delivered You From There (v22-24)

Egypt illustrates the flesh. The “flesh” refers to the inherent human inclination toward sin and opposition to God’s will. When you believe Jesus for your salvation, you receive a new spirit and the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. However, your new spirit and the Holy Spirit dwell within your earthly physical body. You quickly find that “the good that [you] will to do, [you] do not do; but the evil [you] will not to do, that [you] practice.”

We will struggle with the flesh daily until the Lord takes us home or returns to give us new, heavenly bodies and end sin forever.

The closing verses give us a glimpse of future glory.

Ezk 17:22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.

Ezk 17:23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.

In the riddle, the highest branch represents the king, and the “prominent mountain” refers to the hill where Jerusalem stands. This is the future reign of the Messiah, who we know is Jesus.

Ezk 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.”

It reminds me of the Christmas story, The Three Trees. Though humbled when they were not crafted into anything grand, they were later exalted as the wood for the manger, the fishing boat of Galilee, and the Cross.

Humility is a theme running all through the story of Jesus:

He humbled Himself in the Garden of Eden, promising to be the Seed of the woman who would redeem Creation & Created.
He humbled Himself in coming as a man who will remain fully God and fully man for all eternity.
Ultimately He humbled Himself by dying on the Cross for our sins.

From eternity to eternity, Jesus is humble. When I’m not humble, I’m not like Jesus. When something or someone lacks humility, that’s not Jesus.

Egypt beckons. It’s like the sirens in mythology whose enchanting singing lured sailors to shipwreck & death.

We are always on the verge of “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…” (Galatians 5:19-21).

Christian recording artist Keith Green asked, “So you wanna go back to Egypt?”

We all do from time-to-time. There is no religion, or psychology, or politics, or philosophy, that is at all helpful in your Christian walk. Our help comes from the Lord. He goes to great lengths to design our circumstances so that we might be planted there and bear fruit by abiding there. Not so we can turn aside and become shipwrecked.

We can finish with this quote from Edwin Lutzer:

“Christians today are faced with at least three ways to respond: (1) Assimilate the secular culture, (2) Isolate from the secular culture, or (3) Engage the secular culture. In light of the Gospel, the only choice for the Christ follower is to engage.”

Substitute the word abide for engage and get to bearing fruit where you’re planted.

You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, But Harlot, Look At You Now (Ezekiel 16:1-63)

January 5, 2025

“From rags to riches.”

It’s a genre beloved by every generation and culture that values great storytelling.

Cinderella immediately comes to mind. But which version? There are at least 345 variants of the story in Europe. The Brothers Grimm version is dark. To fit into the slipper, one stepsister cuts off her toes, and the other cuts off her heel. Both are exposed when the birds alert the prince to the blood in the shoe.

Israel is a rags to riches story told by the LORD.

The LORD found an abandoned baby, saved her life, and gave her a future. As she grew into a beautiful young woman, they became betrothed and later married.

Finish this sentence: “So they lived ___________ .”

Here is how it is finished in Ezekiel. “So they were married and Israel proved herself to be an insatiable idolater, an adulterous wife, a brazen harlot, and a murderer of her own children.”

Would the Babylonian invasion be the stoning she deserved for being caught in her adultery?

Israel was faithless but God remains faithful to keep His promises. In verse sixty we read, “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.”

We’ll start with the baby, in verses 1-6.
Next Israel is betrothed, in verses 7&8.
Next, Israel is the LORD’s bride, in verses 9-11.
Next, she is His wife, in verses 12-14.
After that the once beautiful bride is a “brazen harlot,” and a “sister” to the city of “Sodom.”

Ezk 16:1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 16:2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Captain America calls SpiderMan “Queens” because that is where he is from. Throughout this chapter Ezekiel addresses Israel, all 12 tribes, as “Jerusalem.”

This story is about Israel, and that ain’t us. But does the Lord love us any less? Are not you & I chosen by Him? Do we not start-out being born again, as babes in Jesus Christ? Are we not betrothed?

And, regrettably, are we not capable of spiritual adultery & harlotry?

Ezk 16:3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: “Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

Jerusalem was a Canaanite city in the Promised Land. The Israelites could not capture it until David came along.

