Ezekiel 24
WHY WE CONTINUE TO STUDY ON EZEKIEL
1. It helps us to see our sins more clearly.
The fact that God called Ezekiel to be a watchman tells us a lot of what we need to know. God noticed that the people did not truly see what they were doing that was so wrong and they needed someone to hold them accountable and point their sins out to them. Ezekiel repeatedly holds up a mirror to Israel so that they can see their idolatry (e.g., chs. 8, 14, 16), their pride (e.g., ch. 19), their misplaced hopes (e.g., ch. 17), their self-righteousness (e.g., ch. 18), and their unfaithfulness (e.g., ch. 23). God uses Ezekiel to help us to see what we are truly doing and who we really are—a sinful, disobedient people.
2. It helps people to see God’s plan.
We are going to see a little bit more about things, but so far we have seen God bring destruction on His people because of their disobedience. He repeatedly has warned them, and now He is going to completely destroy them. Eventually though, we are going to see God bring them back to life. He will eventually restore Israel and make a new covenant with them. Sometimes, we see God ‘take away things in our lives’ and we fail to realize He is going to restore it in multitude if we are obedient to Him.
3. It helps people to see that there is hope for the suffering.
Despite the fact that Ezekiel shows us that God abandoned the temple, God continually lets the people know that He is with them. “Though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone” (11:16). Hope is found not in our circumstances, our feelings, or our efforts, but in the confidence that God is with his people, for what Ezekiel prophesied, Jesus Christ fulfilled: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mat 28:20)
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2 Kings 25:1-21 (NASB) Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem
25 Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around [a]it.
Jeremiah 39:1 (NASB) Jerusalem Captured
39 [a]Now when Jerusalem was captured [b]in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it;
Jeremiah 52 1-4 (NASB) The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [a]Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord like all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the anger of the Lord this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around [b]it.
Ezekiel 24 New International Version (NIV)
Jerusalem as a Cooking Pot
24 In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.
1. God pointed this date out multiple times to multiple prophets as a way to make know the destruction that would take place
a. This was a nation changing and life changing date
i. 9/11/01
ii. 12/07/41 (Pearl Harbor)
iii. 11/22/63 (JFK)
b. Zechariah 8:19 (NASB)-- 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and [o]cheerful feasts for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’
i. God told them to set aside this date and fast as a way to remember this day
2. This was the day of the final siege, conquest, and destruction of Jerusalem
In verses 3-5, God lets it be known to Ezekiel and has him pass it on to the people that Jerusalem will become a cooking pot with all the choice pieces—the leg and shoulders. Sounds good? Except these choice pieces and the bones are from humans. This was God’s punishment to the city for the innocent lives that had been repeatedly taken, the corruption, the inhumane ways they all treated each other. Because of their impurities, God would totally destroy them until His wrath was complete. He would make sure that it was so devastating that everyone in the land and outside of the land would see and know what was happening.
V.7—the blood from this verse is the innocent blood that had been poured out in previous years by the inhabitants of the land and the leaders of the city. Innocent blood that was shed cries out for vengeance (Genesis 4:10; Job 16:18). Under Mosaic law, it was a violation if the blood was not covered in earth. If it was not covered, it would cry out to God and it would provoke His wrath.
V 13—God tells them that He has tried to repeatedly warn them and cleanse them, but they would not listen. They would not listen to the prophets, the preachers, the signs of the times. They did not pay attention and fully believe The Word of God in the scriptures. Feasts, Lords Supper (present day), baptism (present day). The LEWDNESS that took place was intentional sins. Not sins by accident. He finally says enough is enough.
V 15-27--This death of his wife was symbolic of what was going to take place in Jerusalem. Just like many women (wives) of the Biblical prophets were connected to the message of the prophet, so was Ezekiel’s wife. (Wiersbe)
1. Abraham was a prophet (Gen. 20:7) who twice lied about his wife and got into trouble.
2. Moses was a prophet and was criticized for the wife he chose (Numbers 12:1).
3. Isaiah’s wife was a prophetess (Isaiah 8:3). She bore him at least two sons whose names were signs to the people of Judah.
4. The Prophet Jeremiah wasn’t allowed to have a wife (Jeremiah 16:1–4), and this was a sign to the Jews that judgment was coming, and it was not time for marrying.
5. Hosea’s wife became a prostitute and he had to buy her out of the slave market (Hosea 1–3).
6. Ezekiel was not allowed to grieve or weep over the loss of the “delight of his eyes.” He was not allowed to show any visible signs of mourning, just as God was not going to show any mourning over the loss of the desire of His eyes, Jerusalem. And the inhabitants were not to mourn over the loss of their desire (The Temple), or their sons and daughters and wives.
God would eventually shut Ezekiel’s mouth and not allow him to talk or prophecy until an escapee from the siege appears (from Chapter 33).
WHAT CAN WE GET OUT OF THIS?
Ezekiel lost the “desire of his eyes” because he was following God. He wasn’t allowed to express any public grief. The cost of following God, Jesus Christ, could cost everything. Anyone can come to the altar and say a prayer. Anyone can cry out to Jesus and call upon Him. But will anyone be willing to forsake everything they have for Christ?
The following are some quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer (“The Cost of Discipleship”—Published 1937)
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
“By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”
“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.”
“The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division which rend cities and homes. Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace. The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord. But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes. Only he will be blessed who remains loyal to Jesus and his word until the end.”
WHAT IS THE COST OF NOT FOLLOWING CHRIST?
1. Are you willing to imagine your loved one spending time in hell?
2. Are you willing to lose the only hope and since of security that you could ever have?
3. Are you willing to gamble away any future hope for life for a pleasant day joy?
4. Are you willing to be refused entrance into the kingdom of heaven?
5. Are you willing to be an object of divine wrath?
6. Are you willing to die miserable and wretched?
7. Are you willing to die without pity?
8. Are you willing to hear all of creation applauding when you walk into hell because God has rid his kingdom of evil wickedness?
9. Are you willing to be disowned in disgrace?
10. Are you willing to be cut off from the presence of God’s love?
The greatest commandment says to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. Have we followed that commandment? In everything that Christ did, He did it unto the glory of God, for God alone. What have we done? Have we done anything to the full glory of God, or have we intermingled in some self glory in what we do?
The hardened, weak person that we run into needs to hear the gospel now before it is too late. There is not one person that exists that does not deserve to hear how evil and wicked they are. Without hearing, how will they believe? Without someone to share it with them, how will they hear it? Without truly believing in it, how will you be that someone who shares it?
*With all the information that is available for consumption, some of my sermons may be influenced by what i have read or heard. Anything that is posted is available to be used by all. The Lord gives abundantly and may you be blessed!
