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

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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.

 

Granted, “in the Spirit,” but Ezekiel (since chapter 8, verse 3) has been “preaching” in Jerusalem, observing the depths of sin into which its citizens had fallen! “And he (the Lord) put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate (of the Temple) that looketh toward the north.” Proof, Ezekiel 8:3.

Now, at least at the end of chapter 11, Ezekiel is “transported” back “home,” back to Babylon where he is being held in captivity. “Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea (Babylon), to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up (left) from me.” Verse 24, what a ministry Ezekiel was given!

But what he experienced in chapter 11 is unforgettable! It’s today’s Bible Study Lesson as well.

In the first paragraph Ezekiel is shown 25 of the city’s “leaders,” all given to contradicting God’s Word! God to Ezekiel: “Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: which say, It (the destruction God foretells) is not near; let us build houses.” Verses 2-3, bold talk, “Nothing bad is going to happen!”

Ezekiel even names two of these city elders: “Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah.” Jeremiah would have known them too. He is also preaching in and around Jerusalem at this very time!

Thus Ezekiel prophesies (preaches) against their lies, these “princes” of Jerusalem! “Ye (these 25 men) shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” Verse 10, it’s clear Who is talking, our Lord.

And even as Ezekiel preached that day: “And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died.” Dropped dead, instantly! (Something similar happened to Paul once.)

God has spoken!

Then get this, pride at its extreme! These vile “inhabitants of Jerusalem” also planned to take over the land (the homesteads) of the Jews (Ezekiel’s crowd, compatriots) already “deported” to Babylon! They said of them “Get you far from the LORD.” In other words: You all are not living right, in deep sin, that being the reason God has “ripped” you from the Land! Verse 15 I have partially quoted here.

So … God “defends” that already captive “minority,” that small “remnant.” Here’s a great Message of Grace: “Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them (that little group of Jews) far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore (Ezekiel) say (to them in Babylon), Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they (the returning “remnant”) shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Verses 16-20, what hope, what promises, sure as granite, solid as rock! Yet to be fulfilled, mostly, I might quickly add.

Sounds “Millennial,” to me.

But for those stiff-necked backsliders in Jerusalem … God continues: “But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.” Verse 21, certain judgment.

Then, as we saw yesterday: “Did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.” Departing even further from town! God is withdrawing His presence, His protection, due to their mountains of sin!

One Preacher said: “God is gone!”

Another: “God turned them over to their iniquity!”

Then the chapter ends: “Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God (back) into Chaldea (Babylon), to them of the captivity.” Verse 24, as I said earlier.

Did Ezekiel immediately “tell” the captives there by the riverside God’s “news” to them? “Then I spake unto them of the captivity ALL the things that the LORD had shewed me.” Good News, verse 25!

Ezekiel, ever the faithful preacher!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Do ya’ll think these lessons are becoming too long?

 

 

I never realized how much the “Glory of God” appears in the Book of Ezekiel. These 48 chapters of Scripture are “saturated” with that grand Concept, with God’s Very “Presence!”

And Ezekiel chapter 10 is certainly no exception.

The same Glory Ezekiel had seen, experienced, back in  his initial chapter. “This is the (same) living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.” Ezekiel 10:20, referring to Ezekiel 1:1-27, whereupon Ezekiel worshipped in verse 28!

But today, as a result of the rank sin described in chapter 8 (and the ensuing judgment in chapter 9) God “withdraws” from His Very Temple! His Glory recedes!

Remember the Old Testament name “Ichabod?” The day Eli and his sons died in disgrace (at the hand of the Philistines), one of the daughters-in-law (Phinehas’ wife) gave birth. And when seeing the infant: “She named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.” That’s what the name means, “no glory.” Or better, “where is the glory?”

Well, in Ezekiel 10 that dark day is repeated, only worse, much worse!

Let me give you some of the specifics …

Again, because of sin, worse-than-the-heathen sin … “Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the BRIGHTNESS of the LORD’S glory.” Ezekiel 10:4, leaving the Mercy Seat, from “resting” between the Cherubim … to the entrance of the Holy of Holies, just a few feet, but significant! (To be a little more precise, about 15 feet or so.)