Jesus, the greater son of David, will establish Jerusalem as the world’s capital during the Millennial Kingdom and into eternity. The “New Jerusalem” is the heavenly city we should anticipate along our pilgrim journey home.

Ezk 16:4 As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

Ezk 16:5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.

Some birth customs are listed. This isn’t a class on 6^th century Bible Manners & Customs. It is a poignant plea for God’s beloved to repent and return.

Has anyone here, maybe a fire-fighter, found an abandoned baby? What would it be like? In a word, it would be emotional.

It’s important to avoid attributing unbiblical traits to God, but we shouldn’t be so cautious that we overlook God’s emotional depth. The narrative begins with a vulnerable infant that affected the LORD. It is intended to tug at our heartstrings.

Ezk 16:6 “And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’

In the story, this two-fold exclamation to “Live!” is a shout expressing a two-fold commitment to provide life, and to provide a life for this baby.

Humans are born physically alive but spiritually dead due to sin. God offers spiritual life through Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose again to bring many to glory.

The baby to whom the LORD gave life grew and was betrothed to Him.

Ezk 16:7 I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

Israel was “naked and bare” as the baby. The LORD had taken her in to grow into this beautiful woman.

Ezk 16:8 “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD.

In the Bible, the act of spreading one’s garment over another symbolizes a legal engagement. Ruth asked Boaz to take her under his wing, requesting him to marry her.

Couples still try for outrageous marriage proposals. You can forget scuba diving and skydiving. Russian Alexey Bykov staged his own death to propose to his girlfriend, Irena. He hired a film director and stuntman to orchestrate a fake car accident, complete with an ambulance. When Irena arrived and believed he had died, Alexey emerged to propose. She said “Yes!”

Here comes the bride!

Ezk 16:9 “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.

Ezk 16:10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk.

Ezk 16:11 I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck.

If you are a believer, you are “cleansed with the washing of water by the word, that Jesus might present you to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that you should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27). Charles Swindoll writes, “Just as clear, fresh water cleanses our bodies, God’s written Word washes us clean deep down inside our souls. It purifies our thoughts, scrubs our motives, and cleans our conscience as we absorb it and obey its truths.”
You have been “anointed” by receiving the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. You are a light to the world that can never exhaust its supply of oil.

You have been clothed with a robe of righteousness. You receive it by grace at the Cross. The Lord gives you this robe in exchange for the filthy garments you wear. The Lord then adorns your robe with the good works He performs through you (Revelation 19:8).

Ezk 16:12 And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.

Body piercings are biblical!

Ezk 16:13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty.

Ezk 16:14 Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord GOD.

Wow! Talk about an extreme makeover! What more could the LORD have done?

What more could Jesus do for you than He has already done?

Ephesians 1:1-14 lists numerous spiritual blessings Christians have in Christ:

From God the Father (v3-6) we are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (v4); holy and blameless in His sight (v4); predestined for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ (v5); grace freely given in the Beloved (v6).

Through Jesus Christ (v7-12) we have redemption through His blood (v7); forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (v7); the mystery of His will revealed to believers (v9); all things united in Christ, both in Heaven and on Earth (v10); and an inheritance as God’s people (v11).

By the Holy Spirit (v13-14) we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing salvation (v13); a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until redemption (14).

From here on is about a 15 minute read. We’ll need to summarize. Two scathing descriptions of Jerusalem dominate the verses:

From verses 15 through 41 the LORD calls His wife a “harlot” ten times.
The cities of Samaria & Sodom are called Jerusalem’s mother & sister from verse 46 through verse 55.

Drop down to verses 20&21. We see the depth and depravity of Israel’s whoredoms.

Ezk 16:20 “Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter,

Ezk 16:21 that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire?

We’ve discussed infant sacrifice. Molech’s idol had outstretched, red-hot arms where babies were placed to burn. There was no wriggling, no screaming. The parents first killed their baby, probably by slitting his or her throat.

Why would someone kill a baby? Why would they celebrate killing a baby as a right? Why would a society allow it to happen?

Shouldn’t God do something about it?

The LORD delineates Israel’s whoredoms from verse 22 through verse 43.

God condemns sexual sin and judges it. The narrative here is not about a judge but a husband whose spouse is unfaithful. He reveals the profound emotional pain caused by her betrayal.

