Psalm 150 (continued, part 20)
The Lord drew some telling conclusions or applications from this fact (Ezek. 5:7–11). God would punish Israel openly, in the sight of the nations whose evil practices they followed.5 This would not only chasten Israel, but it would be a warning to the Gentiles that the God of Israel is a God of justice. Whereas before, God had been with and for His people, now He would be against them,6 which reminds us of the iron skillet Ezekiel held between his face and the city of Jerusalem (4:3). The leaders had defiled the temple with their idols, a theme we'll hear more about later in Ezekiel's prophecy; the Lord
Ezekiel 5—6
describes the terrible disaster that would come with the arrival of the Babylonian army. Ezekiel the watchman was warning the people that an invasion was coming because God had seen their sins and was about to punish them.
responded by withdrawing His favor and refusing to pity His people in their great distress. "I will also diminish thee" in 5:11 can be translated "I myself will shave you," taking us back to Ezekiel's fourth "action sermon."
God's judgment of the high places (vv. 1–7).9 The land belonged to the Lord, and He allowed the Jewish people to use it as long as they didn't defile it with their sins (Lev. 25:23; 18:25, 27–28). If the Jews obeyed His law, God would bless them in their land (26:1–13). But if they failed to keep the terms of His covenant, the Lord would punish them by withholding blessing from the land He had given them or by "vomiting" them out of the land (Lev. 18:24–30; 26:14ff.; Deut. 28:38–42, 49–52). This explains why Ezekiel "set his face"10 against the mountains, hills, rivers (ravines), and valleys of the land, for they had been defiled by the idolatry of Israel. Of course, it wasn't the physical terrain that had sinned but the Jewish people who had polluted the Holy Land by erecting their "high places [idolatrous shrines] under every green tree" (Ezek. 6:13; see Deut. 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; Jer. 2:20; 3:6, 13). The Jewish prophets despised idolatry and spoke scornfully about the idols that the people valued so much. The prophets called the idols "nothings" or "vanity" (Isa. 66:3; 1 Chron. 16:26; Jer. 14:14), "abominations" (2 Chron. 15:8), and "terrors" (1 Kings 15:13); but the word Ezekiel used is even more derisive because it can mean "pellets of dung."11 The people treated their false gods as the highest things in the land, but God saw them as the lowest and most defiling thing—dung.
In verses 12–17, the Lord explains again the awfulness of the judgment coming to the people left in the city and the land. Pestilence and famine will take onethird of them; another one-third will be killed by the Babylonian army; the remainder will be scattered. Why? Because God was "spending His wrath"7 and "accomplishing His fury" upon His sinful people. God's anger against sin is a holy anger, not a temper tantrum, for He is a holy God. "Our God is a consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). There could be no doubt that these great judgments would come, because it was the Lord Himself who had spoken (Ezek. 5:13).8 The whole land would be devastated and people would perish from famine and the pestilence that often accompanies famine, as well as bloodshed from enemy soldiers and hungry wild beasts. But as terrible as these judgments were, perhaps the greatest tragedy was that Israel would cease to bring glory to Jehovah God (v. 14) and would become a shameful reproach among the nations (Deut. 28:37; Jer. 18:15–17; 48:27; 2 Chron. 7:19–22). Jesus Christ warned the church of Ephesus that they would lose their light if they refused to repent and obey His instructions (Rev. 2:6). What a tragedy it is when a local assembly openly disobeys God's Word and begins to act like the unsaved people of the world! Once a church has lost its witness for the Lord, is there anything left?
Throughout Old Testament history, the presence of a "faithful remnant" in Israel was important to the fulfillment of God's plan. The entire nation of Israel accepted God's covenant at Mount Sinai (Ex. 20:18–21), but most of them failed to obey the Lord and died in the wilderness. In the years that followed the nation's entrance into the Promised Land, the people gradually declined spiritually, and it was the remnant that prayed, obeyed God's Word, and remained faithful to the Lord. It is this remnant that will play an important role in the future of Israel (Isa. 1:9; 10:20–23; 11:11, 16; 37:31; Joel 2:32; Mic. 2:12; 5:7; Zeph. 2:4–7; Zech. 8:1–8; Mal. 3:16; Rom. 9:27; 11:5). According to the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, there is a faithful remnant in the professing church today (Rev. 2:24; 3:4–6; and note our Lord's words to the "overcomers").
The Babylonian army would come into the land and break down the shrines and altars and destroy the idols. But even more, the soldiers would kill the worshippers and leave their rotting corpses as "sacrifices" to the fallen idols. "I will bring a sword upon you" (v. 3)12 and "you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezek. 6:7). The enemy would stack the corpses around the shrines like so many logs and pieces of defiled flesh. In His covenant with Israel, God warned Israel that this would happen if they turned from Him and worshipped false gods. During Israel's history, godly kings would destroy these abominable places and evil kings would rebuild them (2 Kings 18:3–4; 21:1–6; 23:8–9).
God's grace to the Jewish remnant (vv. 8–10). Against the background of this nationwide slaughter, Ezekiel reminds the people of the grace of God in sparing a remnant, a topic that he had illustrated when he put some of the shaved hair in the hem of his garment (5:1–3). He will mention the remnant again in 7:16; 11:16–21; 12:15–16; 14:22–23; and 16:60–63. That a remnant of faithful people would be spared was part of the covenant promise (Lev. 26:40–46). It was this feeble remnant that returned to the land, rebuilt the temple, restored the worship of the Lord, and eventually made possible the coming of the Messiah (Luke 1—2).
The First Spoken Message: The Judgment of the Land (6:1–14) God had commanded His prophet to remain silent except for those times when He opened his mouth and commanded him to preach a special message. In these two chapters, there are two messages of judgment from the Lord. The first explains that the idolatry of the people had defiled the land and the temple, and the second
Ezekiel 6—7
God, they could never have rebelled against Him as they did. "Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!" (Deut. 5:29 nkjv).
Not only was the worship of idols an abomination and a participation in filth, but it was adultery (Ezek. 6:9).13 The nation had been married to Jehovah at Sinai, and the worship of any other god was an act of adultery (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 2:1–8; 3:14; 31:32; Hos. 2:16). Here we see God's heart broken over the unfaithfulness of His people: "How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts" (Ezek. 6:9 niv). The jealousy of God over Israel, His adulterous wife, is often mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy (8:3, 5; 16:38, 42; 23:25; 36:5; 38:19). God's chaste love for Israel, His wife, is the major theme of the prophet Hosea, whose wife became a prostitute and had to be bought back by her loving husband. This was an "action sermon" (and a costly one) that rebuked Israel for their unfaithfulness to God, but the prophet assured them that the Lord would forgive if they would repent and return. Ezekiel announced that the Jews scattered throughout the Gentile nations would realize their sins, remember their God, loathe themselves, and return to the Lord; and this remnant would become the future of the nation. In the midst of judgment, God would remember mercy (Hab. 3:2).
