EZEKIEL LESSON 22
We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 20:27 "Therefore, son of
man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they
have committed a trespass against me."
In the last lesson, Ezekiel had been relating to the elders about
the sins of the children of Israel from the very beginning. Now this
is directed, not to the elders specifically, but to all of Israel.
This is as if God is saying, in all these years, you have not changed.
The fathers, from the very beginning, had blasphemed God in their
worship of false gods. They are still doing the very same thing. Even
in the captivity in Babylon, these elders were still seeking advice
from the false prophets, while they sought advice from Ezekiel. They
were not faithful to God.
Ezekiel 20:28 "[For] when I had brought them into the land, [for]
the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw
every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their
sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their
offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out
there their drink offerings."
In the beautiful promised land that God had given them, they did
not rejoice in the beauty of the hills and the trees as being gifts
from God., They began their false worship all over again. They
worshipped false gods in the high places, and under the thick trees.
It seemed everything they saw, caused them to seek the worship of
false gods. The sweet savour, and the drink offerings, were to be for
God alone. To burn incense to a false god, is blasphemy in the sight
of God.
Ezekiel 20:29 "Then I said unto them, What [is] the high place
whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day."
"Bamah" means high places. The high places, during the time of
the temple, were places where they met and worshipped false gods. The
worship in the high places was a very sensuous type of worship. Many
times, it included physical adultery, as well as spiritual adultery.
Ezekiel 20:30 "Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and
commit ye whoredom after their abominations?"
This is saying, that they have never changed. They are still
involved in this very same type of sensual worship their fathers were
involved in. It seems, all of the chastisements God has sent upon
them, has not caused them to stop worshipping false gods.
Ezekiel 20:31 "For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your
sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your
idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house
of Israel? [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of
by you."
It seemed, the worship of Molech was prominent on God's mind. He
not only removed Himself from the temple and destroyed it, but He has
removed Himself from the presence of these idolatrous people, as well.
God will not listen to them. He has turned His back to them.
Ezekiel 20:32 "And that which cometh into your mind shall not be
at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the
countries, to serve wood and stone."
They had decided, since they were in exile, and since the temple
in Jerusalem was destroyed, they could go ahead and worship the false
gods. They thought the law left, when the temple was destroyed. What
they did not realize, was that to belong to God is a relationship, not
a religion.
Ezekiel 20:33 "[As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a
mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out,
will I rule over you:"
God wanted to rule them with His love as a husband to them. They
were not faithful, so He will rule them with a rod of iron, in His
fury. The "stretched out arm" shows God's judgement.
Ezekiel 20:34 "And I will bring you out from the people, and will
gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a
mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out."
This is not speaking of a literal wilderness, but a wilderness of
strange people. Babylon was a large city. They would not benefit from
the good of Babylon. They went there as captives. They would serve
those who had captured them. This wilderness was in many ways worse,
because they were nothing more than servants. They had lost their
promised land.
Ezekiel 20:35 "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the
people, and there will I plead with you face to face."
God will have a special hardship for each of them, to match their
unfaithfulness.
Ezekiel 20:36 "Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the
wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the
Lord GOD."
The wilderness wanderings had been a series of problems. Every
time they turned from God to false gods, the problems began. They
would repent, and God would start them again. It was a series of
lessons to be learned. This will be no different. The hardships will
be just great enough, to cause them to repent and seek God.
Ezekiel 20:37 "And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I
will bring you into the bond of the covenant:"
This is speaking of the "rod" of correction. Their worship of
false gods had broken covenant with God. The rod of correction would
cause them to renew that covenant with God.
Ezekiel 20:38 "And I will purge out from among you the rebels,
and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of
the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land
of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD."
The "purging" is a separation of the chaff from the wheat, or a
separating of the sheep from the goats. God's remnant will be made up
of those who do not bow their knees to a false god. Only this pure
remnant will go back into the promised land. God is the one who
separates them. He judges by what is in their hearts.
Ezekiel 20:39 "As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord
GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter [also], if ye
will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with
your gifts, and with your idols."
God is saying, decide who you will serve, this day. If you are
determined to worship idols and false gods, then go on and serve them.
Do not come back to me. Do not pretend to worship me, if you are still
worshipping false gods. God will only accept the worship of those who
worship Him alone. He will not be one of many gods. He is the Almighty
God. There is no other.
Ezekiel 20:40 "For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the
height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of
Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them,
and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your
oblations, with all your holy things."
