Yes, in Ezekiel the shortest chapter (15) is juxtaposed to its longest chapter (16), an unusual situation. From an empty, fruitless vine … to a poor sinful woman! Yet both Units describe the horrors of sin!

And chapter 16 also tells a story, on top of the heavy theological freight it carries! Yes, it truly has a “plot.” A “trajectory,” revealing all the “ups” and “downs” in the life of the Nation of Judah, of Israel.

Today we can only discuss the first part of the chapter, essentially the first 14 verses. (Then things take a turn for the “worse!” To be studied tomorrow, Lord willing.)

A “word picture” reigns again! (I read one published preacher/teacher late last night who called Ezekiel the Prophet the “master of metaphor!”)

Verses 1 and 2 answer the basic questions; “Who, Where, Why,” etc.

“Again the word of the LORD came unto me, Ezekiel, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.” Wow, the word “abominations” (in the plural) occurs in our chapter 8 times! And in the singular (“abomination”) one more time! It means a “thing disgusting” to God! That makes the Lord “sick!” That God literally “hates!”

Now, we already know the “tone” of the chapter.

Yet it starts “sweetly,” and could have stayed that way … had Jerusalem only obeyed God.

Next, the Jews’ “background,” as a nation mind you. “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.” Verse 3, referring to the lifestyle of Abraham’s clan prior to his meeting God, his salvation. He was a rank “heathen!” Think: “Ur” of the Chaldees.

Let me insert Joshua 24:2 here. “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.” Wow, proof.

However, there are other Bible scholars who feel God may be using holy “sarcasm” here. As in: “Jerusalem, they way you’re living you must be a blasphemous Canaanite, without knowledge of God! Surely you have the worst lineage, most wicked, in all creation!”)

Either way, verses 4-5 continue with the biography. God to Judah: “And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.”

Talk about “no man cared for my soul!” (David’s lament in Psalm 142:1 … “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” So sad.)

No one loved Judah, as a baby. At her birth, no one cut her umbilical cord! Or bathed her messy little body! Nor salted (to remove wrinkles, they believed) and wrapped her little body, for warmth and security!

She was, in fact, thrown out into an open field, abandoned to die! (Many thousands of little girls were treated this way in antiquity! They wanted BOYS, back then.)

But … God entered the picture! “And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.” Verse 6, wonderful! And when God says, “LIVE,” mark it down … something comes alive! In fact, He says it twice in this single verse!

I am right now thankful for the day He said to my lost soul, “LIVE!” The day He saved me, the day I trusted Him to wash away my sin via the precious Blood of Jesus!

But God is not though … watch with me as this little “girl” grows to maturity, a picture of Jerusalem and her people. “I (the Lord) have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” Verses 7-8, quite beautiful wording of a sensitive subject, I think.

God watched her grow into a (beautiful) young woman!

And when she reached the age of marriage, God proposed to her!

To spread a skirt (robe) over an eligible young lady meant to take her under your wings, protection, provision! (Think Boaz and Ruth here!) Gives new meaning to Psalm 91:4, in my heart. “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and UNDER HIS WINGS shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” The Lord, my Husband!

Wow!

Now in verses 8-16 God gives an overview. What He’s done for Jerusalem, even down to her wardrobe! “Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.”

Clean!

Anointed!

Shoes!

Quality clothes!

Splendid (royal) diet, food!

Pristine reputation!

Sheer beauty!

How GOOD God was to his people!

Folks, all this is a “picture” of what God did for us when he saved our lost souls!

I’m “Shouting,” at least down inside … as I sit at this keyboard this morning.

God’s Grace!

What an example!

The Lord willing, more tomorrow, Ezekiel 16. But the story “turns” next, you’ll soon see. Oh, how we ought to hate sin, its devastating effects.

 

The Bible regularly uses the word picture of a “vine” to depict people, or groups of people. Both the Old Testament and the New do so, involving numerous speakers, particularly our Lord Jesus. (Think John 15:1 here. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” A good example!)

Well, in Ezekiel’s shortest chapter (Ezekiel 15, with only 8 total verses) the “vine” metaphor is again used. With the little nation of Judah being the “focus.”

