Ezekiel Will you Stand in the Gap? March 1, 2020 Ezekiel 21-24 Grace Bible Church Introduction: There is nothing ______in these chapters. There are new analogies, new demonstrations of truth, there are new indictments of the nation of Israel, but the message is the same: Judgment is ______. Judgment is ______. A nation that was supposed to be a witness, but it had become a warning. These texts demonstrate the need to ask the question in any Bible study “What did this mean to the people who heard or read it the ______” Only then do you have a substantial basis for answering “What does it mean for me ______?
These chapters require us to ask a few questions. • How are we to ______in light of God’s coming judgment? • How do we live in light of God coming judgment over all the earth? (Revelation 20) • How do we live in light of God’s coming judgment of a ______? (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) • What is God looking for when he proclaims and plans judgment? We know He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (ch. 18) We know his patience is for the purposes of repentance (2 Peter 3:9)
• Overview of chi 21-24 • Chapter 21- The Song of the sword: God will use Babylon to destroy Jerusalem. Ezekiel is told to sharpen, polish and brandish a sword to demonstrate the coming judgment on Judah. Judgment is so sure that God will use ______of divination to send Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 21:18–23) • Chapter 22- an indictment of Jerusalem. Ezekiel is called to bring judgment to Jerusalem. In two lists he details the complete ______of sin from top to bottom of Israel society. The first (vs 6-12) Verses 6–12 give the first catalogue of Jerusalem’s crimes, showing how she has offended against God’s law. The charges are directed against the “princes of Israel,” a phrase normally understood as designating the former kings of Judah. The second (Ezekiel 22:23–29) The sins listed here are not a random collection of charges, but specifically an accusation of having violated the laws of the Pentateuch, especially those of the so-called “Holiness Code” of Leviticus 18–20. • Chapter 23- Parable of Two Adulterous Sisters, Oholah (Samaria Northern Tribes of Israel) Oholiab (Jerusalem, southern tribe of Judah) In shocking, explicit language bordering on the pornographic (see vs 20) Ezekiel repeats the message of chs. 16 & 20 Israel has had a longstanding history of despising and rebellion against the God who has loved them. A warning(Ezekiel 23:39)? Why such shocking language? It is a last ditch attempt to get Israel to feel the ______of their sin. To wake up and see that this is about to happen. in Ezekiel 23 the prophet harnesses all of the emotional impact of a graphic portrayal of sexual perversion to drive home the point that Jerusalem’s coming destruction is both the deserved and the inevitable consequence of her past actions. One of the lessons of chapter 23 is we sin because ______. • Chapter 24(a)- Parable of the cooking pot. Israel has become a cooking pot that ______be cleaned. Israel thought they were too righteous to be conquered (choice pieces), The place they thought would be safe (Jerusalem) had become their judgment. For twenty-three chapters now, Ezekiel has been proclaiming the wrath to come on Jerusalem. n which the king of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem (24:2) • Chapter 24 (b)- Death of Ezekiel’s wife as a sign to Jerusalem. Ezekiel is told to grieve quietly, not publicly. Outwardly, he is to behave as if nothing has happened. Ezekiel is a sign that what you love will be taken away and you will not play the hypocrite and mourn, • Something to remember as you read all of these chapters and more. While Ezekiel is writing about Jerusalem it is the ______who are hearing it.
Key thought: God is looking for a person to ______- the gap between God’s anger and its objects. Are you that person? Why you should stand in the gap?