The Second Spoken Message: The Devastation of the Land (7:1–27) The nation of Israel was blessed with a gracious Lord to worship and love, a fruitful land to enjoy, and a holy law to obey. Their love for the Lord and their obedience to His law would determine how much blessing He could entrust to them in the land. These were the terms of the covenant, and the Jewish people knew them well. The generation that first entered the land obeyed God's covenant, as did the succeeding generation, but the third generation provoked the Lord, broke their "marriage vows," and prostituted themselves to idols (Judg. 2:10–13). They disobeyed the law, defied their Lord, and defiled the land, and the Lord would not accept that kind of conduct. First, He punished them in their land by permitting seven enemy nations to occupy the land and oppress the people, as recorded in the book of Judges. But each time God delivered Israel from their oppressors, the Jews eventually returned to the worship of idols; so He finally took them away from the land, some through death and others through exile in Babylon. It's a tragic story, but it reminds us that the Lord is serious about His covenant and our obedience.
God's weapons of destruction (vv. 11–14). As he lamented the abominations that his people had committed, the prophet combined both speech and action (clapping, stamping his foot). In 21:14 and 17, these actions represented God's response to the invasion and assault of the Babylonians. From the context, when Ezekiel struck his hands together, it symbolized the marching of soldiers and the clashing of the swords as God's wrath was "spent" or "accomplished" against His disobedient people.14 This wasn't something the Lord enjoyed doing, because He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (18:23; 33:11). The Lord unleashed His three weapons against His people: the swords of the Babylonians, famine in the city, and the pestilence that usually accompanies famine (see 5:1–2).
Disaster announced (vv. 1–9). In this second spoken message, the key phrases are "the land," "an end," and "it is come." The land is personified in this message, and Ezekiel speaks to it and announces that disaster is about to fall. The judgment was certain because the prophet announced "It is come!" at least nine times in verses 1–12. He was a faithful watchman, warning the people that the Babylonian army was coming from the north to invade the land, rob it, and ruin it. Babylon was God's weapon through which He would unleash His anger, judge Israel's abominable behavior, and repay them for their disobedience. In previous chastisements, the Lord had shown pity and spared His people, but this judgment would be different. They had defiled His land with their sins, and the only way the land could be cleansed was by punishing the people for their sins.
Once again, Ezekiel described the unfaithful Jews being slaughtered at their idolatrous shrines and their corpses stacked up around the altars like so much dead wood (6:13; see vv. 3–5). When God "stretches out his hand" (v. 14), it means that judgment is coming (14:9, 13; 16:27; 25:7, 13, 16). The word Diblah might be a shortened form of Beth Diblathaim in Moab (Jer. 48:22), but if it is, the significance of the reference has been lost to us. Some Hebrew manuscripts read "Riblah," a city in Syria, and this seems to fit. God promised to devastate the land "from the desert to Riblah [Diblah]" (niv), that is, from the south to the north. It's like saying "from Dan to Beersheba," from the north to the south.
In verses 7 and 10, the KJV has the phrase "the morning is come," but both the NKJV and the NIV translate it "doom has come." The Hebrew word means "to plait, to braid," such as braiding a garland of flowers for the head, and it's translated "diadem" in Isaiah 28:5. How do the translators get either "morning" or "doom" out of this word? Probably from the image of "that which comes around," for a braided garland is the result of the weaving of flowers into a circle. "Morning" is that which comes around, day after day, and the doom of the Israelites had "come around." They had "woven" their own shameful crown of sin,
At least sixty times, Ezekiel wrote, "And they shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezek. 6:14). Whether in blessing or chastening, the Lord's purpose is to reveal Himself to us in His love and grace. If the people of Israel had truly known the character and ways of their
Ezekiel 7
The third picture is that of the watchman (Ezek. 7:14–15). God had made Ezekiel a watchman (3:17–21), and it was his responsibility to warn the people when danger was at hand. If an enemy army approached, the watchmen on the walls would blow their trumpets and summon the soldiers to man their posts and protect the city. But it was futile for the watchmen in Jerusalem to blow their trumpets because there was no Jewish army available and any resistance was futile. If the soldiers went outside the city into the country, they would be slain by the swords of the Babylonian army; and if the warriors stayed inside the city, they would die from famine and pestilence. Why risk your life in such a hopeless cause?
when they could have worn a diadem of glory to the Lord.
The disaster pictured (vv. 10–21). Always the master of vivid language to help the people "see" the truth, Ezekiel painted four word pictures to arouse their interest and perhaps reach their hearts. The first is the budding rod (vv. 10–11), an image from nature. God had been longsuffering as His people disobeyed His law and defied His prophets, but now their sins had "ripened," and the nation would have to reap what they sowed. In their pride, they had cultivated a false confidence that the Lord would never allow His people to be exiled or His temple destroyed, but their sin had now "matured" and both were now about to happen. Isaiah had used a similar image when describing the Assyrian invasion of the land (Isa. 10:5), only he saw the invaders as the "rod" in His hand. If that's the image Ezekiel had in mind, then the rod is Nebuchadnezzar, and the "blossoming" means that the time was ripe for God to punish the people. Violence in the land had grown into a rod of wickedness, and the people's sins would find them out.
In his fourth picture, Ezekiel compared the fugitives who escape to mourning doves (7:16–18), frightened and alone in the mountains. It is from this group that the Lord would form His remnant, so they were important to Him. Instead of rejoicing at their escape, these people were mourning over their sins (Isa. 59:11), wearing sackcloth and shaving their heads in sorrow and repentance, a fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy in Ezekiel 6:9–10. They will be too weak and frightened to fight the enemy; all they can do is throw themselves on the mercy of the Lord.
The second picture is taken from the business world (Ezek. 7:12–13), with the Jewish "Year of Jubilee" as the background (Lev. 25). Every seventh year was set apart as a sabbatic year, during which the land lay fallow and debts were cancelled (vv. 1–7; Deut. 15:1–6). After seven of these sabbatic years, the fiftieth year was set apart as a Year of Jubilee, when the land lay fallow, debts were cancelled, servants were set free, and the land was returned to the original owners. The price of a parcel of land was determined by the number of years until the Year of Jubilee and the amount of crops that could be harvested during that time. If a poor man sold his land or himself to be a servant, he knew the land would be returned to his family in the Year of Jubilee and he would be set free.
