Actually, God Speaks Through Ezekiel

Ezekiel Speaks August 10, 2016 Actually, God Speaks Through Ezekiel Ezekiel 5:5 – 17 Page 1

Ezekiel has been called specifically to minister to people who do not want to hear him or see him They are all of his friends and neighbors who were taken captive in Israel and forcibly removed to Babylon None of them want to be there None of them want to hear that it was their sin that put them there They have put their fingers in their ears and….

Literally, people at that time thought that if they could stop the prophet from speaking, then what the prophet would have said would not happen because the prophet did not say it And Jonah thought he could run from God

The speaking of God’s word within history is integral to God’s action to bring his will to pass— which is why some in Jerusalem foolishly thought that by preventing prophets from prophesying they might prevent the disasters they feared would be proclaimed. Jenson, Robert W. (2009-05-01). Ezekiel (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) (Kindle Locations 1083-1085). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

God even references this mistaken view later in Ezekiel

Ezekiel 33:33 “So when it comes to pass—as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.” (NASB95)

Again, the people are in denial When Ezekiel is allowed to speak, it is classic prophetic speech

“Thus says the Lord” makes the claim that the prophet has been sent by the Lord to bring the message that follows, as an official might bring the decree of a monarch to some more distant part of the realm. Thus a messenger-word is not a mere report of the Lord’s will; it is the enforcement of it among those to whom the message is brought. Jenson, Robert W. (2009-05-01). Ezekiel (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) (Kindle Locations 552-554). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Ezekiel 5:5–6 “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her. But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’” (NASB95)

Jerusalem is the central point of the nations and countries: not geographically—this never occurs in Scripture, and would not come into account for the purpose of the prophet—but theologically. It is the model people prepared of God by His revelation, the community of the “righteous” founded by Him, Jeshurun, that it might shed its light on the surrounding heathen darkness, redound to the glory of its God, and attract men to Him. E. W. Hengstenberg, The Prophecies of the Prophet Ezekiel Elucidated, trans. A. C. Murphy and J. G. Murphy, Clark’s Foreign Theological Library (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: T&T Clark; Hamilton & Co.; John Robertson and Co., 1869), 55. Page 2 Deuteronomy 4:5–8 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” (NASB95) The Law being referenced is Torah It is the first 5 books of the Old Testament As part of the covenant God made with Israel, there is an expectation from God, that the relationship is exclusive

Exodus 20:3–6 “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (NASB95)

God demands and expects of His followers, exclusivity This has not changed Our gods may have changed, but exclusivity has not

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (NASB95)

Matthew 4:18–22 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (NASB95)

Israel was a privileged people, but privilege involves responsibility and accountability. The day of reckoning had come and there was no escape. Israel was called to be a light to the Gentiles, to lead them to the true and living God (Isa. 42:6; 49:6); but instead, they adopted the wicked ways of the Gentiles and became greater sinners than their neighbors. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Reverent, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor/Cook Communications, 2000), 32.

Ezekiel 5:7–8 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.” (NASB95)

Not only did Israel reject Torah, they rejected the exclusivity of the covenant and in full knowledge of the results which would take place, dove head long into sin anyhow. With great knowledge, comes great responsibility Page 3 Deuteronomy 4:23–35 “So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD drives you. There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” (NASB95)

The heathen had laws which were opposed to those of God, but also such as were rooted in the law of God written upon their hearts. Obedience to the latter was good and praiseworthy; to the former, wicked and objectionable. Israel, which hated the law of God, followed the wicked and sinful laws of the heathen, and neglected to observe their good laws. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 9 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 52.

The basic issue – ingratitude God did much for Israel, and they rejected it

Hebrews 2:3–4 …how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (NASB95)

In verse 8, Ezekiel gives the really bad news to those in exile, God is against them God is now a judge to the Nation and because they wanted to be like the nations around them, He is going to make sure all of the nations see what happens to those who reject God

Ezekiel 5:8 “…therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.” (NASB95)

Paul describes this abandonment by God in Romans The way he describes also leads one to understand it as a sentence on any people who reject what God has done and is a potential sign of the abandonment of God to judgment Page 4 Romans 1:22–32 Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (NASB95)

Hebrews 10:30–31 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”(NKJV)

It is a dreadful thing to have God against a city or kingdom. “Behold, I, even I, am against you;” I that have loved you so dearly, that have done so much for you, that have been a friend, a father, a husband, a deliverer, a counsellor, a God of salvation, even I am against you. The word, “Behold,” imports so much; where that is prefixed, usually some great, strange, and dreadful thing follows: and so here, could a greater, stranger, or more dreadful thing befall God’s people, than to have God against them? William Greenhill, An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Useful Observations Thereupon, ed. James Sherman (London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1839), 144.

