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

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.

Please Seize Me, O Lord, So I’ll Please You (Ezekiel 14:1-11)

Action movies typically end with fighting on at least two fronts.

• Aragorn led his force to the Gates of Mordor to distract the gaze of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Meanwhile Sam and Frodo were at Mount Doom to destroy the One ring.

• Luke Skywalker faced Darth Vader and the Emperor on the second Death Star. Han, Leia, and Chewbacca were on the forest moon of Endor fighting Imperial forces.

It’s not unusual for one of the fronts to involve the supernatural. Ron Howard’s Willow ends that way, as does Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood.  Both feature witches who must be overcome.

Christians are all too familiar with dual warfare.

We are at war in the material world, always with a supernatural component. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the believers in Ephesus, wrote, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (6:12).

Something we rarely consider: What if my battle is with the Lord? If I pressed you for a biblical example, it wouldn’t take you long to say Jonah or Jacob.

The 6^th century Jewish captives in Babylon were fighting a losing battle with the Lord. They’re idolatry and rebellion had just about exhausted the LORD’s longsuffering. The final blow against Jerusalem and its Temple was about to land.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 The Lord Besieges You, and #2 The Lord Beseeches You.

#1 – The Lord Besieges You (v1-3)

The LORD considered the Jews of Judah to be “estranged” from Him. He loves the Jews as a husband loves his wife. He pressured them in attempts to lead them to “Repent!”

The fall of the ten tribes in the north to Assyria in 720BC; the three Babylonian sieges of Jerusalem; the destruction of the town and the Temple; the 70yr captivity in Babylon. These were how God applied pressure.

Ezk 14:1  Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me.

Ezekiel previously mentioned 70 Elders. They were lay leaders to the exiles. The priests, the false prophets, and the Elders comprised the leadership. As the Elders began to hear rumors about the fall of Jerusalem, “some” sought out God’s true prophet.

At some point a person wants answers to life’s most important questions. Or at least the questions that are most important to them. We have the answer to all of them. Peace with God, and good will toward men, is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Dan Stone wrote, “We are programming for failure if we’re looking for ultimate answers in a non-ultimate realm, a realm that’s partial, fragmented, incomplete. We end up worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. We can do that as believers. The total answer is a Person, Jesus Christ. It’s part of God’s program to make us dissatisfied with what the temporal realm offers, so that we might seek life in Him.”

Ezekiel ministered out of his home. His audiences were never very large. The LORD measures impact differently than we do.

Ezk 14:2  And the word of the LORD came to me…

It would be interesting to know how long they waited on the LORD, and what they did until He began speaking to Ezekiel.

Ezk 14:3  “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

A quick reminder: Idolatry is when you believe that Jesus is insufficient for your joy and satisfaction. You decide that someone or something else will satisfy you.

You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “If you have your health, you have everything.” That’s patently false. Even if you are never sick a day in your life – you are going to die.

I once heard a testimony from a dying man. He said, “I would rather have AIDS and know Jesus, than not have AIDS and not know Jesus.”

It is essential to be future-focused in order to not covet and thereby set up your material idols.

At first the LORD spoke only to Ezekiel. He invited His prophet’s opinion. Should He entertain their seeking? Or was their sin so gross that the LORD was abandoning them?

Their sins were heinous. Nevertheless the LORD commands them to “Repent!”… that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD’ ” (v6,11).

Seeker friendly, seeker sensitive, are descriptions of pulpits that water down sin & the need for salvation in order to attract people. We should never dilute the Gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation.

There is a sense in which we should be seeker sensitive, seeker friendly. Since God reaches out to the most odious of sinners, we must be ready to be witnesses of His love & grace.

Who would be unwelcome by us, or turned away by us, because we are disgusted by their particular sin?

I’m not suggesting we ignore potentially harmful situations. We have policies in place to ensure the safety of our congregation and visitors. Especially our kids. That’s wisdom, not prejudice.

Let’s look upon unsaved sinners the way Jesus does. He’s knocking at their door, seeking them, doing all He can to capture their hearts for eternity.

When we are being besieged, we need to rule-out that our battle is with the Lord.

• Are we running from His will, like Jonah attempted? Prepare to be swallowed.
• Are we wrestling against His will, like Jacob did? He will give us a life-long limp.

I don’t want you to get into a spiritual fog, wondering if you are battling the Lord. It will be obvious. You’ll be in outward sin, a hypocrite, lying to others.

• You’ll be like Ananias & Saphira who, for the sake of receiving praise, lied to the believers and to God the Holy Spirit about the amount of money they were donating. God killed them.
• God killed believers in Corinth who were drunk, disorderly, and hoarding their food from the poor when the church gathered for the love feast prior to sharing in communion each Sunday evening.   

The Lord loves you so much that He reserves the right to kill you and bring you home to Heaven ahead of schedule.

⭆ You can’t win any battle with, i.e., against, the Lord.

⭆ You can win every battle with, i.e., aligned with, the Lord.

#2 – The Lord Beseeches You (v4-11)

• One commentator titles this section, “The condemnation of those who are set on idolatry.”
• Another calls it, “The certain judgment of the offenders.”

We agree – but keep in mind the Lord was beseeching them to “Repent!”

We explain repenting as turning to God from idols. One description of it says, “Repentance is not merely regret or remorse but a decisive change in mind and heart that results in a change in behavior. It is both a one-time act in salvation and an ongoing attitude in the Christian life.”

Christians can be reluctant to believe or receive that a person is truly repentant. We want to see the fruits of repentance. Jesus told us that if someone sinned against us 490 times in a day, we should forgive them. Jesus wasn’t establishing a limit of 490. He was employing hyperbole. But if we used that number, and assumed being awake 16hrs, we would sin against the person just short of 50 times each waking hour. Not much time to see any fruit. In fact, it would show the opposite. We need discernment.

Ezk 14:4  “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,

Ezk 14:5  that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’

The predicament that the Jerusalem Jews were in could only be resolved by the action of the LORD prophesying for centuries and then following through with material destruction and physical captivity. If there were any other way, God would have done it.

In your life, as God conforms you into the image of Jesus, there is no other way but the way He has set before you.

Jeremiah Burroughs wrote, “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

Dr. Francis Wells, a renowned heart surgeon, said, “There is something profoundly moving about holding a human heart in your hands. It is not just a pump; it is the essence of life, the rhythm of existence. It is a privilege and a wonder to work on something so fragile yet so resilient.”

God does more than “hold” a heart. He seizes it. The verb translated as “seize” is not a gentle one. It suggests that God will grab onto His people in order to pull them away from their idols.

Think the illustration through. God suddenly pierces your chest and seizes your beating heart. If that were to actually happen, you would freeze in place. He would have your heart, but you would be all ears.

Maybe you’ve had the experience of having to grip a toddler tightly as they race into traffic. God seizes your heart, or tries to, when He sees you headed for the broad way that leads to destruction.

It can have a physical component, both for unbelievers & believers. I have a very present memory of the Lord seizing my heart when I got saved. I knew that was dead inside, and yet I was alive and going to be struck dead. It was the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Ezk 14:6  “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.

God does not command you, not ever, to do what you cannot do.

• If you are not a believer, you can “Repent!” as the one-time act of salvation.
• If you are a believer, you can “Repent!” over-and-over again as the on-going attitude of your life in Christ.

If you can trust God to save you for eternity, you can trust Him to lead you for a lifetime.

Ezk 14:7  For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself.

Ezk 14:8  I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Think of any of the many Christian leaders who have fallen. Their fall becomes a warning “sign” and a modern-day “proverb.”

Ezk 14:9  “And if the prophet [the false prophet] is induced to speak anything, I the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

God doesn’t lie, or tell anyone to lie.There is a story in First Kings^[1] that explains how this kind of thing occurs. The LORD had determined that wicked King Ahab should be killed. We have no problem with that!

“And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.”

Who is God talking to? The Scripture definitely teaches that there are many supernatural beings and creatures in Heaven. It strikes us as odd that not all of them are good. Satan appears in Heaven, for example, in the Book of Job. The indication is that he and other malevolent, fallen beings are there often.

In more than a few passages there seems to be a Divine Council of supernaturals to whom God speaks. They’ve been given, by God, a measure of delegated authority to act upon the earth, and especially upon the human race. Such a meeting was taking place in the passage I just read. God asks for suggestions and something intelligent called “a spirit” says he can encourage the lying prophets to keep on lying. The LORD signs-off on it.

Currently the devil is the God of this world. Thank you, Adam & Eve. He is described as “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). I lie… You lie… the world is full of lies and deceit. God, Who cannot lie, permits lying on a massive scale in the current fallen condition of our world. He permits sin on a massive scale. He has a plan to overcome sin, and He is working it out.

God didn’t lie to King Ahab. You can’t say He made the spirit lie. If you want to accuse God of something, it would be that He allows free will. But, of course, we enjoy free will, do we not?

Ezk 14:10  And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired,

Ezk 14:11  that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

When we hear the term “search and seizure,” we think of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. It protects us from authorities conducting illegal searches and seizures.

Jesus searches our hearts…Jesus seizes our hearts.

For our own good, and for his glory, He is always conducting searches of our hearts, then using His considerable resources to seize our heart so that we might be drawn back to His love and grace.

Ask Us Your Questions, We’ll Tell You Our Lies (Ezekiel 13:1-23)

They drank the Kool-Aid.

On November 18, 1978, Jim Jones, founder & leader of the People’s Temple cult, orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana. More than nine hundred members “drank Kool-Aid” laced with cyanide.^[1]

We say a person or persons “are drinking the Kool-Aid” to refer to blindly accepting or following ideas, beliefs, or instructions without question.

The Jews in Jerusalem were drinking the Kool-Aid.

They were being served a steady diet of false, foolish prophecy from false, foolish non-prophets.

They were offering God’s people “peace when there is no peace” (v10, 16). Judah would experience  judgment, not jubilee.