People throwing away their valuables (Ezek. 7:19–21) is the fifth and final picture. During the final years of the kingdom of Judah, the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer, with the rich robbing the poor without any interference from the courts. The prophets thundered against this evil, but the leaders would not listen. The refugees couldn't carry their wealth as they fled from Jerusalem, so they treated it like garbage and threw it into the streets. You can't eat money, and what good is money when there's no food to buy in the city? Furthermore, there wouldn't be any places to purchase supplies as the people fled to the mountains. Their gold and silver were only excess baggage that would slow them down, and their idols were even more worthless. In a time of crisis, we quickly learn what's valuable and important to life. The lust for wealth lured them into sin, and their sins brought about judgment. The Babylonian soldiers took the wealth of the Jews as loot, along with their expensive idols; this was God's payment to Babylon for their services in chastening Israel.
With the Babylonian invasion imminent, the price of land would certainly drop and wealthy people could quickly increase their holdings, but there was no guarantee that they would hold what they purchased. Furthermore, the seller couldn't be sure that he would get his land back when the Year of Jubilee arrived. Jeremiah had told the captives that they would be in Babylon for seventy years (Jer. 29:10), so they would spend their sabbatic years and the next Year of Jubilee in captivity—if they were alive. The vision of coming judgment would "not be reversed" (Ezek. 7:13 niv); instead, the whole economic pattern would be reversed. Had the Jews obeyed God's law, the slaves would have been freed and the ownership of the land would have been protected, but now the surviving Jews would be enslaved and their land taken from them. The people had not obeyed the laws concerning the sabbaths for the land, so the Lord took the land from them until those sabbaths were fulfilled (2 Chron. 36:14–21). What we selfishly keep for ourselves, we eventually lose; but what we give to the Lord, we keep forever.
The disruption from the disaster (vv. 22–27). First, there would be no help from the religious leaders, neither the prophets nor the priests (v. 26); and the holy temple would be defiled and destroyed. The Jews had depended on the temple to save them, for surely God wouldn't permit His beautiful house to be ruined by pagan soldiers (Jer. 7:1–5). But the temple had become a den of thieves (v. 11), and the Lord was no longer pleased with the sacrifices the people offered there (Isa. 1:11–20). God would allow pagans to pollute His treasured place. The priests could give no encouragement from the Word of God because the people had broken the covenant and were outside
Ezekiel 7—8
for worshipping the Lord (1 Sam. 9:11–25; 10:5; 1 Kings 3:4). Then they were used to worship both the Lord and a false god, and finally they were dedicated totally to the idol. The Lord commanded all the high places and the idols to be destroyed when Israel entered the land (Deut. 12). 10 The phrase "set your face against" is found also in 13:17; 20:46; 21:2, 7; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2. 11 Some scholars translate this word (gillulim) to mean "logs" or "blocks of wood." No matter how the people decorated their idols, these false gods were still only "hunks of wood." But the word can mean "pellets of dung." 12 The word sword is used eighty-six times in the book of Ezekiel. 13 Ezekiel will take up this theme of adultery again in chapters 16 and 23. 14 In 25:6, these same actions were Ammon's gleeful response to the destruction of the land of Israel, but the Lord certainly would not be happy to see His people suffer and His land devastated. 15 Some expositors see here the image of a rope "woven" around the prisoners as they are led away to Babylon.
the place of blessing. The false prophets could see no vision because they had rejected the truth.
Not only would there be religious chaos, but the political system would fall apart (Ezek. 7:27). In the eyes of Ezekiel, the king was Jehoiachin (1:2) and the prince was Zedekiah. Though Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, the prophet didn't recognize his reign but considered him only a prince (12:10, 12). The leadership in Judah began to collapse when the kings refused to listen to Jeremiah's messages from the Lord, admonishing them to surrender to Babylon and thus save the city and the temple. Whenever leaders of the Jewish nation depended on politics rather than the prophetic word, they gradually moved into compromise and confusion (Isa. 8:20). Judah sought alliances with Egypt and tried to negotiate a way to peace (Ezek. 7:25), but the Lord had determined that His people should be chastened, and no political power can overrule the sovereign will of God.
"The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever; the plans of His heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:10–11 nkjv).
CHAPTER THREE Ezekiel 8—11 THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED T
1 Samuel Heilman, A Walker in Jerusalem (Summit Books, 1986), 15. 2 The phrase "bear the iniquity" can mean to suffer for one's own sins (Lev. 17:15–16) or to take to oneself the sins of others (10:17; 16:22). Since the high priest represented the people before God, and the priests offered the sacrifices for sin, they were "bearing" the nation's sins in a symbolic sense. Without their ministry, there could be no forgiveness. 3 The subject of the length of the reigns of the Jewish kings is sometimes puzzling, so we shouldn't look for absolute figures. Fathers and sons were sometimes coregents, and at least two kings of Judah reigned for only three months each. 4 As far as the trade routes were concerned, there is a sense in which the land and the city were centrally located. The land was a "bridge" over which the nations trod as they attacked one another, and the Jews suffered the consequences. 5 In Ezekiel 25 and 26, God promised to punish the Ammonites and the people of Tyre because they laughed at the plight of Israel and took advantage of it. Indeed, the Jews were put to shame before the very people whose sins they practiced and thus brought judgment on themselves. 6 "Behold, I am against you" (v. 8) is a frequently repeated statement in the book of Ezekiel: 13:8, 20; 21:3; 26:3; 28:22; 29:3, 10; 30:22; 34:10; 35:3; 36:9; 38:3; 39:1. 7 See 6:12; 7:8, 12, 14, 19; 9:8; 13:13, 15; 14:19; 16:38, 42; 20:8, 13, 21, 33–34; 21:17, 31; 22:20–24, 31; 24:8, 13–14, 17; 30:15; 36:6, 18–19. Ezekiel has much to say about the wrath of God. 8 This is another phrase found often in the book of Ezekiel: 17:21; 21:17, 32; 23:34; 24:14; 26:5, 14; 28:10; 30:12; 34:24; 39:5. Ezekiel spoke by the authority of the Lord God. 9 Early in Israel's history, before worship was centralized at the tabernacle in Jerusalem, the "high places" were sometimes used
he Gentile nations had their temples, priests, religious laws, and sacrifices, but only the nation of Israel had the glory of the true and living God dwelling in their midst (Rom. 9:4). When Moses dedicated the tabernacle, God's glory moved in (Ex. 40:34–35), but the sins of the people caused the glory to depart (1 Sam. 4:19–22). When Solomon dedicated the temple, once again God's glory filled the sanctuary (1 Kings 8:11); but centuries later, the prophet Ezekiel watched that glory leave the temple—and then come back again! Without the presence of the glory of the Lord, God's people are just another religious crowd, going through the motions. "If Your presence does not go with us," said Moses to the Lord, "do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15 nkjv). The people of God are identified by the presence of God.
