Ezekiel 19:1-20:48
Good Morning! Today’s passage from Ezekiel will cover
chapters 19 and 20. The passage can be
viewed in 3 parts, so that is how we will consider them today. Chapter 19 is a lament that also uses imagery
like the parables we have seen in the last few weeks. Most of chapter 20 is an answer from God to
the elders of the exiled people of Judah in Babylon. The last few verses of chapter 20 are another
prophecy against the kingdom of Judah.
As we prepare to examine
the lament in chapter 19, it is good to consider the conclusion of chapter
18. It is perhaps the most important
message of the book of Ezekiel. This is
God speaking.
For
I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent
and live! – Ezekiel 18:32
This year, I have been
reading the New Testament from the Amplified Translation of the bible. Recently, I was in the book of
Ephesians. One word stuck with me from
chapter 4, verse 18. The word is
self-banished.
You
must no longer live... alienated and self-banished from the life of God.
– Ephesians 4:17-18 AMP
This is a complementary
thought to Ezekiel 18:32. Our own ability to choose has an impact on whether or
not we experience the life of God, or the life God wants to give to each one of
us through His Son, Jesus Christ. But
sometimes, people separate themselves from Him.
They maybe do not realize it at first, but by their choices they banish
themselves from a relationship with Him.
Much of the first half of
Ezekiel is about the people of the nations of Israel and Judah and how they
rejected God and banished themselves from Him to pursue idols and ideas which
do not come from God or lead to Him.
Chapter 19 is a poem of
grief over the loss of kings, but these losses did not have to happen. The leaders of Israel rejected God’s way, the
way of life. Let us pray and then
consider what happened to those who rejected the Lord.
Father God, show us from
today’s passage what You desire for us to see and understand. Help us to avoid the pride and other
resulting sins which can separate us from relationship with You even for a
moment. Help us to draw near to You in
repentance and trust. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
“Take
up a lament concerning the princes of Israel and say: “‘What a lioness was your
mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.’” –
Ezekiel 19:1-2
This lament takes the form
of an allegory, a story told where the figures and actions of the story are
symbolic but show the reader a truth or a message. In this allegory, Israel/Judah/Jersusalem is
depicted as a lioness. Any of the three
could be considered a mother of kings.
The lion has been
associated with Israel throughout its existence as a nation. Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, was
called a lion by his father in Genesis 49:9 (You are a lion's cub, Judah; you
return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a
lioness—who dares to rouse him?)
In Revelation 5:5, Jesus
is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. (Then one of the elders said to me,
“Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has
triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”)
On the surface, it may
sound regal and great to be set apart in an allegory as a lion. However, not all lions are like Aslan from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Not all lions are like Jesus, the Lion of Judah. There are bad lions, too. Lions who prowl about looking for someone to
devour (I Peter 5:8).
She
brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the
prey and he became a man-eater. The
nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
– Ezekiel 19:3-4
This first cub appears to
be Jehoahaz. He only reigned for 3
months, but even in so short a time, we learn in Jeremiah 22:13-17 that
Jehoahaz was greedy, focused on his possessions at the expense of others. Of him, the Lord declared, “your eyes and
your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on
oppression and extortion.” He was taken
captive by Pharaoh Neco of Egypt who had also killed King Josiah in
battle. Josiah was Jehoahaz’s
father. Jehoahaz was a bad lion, a
man-eater.
When
she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her
cubs and made him a strong lion. He prowled among the lions, for he was now a
strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. He broke
down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in
it were terrified by his roaring. Then the nations came against him, those from
regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their
pit. With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of
Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the
mountains of Israel. – Ezekiel 19:5-9
This second lion is
Jehoiachin. Similar to Jehoahaz,
Jehoiachin ruled only 3 months. II Kings
24 tells us he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Jeremiah (22:28-30) describes Jehoiachin as
proud king who thought his role as king was protected by God no matter what he
did. God tells him his reign is at an
end. Jehoiachin was not a good king.
The lament continues, but
the allegory is changed. Israel or Judah
is now depicted as a vine instead of a lioness.
In reference to the princes of Israel ...
"
'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was
fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water. Its branches were
strong, fit for a ruler's scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height and for its many branches. But it was uprooted in
fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel, it was stripped
of its fruit; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them. Now it is
planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land. – Ezekiel 19:10-13
This feels like a look
back to Israel and Judah in the past.
There was a time when the kingdoms were united, when the nation was
strong and fruitful, but those times are gone.