Throughout our lives we are served a steady diet of false prophecy, bad religion, foolish philosophy, fake news, the hubris of humanism, corrupt politics, absurd scientific theories, etc., etc. Their proponents promise personal peace, but there is no peace outside of a relationship with God.

The devil is a liar, and the father of lies. He is the ruler of this world. You can expect there will be as much falsehood as is absolutely possible.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 The Liars Seduce You With False Peace, and #2 The Lord Sustains You With His Peace.

#1 – The Liars Seduce You With False Peace (v1-9 & v17-23)

It was the sixth century BC. About 120 years prior the Northern Kingdom, Israel, had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrian Empire. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was a vassal state to Babylon. Twice the Babylonian forces had descended upon Jerusalem. They threatened to come a third time to loot & level the walls and the Temple. What should the Jews do?

God’s major prophets were Jeremiah, in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon. They urged Judah to submit to mighty Babylon. If they refused, or tried subterfuge, the Temple & the City would be destroyed and the casualties & captives would be extensive.

False prophets were promising that the LORD would never allow the Temple to be razed to the ground. He would… He did.

Ezk 13:1  And the word of the LORD came to me…

How did the Word come to OT prophets? By Direct Speech; in Visions; in Dreams, by Angel Messengers; and by Inner Inspiration.

God’s Word and the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit are everything you require to obey Jesus and live a godly life. That does not negate God from communicating in these other ways Remember two things:

1. If you, or someone else, claims God spoke to them in one of those ways, what was said must be tested using the canon of Scripture.
2. There is no office of the Prophet in the NT Church – only the gift of prophecy.

Ezk 13:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ ”

Your unregenerated heart “is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Any human attempt at self-knowledge, or self-improvement, or salvation, will fall way short. It’s not wrong to call them lies.

• Sigmund Freud – “Liar!”
• Joseph Smith – “Liar!”
• Charles Darwin – “Liar!”

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

John Flavel wrote, “By entertaining of strange persons, men sometimes entertain angels unawares. By entertaining strange doctrines, many have entertained devils unawares.”

Ezk 13:3  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

Ezk 13:4  O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.

Ezk 13:5  You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD.

This is a typical stone wall protecting  a vineyard. The cute but cunning foxes squeeze through weak spots to devour the fruit.

Vice-President Harris was criticized for not visiting the border when it was her responsibility to oversee it.

The non-prophets didn’t visit the proverbial wall. They didn’t do much of anything that contributed to the good and growth of the Jews.  Later the LORD will say, “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” (22:30).

Charles Spurgeon commented, “God will hear His people if they can but stand in the gap; but there must be one to plead, there must be a heart that feels, a man who is heart-broken with sorrow for sin, and therefore comes to God with holy boldness to ask Him to be merciful. Where are such intercessors now?”

Ezk 13:6  They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.

One of our standards for judging a ministry is encapsulated in the question, “Is you sent? Or did you just went?”

The person or Bible study or Church you are considering, What is its story? You’re going to find that many groups are really splits, formed out of division. That doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t get involved, or that the Lord won’t bless the work. But talk about red flags!

Ezk 13:7  Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says’ but I have not spoken.”

Ezk 13:8  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 13:9  “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

They would be cast out, treated as if they had never been born to Israel.   

Does that seem harsh? It isn’t. Like everything He does, God’s discipline is perfect.   

Drop down to verse seventeen…

Ezk 13:17  “Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them,

Ezk 13:18  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?

We could call them ‘non-prophetesses,’ but the greater emphasis is on their occult practices.

These black magic women wore charmed clothing. You recognized their adherents by their veils.

Some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) really do wear a type of sacred undergarment – the Temple garment. Magic Mormon Mentionables come in a two piece, or you can get a onesie.

Mormons testify how their underwear saved their lives in car wrecks & natural disasters. Think of it as spiritual Kevlar.

Ezk 13:19  And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?”

“Barley” & “bread” were payment for occult services. These were not valuable commodities until the final Babylonian siege. It lasted 18 months and brought starvation.

I want you to note something. The LORD flat-out tells us that there was a change in His administration of providence. Some who were foreordained to live, died; and some foreordained to die, lived. God reacted to the free-will choices of His people. If you think I’m looking for verses that fortify our position on free-will, I always am!

Ezk 13:20  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds.

Ezk 13:21  I will also tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Moving here in 1985 from Southern California, there was a lot to learn. Like the opening day for dove hunting. I heard gunfire; I thought it was Red Dawn!

The LORD portrays the false prophets as hunters going after prey. Christian, you are being hunted, and will be all your live-long days. Snares and traps and fiery darts and stumbling blocks are just a few of the ways malevolent supernatural beings are seeking to capture and kill believers.

Aragorn described the Nazgûl who were seeking the One Ring of Power. He told Frodo, “They will never stop hunting you.”

Believers are unusual prey. We don’t run, or hide, or withdraw. We stand, or at least that is what we can do. Our weapons are spiritual. Spiritual strength is measured by our corresponding weakness and subsequent dependence upon Jesus.

Ezk 13:22  “Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does not turn from his wicked way to save his life.

Their message had the exact opposite effect of the Word of the LORD:

• The liars lulled the unrighteous into a false spiritual security. Don’t worry; be happy was the #1 song on their playlist.
• The righteous were “sad.” One commentator explained, “They had used deceptive and counterfeit means to dishearten the righteous, pulling them into their cultic snare and influence.”

Are you sad? It might be that you are allowing someone or something unbiblical to influence you. Prayer is an example we can all relate to. You pray, yet seemingly nothing happens. If you are not careful, lies will overwhelm you. You’re not worthy… God doesn’t hear you… You’re not saved…

Or maybe suffering comes into your life. Why, God? Why me?

Ezk 13:23  Therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

The LORD lets things go on longer than we think He should, and longer than we would like – especially if we are being adversely affected by them. He has His divine timing.

Eventually He shuts down Madame Sophia.

#2 – The Lord Sustains You With His Peace (v10-16)

When I sold title insurance in Riverside & San Bernardino Counties, the Realtors I dealt with had a slogan. “Sellers aren’t tellers, and buyers are liars.”

You may have had the experience of purchasing a home only to discover that its condition is not as advertised. New homes are not exempt.

Ezekiel tells us about shoddy construction on a wall.

Ezk 13:10  “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace – and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar –

We enjoy a love relationship with God. He is spiritually jealous over us. When we begin to entertain things in our lives that are false it is spiritual adultery.

Ezk 13:11  say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down.

Ezk 13:12  Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’ ”

False teaching constructs a brick wall without mortar that is finished by a thin plaster coat. Looks good; won’t last.

The false prophets assured them that the city, its wall, and the Temple would stand. This false hope was the plastered-over brick wall without mortar. It was a veneer. A storm was coming, a violent storm in the person of King Nebuchadnezzar. They could have been strengthened by listening to Jeremiah & Ezekiel.

The always popular health and wealth false Gospel is a whitewash. You cannot speak into existence healings. Storms will hit your life. It will crumble unless you have sound doctrine.

Ezk 13:13  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it.

Ezk 13:14  So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 13:15  “Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is no more, nor those who plastered it,

Ezk 13:16  that is, the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ ” says the Lord GOD.

C.S. Lewis made this observation: “God cannot give us… peace apart from Himself because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

Do we sing,

He has made me sad,

O He has made me sad

I will lament for He has made me sad

God doesn’t make you sad.

George Müller, the 19th-century Christian evangelist and founder of orphanages, wrote, “The first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day is to have my soul happy in the Lord.”

Is your God the Lord?

If He is, then here is a word from Him, a prophecy in the sense of it being an encouragement.

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD

Psalm 144:15

All My Bags Are Packed, I’m Ready To Go (Ezekiel 12:1-28)

Do you know your sign?

You’re probably thinking horoscope. A horoscope is an astrological forecast based on the position of celestial bodies at the time of your birth. It involves the twelve zodiac “signs,” each representing specific birth periods throughout the year. Horoscopes are typically used for entertainment or self-reflection, although some people take them more seriously, believing they offer insights into character and destiny.

It’s not harmless fun. It is a form of divination, of which God said. The Bible expressly forbids divination, sorcery, and hidden arts. We see it in our text, in verse twenty-four, where “false vision” and “flattering divination” are condemned.

We aren’t talking about the signs of the zodiac…We’re talking about the sign of Ezekiel.

“I have made you a sign to the house of Israel,” the LORD said, and “Say, ‘I am a sign to you” (v4&11).

Where do we fit in? One of the sources I consulted said, “the Church is intended to be a visible and spiritual sign that points others to God’s character and redemptive purposes.”

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 If You Are A Believer, You Are ‘Signing’ The Redemption Of The Lord, & #2 If You Are A Believer, You Are ‘Signing’ The Return Of The Lord.

#1 – If You Are A Believer, ‘Sign’ The Redemption Of The Lord (v1-16)

American Sign Language imposters were unusually prevalent for a short time.

• The Nelson Mandela Memorial Service in 2013.
• The Tampa Bay Police Department press conference in 2017.
• A Hurricane Irma press conference in 2017.

God’s prophets are the real deal when it comes to signing. Ezekiel is perhaps the most well-known, but Jeremiah (and others) performed signs.

Biblical signs and symbols are one of my favorite things to talk about. Almost everyone gets it backwards. They think signs and symbols make the Bible more difficult to read and understand.

A great many believers balk at reading or teaching the Book of the Revelation. Too many signs & symbols, they say. Not true. The signs are all clearly defined, either in the book itself or elsewhere in the Bible.

Think of the purpose of signs in your daily life, e.g., traffic signs. Are they intended to confuse? Of course not! They clarify. And they are not subject to any independent interpretation.

605BC…597BC…586BC.

Those are the years in which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon as a captive in the second invasion. He was chosen by the LORD to be His prophet to the exiles who were already there, and to those who would come there.

A tiny bit of history is needful at this point. Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as ruler over Jerusalem. He was not the rightful king, and that’s why he is called a “prince” in verses 10&12.

Ezk 12:1  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Ezk 12:2  “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Another day, another rejection of the Word of God and its messenger.