I am sure at this point those who have gathered together in Ezekiel’s house would like him to shut up again Back to performance prophecy, not this harsh message, please But the Lord is not done It gets worse

Ezekiel 5:9–10 “‘And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.” (NASB95)

Jeremiah sums it up in his Lamentations Lamentations 4:6–14 The guilt of my cherished people surpasses the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, without a hand to help her. Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk. Their bodies were more ruddy than rubies, their beards like the color of precious stones. Now their faces are blacker than coal; they are unrecognized in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones; it has become dry like a stick. Those who die by the sword are better off than those who die from starvation, who slowly waste away like those pierced through for lack of food from the fields. With their own hands, compassionate women boil their own children— they become their food— when my beloved people were destroyed. The LORD has exhausted his wrath, pouring out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, consuming its foundations. None of the kings of the earth would have believed, nor the world’s inhabitants, that the adversary and the enemy could have breached the gates of Jerusalem. Due to the sins committed by her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests who shed in her midst, the blood of the righteous, people stagger around in the streets like the blind, defiled by blood unclean so that no one is able to touch their clothing. (ISV) Page 5

no more, doth not always signify perpetuity, but some time, a long tract of עור The Hebrew word time, or a considerable space. William Greenhill, An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Useful Observations Thereupon, ed. James Sherman (London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1839), 146.

Having announced that Yahweh would visit his people with unprecedented hostility, the effects of his actions are described in the most horrifying terms: fratricidal cannibalism. While the motif of cannibalism figures prominently in ancient Near Eastern treaty curses, the present statement finds its inspiration in Yahweh’s own covenant curse, an abbreviated form of which is preserved in Lev. 26:29: “You will eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” Daniel Isaac Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 204.

This sounds bad, but it is not something that God had not warned them about Moses made it very plain, Ezekiel is simply confirming that this is indeed that bad

Deuteronomy 28:47–57 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you. Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you. The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns. The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.” (NASB95)

Remember, Ezekiel was warned folks may want to tie him up and not let him out of the house I am beginning to understand why Page 6

Ezekiel 5:11–12 “‘So as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, therefore I will also withdraw, and My eye will have no pity and I will not spare. ‘One third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them.” (NASB95)

God confirms, swearing by Himself, that because the Temple had been defiled willingly by the people, He was going to withdraw, leave, and have no mercy on those who participated in that activity We talked about Ezekiel being born during the reign of Josiah and that a revival took place, one in which the people did not fully participate. God made it clear to Josiah that due to the sins of the people instigated by Manasseh, they were toast

2 Kings 21:1–16 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking Him to anger. Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. “And I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel. Now the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’ ” Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.(NASB95)

Ezekiel expressed the deviant view that God would not spare them from His wrath, for they profaned the temple with idols. The exiles reified God’s connection to Jerusalem into a guarantee of blessing, rather than a conditional relationship based on love for God and commitment to His ways. Gary V. Smith, The Prophets as Preachers: An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 261. Page 7

Ezekiel 5:13–17 “Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them. Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. So it will be a reproach, a reviling, a warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. Moreover, I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.” (NASB95)

God’s anger will be spent... …it notes a progress in God’s wrath, which shall not cease in the mid-way, but go on to the highest degree; William Greenhill, An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Useful Observations Thereupon, ed. James Sherman (London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1839), 150.

This picture is also seen in the book of Revelation It is reflected as the Day of the Lord We see a reference in Isaiah

Isaiah 26:20–21 “Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain.” (NASB95)

That God goes on by degrees in his wrath against a people. He did not accomplish his anger and fury at first, he began with lesser judgments, but at last came up to a perfection. William Greenhill, An Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel, with Useful Observations Thereupon, ed. James Sherman (London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1839), 151.

Deuteronomy 28:37 “You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the LORD drives you.” (NASB95)

Moses gave this as a contingent prophecy This would only take place if sin reigned Ezekiel 5:14 reflects this as something which will be taking place in the immediate future

What is God going to do? Make the Nation a… Desolation Reproach Reviling Warning Object of horror

What would happen in terms of the number to be left is also brought up again by Zechariah about the End of the Age Page 8

Zechariah 13:8–9 “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ” (NASB95)

Was the land turned into the wasteland as predicted by Moses and Ezekiel?

Nehemiah 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” (NASB95)

Lamentations 2:15–17 Everyone who passes by on the road shake their fists at you. They hiss and shake their heads at cherished Jerusalem: “Is this the city men used to call ‘The Perfection of Beauty,’ and ‘The Joy of the Entire Earth’ ”? All of your enemies insult you with gaping mouths. They hiss and grind their teeth while saying, “We have devoured her completely. Yes, this is the day that we anticipated! We found it at last; we have seen it!” The LORD did what he planned. He carried out his threat. Just as he commanded long ago, he has torn down without pity; He let the enemy boast about you and has exalted the power of your enemies. (ISV)

This is something that the people, through their own disobedience, brought upon themselves This was not God’s first choice for the Nation The Nation, had other ideas about what was best for them and the result was where they wound up

Famine Wild beasts Plagues Bloodshed The sword

Galatians 6:7–8 Stop being deceived; God is not to be ridiculed. A person harvests whatever he plants: The person who sows through human means will harvest decay from human means, but the person who sows in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. (ISV)

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