At this moment, only a shadow of its former self, Judah has its last
kings. The judgment of the nation has
come in the form of King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon. He first uproots Jehoiachin and the nobles
and takes them to Babylon, plundering the wealth of the temple and the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar places Jehoiachin’s uncle on
the throne of Judah and gives him the name Zedekiah.
Fire
spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch
is left on it fit for a ruler's scepter. – Ezekiel 19:14
Here is a terrible
thought. The destruction of the fruit is
caused by fire from one of the vine’s branches.
The damage caused by that branch causes no other branch to be available
to become a ruler. This is a reference
to the last king of Judah, its current king, Zedekiah. Last week Carl explained Zedekiah’s betrayal
of Nebuchadnezzar and far more serious Zedekiah’s betrayal of God.
The hard-hearted Zedekiah
not only brings about the end of his own reign, he brings about the end of the
line of kings. No strong branch is left
to make a ruler’s scepter. Israel and
Judah are no longer able to have a king.
God’s chosen people, are no longer a nation, they will be scattered
among the nations.
"This
is a lament and is to be used as a lament." – Ezekiel 19:14
We don’t get an interpretation
of this allegory like we did for chapter 17 with the eagles and the vine, but
it is clear that the situation is both serious and sad. The downward progression of the independent
nations of Israel and Judah has hit rock bottom. There will be no more independent kings until
the Son of David, the one who is born king, Jesus.
That concludes the first
part of today’s passage.
In
the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of
Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down in front of me. – Ezekiel
20:1
It is now a little more
than 2 years since the beginning of the book of Ezekiel. At least some of the elders of Israel come to
inquire of the Lord. It seems surprising
that they would do that as God told Ezekiel they would not listen to him. It is also interesting that they come to
Ezekiel. They appear to recognize
Ezekiel as a prophet of God. That he is
worth asking to inquire of God.
Then
the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, speak to the elders of
Israel and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Have you come to
inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares
the Sovereign LORD.' "Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of
man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors. –
Ezekiel 20:2-4
God told Ezekiel in the
beginning that the people were not going to listen to him. Based on His reaction, this has not
changed. Have you seen people who ask
questions, but they don’t really intend to internalize or be affected by what
they hear or learn. Or maybe, they just
want to see what is said, and if they already agree, then they can go along
without changing their own thinking.
Rather than answer the
elders questions, God holds up to these leaders of the people, the mirror of
the sins of the past.
Say
to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I
swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to
them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, "I am the LORD your
God." On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt
into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey,
the most beautiful of all lands. And I said to them, "Each of you, get rid
of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with
the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God." – Ezekiel 20:5-7
God starts at the
beginning of the nation of Israel about 850 years earlier than the events of Ezekiel. That’s a long time for God to continue to
love and support Israel despite their many rejections of Him.
Jacob and his family,
seventy people in all, went to Egypt.
Roughly two million people will be delivered from Egypt. In Egypt, they were oppressed. They were slaves. To be free in a land flowing with milk and
honey sounds much better than being slaves.
God’s expectation is that
as He rescues the people of Israel, that they will put away the idols they have
been worshiping during their time in Egypt.
" 'But they rebelled against me and would
not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their
eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my
wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. But for the sake of my
name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned
in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had
revealed myself to the Israelites. Therefore I led them out of Egypt and
brought them into the wilderness. – Ezekiel 20:8-10
God had blessed Israel
while they were in Egypt. They grew from
few in number to become a small nation.
Sadly, their hearts were not devoted to God. Rather, they were putting their hope and
trust in false gods. It was so
widespread that God considered rejecting Israel as His chosen people. However, God remembers his promise to Abraham
and considers what it would mean to other nations if he did abandon
Israel. God continues to move forward
and brings Israel out of Egypt.
I
gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who
obeys them will live. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so
they would know that I the LORD made them holy. " 'Yet the people of
Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees
but rejected my laws--by which the person who obeys them will live--and they
utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and
destroy them in the wilderness. But for the sake of my name I did what would
keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had
brought them out. – Ezekiel 20:11-14
While the people of Israel
were in the wilderness, God gives them the Law through Moses. The Law gives them instructions on how to
live. God establishes the Sabbath, a day
of rest, where the people can express their trust in Him by not working.
They continue to reject
God’s ways. They do not follow his
instructions despite the fact that following God’s ways would lead to
life. They would not keep the
Sabbaths. They would not observe a day
of rest each week. God again considers
turning away from Israel, but he does not.