Have you ever considered how many of God’s prophets were unsuccessful by human standards?

⭆ All you need to know about Jeremiah is that he was called “the weeping prophet.”

⭆ Isaiah was told his audience would refuse to receive the Word.

⭆ In his defense before the first century rulers of the Jews, the martyr, Stephen, would say to them, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers…” (Acts 7:52).

The LORD encouraged Ezekiel when He twice says the Jews are “a rebellious house.” Ezekiel was faithful to obey the LORD.

As a servant, the Lord looks for you to be faithful. You are accountable, but not responsible.

Ezk 12:3  “Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

The LORD was showing them what was about to happen. Nevertheless, it was not too late to repent! Ezekiel’s two-act, day/night drama might yet penetrate the rebellious hearts of the Jerusalem Jews.

We all have biases. That’s not always bad. Ours is to believe that God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (First Peter 3:9). Your understanding of the character of God influences how you approach and interpret His Word.

Ezk 12:4  By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity.

Ezk 12:5  Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out through it.

Ezk 12:6  In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground [We would say that he left “under cover of darkness”] for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

Jason Bourne frequently relies on his Go-bag, stashed with passports, cash, weapons, and supplies, as he is constantly on the run and needs to be ready to bug-out at a moment’s notice. Ezekiel ‘signs’ to the Jews a man bugging-out with his go-bag.

Ezk 12:7  So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight.

Ezk 12:8  And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 12:9  “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’

I wonder: Did these guys even try to understand the “sign”? I don’t think so. They probably wanted Ezekiel to simply tell them what the LORD said. Thing is, though, they consistently rejected God’s Word, or twisted it. Signs were the way to go.

Ezk 12:10  Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them.” ’

As I said, Zedekiah was not the rightful king of Judah. Ezekiel called him “prince.”

Ezk 12:11  Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into captivity.’

Ezk 12:12  And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes.

This story is told in Jeremiah and in Second Kings. All accounts agree.

Ezk 12:13  I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there.

Ezk 12:14  I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them.

Ezk 12:15  “Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.

“I will spread My net… My snare… I will scatter them.” Babylon would accomplish these things. The LORD was behind them, using them, to discipline His rebellious nation.

Don’t get upset about God using the godless to discipline His people. Being disciplined by God is a show of His affection.

“Yes, Gene, I get that. But their punishment was so harsh!” Was it though? What is a proper punishment for a nation that encouraged burning infant children on the molten-hot arms of an idol of Molech?

If Zedekiah was taken to Babylon, why didn’t he “see” it? Second Kings tells us why: “They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon” (25:7).

The LORD continued to bless and use the remnant of believers. You might recall that Nebuchadnezzar – who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace – saw a fourth Person. It was Jesus. Later Nebuchadnezzar was saved. He wrote a Gospel tract that was widely circulated.

Ezk 12:16  But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”

Do we not look upon the history of the dispersed Jews with wonder? In their discipline unbelievers see that there is a God Who loves them. Napoleon Bonaparte noted, “The existence of the Jews is proof of the existence of God.”

God’s plan is to redeem the Jews:

• Israel became a nation again.
• In the future they will enjoy a time of protection from the antichrist.
• Exactly half-way through the seven year Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the antichrist will launch the greatest persecution of Jews ever.
• Jews will be holed-up in Petra.
• They will finally call upon Jesus.
• He will save them, physically.
• The remnant that has survived will all be saved spiritually.
• The one-thousand year Kingdom of God on earth will begin.

A long time ago in a title insurance company far, far away, my bosses asked me to be involved in a pretty big lie. It was  worse than that; it was illegal. The Lord gave me the strength to say “I’m a Christian and I can’t do it.” I give Him all the glory for it. I kept trying to justify it. At that time in my life, that was a way to ‘sign’ what God’s redemption meant to me.

If we believe that the Lord is guiding our path, and that we are on it, then we need to talk to Him about our ‘sign’ where He has led us.

#2 – If You Are A Believer, ‘Sign’ The Return Of The Lord (v17-25)

Eschatology is the branch of theology that deals with the study of the last things. It’s almost always the last chapters in theology books. The apostle Paul taught it first in Thessalonica. Likewise the apostle Peter in his letters. Eschatology isn’t a curiosity, but a necessity.

Ezk 12:17  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 12:18  “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety.

Ezk 12:19  And say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: “They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dread, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of the violence of all those who dwell in it.

Ezk 12:20  Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

Small Jewish cities lined the way to Jerusalem. These would be the first conquered.

They would “know” because it would be the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy.

Ezk 12:21  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 12:22  “Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’?

Ezk 12:23  Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them, “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.

This is an OT way of saying, “Scoffers will come in the last days… saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”^[1]

Ezk 12:24  For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

Ezk 12:25  For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Any seeming delays do not nullify God’s plans. He’s waiting; His longsuffering waits.

Ezk 12:26  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 12:27  “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’

Ezk 12:28  Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Do you have a go-bag? It’s tough to limit it to bare necessities.

Do we have only the bare necessities and are we ready to go to another place? For us, it is not a departure to go into exile, but to the Father’s house.

Maybe then people will ask us why we live the way we do. Then we can point them to the wrath of God that is coming upon the world, and to the Savior Who can and wants to save from it. We can sign the hope that is in us.

⭆ Signing the return of Jesus can be as casual as you coming to Church Sunday & Wednesdays. Your neighbors see you going & coming while they mow their lawns. They’ve probably been to churches that turned them off… or had a bad experience… But there you are, excited to meet with the Lord & His peeps.

⭆ Signing the return of Jesus can be more formal. Right after I got saved, I made an appointment with my philosophy prof to share the Lord with him.

We can’t tell you how to apply this in your life. The Lord can, and He will if you talk to Him about it.

Total Exchange Of The Heart (Ezekiel 11:1-25)

• “The Zionists want to become a state. But there is no place for such a state in the Arab world.”

• “There are 30 million Arabs on one side and about 600,000 Jews on the other. Why don’t you face up to the realities?”

• “To support a Jewish state in Palestine would be to antagonize the Arab world and create serious difficulties for the United States in its relations with the Arabs.”

Those strong anti-Israel statehood comments were uttered by, respectively, Undersecretary of State Robert Lovett, Defense Secretary James Forrestal, and Loy Henderson, Director of the State Department’s Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs.

I’d be surprised if you recognized the names. They served President Harry S. Truman in the late 1940s.

The advice of his closest advisors was to not recognize the statehood of Israel.

The president went against the advice of his advisors. On May 14, 1948, just 11 minutes after they declared independence, Truman made the United States the first country to recognize the modern state of Israel.

“I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now,” said Truman. “I believe it has a glorious future before it – not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.”

The 6^th centuryJerusalem Jews in our chapter followed the bad advice of advisors.

Adopting a well-known Jewish adage, they assured the citizens “This city is the caldron, and we are the meat.”

The LORD responded, “These are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city…” Their bad advice would get thousands of Jews killed.

As we explore what was happening in 6^th century Jerusalem & Judah we will consider the effect that advice from advisors can have on us – for better or for worse.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1Proceed With Caution When You Receive Advice From Advisors, and #2 Proceed With Comfort When You Receive Advice From Your Counselor.

#1 – Proceed With Caution When You Receive Advice From Advisors (v1-12)

Twenty-five elders were giving terrible, horrible, no good, very bad advice to the citizens in Jerusalem.

King Nebuchadnezzar had twice invaded Judah, carrying off Jews to be exiled in Babylon. God’s prophet in Jerusalem, Jeremiah, was insisting that they submit to Babylon. The elders refused to consider it. They argued that God would never allow Jerusalem to be defeated & the Temple destroyed  He would… It was.

Ezekiel had been taken captive and brought to Babylon in the second of the three invasions. He was the major prophet to the Jews exiled there. We’re in the middle of a vision the LORD gave him.

Ezk 11:1  Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the LORD’s house [We’ve seen before that quite often God’s prophets were physically transported from one geographical location to another by the Holy Spirit; it was expected, even] which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men [These guys are a second group of twenty-five, not the priests we saw previously] among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

Ezk 11:2  And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city,

Ezk 11:3  who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.’

Both Jeremiah & Ezekiel were predicting a long captivity. In fact it would last 70yrs. These advisors brushed it off, giving a false hope that “The time is not near to build houses” in Babylon.

‘Caldron & meat’ was an adage employed when you wanted to emphasize that no matter the circumstances, you’d get through it safely. It’s a little like “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

The “caldron” was Jerusalem. The “meat” was the Jews. As long as you were in the city, you’d feel the heat but remain protected.

Ezk 11:4  Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”

Ezk 11:5  Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! [You may recall that Ezekiel was a voluntary mute for quite a while. He spoke only when the LORD gave him permission] ‘Thus says the LORD: “Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.

Ezk 11:6  You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.”

The advice of these men would result in multitudes being “slain in” Jerusalem.

Bad advice can be lethal.

We can substitute the word “counsel” for advice. Bad counsel can cause a great deal of spiritual harm. I’ve told the sad story of a Christian woman I visited in the Mental Health ward of San Bernardino Community Hospital. She was going through a financial hardship. She approached her church leaders. They told her she was in sin for asking. If she had faith, she would not be in the spot she was in. She attempted suicide.

Ezk 11:7  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it.

The LORD borrowed their illustration but gave it a different twist. Jerusalem was the “caldron,” alright, but not to keep them safe. Quite the opposite: Many in the city would die horrible deaths, as if they were dead meat boiling in the caldron.

Ezk 11:8  You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 11:9  “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you.

Ezk 11:10  You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 11:11  This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel.

The leaders insisted everything would be OK. But when the going got tough, they got going by trying to leave Judah. They killed by the sword.

Ezk 11:12  And you shall know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” ’ ”

God’s desire is that the Jews “know that [He] is the LORD.” Never forget when reading the Bible a bedrock principle that God is not willing that any should perish, but all come to eternal life. The LORD’s discipline would prove His love for the Jews, and preserve them to complete their abandoned  mission of being a blessing to every nation, tribe, people, and tongue on earth.