Adultery is a profoundly injurious sin. So grievous is its impact that Jesus acknowledged it as providing biblical grounds for divorce, despite God’s deep hatred of divorce.

Drop way down to v44… In the next long section, through verse fifty-eight, the LORD calls the cities of Samaria and Sodom Jerusalem’s “mother” and “sisters.”

It’s common to rank cities, e.g., best and worst places to live. I’ve previously mentioned that my hometown, San Bernardino, is currently considered the worst city in California.

Jerusalem held that honor and was worse even than Samaria & Sodom.

What was so bad about Samaria? When Israel split and became two nations, King Ahab established Baal worship in Samaria.

God prescribed the way He was to be worshiped in the Old Testament. We have great freedom in the New Testament, seeing how our physical bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. But the gathered church is also the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We must be mindful to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

A megachurch pastor put on a Die Hard themed Christmas service where he reenacted a famous scene. Dressed as John McClane, he emerged from an air duct and lit a cigarette.

Drop down to verses 49&50…

Ezk 16:49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Wait… I thought that homosexuality was the cause of Sodom’s destruction? Folks who think homosexuality is not condemned in the Bible use this verse. Keep reading!

Ezk 16:50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.

The Hebrew word translated abomination is the same word that appears in Leviticus 19:22, where it most definitely is homosexuality.

Biblical marriage is a covenant of companionship between one biological man and one biological woman in a monogamous, heterosexual relationship intended to last a lifetime. This union is characterized by mutual submission to God and to each other in their respective biblically defined roles as husband and wife. Sexual activity is to occur exclusively within this marital relationship.

Verse 53…

Ezk 16:53 “When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them,

Sodom & Samaria will be restored when Israel is restored in the Kingdom of God on Earth.

A material Kingdom, ruled by Jesus after His Second Coming, with Jerusalem as its capital, is going to be established for one thousand years.

Verse 60…

Ezk 16:60 “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

Ezk 16:61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.

Ezk 16:62 And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD,

Ezk 16:63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Despite their unfaithfulness, God will keep His unconditional promises. During the final days of the Great Tribulation, two-thirds of the Jews will perish, and the surviving third will hide. On the brink of extermination, they cry out to the Lord. Jesus comes, glorified and glorious, and saves them as they receive Him.

We want our judges to be impartial & unemotional in applying the law. God is more than Judge. The Father is husband to Israel, and Jesus the Bridegroom to the Church.

When we yield to sin, we break God’s Law; Do we not also ‘break’ God’s heart?

Wildwood & Vine (Ezekiel 15:1-8)

December 29, 2024

I thought that it would make great kindling.

A neighbor in San Bernardino was replacing an old wood shingle roof. Whose responsibility was it growing up to tell me that wood shingles are coated with a mixture of deadly chemicals?

Grape branches are mentioned as kindling in our text.

The LORD says, “it is thrown into the fire for fuel” (v4). He wasn’t advising them about good sources of kindling. It was an illustration. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (v6).

Israel was God’s vineyard. In Psalm 80 we read “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land” (v8-9).
Israel was no longer God’s well-tended vineyard. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?” (Isaiah 5:3-4).

The Jews had gone from the Exodus to exile.

Israel was more like a wild vine of the forest whose fruit was of no value. Might as well burn it.

You can’t read this and not think of what Jesus said to His disciples. “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6).

Fruit? or Fire? Its your choice! I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Your Yield Depends Upon Your Yielding, and #2 Your Burning Comes From Your Burdening.

#1 Your Yield Depends Upon Your Yielding

(v1-6)

The most well known list of a believer’s spiritual fruit is in the apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love.” “Love” is the fruit and the rest describes different expressions of love. Love is “joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

This isn’t an exhaustive description of love. Another that we are familiar with is, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (First Corinthians 13:4-8).

Ezk 15:1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

It’s good to go to the Word; the Word ought to come to you as well.

Expect to ‘hear’ from the Lord. Listen for His still, small voice. Pay attention to the Lord showing you truth through illustrations from your own experiences. For lack of a better word, be interactive. Of course, test everything by the written Word. But don’t forget that God took the initiative to contact us. He invites & enjoys dialog with you.

Ezk 15:2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?

I looked-up the structure of a grapevine. We would probably correctly id the roots and the trunk. After that, not so much. For example, what we call “branches” consists of the cordon, the cane, the shoots, the leaves, and the tendrils. That endpoint is where the clusters of grapes grow.