In the Jerusalem that is restored, there will be no worship of
false gods. The One True God will be worshipped. The temple will be
restored. Their offerings and oblations will be acceptable unto Him,
because they will worship Him with all their hearts.
Ezekiel 20:41 "I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I
bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries
wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before
the heathen."
The sweet savour, in that day, will not be of obligation, but
because of their love for God. Their hearts will be in their sweet
savour offerings. In fact, they will love so much, it will be
difficult to separate them from their offerings. God will bring them
home to their promised land from all the places they have been
scattered. There will be a sign to the heathen everywhere, that they
worship the One True God.
Ezekiel 20:42 "And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I
shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country [for] the
which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers."
This is a promise of the restoration of the promised land to
them. Even more than that, it is a promise of God restoring covenant
relationship with them. He will be their God, and they will be His
people.
Ezekiel 20:43 "And there shall ye remember your ways, and all
your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have
committed."
This speaks of a deeply repentant people for the sorrow they had
caused, by their worship of false gods. When they remember their sins,
they will hate themselves for the sins.
Ezekiel 20:44 "And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I
have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked
ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD."
Notice the culmination of this in the fact, that they will now
know that He is the LORD. This restoration is for the sake of God, as
well as man. This restoration is not because they are worthy, but
because He is worthy. God has forgiven them, and restored them to
fellowship with Him. Every promise that God made to Abraham, will be
because of God's faith. God is Truth. He said it, He will do it.
Ezekiel 20:45 "Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,"
This is a momentary break in the previous sermon of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 20:46 "Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and
drop [thy word] toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of
the south field;"
Each mention of the word "south" in the verse above, comes from a
different root word. The first one means, the region on the right hand
when one is looking east. The second means the shining land, or the
south wind. The third means Negeb, dry, parched, and is sometimes
used for Egypt. This prophecy, then, is against Egypt and lands like
Ethiopia.
Ezekiel 20:47 "And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word
of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in
thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry
tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the
south to the north shall be burned therein."
"Forest" in this Scripture, and the one above, is speaking of the
people. This is speaking of a great destruction that comes. It could
be speaking of a literal destruction, where the trees are burned up,
or it could be speaking of the worship of God diminishing. Sometimes,
the green trees speak of some portion of Christianity. The dry tree
means no Christianity and the green speaks of some Christianity. We
can see, either way, this is a bad destruction.
Ezekiel 20:48 "And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have
kindled it: it shall not be quenched."
There will be no doubt from anyone, that the destruction that
comes, is from a judgement of God. No one, except God, can stop fire
that He starts.
Ezekiel 20:49 "Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he
not speak parables?"
Certainly, all prophecy is some what of a parable. Each Scripture
in the Bible is a parable, in the sense that there is a deeper message
than the one we see with our physical eye. It does not mean that the
message that we see with our physical eye is not true. It just means
that, if we pray and ask God to reveal to us the meaning of the
parable, He will reveal to us the spiritual meaning of the Scripture,
as well as the literal. Ezekiel spoke Truth that God put into His
mouth. They could say what they wished of him, but the fact it was a
parable, made it no less Truth. They were looking for excuses not to
accept the message from God that he gave them.
Ezekiel 22 Questions
1. Who is the prophecy, beginning here, speaking to?
2. What is it as if God is saying?
3. Instead of seeing God's blessings when they looked at the promised
land, what did they see?
4. The sweet savour and the drink offerings were for _______ alone.
5. What does "Bamah" mean?
6. What were the high places, at the time of the temple?
7. What kind of sin was going on in the high places?
8. What false god required the walking of the children through fire?
9. What had God done, besides remove Himself from the temple?
10. The families of the countries served _______ and ________.
11. When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, they decided it was
alright to do what?
12. To belong to God is a _____________, not a religion.
13. How had God preferred to rule them?
14. When they were unfaithful, how did He rule them?
15. What does His "stretched out arm" show?
16. What kind of wilderness is this speaking of?
17. The hardships will be just great enough to cause them to _________
and ________ God.
18. What is the "rod" of verse 37?
19. What is the "purging" of verse 38.
20. What does God tell them to go ahead and do, in verse 39?
21. What is different about the restored Jerusalem?
22. Where will He gather them from?
23. He will be their ______, and they will be His ________.
24. He restored them not because they were worthy, but why?
25. When they look back at their sins, what will they think of
themselves?
26. What is the meaning of the three mentions of south in verse 46?
27. Who is the "forest" in verse 47?
28. What does the author think about the Bible and parables?
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