Believers should find the “customs of the Gentiles” appalling rather then appealing. Why don’t we?

Obviously there is the pull of sin upon our unredeemed physical bodies. A root cause we need to explore more-and-more is the fact that most believers do not enjoy their relationship with Jesus.

• Believers who are legalists do not enjoy Jesus. A legalist believes that their good works and obedience to God affects their salvation. Legalism focuses on God’s laws more than relationship with God. It keeps external laws without a truly submitted heart. And legalism adds human rules to divine laws and treats them as divine.
• Believers who are trying hard to live the Christian life in their own energy, rather than the enabling of the Holy Spirit, are not enjoying the Lord. My constant example of this is the plethora of self-help, how to live the Christian life books & programs. Promise Keepers, The Purpose Driven Life, The Prayer of Jabez, to name a few.

The first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

Enjoying God is a command, not an optional extra: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Even in the worst of times.

After the one ring had been cast into the fires of Mount Doom Frodo & Sam found themselves on a boulder that was floating on hot lava. Frodo said to Sam, “I’m glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.” It was tender and moving and loving and victorious.

“I’m glad to be with You, Jesus, here in my distress…or desertion… or diagnosis… In my disease… In the death or deaths of my loved ones. After all, nothing can separate me from Your love. In my human grief I suffer but not as those who have not the hope of Heaven. Contrary to how I may feel, You can never leave me or forsake me.”

#2 – Proceed With Comfort When You Receive Advice From Your Counselor (v13-25)

Jesus said that, after His departure, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

“Helper” can be translated “Counselor,” or “Comforter,” or “Advocate.” He is with you, and He is in you. We talk about Him coming upon you, filling you, and that’s OK as long as we remember that He is God, a Person, not a force or a power. He doesn’t come & go.

Ezk 11:13  Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

Fausett’s Bible Dictionary offers this explanation of Pelatiah’s sudden death: “Like Ananias, [he was] stricken dead [as] an earnest of the destruction of the rest.”

Ezekiel responded to Pelatiah’s death by having a moment in which his faith wavered. Would there always be a remnant?

Of course there would! Israel must exist or God’s program of redeeming the human race and His creation would fail.

Ezk 11:14  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 11:15  “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

Ezk 11:16  Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’

The 25 & others in Jerusalem, because they were not taken into captivity, felt themselves superior to the ‘suckers & losers’ who had been taken. But God would exit the Temple, no longer making His presence known there.  Meanwhile He would be what He calls “a little Sanctuary” for those He scattered all over the world. In other words, the exiles would enjoy a presence of God at least preserving them that those in Jerusalem would not.

Ezk 11:17  Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’

Ezk 11:18  And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.

This prophecy was partially fulfilled after the 70yr Babylonian captivity. Ezra, then Nehemiah, return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, the walls, and the city.

The ultimate fulfillment is currently underway. Jews are back in their land and have been returning since 1948. They have a name for it – “Aliyah.” The word “aliyah” is Hebrew for ascent or rise. Jerusalem is built on a hill, to get there you must ascend & rise.

New immigrants to Israel are called olim. Nearly 30,000 olim have ‘made aliyah’ since the current conflict began.

Ezk 11:19  Then I will give them one heart [The NT writers refer to this as being baptized into the Body of Jesus, being made one with every person who shares God the Holy Spirit’s indwelling] and I will put a new spirit within them [the “new spirit” is God the Holy Spirit] and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh. [Normally the word “flesh” indicates our unredeemed physical body with its propensity to sin. Here it simply refers to life. We are alive and functioning on some level even though born with a stone heart – a heart dead to God. When saved, God gives you a heart appropriate to your new life].

Ezk 11:20  that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

This is a promise of the literal, future one-thousand year Kingdom of God on Earth. At its start, all mortal Israelites who survive the Tribulation will be saved. (As well, all Gentile believers who survive). The Lord will give them, as promised, the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

When the 1^st century Jews said “No” to Jesus, God hit ‘pause’ on establishing the one-thousand year Kingdom on earth. We live in the pause. When a person believes God and is saved, he or she is an early recipient of the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary,“The inauguration of the New Covenant, which includes this permanent indwelling,^[1] began with the death of Christ,^[2] but the ultimate fulfillment awaits the national regathering of Israel. The church today is participating in the spiritual (not the physical) benefits of the covenant through its association with Jesus.”

Ezk 11:21  But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.

You are born with a fatal heart disease, Stony Heart. The only remedy is to call upon the Lord to be saved. If you, in the end, stand before God unsaved, you are asking Him to let you enter Heaven on the basis of your “deeds.” “Recompense” means punish. If you do not have Jesus as your Savior, your deeds are insufficient, and you must be punished. Jesus took upon Himself the punishment you deserve.

Ezk 11:22  So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them.

Ezk 11:23  And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.

A major theme in this vision was the departure from the Temple the glory of the LORD, Shekinah – the cloud that manifested His presence among His people. He left ahead of the Temple’s destruction.

Ezk 11:24  Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me.

Ezk 11:25  So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the LORD had shown me.

Ezekiel returned to “Chaldea” (Babylon), and shared what the LORD had shown him with his fellow exiles. They were his mission.

Darrell Mansfield was a pioneer of Christian rock. His song, Bible Study, is fascinating. A teenager is talking to his friends and at one point he says, “Now the house is empty and my folks are gone.”

What do they decide to do? “Hey! Let’s have a Bible Study!”

When you are in love, where do you want to be? You want to be with the person you love. You’re sick over being parted.

This does not mean you can never go anywhere or do anything that isn’t overtly Christian. It does mean that wherever you go, whatever you do, you can experience the love, joy, hope, and peace of God.

“Jesus, I’m glad you are here with me”

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory Of The Leaving Of The Lord (Ezekiel 10:1-22)

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’?

Most of us recognize that as the title & the opening lyric of the Alan Jackson song. He wrote it in reaction to the terror attacks on 9/11/2001. Have you noticed that when we talk about it, we always preface our comments by giving a short account of where we were when we heard the news?

September 17^th, 592BC is a date all Israelites ought to remember.

It is the probable date on which the glory of God exited His Temple in Jerusalem. To say it was a monumental day in Jewish history should top the list of the greatest understatements of all time.

The LORD dwelt among His people in the Holy of Holies, using the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat as a throne. The glory of God departs the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the Temple (10:4). It then moves from the Temple to the east gate of the Temple (10:18-19). Finally, it departs entirely from the city, pausing on the Mount of Olives (11:23).

Then glory was gone…and has not returned.

I’ve used a quote from A.W. Tozer too many times, but it’s so good. He challenges us, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the Church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference.”

Would we know the difference? The way I asked the question assumes that God the Holy Spirit has not already withdrawn.

God’s Temple departure gives us opportunity to examine the State of the Church. I’ll organize my comments around two questions: #1 Can You See God’s Withdrawing?, and #2 Can You Stop God’s Withdrawing?

#1 – Can You See God’s Withdrawing? (v1-17)

When Solomon dedicated the Temple we read, “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud [Shekinah] filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD” (First Kings 8:10-11).

Fast forward 400yrs. His people spiritually & physically have turned their backs to Him. They placed abominable idols in the Temple. Like Snagglepuss, God would “exit stage north.”

It’s hard for us to understand the scope of the LORD’s departure. This was easily one of the ‘darkest’ (pun intended) days in the history of Israel.

Not just Israel. Her task was to reveal the glory of God to all nations. What happens to Israel affects all human history profoundly.

Ezk 10:1  And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the Cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.

We saw this conveyance in the first chapter. We call it God’s Throne Chariot. It involves four supernatural beings, identified as Cherubim, supporting a platform upon which is a Throne for God.

Ufologists excitedly see the Throne Chariot as a spaceship piloted by alien astronauts. Among their arguments is that a 6^th century observer would have a difficult time describing spaceships.

They’re listening to way too much Coast to Coast AM Radio in the middle of the night.

Look at verse eighteen: “As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “Wheel.” When God uses symbols & signs, He usually defines them within a few verses. In this case, there is no symbolism. “Wheels” are defined as “wheels.” It counters any suggestion that he was describing chariots of the gods. This was the chariot of God – the God of the Bible.

Are UFO’s (and USO’s) ‘real’? Of course! But what are they? Everything about the UFO phenomena, including abductions, can be explained by fallen angels prepping humans for a great deception.

Ezk 10:2  Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the Cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.

Scattering the hot coals represents God’s judgment falling upon the city. It was a necessary, holy judgement. It couldn’t happen while the glory of the LORD was in the Cherubim.

Ezk 10:3  Now the Cherubim were standing on the south side of the Temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.

Ezk 10:4  Then the glory of the LORD went up from the Cherub, and paused over the threshold of the Temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’s glory.

Ezk 10:5  And the sound of the wings of the Cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.

Scholars are split over whether or not Jews in the Temple and the surrounding area could see these phenomena. In verse five we’re told it was “heard even in the outer court.” If it was “heard” it implies there were people who heard it.

Jerusalem is situated on a hill. The people in areas surrounding the city could have seen the radiance coming from the hilltop.

It would have been beautiful, but terrifying. Shekinah stayed put in the Holy of Holies.

Ezk 10:6  Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the Cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside the wheels.

Ezk 10:7  And the Cherub stretched out his hand from among the Cherubim to the fire that was among the Cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out.

Ezk 10:8  The Cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

This is an incredibly detailed description. True, it is hard to depict, and if you search for images they are mostly too weird. Ezekiel was not confused. He knew what he was seeing.

Ezk 10:9  And when I looked, there were four wheels by the Cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone.

Ezk 10:10  As for their appearance, all four looked alike – as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Ezk 10:11  When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went.

Ezk 10:12  And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around.

Ezk 10:13  As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “Wheel.”

I can almost hear someone asking Ezekiel what the wheels represent, and him answering, “They were wheels.”