(By the way, sometimes the “vine” picture is positive. At other times negative. In Isaiah 5:2 Israel is called God’s “choicest vine!” But in Hosea 10:1 she is an “empty vine!” Wow!)

So … how does Ezekiel (really, the Lord) here characterize Judah?

Let’s see.

We begin with an analogy, a comparison, between grape vines and tree limbs!

“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?” Ezekiel 15:1-2, the beginning of the brief Sermon!

With notes: “And the word of the LORD came unto me (this clause is found 49 times in Ezekiel, I just counted), saying, Son of man (93 times I count God calls Ezekiel by this name), What is the vine tree (the branches of the grape vine) more than any tree (bigger, more substantial trees), or than a branch (limb) which is among the trees of the forest?”

See the comparison? Frail vines to heavy limbs!

Next, God immediately answers His Own question: “Shall wood be taken thereof (of the grape vine) to do any work? or will men take a pin (peg) of it to hang any vessel (pot, pan as in the kitchen) thereon? Behold, it is cast (hurled) into the fire for fuel (for warmth); the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet (suitable) for any work?” Ezekiel 15:3-4, with an implied response, “No!”

Oh, did you notice this vine is never associated with any “fruit?”

No sweet “grapes!”

This (Judah) is now an unprofitable vine, fruitless vegetation. Fit for nothing but fuel in the fire! (Back to John 15, and Jesus. “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” Verse 6)

Wow!

Ezekiel, really God, continues: “Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?” When just ashes, verse 5.

Then, the application, divinely spoken: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; AS the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, SO will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” Verse 6 … as the doomed grape vine … so the people in Jerusalem!

(And Ezekiel is not even in Jerusalem. As you know he is being held captive in Babylon, hundreds of miles away. But he is still telling his little congregation about the coming awful judgment on their compatriots in their nation’s precious Capital City! What a burden he had for the children of Abraham.)

In reality, we know that letters were exchanged regularly between the Jews already in Babylon and the hold-outs back in Jerusalem. In fact, we have one such letter Jeremiah wrote (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) to the colony of Jews in Babylon! See Jeremiah 29:1.

Then God continues, verse 7: “And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire (the 606 BC deportation), and another fire (the 597 BC deportation) shall devour them.” But ultimately there were three such disastrous deportations, the last (in 586 BC) being by far the most fierce, most destructive.

I find the chapter’s final verse amazing. What God had to do to the Jews to place them in a position of “knowing” His Glory: And ye SHALL KNOW that I am the LORD, WHEN I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.” Verse 8, the chapter’s conclusion. If God’s “goodness” will not bring the Jews to repentance … maybe God’s “severity” will do so!

“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the GOODNESS of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Romans 2:4, Paul to the Jews!

But by Romans 11:22 … “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell (the Jews), severity; but toward thee (Gentiles), goodness!”

Then immediately a warning to us Gentiles: “IF thou CONTINUE in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” Romans 11:22, the last clause.

God’s judgment, another whole chapter in Ezekiel about that amazing phenomenon! I close today with Psalm 36:6 … “Thy righteousness (God) is like the great mountains; THY JUDGMENTS ARE A GREAT DEEP.”

Deep indeed!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

That’s a strange title for a lesson, “Hypocrites at Church.” But in reality that’s what Ezekiel chapter 14 depicts, in its first paragraph anyway.

Read with me the first five verses. “Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have SET UP IDOLS IN THEIR HEART, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that SETTETH UP IDOLS IN HIS HEART, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and COMETH TO THE PROPHET; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols …” And answer, God sure did!

Note first of all that Israel still had a King! One named “Jehoiachin” who was then in prison in Babylon. And yet again one back in Jerusalem, “Zedekiah!” But God recognized neither of these sinful “failures.” They are basically “out of the picture.” Wicked leadership does NOT favorably impress God!

Instead of “Kings” (Royalty) the “elders” of Israel seem to be her leaders.  (Bureaucrats!) “Zaqen” in Hebrew means “old men, aged ones,” and once “senators.”