B.God's glory departs—8—11
Recorded in these chapters is a remarkable vision that God gave Ezekiel, which he shared with the elders of the people of Israel (Ezek. 11:25). It wasn't an easy message to preach because it dealt with three great tragedies in the life of the Jewish nation: the temple was defiled (8:1–18), the people were doomed (9:1—10:22), and the leaders were deceived (11:1–25). The truths he shared in this message were opposite to what the false prophets were declaring both in Jerusalem and in Babylon. In their blind overconfidence, the false prophets and the officials who followed them all claimed that God would never permit His holy temple to fall into the hands of pagan Gentiles, but they proved to be wrong.
Ezekiel 8
The Temple Is Defiled (8:1–18) Seeing dramatic visions and hearing God's voice were not everyday experiences for God's servants the prophets. As far as the record is concerned, fourteen months passed since Ezekiel was called and given his first visions. During that time he and his wife lived normal lives as Jeremiah had instructed (Jer. 29:4–9). Since the exiles in Babylon didn't have Jewish kings or princes to direct the affairs of the people, they chose elders to be their leaders; and some of these elders occasionally visited Ezekiel (see Ezek. 14:1; 20:1; 33:30–33). In this chapter, Ezekiel had two vivid experiences that led to a sad declaration: God would unleash His fury and judge His people without pity.
(2 Kings 18:1–5), but King Manasseh not only restored it but made it worse. It was he who put an idol into the Lord's temple (21:1–7), and Amon, his son and successor, continued his father's evil practices. But godly King Josiah purged the land of idolatry and burned that idol and crushed it to powder (23:4–20). But the idol had been replaced! The remarkable thing is that the glory of God was present in the same temple, but God was about to remove His glory and Ezekiel would watch it occur. Without the presence of God, the temple was just another building. It was the blasphemous sins of the religious leaders that drove God away from His holy house, and Ezekiel was about to see how wicked these leaders really were.
The Lord then led him to a place in the temple where there was a hole in the wall leading to a secret chamber. When Ezekiel entered the room, he saw seventy elders of the people (Ex. 24:9–10; Num. 11:16ff.) burning incense before various idols whose images were painted on the wall, each man worshipping his own idol (see Ezek. 12 nasb). So gross was their appetite for false gods that they were even worshipping creeping things! (See Deut. 4:14–19; Rom. 1:18–25.) Ezekiel recognized Jaazaniah, one of the leading men in Jerusalem. (This is not the Jaazaniah of Ezek. 11:1.) It's possible that his father Shaphan was the same man who found the book of the law in the days of King Josiah and served the Lord so faithfully (2 Chron. 34). If so, he had at least three other sons: Ahikam, who protected Jeremiah from being killed (Jer. 26:24); Gemariah, who begged King Jehoiakim not to destroy Jeremiah's scroll (36:12ff.); and Elasah, who delivered Jeremiah's scroll to the Jews in Babylon (29:1–3). Nebuchadnezzar appointed Shaphan's grandson Gedaliah to serve as governor of Judah after Jerusalem was destroyed (39:14). With this kind of godly heritage, it's difficult to believe that Jaazaniah became an idolater.
The glory of God was revealed (vv. 8:1–2). Above everything else, God's servants need to focus on the glory of God. It was seeing God's glory that kept Moses going when he was heavily burdened for the people (Ex. 33:18–23), and Ezekiel needed that same kind of encouragement. He saw the same glorious being and the same "chariot throne" that he had seen in the first vision (Ezek. 1). It's likely that this awesome being was Jesus Christ in a preincarnate appearance, and "the glory of God" in 8:4 was undoubtedly the spectacular vision of the wheels, cherubim, firmament, and throne that accompanied his prophetic call. God's servants may think that their greatest need is to see new visions and hear new voices, but the Lord doesn't always work that way. Instead, He often meets the need by giving us a fresh experience of the original call. The Lord reminded His servant that He was still on the throne and that His providential care for him and his people had never ceased. What more did Ezekiel need to know?
The idolatry of the people was exposed (vv. 8:3–16). Ezekiel was lifted from his house in Babylon and taken to the temple in Jerusalem! He wasn't transported bodily; he remained in his house and saw what was going on in the temple. (See 11:1, 24; 37:1; 43:5.) The first thing he saw in the temple was an idol! It's called "the image of jealousy" because idolatry provokes the Lord who is jealous over His people (Deut. 32:21). As the nation decayed spiritually, the religious leaders incorporated into the temple rituals the worship of other gods along with the worship of Jehovah. The stages in their idolatry were clear. First the Jewish people became curious about their neighbors' religion and then they investigated it. Its baser elements appealed to their fleshly appetites, and before long they were secretly participating in pagan worship. It was just a short step to start worshipping idols openly and then moving this false worship into the temple, as though Jehovah was just one of many gods (Deut. 7:1–11). Since the Lord and Israel were "married" in a covenant relationship, Israel's "religious prostitution" aroused the Lord's holy jealousy, just as a husband or wife would be jealous if a "lover" invaded their marriage (Ex. 20:5; Deut. 32:16).
God knew what was in the hearts of these men and how they justified their sin: "The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land" (Ezek. 8:12 nkjv). But the Lord isn't like the dead idols they worshipped, which "have eyes but see not" (Ps. 115:5), and the people had forsaken the Lord long before He forsook them (2 Chron. 24:20; Jer. 1:16; 2:13, 17; 7:29, 15:6). Sad to say, the false thinking of these elders reached to the people, and they adopted it as their excuse for sin (Ezek. 9:9).