Ezk 10:14  Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

In chapter one the Cherubim had faces of lion, eagle, man & ox. Here the ox is replaced by “the face of a Cherub.”  The simple answer is that the face of a Cherub looks like the face of a bull or an ox. Cherubs are not little baby angels with wings.

Ezk 10:15  And the Cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar.

Ezk 10:16  When the Cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the Cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them.

Ezk 10:17  When the Cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

It sounds like they had on the new  $400,000.00 helmets our courageous F35 pilots have.

Remembering back to 9-11, can you imagine a scenario where you saw the planes crashing into the World Trade Center and then went about your business as if nothing monumental had occurred?   

The Jerusalem Jews kept committing their abominations as if nothing of any real significance had occurred.

Unlike OT Israel, every NT believer receives the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t come & go.

What can happen is this:

• A believer who begins in the Spirit can try to live the Christian life in his or her own energy. The apostle Paul put it this way, “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).
• A Church that begins in the Spirit can, according to Jesus, leave their first love for Him. If it persists, the Lord says He will withdraw that Church’s “lampstand.” Intellect will begin to overwhelm intimacy. Thus it becomes works-oriented rather than grace-sufficient. D.L. Moody said, “The Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.”

You can see this shift. The Tozer quote has a second part: “If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

• Paul saw it in Galatia.
• Jesus saw it in Ephesus.

One of the great questions we hear every presidential election is, “Are you better off today than you were 4yrs ago?”

We can ask, “Am I farther along spiritually today than when I first was saved?” Or, “Is my life characterized by my plans for it or God’s?”

#2 – Can You Stop God’s Withdrawing? (v18-22)

There is something quite important to notice in God’s withdrawal. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says,

Successive steps are marked in His departure; so slowly and reluctantly does the merciful God leave His house. First, He goes up from the Cherub, whereupon He was, to the Threshold of the Temple (9:3); then He elevates His throne above the Threshold of the house (10:1); leaving the Cherubim ‘on the right side of the house’ (10:3). Then He mounts up and sits on the throne (10:4); He and the Cherubim, after standing for a time at the door of the east gate (10:18-19), where was the exit to the lower court of the people – leave the house altogether (11:2-3), not to return until Ezekiel 43:2.

Reluctant to leave, the LORD made significant pauses during His departure. He loved (and loves) Israel with an everlasting love. He desired their repentance. He made a spectacular exit, pausing. They paid it no mind. The pauses could have, as we say, “given them pause,” to repent.

We need to establish that this idea of our human disobedience causing pauses along the redemption timeline is Scriptural.

• God hit ‘pause’ for Abram. He was told to go to Bethel. He went, but on account of a famine, he headed to Egypt. It was a thirteen year pause until he got back to where he once belonged.

• God hit ‘pause’ for the Exodus generation. The Hebrews who Exodus-ed balked at the border of the Promised Land. Their refusal to go in stalled the Jews for a period of 40yrs.

In the NT, the apostle Peter has a rather unusual approach to the passage of divine time and it involves at least one very long pause.

• He first reminds us that what we consider to be a long time is a mere day with the Lord (Second Peter 3:8).
• Next he tells us that, although the Lord could come at any time, His longsuffering with sinners waits giving them opportunities to repent and be saved.
• While He is waiting, we are told we can “hasten,” meaning speed-up, His return.

Ezk 10:18  Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the Temple and stood over the Cherubim.

Ezk 10:19  And the Cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

After 400 years of being among His people, Shekinah was gone.

Ezk 10:20  This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were Cherubim.

Ezk 10:21  Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.

Ezk 10:22  And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.

Here is a quote from Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken: “The time has come for us to admit our insignificance by making discoveries in the infinite unexplored cosmos. Only then shall we realize that we are nothing but ants in the vast state of the universe.”

I prefer what David said: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet…” (Psalm 8:3-6).

The glory of God returned briefly when Jesus came. The apostle John said, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (1:14).

Jesus came preaching that the Kingdom of God on earth was at hand. It was; unfortunately the Jews hard-passed on Jesus being their King.

Their rejection marked the beginning of God’s longest pause.

Paul describes the pause in the last chapter of the Book of Acts, “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” (28:28).^[1]

Paul goes on to explain that God is using the salvation of Gentiles in the Church Age to make the nation of Israel jealous. In the end, with clarity and all Heaven’s authority, Paul said, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25-26).

He means ethnic Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.

We are living in the longest historic pause – The Church Age.

Let’s live continuing in the Spirit and rekindling our first love.

Inka Dinka Do You Have His Mark On You? (Ezekiel 9:1-11)

The Nazi’s tattooed the Jews held captive in Auschwitz for purposes of administration.

Combinations of numbers & letters communicated information about their time of arrival to the camp or transfers from another camp.

Holocaust survivors often speak of how the tattoo symbolized their loss of humanity and individuality during their time in the camps.

It wasn’t the first time in their history that Jews were ‘marked.’

In the sixth century BC a man with an inkhorn was sent throughout Jerusalem assigned to ‘mark’ Jews. But unlike the Holocaust, it was an exceedingly good thing to be marked. You wanted to be marked.

Those with the mark on their foreheads were the remnant of righteous Jews. They would be spared from being slain when the Babylonians came the third & final time to loot & level Jerusalem and the Temple.

The remnant to be supernaturally marked was marked by their “sigh[ing] and  cry[ing]” over the abominations that were done within” the Temple.

There doesn’t seem to be any direct corollary to make between the Jews being marked and Church Age believers being marked. We can, however, always contemplate versions of the question, “What is the mark of a believer?”

Let’s do that! I’ll organize my comments around two questions: #1 What Marks You In Public?, and #2 What Marks You In Private?

#1 – What Marks You In Public? (v1-8)

What is the mark of a Christian?

It’s not one thing, but there is one thing that Jesus said was fundamental. He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

The love Jesus spoke of would be observable.

Francis Schaeffer, in a small book appropriately titled, The Mark of a Christian, concludes, “The world has a right to look upon us as true Christians, and it should be able to observe that we do love each other. Our love must have a form that the world may observe; it must be seeable.”

You may not get around to reading Schaeffer, so let me tell you how he says you exercise observable love. “It means a very simple thing: It means that when I have made a mistake and when I have failed to love my Christian brother, I go to him and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ That is first. It may seem a letdown – that the first thing we speak of should be so simple! But if you think it is easy, you have never tried to practice it.”

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace; it cost God the Cross of Jesus Christ before He could forgive sin and remain a holy God… When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God.”

Among the things that are noteworthy about the marking in our Ezekiel passage is that it is based on observable public behavior. God knows the hearts of all men. You’d think He would have given the man with the inkhorn a list of names. No, he was tasked with observing their outward behavior.

Ezk 9:1  Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.”

Ezk 9:2  And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

He called for “six men,” who by their description and duties we understand to be supernatural, likely angels. They were the original Seal Team Six.

They are said to “have charge over the city.” Every now and then we get a glimpse of the supernatural:

• In the Book of Daniel we see that the angel Gabriel was detained by a mighty supernatural, called the Prince of Persia, until Michael the archangel came along to relieve him.
• Elijah asks God to open the eyes of his servant to see the heavenly armies surrounding and protecting them.
• Here in Ezekiel we see that six mighty angels had charge over Jerusalem.

Reading about these things some believers have concluded that there are territorial spirits and that we must identify them and go to spiritual battle against them.

That’s a huge unscriptural leap into weirdness.

Angels fight angels but we do not. If you want to do battle, you’re told how in the Revelation. We read of God’s saints, “they overcame [the devil] by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, they loved not their lives unto death.”

The angels who had charge over Jerusalem were reassigned to carry out judgment against the Jews. They chose from their armory “battle-axes.” They go through the Temple and the city slaughtering Jews.

About 200yrs before Ezekiel Jerusalem was besieged by the Assyrian army. One night as they slept, the Angel of the Lord went through their camp killing. In the morning, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were dead.

In our passage, they donʼt personally slaughter Jews. The Babylonian army will slaughter the Jews when the siege ends and they breech the walls. Ezekiel’s vision is a representation in Heaven of the LORD’s providential actions on Earth. This is what the overthrow of Jerusalem looks like in heavenly terms.

Ezk 9:3  Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the Temple…

The Temple was Solomon’s Temple – and it was magnificent. Its most amazing feature was Shekinah. That is what we call the radiant cloud that resided in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, on the Mercy Seat flanked by carved images of Cherubim. God was thereby among them.

Soon they would say, “God has left the building.”

Ezk 9:3  … And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side;

Ezk 9:4  and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

If you’ve had something notarized, the notary has a ledger and a pen and an ink pad for fingerprinting.

The full title of a Notary is Notary Public. This supernatural was one of, or maybe the only, Notary in Heaven. His work on this occasion was to notarize the public behavior of the Jews who sighed & cried.

Ezk 9:5  To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.

Ezk 9:6  Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the Temple.

We don’t need to act as if the wholesale slaughter of people, including women and kids, doesn’t trouble us. It should greatly trouble us.

Two things to consider:

1. Jeremiah distinctly said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live. This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ” No one need die. No women or children. They chose to allow their children to die.
2. These episodes serve as reminders that the God of the Bible is infinitely holy while we, by our own choice, are sinful. We chose sin and death.  Apart from Jesus, all of mankind is conceived in sin and death. God acted immediately to save us, enacting an ambitious plan that involves Him suffering on our behalf.

It isn’t remarkable that sinners would be slaughtered, but rather that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, and the majority reject it, choosing death.

• My first thought about tragedy shouldn’t be, “How could God allow this?”
• My first thought ought to be, “Thank you, Lord, that you’ve made a way out of this and into bliss!”

Ezk 9:7  Then He said to them, “Defile the Temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.

Nothing defiled a Jew more than contact with a dead body. This vision of the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the courts of the Temple would horrify even the most backslidden Jew.

The Jerusalem Jews thought it inconceivable the the LORD would allow His beloved city and its Temple to be destroyed. They were wrong.

Do you have any inconceivables? It’s not a fair question because often you don’t  know that you have an inconceivable until the inconceivable happens.