Everywhere God goes … He radiates “brightness!” Remember Jesus’ Transfiguration even, His Glowing! (Or Paul’s words in 2nd Thessalonians 2:8: “And then shall that Wicked (anti-Christ) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the BRIGHTNESS of his coming.” See?)

Back to our Story, our Narrative, the facts of the Matter:

Then, later in our chapter … “Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when THEY WENT OUT, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the EAST GATE of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.” Verses 18-19, now over 150 feet!

The “East Gate” was the very entrance to the Temple compound!

God is about to leave His Own House!

Then, one might say abruptly, Ezekiel chapter 10 comes to an end!

God’s Glory … slowing backing away!

Soon (tomorrow’s Lesson, the Lord willing) the Glory goes even further … Ezekiel 11:23. “And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.”

Now not only leaving the Temple, but now the whole City (Jerusalem) as well!

Yes, the Glory of God cannot live in sin. Or among a sinful people, apart from Blood atonement. Apart from repentance!

And the glory “stayed departed” from Judah for hundreds of years!

I’m going to say until one Day the Son of God walked into town, as Jesus, God incarnate!

John tells us about it, this way: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and WE BEHELD HIS GLORY, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I wonder today, where is God’s Glory in reference to America?

 

 

After the blatant (nearly unimaginable) sins of Judah enumerated in Ezekiel chapter 8 (see the last Lesson in this series) … what could occur but judgment? Or a stark warning of soon coming judgment?

And that is precisely what occurs in Ezekiel chapter 9, today’s Bible Text.

And, apparently, the Lord Himself continues to be the Main Speaker!

Verse 1 introduces us to six “men,” whom I take to be angels. “Death angels,” if you will allow me that term. “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand.”

Angels of God, having “oversight” (“pequddah” in Hebrew, translated “have charge” in our verse) over a city, over Jerusalem! God’s angelic world is, indeed, organized! (I believe He even has an “angel” watching over every single Christian, based on Hebrews 1:14.)

“Six” in Bible numerology is the number of “man,” who was created on the sixth day. And “seven” the number of “God, completion, perfection.” Six is (thus) one number short of anything that pleases God! Six destroying angels may “hint” at that fact. Man living in sin is about to be judged of God, punished.

But Ezekiel then informs us of a seventh entity, “angel.” Verse 2: “And one (additional) man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.”

A “recorder,” I thought at first. But no, more than that! An angel sent to “mark” a certain (small) group of people! That’s why he is equipped with a writing instrument! (By the way, his being clothed in “linen” suggests he is dressed as a “priest!”)

Now we have “seven” angels, God has a “perfect” plan in place!

Remember, Ezekiel has been (in vision) “transported” to Jerusalem, hundreds of miles away from Babylon, his actual location. In reality the Prophet of God is being held in captivity, a slave to the Babylonian empire!

Next?

A bloody scene, with a few notable exceptions.

Ezekiel, an eye-witness, reports:

“And the LORD said unto him (the angel with the pen), Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and SET A MARK upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others (the six) he said in mine (Ezekiel’s) hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark.” Ezekiel 9:4-6, astounding!

Multitudes will die!

All except those “marked” by the recording angel!

By the way, the word “mark,” is translated from a Hebrew noun spelled “tav.” In Hebrew it was (in Ezekiel’s day) written in the design of a “cross!” A leaning “tee,” sort of like!

X

The implication is clear! A “Cross” here delivers from death, judgment, the very wrath of Almighty God!

Wow!

To this day, pictorially, that last letter of the Hebrew alphabet suggests a “cross.”

But only a few are so marked?

How so?

Verse 4: “And the LORD said unto him (that recording angel), Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark (tav) upon the foreheads of the men that SIGH and that CRY for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”

Who are broken-hearted over the sin (abominable acts) of the people! That’s the “fruit” for which God is searching! A “Cross marked” man will have a broken heart! Will grieve over sin!