Also
with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring
them into the land I had given them--a land flowing with milk and honey, the
most beautiful of all lands-- because they rejected my laws and did not follow
my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their
idols. Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to
them in the wilderness. I said to their children in the wilderness, "Do
not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves
with their idols. I am the LORD your God; follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws. Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then
you will know that I am the LORD your God." " 'But the children
rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to
keep my laws, of which I said, "The person who obeys them will live by
them," and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my
wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld
my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being
profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. –
Ezekiel 20:15-22
God gives another basis
for preserving Israel here. He has
compassion, even pity, on them. He knows
what abandoning them will mean. God had
extended Israel’s time in the wilderness because of their lack of faith to go
up and take the land He had promised them.
A new generation was given the chance to follow God’s instructions in
the wilderness. God told them if they
would keep the Sabbath day holy each week that they would know He is the Lord.
Sadly, the children
rebelled against God, too. God again
considers whether to reject Israel. He
decides against it for the sake of the other nations.
Also
with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them
among the nations and scatter them through the countries, because they had not
obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and
their eyes lusted after their parents' idols. So I gave them other statutes
that were not good and laws through which they could not live; I defiled them
through their gifts--the sacrifice of every firstborn--that I might fill them
with horror so they would know that I am the LORD.' – Ezekiel 20:23-26
God told Israel two
different times in Deuteronomy (4:27 and 28:64) that if they persisted in
disobedience and rebellion that they would be scattered among the nations. That was still more than 800 years before
Ezekiel’s time.
As Israel abandoned God’s
ways, they took up the ways of the false religions they pursued. God allowed them to follow these statutes
that were not good. God allowed them to
follow a law that would not lead to life.
God honored the freedom of the people He brought out from Egypt
Himself. He let them choose which ways
they would follow.
Sadly, disobedience of God
leads to greater sin, and sin becomes its own punishment. The people went so far as to sacrifice their
own children to false gods. The Lord
desired that this would fill them with horror, and they would reject these
horrible practices and return to Him.
When God was bringing
Israel out of Egypt, He had redeemed the firstborn. Israel later offered many firstborn children
as a sacrifice to false gods. No wonder
God was appalled by their actions.
"Therefore,
son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'This is what the
Sovereign LORD says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful
to me: When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw
any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made
offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured
out their drink offerings. Then I said to them: What is this high place you go
to?' " (It is called Bamah to this day.) – Ezekiel 20:27-29
The majority of the
retelling that the Lord has given looks back to their time in Egypt and in the
wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.
That had happened more than 800 years before the time of Ezekiel. God also says the blasphemy was not limited
to that short period of 40 years. They
continued to worship false gods all over the land of Israel, on every high
hill.
"Therefore
say to the Israelites: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will you defile
yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? When
you offer your gifts--the sacrifice of your children in the fire--you continue
to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire
of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will
not let you inquire of me. – Ezekiel 20:30-31
The people of Israel are
no different than their ancestors. They
just keep on pursuing vile images, making sacrifices to idols including their
own children.
God acts as if He is
surprised by the impertinence of their inquiring of Him as if they want to
follow His direction. In light of all
this history, and their own persistence in it, should they expect to receive
fresh revelation from God? Are they fit
to ask such a thing? No, they are not.
The Israelites remind me
of the guy in a time travel movie who goes into the future, and the best thing
he can think to do is get his hands on a sports almanac so that he can take all
the advantage for himself. They do not
want to inquire of God to do what He desires.
Rather they want to have God tell them what is going to happen so that
they can make their own plans and take the path that they think is best for
themselves.
"
'You say, "We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world,
who serve wood and stone." But what you have in mind will never happen. –
Ezekiel 20:32
Here is the center point
of today’s passage. The leaders of
Israel and the people wanted to be like the Gentiles, people who did not follow
God. God will not allow them to pursue
this way, the way that leads to death.
At least, God will not allow them to find any appearance of success in
following that path.
As
surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will reign over you with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. I will bring you
from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been
scattered--with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I
will execute judgment upon you. As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of
the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will
take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond
of the covenant. I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me.
Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will
not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. " 'As
for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve
your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no
longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. – Ezekiel 20:33-39
Repetition is used as a
form of emphasis. It can mean to pay
attention. It can also mean that something
will surely come to pass. I think we
have both at the same time here. God
will bring Israel out to the wilderness of the nations. There He will refine them, and only those who
no longer profane God through idol worship will remain.
If we look forward from
Ezekiel’s time 500 years to the events of the New Testament, the Jews at the
time of Jesus had a variety of problems.
They did not have a living vibrant relationship with God, but they were
not worshiping false gods as their ancestors had done. God’s promise here in Ezekiel was
fulfilled. And, the Jewish people have
been known for more than two millenia as being set apart, different from the
people around them.