The question we must each ask of ourself is some variation of, “Are the things that ‘mark’ my public life consistent with how a Christian ought to be living in the Church Age?”

Should we be sighing and crying? Not necessarily. That was the mark of a believer in the sixth century BC. We live in a very different dispensation.

The apostle Peter encouraged us to behave according to our times. He said, “What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God… according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells… looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (Second Peter 3:11-14).

Schaeffer wrote, “The world is going to judge whether Jesus has been sent by the Father on the basis of something that is open to observation.”

A major observable mark is “holiness,” separation from the world. Not a withdrawal from the world, but keeping ourselves from being overwhelmed by it.

#2 – What Marks You In Private? (v8-11)

With the supernaturals off on their marking ministry, Ezekiel finds himself alone with the LORD. What was the prophet like in private? What ‘marked’ him?

Ezk 9:8  So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

Ezekiel only prays for the remnant. He understood that the time for the majority of Jews to repent was passed.

If a remnant did not survive, all of God’s plans would fall like a house of cards. The promised Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world would be God come in human flesh. The human flesh that He would come into was Jewish. Israel would produce the Messiah, the Savior. Ezekiel knew this, at least in part, and was worried that things were getting awfully precarious.

Where have we heard something similar to his prayer before? When God came with two angels who would go on to destroy wicked Sodom & Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded with God to not destroy the cities if ten righteous could be found there. He negotiated with the LORD, somewhat successfully in that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family were removed from the cities before they were burned.

Ezekiel was conducting a negotiation, or trying to. He would be altogether unsuccessful. We would put this in the bin marked, Prayers God said “No” to.

All of us have uttered prayers that we are glad God did not answer. Nevertheless, we still find it difficult that He is saying “No” to what we are asking for today.

Ezk 9:9  Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’

Following King Solomon’s death, Israel split into two countries: Israel & ten tribes to the north, Judah & two tribes to the south. The LORD sees both “houses” back as one nation.

Ezk 9:10  And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”

The LORD must punish sin. He would not be God if He were not holy, holy, holy. There could be no Heaven. No salvation.

He took upon Himself human flesh so He could die as the final sacrifice for sin, in our place. He substituted Himself for us. The result of Him being lifted up on the Cross at Calvary is that He has the power to draw all men to Himself. He is the Savior of the whole world – especially of those who believe.

Ezk 9:11  Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”

Mission accomplished – Remnant safe & sound.

Jews will be marked again. In the Revelation we are introduced to 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each from the 12 tribes. They are “sealed” on their “foreheads.” As a result, they cannot be harmed during the Great Tribulation.

I want to mention one other thing that marks a believer in the Church Age. The apostle Paul writes, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17).

Jesus had specific marks in His body, e.g., the wound in His side where the Roman soldier pierced Him on the Cross. Paul was beaten numerous times. He mentions receiving “forty lashes minus one” from the Jews on five occasions and being beaten with rods three times (Second Corinthians 11:24-25).

Francis Schaeffer said to start with forgiveness. Is there someone who’s forgiveness you need to ask? Are you unforgiving of anyone? As long as unforgiveness persists, believers and unbelievers will not observe the Lord in your life.

Who are you in private? Let the Lord show you what He observes in you. Repent as necessary.

Always bear this in mind: After grief for sin there should be joy for forgiveness.

Dig Dug (Ezekiel 8:1-18)

I don’t feel any less masculine in telling you that I once binge-watched all six hours of the 1995 BBC version of Pride & Prejudice.

Jane Austin masterfully portrayed a noble, almost pure, form of jealousy. Mr. Darcy exhibits it towards Elizabeth Bennet, not in a possessive sense, but in a way that motivates him to protect her from unworthy suitors.

Do you ever think of God as being jealous?

In the Book of Exodus God told His people, “Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God)” (34:12-14).

God is so jealous for believers. He says it is His name.

His jealousy for His people is prominent in our text:

• In verse three He describes “the seat of the image of jealousy… which provokes [Him] to jealousy.”
• In verse five, “north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.”

We were created to worship Him, with eternity in our hearts. Nothing & no one else can ever satisfy us. Everything else we gravitate towards is a form of idolatry and will only, ultimately, destroy us.

Among the many names for God, don’t overlook “Jealous.” I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Jealous Is Determined In His Jealousy For You, and #2 Jealous Is Devoted In His Jealously For You.

#1 – Jealous Is Determined In His Jealousy For You (v1-16)

One of the commentators I read used this illustration:

God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having His honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.

Ezk 8:1  And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.

Where were you on 9/11?

You remember precisely where you were on account of its national significance. The vision that spans the next several chapters had 9-11 national significance to Ezekiel. In it he would witness one of the most lamentable events in Jewish history. He was shown the departure of the glory of the LORD from the Temple.

The exiled Jews were not put to slave labor. Ezekiel had his own house. Don’t get me wrong: They were captives. But they were comfortable captives, so much so that when Persia liberated them to return home, most stayed put in Babylon.

The “elders of Judah” were the layman appointed to serve as the leaders among the exiles. It goes back to Moses being told to choose 70 elders to help govern the Jews in their Exodus.

I would like to think that they met often to discuss their situation.

Tomorrow when you go to work and someone asks, “How was your weekend?” I dare you to say, “I went to church and the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.”

We struggle to express exactly how God ‘speaks’ to us because, after all, it is supernatural. It’s OK.

Ezk 8:2  Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire – from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.

We call this Person a Theophany. It is an OT appearance of the Second Person of the tri-une God. It is Jesus.

Why “fire” & “amber?” Don’t know. We can say that the Lord is always dressed for the part.

Ezk 8:3  He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem…

I want you to picture John the Baptist. As a life-long member of the Nazarite Vow club, his hair had never been cut.

Picture him again. Is it far-fetched to suggest that he braided his hair? Did he have dreadlocks?

Samson was a life-long Nazarite. He told Delilah, “weave the seven locks of my head into the web of the loom…” He came to her already with seven locks of braided hair that she wove together into one.

Ezekiel wasn’t grabbed by the hair & dragged up & off. This Person, for some reason, simply took hold of Ezekiel’s hair. Then the Holy Spirit “lifted him.” (Can we say he was hair-lifted to the Temple?).

It is unclear if Ezekiel was removed bodily, or if he saw all this in his mind. It was not uncommon for OT prophets to be removed bodily from one location to another.

Ezk 8:3  He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.

There is no information about this “image.” It was an idol or statue or object of some kind that represented a pagan god or goddess. It was so-called because it’s presence in God’s house provoked Him.

Ezk 8:4  And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

At its dedication, the LORD put His presence in the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple. He was there as Shekinah – a shining cloud of glory.

How can a person see Shekinah, recall all the history & miracles related to it, but turn from it to worship a lifeless object made by his/her hands?

Here is a more pressing question: How can you and I, who have God the Holy Spirit indwelling us, sin as if He isn’t present?

Ezk 8:5  Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

The “altar gate” most likely refers to the aforementioned North Gate. It provided access to the area near the altar of burnt offering, where priests performed sacrifices.

Ezk 8:6  Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”

Did you catch what He said? “To make Me go far away from My sanctuary?” This is a build-up to the LORD leaving the Holy of Holies for good. From the destruction of the Temple in 586BC until the arrival of Jesus on Earth in the 1^st century, the glory of the LORD departed from Earth. When the Lord Jesus departed, ascending to Heaven, His Church on Earth became the Temple. We have in us, indwelling us, God the Holy Spirit. We reveal the glory of God until He comes for us, to snatch us home to Heaven.

We are shown expressions of idolatry among three groups of Jews: Elders, women, and priests.

Ezk 8:7  So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.

Ezk 8:8  Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.

Ezk 8:9  And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.”

Ezekiel was shown a hidden entrance to a secret room. You might say he “did a little digging” to discover it.

Ezk 8:10  So I went in and saw, and there – every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.

Most commentators see this as Egyptian art. That makes sense because the political leaders in Jerusalem were making an alliance with Egypt to overthrow Babylon. It would fail, and was a reason why Nebuchadnezzar made a third siege on Jerusalem, destroying it.

Ezk 8:11  And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.

There was no Sanhedrin at that time in Israel’s history. These 70 were lay-leaders, just like the guys at Ezekiel’s house in Babylon. In their case they were leading in abominations.

Shaphan was the scribe who read God’s Law to King Josiah when it was rediscovered in the Temple. It incited one of the greatest revivals in Israel’s history. Yet here Shaphan was, just a few years after, incensing-up with a secret room full of idolaters.

They were a secret society. Archaeologists have recently discovered their title – The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.

Ezk 8:12  Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’ ”

Instead of understanding their plight as their own choosing, they Jerusalem Jews blamed God. For such destruction to occur must mean God had withdrawn from them.

What about you & I? Since we have received the promise of the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, we cannot ever be forsaken, and the Spirit is in us wherever we go, whatever we do.

One thing we do is reduce the Spirit to an influence or an ability. We know the doctrine – that He is a Person. But when we sin, we are not behaving according to our beliefs.

Think of it this way:

• If God the Holy Spirit is an influence and an ability, then I can draw from it anytime I want. When I want to sin, I simply ignore my ability to not sin.
• If God the Holy Spirit is a Person – which He is – I cannot sin without defying Him and grieving Him.

We really must have a more robust understanding of the Personhood of the Spirit;

• Pentecostals tend to treat the Spirit as a force.
• Cessationists tend to equate Him with the Bible. Their critics say they worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Bible.

One reformed theologian said this: “Do you know who the Holy Spirit is? Do you understand the Holy Spirit in terms of a personal relationship? Or does the Spirit remain for you a vague, misty, abstract concept or an illusive, amorphous force? Forces in and of themselves are impersonal. But the Holy Spirit is not simply an abstract force. He is a person.”

Ezk 8:13  And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.”

Ezk 8:14  So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Tammuz spent part of the year in the underworld and part on earth. It ‘explained’ the seasonal cycle, with winter representing his death and spring his return to life.