By the way, the verb “go through” is “abar” in Hebrew, hundreds of times translated “pass over!” Remember the exodus! The Lord slaying all the firstborn! “Passover” night! And the “blood of the innocent little lamb,” typifying the Cross, no doubt!

“Sigh” is a verb that means “to groan, to mourn!” It’s spelled “anach.”

“Cry” is “anaq,” meaning “to lament,” to express deep sorrow! These two words are synonyms.

Jesus later will teach: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4!

And Jesus modeled this proper behavior too. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” Luke 13:34, tears of sorrow, weeping! Grieving over sin!

And so these angels did exactly what God commanded. “And they went forth, and slew in the city.” Verse 7, the last half.

God judges sin!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

By the way, know where the slaughter began?

God commanded: “Begin at my sanctuary.” Verse 6, in the middle.

Simon Peter, years later, picked up on this idea. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” 1st Peter 4:17

Clearly God is (here) not judging the multitudes of heathen in the nation of Babylon, not yet! His disciplining Hand first comes upon His Own people!

And only a “remnant” will survive!

So few that Ezekiel worries!

His testimony: “And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the RESIDUE of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?” Verse 8

Interceding, as did Moses!

As did Abraham!

As did Paul!

The noun translated “residue” (Hebrew “sheeriyth”) above is 44 times in the Old Testament also translated “remnant.”

What a Lesson this morning!

What Ezekiel first penned as “prophecy” is now, folks, “history!”

God keeps His Word.

 

Paul wrote it, 2 Timothy 3:13, to a young preacher. “Evil men and seducers shall wax (become) WORSE AND WORSE, deceiving, and being deceived.” Today Ezekiel chapter 9 illustrates that truth perfectly!

There, by means of His Glory, God “transports” Ezekiel from Babylon to Jerusalem, to the Temple there, prior to its destruction by the Babylonian army. By the way, a distance of nearly 900 miles.

And Ezekiel is shown (by the Lord God Nonetheless) the sins of Judah!

The chapter is a veritable catalogue of some of the wicked practices in which God’s people were participating. And here God’s Heart is broken, His Holy Anger aroused, and His Message to future generations cemented.

By the way, if one has ever seen the “Glory of God” (Ezekiel did in the Book’s opening chapter) … he will immediately know the “Glory of God” if he ever sees Such again! Ezekiel 8:1-4 beautifully illustrates that fact! (“Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of FIRE: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of BRIGHTNESS, as the colour of AMBER. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north …. and, behold, the GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL was there, ACCORDING TO THE VISION I SAW IN THE PLAIN”) At least this is true if a man is “right” with God.

Four “stages” of degradation are now shown to Ezekiel, God being appalled! God emotionally affected? Yes! (Five times in the Gospels we are told that “Jesus marveled!” He also at times rejoiced, wept, and became angry!)

In Verse 5 God points to an “idol” (“image”) placed in the very Temple of God! God calls it an “image of jealousy” because that’s the feeling it stirred within His Spotless Heart! (The Hebrew noun here translated “image” is twice translated “idol” in the Old Testament, “semel.”) God is a Holy, Jealous God … Exodus 34:14 teaches. “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is JEALOUS, is a jealous God.”

In verse 10 a group (some of whom Ezekiel gives their names) is seen worshipping “animals!” Filthy animals! Creations of God! Read Romans 1:25 … “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” Precisely! (We are on the verge of this sin in America today, some are. For example … valuing whales more than unborn babies!)

In Verse 13 a god’s name is given, only here in all the Bible, “Tammuz.” Representing a filthy, vile religious system that believed their deity died and rose again, in fact … does so every year with the changing of seasons. Winter (death) into spring (life)! “He (the Lord) said also unto me (Ezekiel), Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations (worse and worse) that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat WOMEN WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ.”

Then finally, in verse 16, sun worship! Heathen to the core! “And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty (25) men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and THEY WORSHIPPED THE SUN toward the east.” Abominable, to the dear Lord!

So, what can God do?

Judgment … “Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” The chapter’s last verse, 18.

The downward spiral, digression, of iniquity!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

What a graphic chapter!