And of all things, they (these elders) came to see the Prophet!

Why not consult one of their many new-found gods or goddesses?

Apparently, they wanted the semblance of “going to the Lord,” going to “His Man,” going to “Assembly!” (To Church, we’d say today.)

But look … “Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their IDOLS in their heart ….”  God certainly knew what was lodged deep within their hearts and minds and spirits!

The clause “put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face” means the idols they love will make them “stumble, fall” any day now!

And these men are “seeking” God? God wondered too! “Should I be enquired of at all by them?”

God is not obligated to hear the prayers of an unrepentant, rebellious wicked man or woman!

Yet, surprisingly, God does (in a way) answer them!

But not with good news! Not with acceptance … until they repent!

Also notice in verse four that God says they have a “multitude” of idols! “Rob” in Hebrew means “many, abundant, plenty.” Lots of them!

Most Preachers in America likely speak each Sunday to some who “ritually” go to Church, “habitually” … but have wicked imaginations in their hearts! I wonder if we make God sick, too?

God to this crowd: ““Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.” Verse 6, where “repent” has the idea of doing a 180 degree reversal!

And if not … “I the LORD will answer him by myself: and I will set my face AGAINST that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will CUT HIM OFF from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” Wow, verses 7 and 8.

God hates hypocrisy!

But there is another truth I see!

Astounding, too.

“And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.” Verse 9, where clearly a “false prophet” is in view. Some of them had erred so very far from the truth, that God had “turned them over” to accepting lies, to believing the lies they preached! (God doing this to hard-hearted, apostate sinners is seen 3 times in Romans 1, the last half of the chapter!) And remember 2 Thessalonians 2:11, which will (at least) occur during the Tribulation: “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” Wow!

One translation of “deceive” (“pathah” in Hebrew) is “to make silly!” The root idea behind the verb is “to be spacious, open, wide!” Too liberally minded, willing to accept too many “options” regarding God’s Word? Too “loose” with the Bible?

Frightening!

Look here too! The prophet who misleads a people … will face the very same judgment as the people who have followed his lies!  “The punishment of the prophet shall be EVEN AS the punishment of him that seeketh unto him.” Verse 10, identical!

Lastly today … the Lord uses the name of three of his most faithful prayer warriors! Specifically … “Noah and Daniel and Job!”

In essence God says that things are so bad in Israel (Judah) now … that even these 3 men’s prayers could not spare the people! “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it (Jerusalem), they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.” Verse 14, amazing!

Then God ends the sad chapter by adding a word of grace! Verse 22, God to Ezekiel: “Yet, behold, therein shall be left a REMNANT that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.”

Thank God for the “few” who stay faithful!

What a chapter!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Ezekiel chapter 13 consists of 23 verses of “warning!”

Particularly directed at the “clergy!”

Preachers (or so-called preachers) who have drifted far from God.

The chapter divides itself into two halves, against (preaching) men who lie about God. And against (preaching) women who lie about God!

These two sections are demarcated by the word “woe!”

“Thus saith the Lord God; WOE unto the foolish PROPHETS, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” Ezekiel 13:3, with the exclamation point being in the King James Text!

Then: “Thus saith the Lord God; WOE to the WOMEN that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs (veils) upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?” Ezekiel 13:18, “tools” of astrology, spiritism!

Every study Bible I have consulted labels this chapter as “Warnings against False Prophets.”

The word “woe” (“hoy” in Hebrew) means “Alas, Ah!” Words expressing surprise, shock … at coming judgment! (Jesus Himself used this term many times.)

I find verse 8 typical, especially depicting God’s Attitude toward this crowd. “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.”

Particularly note those words, “I AM AGAINST THEE.”

Contrast with this Paul’s great statement: “If GOD BE FOR US, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

Wow!

Why is God this angry? “Because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace.” Verse 10, where “seduced” means “to cause to go astray.”

One of the main messages of these lying prophets was that Jeremiah was wrong, and Ezekiel. God was NOT going to allow Babylon (or any other Nation) to attack Israel. Only PEACE was in her future!” So they said. (No wonder they are held in ridicule now! Babylon did attack, within six years of their “ministries.”)