But there was more sin for Ezekiel to see in the temple. This time, it was the women at the gate of the temple who were openly taking part in a heathen ritual dedicated to Tammuz (8:13–14). While not all scholars agree, Tammuz is usually identified as a fertility god whom the Egyptians called Osiris and the Greeks called Adonis. According to their myths, Tammuz was killed by a wild boar and went to the underworld, and this tragedy brought winter each year. But his wife Ishtar (Astarte) would rescue him and bring the return of springtime and the rebirth of nature. It was nothing
King Hezekiah had removed idolatry from the land
Ezekiel 8—9
land. Because the leaders despised God's law, they didn't care whether the courts were just toward everyone or partial toward the rich. When people lose their fear of God, they do as they please and don't worry about the consequences.
but superstition; the Jewish women had forsaken the truth of God for lies and were depending on gods that didn't exist. The rituals associated with the worship of Tammuz were unspeakably vile, as most fertility rituals were.
The Lord had presented the evidence and announced the verdict, and now He declared the sentence: He would obey His covenant and severely punish His people for their multiplied sins. "Unsparing fury" was the sentence, and no pity added. The guilty nation could cry out for mercy, but He would not listen to them,1 and they couldn't appeal to a higher court. He had given them opportunity after opportunity to turn from their sins, but they refused to listen; and now He wouldn't listen to them.
The fourth sight that would grieve Ezekiel's heart was that of twenty-five men at the door of the temple, between the porch (entry) and the brazen altar, openly bowing down to the sun (vv. 15–16). Since they were standing in an area by the altar of sacrifice available only to the priests, it's likely these men were priests, although in 9:6, these men are called elders. In worshipping the sun, they had to face the east, and this meant they turned their backs on the temple of God and the God of the temple. The idolatry of the seventy elders was hidden in the temple, but these men practiced their idolatry openly! It was contrary to God's law for the Jews to worship the heavenly bodies (Ex. 20:1–6; Deut. 17:3), but these men were worshipping the creation instead of the Creator (Rom. 1:25) and doing it openly in the temple precincts.
The People Are Doomed (9:1—10:22) This is the heart of Ezekiel's message, and it must have broken his heart to deliver it. Read the book of Lamentations and see how thoroughly the Lord "dealt in fury" with His people. Jeremiah was an eyewitness of the destruction of Jerusalem, and what Ezekiel predicted, Jeremiah saw fulfilled.
Idolatry was a besetting sin among the Jewish people. Abraham belonged to an idol-worshipping family before God called him (Josh. 24:2), and the Jews learned a great deal about idolatry when they sojourned in Egypt (Ezek. 20:7; Josh. 24:14). When they captured the Promised Land, they failed to destroy the idols and shrines of the residents of the land, and this idolatry became a snare to them (Judg. 2:10–15). While believers today may not bow before grotesque idols like those named in the Bible, we must still beware of idols, for an idol is anything that has our devotion and commands our will and takes the place of the true and living God. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21) is an admonition that needs to be heeded by the church today.
The remnant spared (9:1–4). In his vision, Ezekiel was still in the temple in Jerusalem when he heard the Lord summon six "men" to prepare the way for the slaughter. These were probably angels who appeared as men, the angels assigned to the city of Jerusalem. Daniel learned that there were angels in charge of nations (Dan. 10:12–21), so it isn't unusual that Jerusalem should have six guardian angels. These angels were appointed to execute God's judgment in the city. But with the six angels was a seventh person bearing the equipment of a scribe, clothed in linen as though he were a priest. On the basis of his garment (Dan. 10:5; Rev. 1:13), some students have identified this man as the Lord Jesus Christ who came to preserve His faithful remnant, but this is only conjecture. On his belt or sash, the scribe wore a leather or metal container, about ten inches long and an inch and a half square, in which were reed pens and a container of ink. In ancient cities, the scribe would register the citizens and identify the aliens. These seven angels congregated at the altar of burnt offering, the place where the fire of God's holy judgment consumed the sacrifices.2 The fire declared the holiness of God, but the blood sacrifice on the altar declared the grace of God.
The divine judgment is announced (vv. 17–18). Ezekiel had seen only a part of the evidence that the people in Jerusalem had abandoned themselves to idolatry. He had seen an idol in the temple, defiling its very precincts and yet being worshipped by people who also claimed to worship the Lord, as though Jehovah were one God among many, not the Lord of lords. Then he saw the leaders secretly worshipping false gods in the temple. After that, everything was out in the open: the women weeping for Tammuz, and the priests/elders bowing down to the sun. In God's sight, these things were abominable and detestable and they provoked Him to anger. Except for the faithful remnant, the Jewish people no longer feared God or cared about pleasing Him.
At this point, the shekinah3 glory that had been on the "chariot throne" (Ezek. 8:2, 4) moved from the throne to the threshold of the temple, in preparation for leaving the temple. It's interesting that the glory of God should be associated with the judgment of a polluted city, but it is for His glory that God judges sin.4 It is also for His glory that God graciously saves those who put their trust in Him (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). The Jewish people who had God's glory dwelling among them didn't seek to glorify Him by obeying His will, so He received glory by punishing their sins.
The strange phrase "put the branch to the nose" has no parallel in Scripture and may describe a part of an idolatrous ritual. Some see it as an insulting gesture, similar to our "sticking up the nose" at someone or something, while others suggest it should be translated "a stench in my nose." Whatever it means, the gesture was repulsive to God. He announced that the nation's idolatry was the cause of the violence in the
The scribe-angel was commanded to go through
Ezekiel 9—10
idolatrous Jews (Ex. 32:11ff.). The prophets asked God to spare the people of Israel, and Jesus prayed for the ignorant people who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). God informed Ezekiel that the land was defiled by innocent blood and the city was full of injustice, and the time had come for the people to reap what they had sown.
the city and mark the people who lamented and grieved because of the sins of the city. No matter how dark the day, God has always had His faithful remnant who obeyed His will and trusted Him for deliverance, and Ezekiel was among them (Ezek. 6:11; 21:6; see Ps. 12:5; 119:53; 136; Isa. 66:2; Jer. 13:17; Amos 6:6; Mal. 3:16.) The marking of people will also be a feature of the end times (Rev. 7:3; 9:4; 13:16–17; 20:4). Believers today are "marked" by the Spirit of God (Eph. 1:13–14) and should be "marked" by holy lives that glorify Christ.
In response to Ezekiel's concern and prayer, the Lord revealed His glory once again, just as it had been revealed when Moses dedicated the tabernacle and Solomon dedicated the temple. The glory cloud left the chariot-throne and hovered over the threshold. The Lord commanded the scribe-angel to enter between the wheels and take coals from the fire that was there and to scatter the coals over the city of Jerusalem. Not only would the city be visited by famine, pestilence, and sword, but it would be burned by the Babylonian army. This was not a fire of purification, such as Isaiah experienced (Isa. 6:5–7), but a fire of condemnation (2 Kings 25:8–9).