Annual pruning focuses on removing unnecessary or unproductive canes and shoots to ensure the remaining buds and shoots can produce high-quality fruit.

Careful readers will notice that the LORD is asking Ezekiel specifically about “the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest.”

Perhaps Ezekiel had walked among the mighty cedars of Lebanon before his captivity in Babylon. He came upon a wild grapevine. In that forest setting the LORD asked, “What is grape wood good for?” Before Ezekiel could answer, the LORD tells Ezekiel what it is not good for:

Ezk 15:3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on?

The original Hebrew is a little more lyrical. It translates, Grape wood, huh, yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, say it again.

You crafty ladies can weave grapevines into wreathes. When we first moved to rural Kings County from big city San Bernardino, one of the ladies in the fellowship invited Pam to make grapevine wreathes. Who would say “No” to that?

Pam noticed they were driving away from town and not to a store. Somewhere along Hwy 43 they pulled into a vineyard and headed up a dirt access road. They came to a pile of pruned grapevines. As if the whole thing wasn’t already like Green Acres, the gal started making wreathes right then and there. Pam asked if it was allowed. “Sure! People do it all the time.”

I guess they don’t do it all the time when the owner is there. He pulled up to them on a quad and asked them what they were doing. Pam was mortified. All she could think of was a headline reading, Pastor’s Wife Arrested for Ag Theft.

The Jews didn’t use pruned grape branches ever for building, not even as a peg.

Ezk 15:4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work?

Ezk 15:5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

No one gathered grape wood for kindling because it burns too fast. It’s like the Christmas tree I tried to burn in our fireplace in Running Springs. Again, Who was responsible to tell me about chimney fires?

What is the one thing grape branches are good for?

They bear fruit. In our case, they bear the fruit of the Spirit, which is love.

Describing His vineyard, “[The LORD] dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes…” Who does everything in the vineyard?

Fruit is produced without any effort by the branches.

I don’t look out at my two pomegranate trees and comment, “Man! Those pomegranate branches are really trying today! Look at them sweat!”

I didn’t buy pomegranates from SaveMart and show them to the branches, to shame them.
I didn’t buy a bottle of POM juice so my branches would have a goal.

Dan Kimball said,”The fruit of the Spirit wasn’t intended to be a list of goals for us to produce. It is the Holy Spirit through us who produces fruit.”

“So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.”

The LORD’s expectation for every believer is that you will “bring forth good grapes.” Everything you need to produce abundant fruit is already provided. Conditions are perfect. All you do – all you can do – is yield by believing.

How do we instead “bring forth wild grapes?”

When the apostle Paul insisted that the fruit of the Spirit is love, he said its antagonist was the works of the flesh. The works of the flesh that Paul lists are things like “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

When you believe and are saved, you receive a new nature, and you receive the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Your physical body remains unredeemed. You will be in a fierce struggle between the flesh and the Spirit until you receive your resurrection body. It will happen when Jesus comes to resurrect the deceased believers of the Church Age and rapture all living believers.

If anything on the list of “the works of the flesh” describes you or I, we are “in the woods,” spiritually speaking. We are yielding to the flesh.

There is something else that we must beware of that is not as obvious. Also in Galatians the apostle said, “This only I want to learn from you: 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?” (3:2-3).

You need not wonder what this is like. Read the circular letter Jesus wrote to the church in Ephesus in the Revelation. He listed a bunch of their good works, but He threatened to cancel their witness because they had left their first love for Him. The Ephesian Christians were doing works that seemed good, but they were doing them without love.

You and I can spend our entire Christian walk as pre-transformed believers being content to be wild, forest grapevines producing little or no fruit. Charles Ryrie noted, “That a Christian can be characterized as carnal cannot be denied, simply because the text of First Corinthians 3:1-3 says there were carnal believers at Corinth. Paul addresses these people as ‘brethren’ and ‘babes in Christ,’ then he describes them as ‘men of flesh’ and ‘fleshly.’ So there were carnal or fleshly Christians in Paul’s day.”