At this moment, God tells
the leaders of Israel to go their own way.
He tells them to do what they are going to do anyway, go and serve their
idols. But, He assures them this will
not last. A time is coming when they
will listen to Him.
For
on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD,
there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will
accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along
with all your holy sacrifices. I will accept you as fragrant incense when I
bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have
been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the
nations. – Ezekiel 20:40-41
God is like a loving
Father. He tells them in the beginning
that He will not allow them to ask any questions of Him. Undoubtedly, they want to know about the future. God tells them what is to come. God will scatter the people because they have
rejected Him. God will gather the people
again because of His mercy. When He
brings them back, they will serve Him.
The meaning behind that serving is priestly service. All the people will serve God in worshiping
Him.
Then
you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the
land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. There you will
remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves,
and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know
that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according
to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares
the Sovereign LORD.' " – Ezekiel 20:42-44
God is going to dismantle
the nation of Israel to the point that for them to remain an intact people will
demonstrate His mighty power. As a
result of this miraculous deliverance, they will know that He is the Lord. Furthermore, they will finally see how bad
their past sins were. The word “remember”
here means more than recalling to mind.
It is a deeper ownership of the past, so much so that they will loathe
that past. They will see it because of
God’s compassion in delivering them in the sight of the nations.
God said he would use the
period of exile to refine and change Israel, and He did. When they emerged from
the Babylonian exile, they no longer had the same problem with idolatry as they
had before. They certainly had other sins and failings, but seemed to be “cured”
of their outward idolatry of pagan gods.
In summarizing what is
happening in this portion of chapter 20, we see that God is not
vindictive. His judgments are a process
of moving toward His original intention of salvation and good to the nations of
the earth. He truly desires that none
should perish and all would come to repentance.
At the same time, He does not force us into obedience like robots.
In the Hebrew Old
Testament, chapter 20 ends here. The
following belongs to chapter 21. We have
mentioned it before, but chapters are later decisions regarding how to
subdivide and identify different passages.
The original writers did not distinguish chapter and verse. These last four verses are another separate
encounter between Ezekiel and the Lord.
Presumably, this is not part of God’s direct answer to the elders of
Israel.
The
word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, set your face toward the south;
preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. Say
to the southern forest: 'Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Sovereign
LORD says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees,
both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from
south to north will be scorched by it. Everyone will see that I the LORD have
kindled it; it will not be quenched.' " – Ezekiel 20:45-48
Though it is a separate
passage, it serves as an exclamation point to chapter 20 up to this point. The south and the the forest of the southland
refers to the nation of Judah. The end
is coming for that forest. Both young
and old trees alike will be consumed.
God’s warning for the
current day can be seen in a larger passage surrounding the verse in Ephesians
that I referred to at the beginning of the message. I think it also gives us insights to His
warning to the people of Israel.
You
must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of
their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls], for their
[moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are]
alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is]
because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is
[deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their
heart. And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous
and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality,
eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may
demand]. – Ephesians 4:17-19 AMP
God warns us, do not do
it. Do not live “like the nations, like
the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” (20:32) For me personally, this passage
challenges me because at times of adversity, I feel like I do not always
experience the life of God.
Just as God gave a new
generation the chance to follow His instructions, we too have the chance to
follow Him and not seek satisfaction in the things of this world. God told them if they would follow His
instructions that they would know He is the Lord. (20:12, 20) Do we genuinely
seek to follow His ways or do we dabble at it?
If we want to hear God’s
voice and receive His guidance, it is always best to obey what He has already
said and walk in the path already revealed. (20:30-31)
We cannot (successfully)
go our own way apart from God. We see
other people appear to get ahead by trying something unethical or immoral, but
if we try something like that, it never seems to go our way. (20:32)
A divided heart does not
glorify God. In fact, a divided heart
profanes God’s Name. (20:39) I think of people who may reject God because of
what they have seen or experienced from people who go to church, that by their
acts have damaged God’s reputation in the eyes of others.
Amazingly, it is part of
God’s plan to demonstrate His holiness through us. (20:41) “God made him who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II
Corinthians 5:21) “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to
all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.” (Romans 3:22)
“For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your
righteous acts have been revealed.” (Revelation 15:4) Let us continue to draw
near to God and allow Him to work in and through us so that He may be
glorified. Let us pray.
Father God, thank You for
Your great patience with us. Thank You
that You will not let Your own wander away.
Guide us into Your truth. Draw us
closer and closer to You in relationship.
In everything, we give thanks that You are working for our good. Help us to have ever increasing confidence in
You. You are holy. Amen.
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