In addition to idol worship, the Jewish women were in a part of the Temple God had made ‘off limits’ for them. Pagan gods afforded opportunity for women to ignore their biblical roles & responsibilities. It all seemed so modern, so progressive.

The roles & responsibilities of men & women in the home, in the church, in public, are set by God. The roles of women are subordinate to men. It doesn’t make women inferior. It establishes an order that best communicates the Gospel.

Ezk 8:15  Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.”

Ezk 8:16  So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

These are the priests. They literally turned their backs on the LORD to worship the sun itself, or a sun god.

The Jews didn’t start with abominations everywhere. It crept in. The old illustration is this: If an airplane is off course by just 1° after an hour of flying it will be about 1 mile off course. The further it flies, the more that small error compounds. Over the span of a 60-mile journey, it would be a mile off course, but over thousands of miles, that minor deviation would lead the plane hundreds of miles away from its intended destination.

Stay on course…Or make the necessary course corrections.

#2 – Jealous Is Devoted In His Jealously For You (v17-18)

Sorry, but the word “devoted” in a romantic context takes me to the musical, Grease, and Sandy singing, Hopelessly Devoted to You.

OK; I’m over it!

Ezk 8:17  And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.

Ezk 8:18  Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

They “returned” from the short-lived reforms under King Josiah. Revival is great; but often it proves fleeting. It must take root in a pursuit of holiness and, especially, the prominence of the Bible.

Are you wondering about the phrase, “they put the branch to their nose?” It is believed to be a derogatory gesture. They gave God the bird!

These last two verses make God out to be more of a destroyer than devoted. Take into mind the whole context of Ezekiel. Yes Jerusalem and the Temple were to be looted and leveled. Many Jews would die violent deaths. Their captivity would last for 70 years in Babylon. But all of this is in the context of bringing His people to repent, rebuilding their Temple, and returning to his steadfast love for them. Israel is the apple of God’s eye.

Despite their almost constant failure through history, Paul the apostle can declare, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew… All Israel will be saved… They are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

God is every bit as jealous for you. He loves the church and gave Himself for us, that He might sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word, that He might present us to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish. He is able to keep us from stumbling, And to present us faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

I Hear The Chain A-comin, It’s Comin’ Means The End (Ezekiel 7:1-27)

“I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link and yard by yard.”

Recognize the quote? Sure you do. It’s Jacob Marley’s ghost answering his former partner, Ebenezer Scrooge, who asked it, “You are fettered. Tell me why?”

Charles Dickens based A Christmas Carol on the passage in the Gospel of Luke concerning the rich man & Lazarus. He was deeply influenced by Christian teachings, and biblical themes permeate much of his work.

I wonder if he came up with the idea of Marley’s chain from reading Ezekiel?

Look at verse twenty-three: “Make a chain, For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence.”

Ezekiel went around dragging a chain to signify the inevitable Babylonian invasion of Judea & the captivity of the Jews.

Marley’s chain is described as being “made of cash boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, and deeds.” These items are attached to the chain, rattling as it is dragged along.

The items symbolized Marley’s true love – mammon, the wealth of this world.

I suggest that Ezekiel’s chain was similarly “made” from things that were symbols of the nation’s sins. I think that because Ezekiel provides a list:

1. He mentions their “abominations” (v3, 4, 8, 9 & 20).
2. He mentions “a rod” that blossoms (v10).
3. He mentions their property (v12 & 13).
4. There’s a “trumpet” (v14).
5. “Sackcloth” (v18).
6. “Silver & gold” (v19). And,
7. “Ornaments” (v20).

As Ezekiel walked around dragging this chain with stuff attached to it, the Jews had a visual of the things marking their rebellion.

NT believers are once-for-all unchained by virtue of being in Christ. We may, however, still return to things that once held us captive:

• The apostle John wrote, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (First John 5:21).
• The apostle Paul wrote, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality” (First Thessalonians 4:3).

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1The Way You Live Can Show What It Is Like To Be Working For The Lord, and #2 The Way You Live Can Show What It Is Like To Be Waiting For The Lord.

#1 The Way That You Live Can Show What It Is Like To Be Working For The Lord (v1-23)

Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Working for the Lord isn’t work. It will be physically demanding, emotionally draining, spiritually oppressive. But even if I am chained in a Philippian dungeon, suffering from a thorn in my flesh, I can praise my Lord.

Ezekiel is God’s prophet to 6^th century Jews who were relocated and resettled in Babylon. He was taken there in the second of three sieges. He was tasked with announcing to the exiles that in the final invasion, Jerusalem and the Temple would be looted & leveled.

Two prominent declarations are made in this chapter:

1. God tells them it is “the end” six times, most forcefully in verse six, “An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come!” He furthermore says “it has come,” “doom has come,” “the time has come,” “a day of trouble is near,” “the day draws near,” and “destruction comes.”
2. Simultaneously God said 3x, “then you shall know that I am the LORD.” (We also heard this 4x in chapter six).

Ezk 7:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 7:2  “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.

Ezk 7:3  Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations.

Ezk 7:4  My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the LORD!’

God’s longsuffering with their sins was over. Their punishment was determined. Personal repentance was possible, but it was too late for the nation.

“I will repay.” That’s an unusual word choice. A debtor repays the lender. God is no debtor, so it can’t mean that. The word is also used, to square accounts. We say, “Are we square now?”

In the case of the Judean Jews, it meant that they were receiving precisely what they deserved at the hand of God – no more & no less. For example, their captivity would last 70yrs. That was the exact amount of years the Jews owed the LORD for their sin of not letting their land lie unplanted every 7^th year.

Twice God calls them out for their “abominations.” This was their worship of idols in which they participated in the Gentile rites involving perversions of all manner and child sacrifice.

One of our working definitions for idolatry is any person, place, or thing I substitute for the sufficiency of God in my life.

Their fall & their fettering was the discipline of a loving Father. It was severe, but loving. No discipline seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

They would know that He was the LORD on account of His faithfulness to discipline them. It was proof of His love. It would testify to them, and to the Gentile nations, a love so true.

God is either discipling you…or disciplining you.

Ezk 7:5  “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come!

Ezk 7:6  An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come!

Ezk 7:7  Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains.

Ezk 7:8  Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, And spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations.

Ezk 7:9  ‘My eye will not spare, Nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes.

In the “mountains” you’d find them at shrines, worshipping the idols. Twice more the LORD mentions their “abominations.”

Ezk 7:10  ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, Pride has budded.

Ezk 7:11  Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, None of their multitude, None of them; Nor shall there be wailing for them.

The “rod” represented “pride.” In Jerusalem, Jeremiah urged them to submit to Babylon. Had they submitted, they would have been spared. Instead, their pride incited the “violence” of the third invasion.

If you search the Internet for ‘how does pride manifest itself,’ you’ll see that there are seven ways, or 15 ways, or 30 ways. Do your own digging! Ask the Lord to show you how you manifest pride.

Ezk 7:12  The time has come, The day draws near. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude.

Ezk 7:13  For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity.

“Sellers returning to what has been sold” is one of the things that occurred during the Jewish Year of Jubilee. Observed every 50th year, was a time when debts were forgiven, enslaved individuals were freed, and ancestral land was returned to its original owners. The captivity in Babylon would last 70yrs. They would miss at least one and possibly two Jubilee years.

Ezk 7:14  ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude.

Ezk 7:15  The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him.

The “trumpet” signified the LORD fighting for them. When Assyria came against them, the Angel of the LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian troops. Not this time.

Ezk 7:16  ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity.

Ezk 7:17  Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water.

Ezk 7:18  They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads.

“Sackcloth” and “baldness” communicated inner shame. These tenderhearted Jews were the remnant, the believing Jews. They could rejoice in their preservation. Nevertheless they were without homes and the prescribed place to worship.

Ezk 7:19  ‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the LORD; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

Ezk 7:20  ‘As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it The images of their abominations – Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it Like refuse to them.

Ezk 7:21  I will give it as plunder Into the hands of strangers, And to the wicked of the earth as spoil; And they shall defile it.

Ever since I was a kid, television commercials have hammered me to buy gold. But if a bag of gold is necessary to buy a loaf of Ezekiel bread, am I really rich?

Ezk 7:22  I will turn My face from them, And they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it.

We will watch in upcoming chapters as God’s glory, the Shekinah, exits the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. Babylonians will enter, defiling it by their mere presence.

We’ve mentioned previously that the church in Ephesus was warned that they would lose their testimony unless they repented of leaving their first love.

Ezk 7:23  ‘Make a chain, For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence.

Ezekiel lists items from which he ‘makes’ the chain. Maybe he added them each day to be dramatic. An idol… A budding rod… Maybe a deed to property that was unable to be redeemed… A military trumpet… Sackcloth… and Ornaments. Go through the chapter again & you can discover other items, e.g., a “sword” (v15), “doves” (v16), and “silver” & “gold” (v19).

1. If God told believers to make such a chain to represent what is going on in our country, what objects or items would be attached to it?
2. If God asked you (or I) to make a chain for ourselves, what would we be dragging along?

#2 – The Way You Live Can Show What It Is Like To Be Waiting For The Lord (v24-27)

In disaster movies there is usually a nod to someone holding a sign, Repent for the end is near!

This chapter reads as if God’s message was more urgent. You come away thinking, “The End is here!”

Imminence is living as if the thing the LORD has revealed could occur right now.

Scoffers mock us, and thereby God, saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” It is being held back by a crazy little thing called love. Specifically the aspect of the Lord’s love He describes as longsuffering – His unwillingness that any should perish, but that they receive eternal life.

Ezk 7:24  Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, And they will possess their houses; I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, And their holy places shall be defiled.

Ezk 7:25  Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none.

Ezk 7:26  Disaster will come upon disaster, And rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders.

Ezk 7:27  ‘The king will mourn, The prince will be clothed with desolation, And the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, And according to what they deserve I will judge them; Then they shall know that I am the LORD!’ ”

“I will do to them according to their way” is an OT version of something we hear in the first chapter of Romans. There the apostle Paul says, 3x, “Therefore God also gave them up…” The LORD reacts to our choices and will give us what we want, to our detriment.