Let’s get practical and take a peek inside the marriages of believers to amplify the scope of what we are saying. I’ve done my share of sitting down with couples in crisis. It doesn’t take long to realize that one or both of them is not bearing spiritual fruit. They are most definitely not joyful, peaceful, longsuffering, kind, good, faithful, gentle, or self-controlled. They are not “bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things” (First Corinthians 13:7).

Your marriage is a vineyard where God expects to find fruit because of what He has done.

“What more could He have done that He has not done in order that you would bear fruit?”

All of the descriptions of love assume you will be in adverse circumstances. If the fruit of the Spirit is self-control, you will need to be in situations in which you would lose control if you were depending on your own efforts.

A.B. Simpson said it best: “Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in Heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now.”

#2 Your Burning Comes From Your Burdening
(v6-8)

When you get saved, you see what can be, unburdened by what has been.

Jesus did invite us to be unburdened. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

In context, Jesus was talking about the religious burdens heaped upon the Jews by their leaders. “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden” (Matthew 23:4 NLT).

Let’s not be like them. Let’s say, “Go, and sin no more,” when a person deserves to be stoned.

Ezk 15:6 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

The Jerusalem Jews could have repented, turning to God from their idolatry. They refused.

Ezk 15:7 and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. If they escaped the sword, they would perish by the famine; if they escaped the famine, they would be led away captives to Babylon.

Ezk 15:8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord GOD.”

“Persistent unfaithfulness” is a tragic but accurate diagnosis of the nation of Israel throughout a great deal of her history. Has God abandoned His people? Look to the East. Israel is a nation once again, in the Promised Land. She is the epicenter for the End Times. All Israel will be saved. They will recognize Jesus as their Savior.

What about the fire? Is this eternal, Hell-fire & brimstone?

No, it is not. Earlier we quoted Jesus. “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6).

How does Jesus “abide in believers”? By the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
How long does the Spirit’s indwelling last? In John 14:6, Jesus promised, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever…”

If you have God the Holy Spirit, you will have Him “forever.”

Christianity uniquely emphasizes that God Himself dwells within believers through the Holy Spirit.^[1] Buddha doesn’t live in you… Krishna doesn’t live in you… Muhammad doesn’t live in you… Joe Smith doesn’t live in you.

These verses cannot be about losing or forfeiting the gift of salvation. They are about believers bearing fruit. You can “do nothing” apart from Jesus. What can you do with Him? All things He asks or commands, by believing and not by effort.

The Ephesian believers would 100% agree they could do nothing apart from Jesus. Even as they said it, they were doing everything without Jesus!

There are four not-so-secret ‘secrets’ to a believer bearing spiritual fruit:

Pray without ceasing.
Read your Bible in a way that it is reading you.
Immerse yourself in a local fellowship that holds to the inerrancy & the authority of the Bible.
Tell others that Jesus lives! and that He is coming back at any moment.

These are not burdens. You can burden yourself, or heap burdens on others. Or you can believe the Lord and bear fruit like you believed Him for salvation.

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References
↑1	John 14:16-17, First Corinthians 3:16

We Three Saints Of Righteousness Are (Ezekiel 14:12-23)

December 15, 2024

I woke up to the distant, rhythmic pounding of battering rams. It never stopped. My stomach cramped from hunger. It had been days since I’d eaten more than scraps of stale bread. Potable water was scarce. Most of the population had been drinking from puddles of who knows what.

I stepped outside. Emaciated citizens lined the streets. Is that how I looked? Rotting corpses lay all around, too many to bury. Dogs, no longer pets, prowled in packs, gnawing at edible flesh of the dead or of those yet alive too weak to resist. Rumors persisted of other wild beasts feeding in the night, though I (thankfully) had not seen or heard any.

I moved slowly, deliberately, in an attempt to remain unseen. People had grown desperate, assaulting one another. I turned down a narrow alley to avoid an altercation. Two men were struggling over a withered vegetable. The younger man struck the older with a stone, leaving him bleeding in the dirt. I don’t believe he saw me. I kept walking.

I passed by a doorway. Two women were attempting to ignite a fire using excrement as fuel. A butchering knife lay on the stoop, and a few bowls. As I approached I could see an infant’s lifeless body, his open eyes staring up at the sky, his cheeks sunken, his tiny body wasted away. I vomited on myself as I continued walking.

The Temple came into view. Firebombs had scarred its walls. Priests no longer sang or made sacrifices there. Months ago we ran out of animals to offer.