The rebels judged (9:5—10:7). The other six angels were to follow the scribe-angel and kill everybody on whom he didn't put the mark, and nobody was to be spared because of sex or age. The word for "mark" in the Hebrew text is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (taw or tau), which in that day was written like a cross (X). The angels see to it that God's plans are fulfilled for individuals and nations, but they perform their duties invisibly, unseen by the people whose lives they affect. It was now the year 592 BC (8:1), and the city of Jerusalem wouldn't be taken until 586 BC. Some of the inhabitants had already died of famine and pestilence, but when the Babylonian army broke through the walls, many more were to be slaughtered with the sword (5:8–13).
The glory revealed (10:8–22). Ezekiel described the vision of God's glory that he had seen on the day of his ordination (vv. 15, 20–22). One new feature is the fact that the living creatures were "full of eyes" even as the wheels were, which suggests God's omniscience (see 1:18). God's providential working in this world is not aimless or haphazard. Everything is done "according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11 nkjv). Another new feature is the identifying of the wheels as "the whirling wheels" (Ezek. 10:13 niv).
"Begin at my sanctuary" seems like a strange order, but it was the idolatry in the temple that had aroused the anger of the Lord. Often in Scripture you find God sending judgment, not because unbelievers have sinned, but because His own people have disobeyed His law! Twice Abraham brought judgment on innocent Gentiles because he lied about his wife (Gen. 12:10–20; 20:1–18). Aaron the high priest led Israel into idolatry and three thousand people were slain (Ex. 32:1–6, 26–29). David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband, Uriah, and his sins brought years of trouble to his family and the nation. A crew of Gentile sailors almost drowned because of the disobedience of God's prophet Jonah. God's people are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13–16). If there were more salt in this world, there would be less decay, and more light would mean less darkness. Our good works glorify the Lord, but our sins invite His discipline. Peter warned believers in the first century that "judgment must begin at the house [household] of God" (1 Peter 4:17), a warning we need to heed today as our Lord's coming draws near.
One problem that this new description presents relates to the description of the faces of the cherubim in verse 14. In 1:10, each cherub had the face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; while in 10:14, the face of the ox is apparently replaced by the face of "the cherub." The so-called contradiction is only apparent. From where Ezekiel was standing, he saw a different face of each of the cherubs. "The cherub" must have been the one that gave the coals of fire to the scribeangel. We might paraphrase it, "The first face I saw was of the cherub and it was an ox, since the faces I saw of the other three cherubim were of a man, a lion, and an eagle." Each face was indeed the face of the cherub since each of the living creatures was a cherub.
God's glory departed from the threshold and stood over the throne-chariot which was on the right side of the house (v. 3), as though the Lord were calling His glory back to His throne. At the same time, the chariot-throne arose and stood at the door of the east gate of the temple. There Ezekiel would see some of the leaders of the nation engaged in worshipping the sun, and the Lord would judge one of them.
A corpse was an unclean thing to a Jew, so corpses in the temple would defile the house of God. These people had defiled God's house by their wicked lives, and now they would defile it further in their terrible deaths. The idolaters would be as dead as the idols they worshipped (Ps. 115:8). When the prophet Ezekiel saw this scene, he fell on his face to intercede for the remnant God had promised to protect. This attitude is the mark of a true shepherd (see Ezek. 4:14; 11:13). Abraham interceded for Lot in Sodom (Gen. 18:16ff.), and Moses interceded for his brother Aaron and the
Ezekiel was learning that the most important part of the nation's life was to magnify the glory of God. The presence of God in the sanctuary was a great privilege for the people of Israel, but it was also a great responsibility. The glory of God cannot dwell with the sins of God's people, so it was necessary for the glory to leave, and the sanctuary and the people to be judged.
Ezekiel 11
The Leaders Are Deceived (11:1–25) When you read the prophecy of Jeremiah, you discover that the civil and religious leaders of the kingdom of Judah, as well as the rulers of Jerusalem, were not interested in knowing and doing the will of God. When one of the kings inquired of Jeremiah, he did it secretly because he was afraid of what his advisers might do (Jer. 37:17). During Judah's last years, the people were ruled by weak men who promoted idolatry and would not call the people to repentance and prayer (2 Chron. 7:14). By publicly wearing a yoke, Jeremiah had made it clear that the only way to spare the city and the temple from destruction was for the Jewish leaders to surrender to the Babylonians (Jer. 27). Instead, the Jewish leaders secretly made an agreement with the Egyptians, asking them to rescue them from Babylon, but the Egyptians were helpless to do anything. God had decreed the fall of the nation, and He was using Nebuchadnezzar as His servant to accomplish His will (Jer. 25:9; 27:6; 43:10).
remnant from among the exiles, but the idolaters in Jerusalem would be slain.
The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy against those evil leaders and point out that they weren't the meat—they were the butchers! They had killed innocent people in Jerusalem and stolen their possessions, and even if the leaders weren't slain in Jerusalem, they would not escape judgment. They might flee the city, but the Babylonians would catch them at the border, pass sentence on them, and kill them; and that is exactly what happened (2 Kings 25:18–21; Jer. 39:1–7; 52:1–11, 24–27). Then the Jewish officials would learn too late that Jehovah alone is Lord of heaven and earth.
In his vision, Ezekiel preached this message and Petaliah fell down dead! The Lord gave the sun-worshippers a vivid proof that their evil thoughts and plans could only lead to disaster. Once again, Ezekiel revealed his shepherd's heart as he fell on his face before the Lord and prayed for the people. As in Ezekiel 9:8, he prayed that the Lord would spare a remnant of the people so Israel would have a future.
The city is like a cauldron (vv. 1–13). Ezekiel was still having his vision of Jerusalem and the temple, and the Lord showed him twenty-five men at the eastern door of the temple, worshipping the sun. (See 8:15–18.) Among them were the leaders of the people, Jaazaniah and Pelantiah. (This is not the Jaazaniah of v. 11.) These men were giving wicked advice to the king and other leaders in Jerusalem, but their counsel was not from the Lord. How could it be wise counsel when they were idolaters who worshipped the sun? At the same time, they were plotting evil so that they could benefit personally from the Babylonian attack on the city. In every crisis, you will find "opportunists" who seek to help themselves instead of helping their country, and they usually hide behind the mask of patriotism.