Then the girls, women: “Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the DAUGHTERS of thy people, which PROPHESY out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them.” Verse 16, ever notice how many times in the Bible women preachers lead God’s people astray? Often!

Preaching “out of their own hearts!”

Not preaching “the Word of the Lord!”

The “pillows” and “kerchiefs” both deal with “spells” and “incantations” and “ritual worship.” Bluntly, worshipping the devil! “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls of men.”

They are a very long way from worshipping Almighty God “in spirit and in truth!”

God here says He is going to STOP this crowd!

“Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, BY PROMISING HIM LIFE (NO ATTACK FROM ANY ENEMY): therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand.” Verses 22-23, they have produced exactly the “opposite” effect God’s true Servants desire!

God wants the righteous to be “joyful!”

And God desires the “hands of the wicked” to weaken and fail!

Plus … the verb “deliver” (“snatch, rescue”) means God is going to intervene and expose these liars for what they actually are. These last two verses imply God can “cut off” even their false visions!

Yes, God is indeed Lord over all!

Even the demons!

What a chapter.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Anytime I study a Book of the Bible, or write a new Series of Studies on the Website … I look for “outstanding” portions of Scripture, “remarkable.” Maybe a better word is “unique.”

Well, to me, Ezekiel chapter 12 fits that category.

So much happens in those 28 verses!

If I ever preach a week of Revival Sermons from the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 12 will be one of the target “texts!”

We are back to the Prophet’s “action sermons.”

“Acted-out Presentations of God’s Truth.” (All being the Lord’s idea, I might add!)

First … Ezekiel was told to pack a small amount of bare necessities and tie them in a bundle! (Like captives are told to do by an invading, fierce army!) Ezekiel did that and (with crowds watching) marched out of the city, as if under arrest by an invading horde! Well, I said “marched,” but really God told him “to dig” his way out! Right through the city wall!

Illustrating the effects of the coming Babylonian advance (attack) on Jerusalem, an event that happened in finality no more than six years later! Nearly everyone brutally taken … and force marched hundreds of miles to Babylon! With a pitiful knapsack on their backs or heads. (Containing all their earthly possessions!)

Wow!

This act was also partly directed against the (illegitimate) King Zedekiah, wicked ruler of Judah, who tried to escape the city exactly as Ezekiel foretold by his actions! (Ezekiel even refuses to acknowledge Zedekiah as “King,” merely calling him “prince!” See verse 12.)

This could be labeled “Ezekiel’s knapsack Sermon.”

Then …

God later in chapter 12 tells Ezekiel “how” to eat! “Eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness (worry).” Verse 17, further predicting the looming disaster about to fall on Jerusalem! Famine, dearth, a siege that lasted months and months! They even (history tells us now) ate the flesh of other citizens, neighbors, who had died in the conflict! Their water source was eliminated, too!

Next …

God has Ezekiel “tackle” a (false) proverb that had made its way into Jewish life. “Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying … THE DAYS ARE PROLONGED, AND EVERY VISION FAILETH?” Verse 22, “much time has passed, many years are gone … and no sermon (vision) yet has been fulfilled!”

In other words, “God is NOT going to do what He says!”

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; I WILL MAKE THIS PROVERB TO CEASE, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, THE DAYS ARE AT HAND, and THE EFFECT (IMPACT) OF EVERY VISION (SERMON).” Verse 23, God just informed them: “The waiting is over! The time (for judgment) is now!” And sure enough, within a few months nearly all Judah was in Babylon!

Here’s a Preacher attacking a “false truth” floating in a land! (Reminds me of Paul’s great words “Casting down strong holds, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” Amazing!)

Again, God in verse 28: “There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken SHALL (IMMEDIATELY) BE DONE, saith the Lord GOD.”

The judging Hand of God!

The world will see it again, folks. Mark my words.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

*

I have not today “detailed” every movement in the chapter. Too much there! But I have given you the “essence” of its material. I would suggest (if time allows) that you read all 28 verses thoroughly … to get the “feel” of the entire context.