I climbed a crumbling staircase to the top of the wall and looked out. Well equipped and well fed soldiers stationed around the city ensured no one could escape. There was a sense they were anxious to begin pillaging.

On the 9^th day of the 4^th month, in Zedekiah’s 11^th year, the Babylonians finally breached the walls. Soldiers surged into the city. A long siege was always frustrating. They would take it out on people and property.

The city was aflame. Thick smoke choked the air, and the unmistakeable stench of burning flesh.

I ran, stumbling. Not to flee the city, for that was impossible, but to return to my family. Together we might have dignity at the very end.

The account of the ruin of Jerusalem is fictional but accurate. The prophet Jeremiah would write a lamentation, saying things like, “The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people. The LORD has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations” (Lamentations 4:10-11).

The judgment against Judah was imminent and inevitable. There would be no changing God’s mind. The time for national repentance was past.

Individual repentance was still possible.

The Church is nowhere to be found in this passage. In the 6^th century BC, the Church remained a mystery to be revealed in the 1^st century AD.

Does that mean we’re done?! No. There are gracious gleanings to collect for our spiritual nourishment & encouragement.

Of the many possible themes we might explore in our study, the one I believe Jesus has for us, is righteousness. The righteousness of three OT saints is highlighted.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Noah, Daniel, Job… And YOU Have Been Declared Righteous, and #2 Noah, Daniel, Job… And YOU Are To Display Righteousness.

#1 Noah, Daniel, Job… And YOU

Have Been Declared Righteous (v12-21)

► In the days of Noah God destroyed the world by water in a global flooding. Estimates are hard, but somewhere between several million or a billion perished. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. [He] was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.”

The few righteous were kept safe in the Ark while the unrighteous were destroyed. The 6^th century Jews thought of Jerusalem as a kind of Ark. they did not believe that the LORD would sink them.

► Daniel had been taken captive to Babylon in 605BC. The final siege would come in 586BC. During those nine years Daniel likely completed his Babylonian education, gained influence in the royal court, and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

What could be better than having a righteous Jew in a high government position to stem the tide of any further hostility? A century later that exact scenario would play out. When Queen Esther revealed she was Jewish, it saved the Jews from a holocaust.

Daniel wasn’t raised up for such a time as that. For all his position he was powerless to help.

► Job. It had to be Job. “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (1:8). You know the rest. The righteous suffer. Bad things do happen to good people, and to God’s people.

But after a few months, Job was restored. Surely what ever God would permit, is was not going to last long. Wrong.

We have presuppositions about God that are not derived from the Word. It is why we do think it strange when we fall into various trials.

Ezk 14:12 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

I wish these guys had explained exactly how the Word of the LORD came to them. We know there was a School of the Prophets established by Samuel around 1050BC. You would think lesson #1 is “How do I hear from God?” I want that syllabus!

Ezk 14:13 “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it.

I was hoping we could look at this as a universal principal governing all “lands.” The LORD says “When a land sins against me.” But the LORD outlines four specific judgments He would employ upon THE land, the land of Israel. This is specific to them.

Speaking of Israel, her existence as a modern nation in her ancient homeland is both a miracle and a fulfillment of many prophecies. If you’re among those who believe that God has transferred to the church His unconditional promises made to Israel, you need to change your mind. Amos 9:5 reads, “I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them.”

Ezk 14:14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.

We should talk about righteousness more often. It’s a word that has lost its impact from common use. I can’t help it, but I always think of Crush the sea turtle and him saying, “Righteous” to describe something gnarly. It is gnarly – but in a much more awesome way.

In its biblical use, righteousness is the condition of being morally right or justifiable, especially in God’s eyes.

Abraham wasn’t in this trio, but it is from him we learn that when a person believes God, “it is accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). You believe and you are declared righteous.

Martin Luther illustrates this in a story he called The Great Exchange.

Imagine a beggar standing before a king. The beggar is dressed in rags, covered in filth, and has nothing of value to offer. The king is clothed in the finest royal robes, full of glory and splendor.

Now picture this:

The king takes off his royal robe and places it on the beggar.
At the same time, the king takes the filthy rags of the beggar and wears them himself.