Jehovah, the sanctuary of His people (vv. 11:14–21). This is God's word of encouragement to His servant that He would fulfill His promise and spare a remnant of the people. The people in Jerusalem were sure that God would deliver them and give back their land, because the exiles had left the land and were far from Jerusalem and the temple. In ancient days, people believed that each nation had its own gods, and when you left your home country, you left your gods behind.5 Of course, Jehovah had revealed Himself to Abraham as "possessor of heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:22), so the Jewish leaders shouldn't have had such a narrow view of God. What they said was probably just an excuse for confiscating land that belonged to some of the exiles.
But the Lord made it clear that He had not forsaken the Jews in Babylon, for the "I will" statements in Ezekiel 11:16–20 declare His promises to the exiles. First, God Himself would be to them "a sanctuary for a little while" during their captivity. "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations" (Ps. 90:1 nkjv). The self-confident Jews in Jerusalem thought they were secure as long as they had the temple, but the true temple was with the exiles in Babylon! Long before there ever was a tabernacle or a temple, the patriarchs had God as their refuge and strength, their sanctuary, and their abiding place. Wherever Abraham pitched his tent, he also built an altar to the Lord, because he knew that God was with him (Gen. 12:8; 13:1–4, 18). The New Testament equivalent of this experience is to abide in Christ (John 15:1–10).
Not only were these leaders idolaters and wicked counselors, but they cultivated a philosophy that gave them and the other leaders a false confidence in their dangerous situation. "Is not the time near to build houses?" they asked. "This city is the pot and we are the flesh" (11:3 nasb). Jeremiah had told the exiles to build houses in Babylon and settle down and raise families, because they would live there for seventy years (Jer. 29:4ff.). But it was foolish for the people in Jerusalem to build houses, for the Lord had ordained that the Babylonian army would destroy the city and slaughter most of the inhabitants. These evil leaders were sure that Jerusalem was as safe for them as a piece of meat in a cooking pot. The innuendo in this metaphor was that the people in Jerusalem were choice cuts of meat, while the exiles in Babylon were just the scraps and rejected pieces. Of course, just the opposite was true! Had the leaders in Jerusalem listened to Jeremiah's message about the baskets of figs, they would have seen their philosophy completely reversed. The good figs were the exiles and the bad figs were the people left in Jerusalem (Jer. 24:1–7). God would preserve a
His second promise is "I will even gather you" (Ezek. 11:17). A remnant of Jews would one day return to the land and rebuild the temple. No matter where the Jews had been scattered, the Lord would find them and bring them home. This promise goes far beyond the restoration after the captivity, for the Lord has promised that in the end times He will gather His people back to
Ezekiel 11—12
their land (28:25–26; 34:11–16; 36:24–38; 37:11–28; Isa. 11:11–16; Jer. 24:4–7). His third promise is, "I will give you the land of Israel" (Ezek. 11:17). Since God had already given this land to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:7; 13:14–17; 15:7), nobody else could successfully lay claim to it. When the exiles returned to their land, they would be cured of idolatry and would remove all the pagan worship.
1 It's interesting that the name Jaazaniah in verse 11 means "the Lord hears." 2 These angels remind us of the seven "trumpet angels" in Revelation 8—9. 3 The word shekinah comes from a Hebrew word that means "to dwell." God's glory had dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the temple, but now it would be taken away. 4 Before ushering in the great day of His wrath, God showed John the Holy of Holies in heaven and the ark of the covenant (Rev. 11:15–19). One reason the world resists the idea of divine judgment is because they divorce it from the holiness of God and the glory of God. God was "enthroned" on the mercy seat (1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; Ps. 80:1; 99:1 niv). His throne is a holy throne. 5 Naaman took a load of soil from Israel to Syria so he could still be close to the Lord (2 Kings 5:17), and David complained that Saul had driven him away from his own land and therefore from the Lord (1 Sam. 26:17–20).
The promises in Ezekiel 11:19–21 go beyond the return of the Jewish exiles after the Babylonian captivity, for Scripture records no evidence of this kind of spiritual renewal in the post-exilic period. In fact, the account given in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Malachi is just the opposite. The promises apply to the end times when God's people Israel will be regathered to their land, will repent of their sins and trust their Messiah (Zech. 12—14), and welcome Him as their King. They will experience a spiritual regeneration, a new birth. However, those who will not believe will be judged (Ezek. 11:21). Later in this book, Ezekiel will describe in greater detail the glorious blessings God has prepared for the Jewish nation (chaps. 33—48). Jeremiah had also announced a "new covenant" for the people of Israel (Jer. 31:33; 32:38–39), a covenant not written on stones but engraved on the human mind and heart; and Christian believers today share in that covenant (2 Cor. 3; Heb. 9—10).
CHAPTER FOUR Ezekiel 12—14 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FALSE I
n his Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."1 During the siege of Jerusalem (606–586 BC), error had the support of government and religious leaders, and most of the Jewish exiles in Babylon agreed with them. "We will never give in to the Babylonian army!" was the cry of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. "The Lord will never allow the Gentiles to destroy His Holy City or defile His holy temple!" One dissenting voice in Jerusalem was Jeremiah; in Babylon it was Ezekiel. Both in his "action sermons" and his oral messages, Ezekiel warned the people that they were trusting in illusions. No matter what the officials, the false prophets, and the people said, the city and the nation were doomed. In these chapters, Ezekiel exposes the errors that brought the nation to ruin.
The glory departs (vv. 22–25). The chariotthrone had been lingering at the threshold of the east gate of the temple, with the glory of God above it (10:18–19). Now the glory of God departed and rested over the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Ezekiel could have written "Ichabod" over the east gate, for indeed, "the glory has departed" (1 Sam. 4:19–22). However, Ezekiel saw the glory return, this time to the new temple that will stand during the reign of Christ in His kingdom (Ezek. 43:1–5).
C.Godless leaders exposed—12—17
After the temple was destroyed in 586 BC, the glory of God disappeared from the earth and didn't return until the birth of Christ in Bethlehem (Luke 2:9, 32; John 1:14). Wicked men crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8), but He arose again and ascended back to heaven from Bethany (Luke 24:50–51; Acts 1:9–12), which is on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet. One day Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) to deliver His people and establish His kingdom. The glory will have returned!