Some scholars see references to the End Times & the 7yr Great Tribulation. Ezekiel has plenty of future stuff… but not here. This is all about the Babylonian captivity.

I’ve mentioned over this past year a move among believers away from the pre-Tribulation resurrection & rapture of the church. Part of their argument is that imminence doesn’t mean any-moment. They argue from various texts that imminent means near, not right now.

It would seem Ezekiel agrees:

➽ He writes, “Behold, it has come! An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come! Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come.”

➽ But he also writes, “A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains. Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury.”

How is the End both now & near?

The Lord is suggesting a new way of thinking.

The Lord could come right now… He didn’t, so His coming is what? Nearer than it was a moment ago.

This has a practical application. The apostle Paul taught the imminent resurrection & rapture of the church to the believers in Thessalonica. A problem arose. There were believers who figured, since the rapture could occur any moment, they should quit working and wait for the Lord. Over time, they became a burden on the church. Paul responded by saying, “No work, no eat!”

I believe it is the teaching of Scripture that the Lord could come any moment to snatch His church to Heaven. As we wait, we are to make plans, pressing forward with the Gospel, because His coming is nearer than before.

Now & nearer…Learn to wait in that dynamic.

Stamp! In The Name Of Love. Before They Break My Heart. (Ezekiel 6:1-14)

What are your thoughts on impassibility?

Impassibility is the teaching that God does not experience pain, suffering, or emotional changes as humans do. It asserts that God is not subject to external influences or feelings, maintaining His perfect, unchanging nature while still being loving and involved with His creation.

Can God experience pain and suffering due to our sin? Is He affected by our actions? Does He react to us?

We come across passages in the Bible that assume we do emotionally affect God… Like today.

The LORD illustrates His experience with the nation of Israel as that of a faithful Husband married to an unfaithful wife, playing the harlot, being whorish, committing spiritual adultery.

He says of Himself, “I was crushed.” 

Other Bible versions translate it, “I have been broken” (ESV), “I have been hurt” (NASB), “I have been grieved” (NIV), and “How broken I have been” (Complete Jewish Bible).

If the LORD cannot be affected by our behavior, this illustration has zero impact.

Israel is front & center. Nevertheless we can’t help thinking about ourselves because the Lord thinks of the Church as His bride. In his letter, James warns about spiritual adultery in the Church (James 4:4-5).

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1God Reacts To Your Unfaithfulness With Pressure, and #2 God Responds To Your Faithfulness With Protection.

#1 – God Reacts To Your Unfaithfulness With Pressure (v1-7&11-14)

On January 1^st 1970 California became the first state to recognize No-Fault Divorce.

When a couple divorces, they cite Irreconcilable Differences. God cannot check that box. He sees His people as reconcilable. He has made the way for reconciliation.

Ezk 6:1  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Ezk 6:2  “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,

Ezk 6:3  and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

Ezk 6:4  Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken…

The “mountains,” “hills,” “ravines,” and “valleys” were the locations of the “high places,” “altars,” “incense altars,” and “idols.” Think of the high places as shrines where idols were housed having altars for both sacrifice and for incense.

The term “high places” isn’t about altitude. It refers to any places where foreign gods were worshipped. The Hebrew word gillulim, translated “idols,” literally means “dung-gods,” or “stink-gods.”

These structures were in the land when Israel crossed the Jordan to conquer it. They were the places the pagan Gentiles worshipped. The Jews never did fully eliminate them, or when they did, as in the days of King Josiah and King Hezekiah, they were swiftly rebuilt by their successors.

Bad, bad stuff happened at these sites:

• The fertility gods & goddesses required their patrons to commit all manner of perverted sex acts.
• Molech was worshipped with human sacrifice. Substitute “infant” for human.

The Israelites worshipped God in His Temple, and they messed around on the side with the gods & goddesses of the world.

If they wouldn’t eliminate the shrines, God said He would do it. His methods were extreme. He wouldn’t simply tear down the shrines. All their dwelling places in all their cities would be torn down along with the shrines.

When God deemed it the right time, He went scorched earth.

GOOGLE “high places” and you can find hundreds of sermons about removing the high places in your life. One way is for you to make it harder to sin by quite literally removing things, or removing yourself from things. Build in safeguards so you do not find yourself at a place, or with a person, where you can sin.

The Bible then encourages you to replace anything you eliminate or are trying to eliminate with that which is good. Putting away lying, ‘LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,’ for we are members of one another. ‘BE ANGRY, AND DO NOT SIN:’ do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4:25-29).

Ezk 6:4  Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.

Ezk 6:5  And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars.

Ezk 6:6  In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.

Ezk 6:7  The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

The nation of Israel was tasked by God to explain the righteousness of God. They miserably failed, instead becoming more like the unsaved, spiritually ignorant Gentiles.

Destroying the shrines was one thing. Laying the corpses of children before their idols… How could God do that?

First, this hadn’t yet happened. The LORD warned them it was the inevitable end of the rebel road they were choosing. When this destruction happened, it was their fault, not God’s.

Second, we think in terms of individuals whereas God was thinking nations. If you want to discipline a nation, you sometimes use another nation to overthrow it.

Third, there is something that we tend to forget. Jeremiah was prophet-ing in Jerusalem. “Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live’ ” (38:17).

Wow! They could surrender and the calamity would be lessened. God goes to incredible lengths to save.

Skip to verse eleven.

Ezk 6:11  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Pound your fists and stamp your feet…

Ezekiel is getting the hang of physical prophecy. Pounding & stamping were symbolic of them not listening.

Ezk 6:11  … and say, ‘Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.

Ezk 6:12  He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them.

Ezk 6:13  Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols.

Ezk 6:14  So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ” ’

The punishments listed here… They blow our minds. They are, however, better than the alternative. It is appointed unto men once to die, and afterwards comes eternity. If you die in unbelief, there can be no mercy or second chance. There is only the Lake of Fire where you will suffer eternal conscious torment.

“They shall know that I am the LORD.” This occurs four times in this short message. How would they know? They would know because of the pressure being applied.

Seeing the “slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols” is a final, radical, effort on God’s part to save them. On the surface His wrath seems cruel. It was the only means available for God to reach them before it became too late.

One of the commentators writes, “God’s chief desire is to bring people to Himself – or back to Himself. When mankind willfully refuses to turn to Him, God mercifully uses discipline and judgment to cause the people to recognize that He is the only true God, always faithful to what He has said in His word!”

If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it’s that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to eternal life.

You would likely study this passage in a Bible doctrines class. The Lord, however, isn’t explaining His impassibility.

Put yourself in Babylon, among the exiles to whom Ezekiel was addressing. You hear that God is “crushed,” “hurt,” “grieved, and “broken.” You are the one hurting Him. You are, in fact, an adulterer (and all the other things).

Ideally, you prostrate yourself before God, horrified that you have treated Him with such disdain.

#2  – God Responds To Your Faithfulness With Protection (v8-10)

Albert Barnes suggests that “sin leads to judgment, judgment to repentance, repentance to forgiveness, forgiveness to reconciliation, reconciliation to a knowledge of communion with God.”

That is always true of a small group of believing Jews throughout Israel’s history, called a “remnant.”

Ezk 6:8  “Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries.

A remnant is what is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee commented,

Never throughout the long history of Israel did 100% of the nation worship God. Always only a remnant was faithful to Him. It was a remnant of those which came out of Egypt that entered the land. Practically the entire generation that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness. It was their children who entered the land. In Elijah’s day God had a faithful remnant. Elijah cried, “Lord, I only am left.” But God told him, “You aren’t the only one; I have seven thousand in these mountains who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” At the coming of Jesus, although the leaders of the nation rejected Him and had Him crucified, there was a remnant that received Him.

Ezk 6:9  Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulteress heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.

The remnant are those whose own hearts are broken realizing how they’ve hurt the Lord. It is described as “loath[ing] themselves.”

Ezk 6:10  And they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”

The aim of God’s judgment is described four times: “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

John L. MacKay says remnant “is a two-sided word. In the first instance it speaks of disaster and loss ahead. But there is promise in it too. It will not be a total catastrophe, for there will be a divinely preserved remnant.”

The LORD appointed Ezekiel to share His Word with the exiles. Some heard it with spiritual ears to hear. They were suddenly gripped with the fear of the LORD, His holiness, and their own sinfulness. They believed Him and He counted it s righteousness. They were saved.

Did they go on loathing themselves? Better yet, are we supposed to loathe ourselves?

Yes & No:

⤷ Yes, I loathe what is called the flesh. “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.”^[1]

The flesh, my propensity to sin, I loathe, and I will until I receive my eternal body at the resurrection or rapture.

⤷ No, I do not loathe myself, wallowing in self-pity and false humility. I am saved, and have the permanent indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. He enables me to obey God. I can do the things the Lord tells me to.

One commentator put it this way: “Don’t dwell on your corruption to the degree that it keeps you from joy, freedom, and love.”

Passibility is to be capable of feeling, especially suffering or to be susceptible to emotion. When theologians speak of God’s passibility versus His impassibility, they are referring to His freedom to respond emotionally versus a perceived lack of empathy for His creatures.

• The doctrine of the passibility of God does not teach that God is fickle, has mood swings, or cannot control His responses. God is never the victim of circumstance.
• The doctrine of passibility does teach that God is emotionally invested in His creation; He is involved because He cares.

Have you ever told a believer you were backslidden? Have you ever been told by a believer that you were backslidden?

How about telling or being told you were a prodigal?

As awful as those characterizations may be, they are mild when compared to being told you are an unfaithful spiritual adulterer or adulteress, a whoring harlot.

Warren Wiersbe likes to retell the story of man who came up to him after a sermon in which he had spoken about sin. He said, “Sin is different for Christians.” I said, “Yes, it is – it’s worse!”

Wiersbe was emphasizing that, for Christians who know the truth and have experienced God’s grace, sin is even more grievous because they are sinning against a greater light and understanding.