You don’t need commentary to understand what happened. In this exchange, the beggar gains the king’s wealth, honor, and status, while the king bears the beggar’s poverty and shame. The beggar did nothing to deserve this; he only received it as a gift.

Through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our sin is accounted to Him (He wears our “filthy rags”).
In turn, the Lord’s righteousness is imputed to us (we are clothed in His “royal robe”).

There is only one way to be saved. It is to believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ. OT saints were never ‘saved’ by the rites, rules, rituals, and overall religion of the Law of Moses. The Law was intended to show you your need of God’s free gift. Then the Law shows you how to live a righteous life.

Ezk 14:15 “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts,

It’s a little hard for us to relate to animal attacks.

Planning a trip to Bali? The Bartering Monkeys of Bali are living the thug life. They steal things from tourists and then barter them back for food.

In New Delhi, in 2007, many government buildings, temples and residential neighborhoods were overrun by Rhesus macaques. Deputy Mayor S.S. Bajwa was rushed to a hospital after being attacked by a gang of them. He died from head injuries sustained falling from his balcony during the assault.

Ezk 14:16 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.

Ezk 14:17 “Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it,

Ezk 14:18 even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

Ezk 14:19 “Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast,

Ezk 14:20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

Can you imagine going to a prayer meeting and finding Noah, Daniel, and Job there? Nevertheless no gathering of godly saints could change what was going to happen. Not this time.

Ezk 14:21 For thus says the Lord GOD: “How much more it shall be when I send My four severe judgments on Jerusalem – the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence – to cut off man and beast from it?

This was the unique 4-stage plan. The priests, false prophets, and Elders were bent on immorality and idolatry that exceeded that of their pagan neighbors. Like Ol’ Yeller, they had the slobberin’ fits and needed to be put down. For His part, the LORD was the best dog-gone God in the world. His providence would keep the plan of redemption on track. The Messiah would come through Israel, right on time.

I believe I confessed to you some time back that I once binge-watched the six-part Pride & Prejudice. Lady Catherine bemoans Elizabeth Bennet’s low station, and insists she must not marry Darcy. Elizabeth responds, “He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.”

Listen attentively: Everyone who believes is equally righteous.

This helps us understand the apostle Peter telling us that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, is “righteous.” He was declared righteous; he was a believer.

You are just as righteous as every other saint in either Testament.

#2 Noah, Daniel, Job… And YOU

Are To Display Righteousness (v22&23)

Why these three guys? What more do they communicate than righteousness?

They encourage us to be overcomers of the world, the flesh, and the devil:

Noah overcame the world – in a big way!
Job overcame the devil.
Can we say that Daniel overcame the flesh? I think so. The very first episode in his book involves him refusing to eat or drink “the king’s delicacies.”

These guys were declared righteous and then they were put on display by God as examples and models. “Consider My servant Job… or Noah… or Daniel… or YOU.

Ezk 14:22 Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it.

Ezk 14:23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord GOD.

The “remnant” in this case is not the godly remant that is always preserved in history by the powerful providence of God. The Bible Knowledge Commentary says,

Those who questioned the severity of God’s judgment would recognize its justice when they observed the evil character of the captives [the remnant] brought from Jerusalem. They would be forced to admit that these people did deserve to be punished and that God was not unjust.

The gem for us to discover and discuss is, “you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it,” says the Lord GOD.”

“God does nothing without cause” makes a great opening line if you are seeking to encourage a believer. It establishes the foundation upon which they can display righteousness.

Your circumstances, your situation, is “not without cause” as the Lord who has begun His work in you brings it to completion.

Do you have display cases at home? They are usually deep with several items in them.

Your life with Jesus can be understood as a series of display cases, or maybe one huge one. Jesus has chosen the perfect case. Working together, you & Jesus are to discover the good works He wants to display.

Some of you produce amazing crafts. Or maybe you are a builder. What if you had every possible tool, and access to all the finest materials? Would you utilize them?

In the opening verses of his letter to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…” He elaborates, saying you are chosen, predestined, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, lavished with grace, given insight into God’s will, promised an inheritance, given hope, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and assured of your eternal future. That list is not exhaustive.

The apostle Peter said the same thing: “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (Second Peter 1:3-4).

Every spiritual blessing…all things…You who are righteous can don’t all things through Jesus.

Calvary Hanford Transcripts

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