False Confidence (12:1–28) When the Lord called Ezekiel, He warned him that he would be ministering to a rebellious people (2:3–8) who were spiritually blind and deaf (12:2). In order to understand God's truth, we must be obedient to God's will (John 7:17; Ps. 25:8–10), but Israel was far from being obedient. Years before, Isaiah spoke to people who were spiritually blind and deaf (Isa. 6:9–10), and that was the kind of people Jeremiah was preaching to in Jerusalem (Jer. 5:21). When our Lord was here on earth, many of the people were spiritually blind and deaf (Matt. 13:13–14), and so were the people who heard Paul (Acts 28:26–28). In order to get the attention of the exiles and excite their interest, Ezekiel performed two "action sermons" and after each one gave a message from the Lord.
When the vision ended, Ezekiel found himself back in his own house in Babylon, and he told the Jewish elders and the other exiles what the Lord had shown him. Some no doubt believed and prayed for the peace of Jerusalem, while others preferred to listen to the deadly, soothing words of the false prophets. But four years later (Ezek. 24:1), Ezekiel would get the message that the siege of Jerusalem had begun. The date was January 15, 588 BC. Three years later (January 8, 585 BC), a fugitive would arrive in Babylon with the news that the city had fallen (32:21).
God's Word never fails.
Ezekiel 12
The people will live in terror (vv. 17–28). The prophet's second "action sermon" probably took place the next day when it was time for his meal. Perhaps some of the Jews were in the house with him, or what's more likely, he ate the meal outside and continued the fugitive image. He ate his bread and drank his water— a frugal meal—while shaking and trembling as if in fear. He was illustrating the tragic condition of the people in Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege. They would have very little food and would eat it with fear and trembling because it might well be their last meal. Their plight would be the fulfillment of the Lord's promise in 4:16–17. Anxiety, worry, fear, and consternation would grip the people as the fall of the city became more imminent.
The leaders cannot escape (vv. 1–16). The Lord instructed Ezekiel to play the part of a fugitive escaping from a besieged city. Part of his activity occurred in the daytime and part at twilight, and the curious but perplexed Jewish exiles watched his strange actions. First, Ezekiel prepared a knapsack with essentials for a journey and took it outside in the daylight and hid it somewhere away from his house. Then he returned to the house and that evening dug through one of its walls, probably from the outside since the people could see him work. Houses were constructed of sun-dried bricks, so digging through the wall wasn't a problem. After that, he retrieved his knapsack, went into the house, and climbed out through the hole, while his face was covered and his eyes were fixed on the ground. As the people watched, they asked, "What is he doing?"
The theme of Ezekiel's message (12:21–28) was the certainty and the nearness of God's judgment on Jerusalem and the land of Judah. The people were quoting a proverb that may have been devised by the false prophets to humiliate Ezekiel: "The days drag on and every vision comes to nothing and is not fulfilled" (v. 22 ab). In other words, "Ezekiel tells us about all his visions, but nothing ever happens. Why worry? His prophecies will come to nothing!" The Jews had said a similar thing to Isaiah (Isa. 5:19), and people today say this about the return of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3). People can predict the weather, but they don't discern "the signs of the times" (Matt. 16:3).
Packing the knapsack and leaving it at a distance from his house conveyed the message that the leaders in Jerusalem were planning to flee for their lives. Digging through the wall from outside the house pictured the Babylonian army's assault on the walls of Jerusalem. That evening, when Ezekiel climbed out of the house through the hole, the knapsack on his back, he depicted the Jewish leaders secretly trying to flee from the city to save their lives. History tells us that King Zedekiah, his officers, and his army escaped from Jerusalem exactly that way, but they were pursued by the Babylonians and captured (2 Kings 25:1–7; Jer. 52:4–11). The Babylonians killed the king's sons and officers before his very eyes,2 put out Zedekiah's eyes, and took him prisoner to Babylon, where he died.
The Lord gave His servant a new proverb to share with the exiles: "The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled" (Ezek. 12:23 niv). Because Ezekiel's prophecies had not been fulfilled immediately, the people were paying more attention to the false prophets than to the true word of God. The visions of the false prophets were false and misleading, and they delivered only the soothing and encouraging words that the people wanted to hear (Jer. 28—29). The Lord made it clear that there would be no more "delays" and that His word would be fulfilled. He had said to Jeremiah, "I am watching over My word to perform it" (1:12 nasb), and He told Isaiah that His word always fulfilled the purposes for which it was sent (Isa. 55:8–11). God's Word has its appointed time and will never fail (Hab. 2:3). Among the exiles, one part said that Ezekiel's words would never be fulfilled, but another group said, "Yes, they will be fulfilled, but not in our time. We don't have to worry about what will happen because it will take place a long time from now" (paraphrase of Ezek. 12:27). Their interpretation was wrong and so was their selfish attitude. Even if the Lord did delay His judgments, how could the Jewish people be content with the present, knowing that a future generation would be wiped out and the Holy City and temple destroyed? They were like King Hezekiah when Isaiah rebuked him for his pride and warned him that Babylon would conquer Judah: "At least there will peace and truth in my days" (Isa. 39:8 nkjv).
The next morning, in the message that followed the "action sermon,"3 Ezekiel predicted that these events would occur. He also announced that though Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon, he would not see it (Ezek. 12:13; Jer. 52:11). How could such a thing happen? It was very simple: the Babylonians gouged out his eyes and Zedekiah couldn't see anything! But it wasn't the Babylonian army that captured the king of Judah and his officers; it was God's "net" that caught them. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army didn't win because of their own skill; they were God's instruments to defeat the people of Judah and Jerusalem (Jer. 27:1–22). Jeremiah had admonished Zedekiah to surrender to the Babylonians (38:14ff.), but the king didn't have the faith to trust God's Word and obey it. Had he humbled himself and surrendered, the city, the temple, and the lives of the people would have been spared.
Not only would the Jewish officials be slain and their king humiliated, but the people in Jerusalem who survived the siege would be scattered abroad, and some of them would be taken to Babylon (Ezek. 12:14–16). Again, this would be the work of God—"I shall scatter them"—and not because these surviving Jews had been especially holy. Quite the opposite was true: the Lord allowed the survivors to go to Babylon as witnesses that their evil deeds deserved the punishment that God had sent to the nation. This will come up again in 14:22–23.
The Lord made it clear that Ezekiel's words would
Ezekiel 12—13
be fulfilled very soon. "The word which I have spoken shall be done" (Ezek. 12:28). Six years later, the Babylonian army breached the walls of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel's predictions came true. How tragic it is when people deliberately ignore or reject the dependable Word of God and put their faith in the empty but soothing words of false religious leaders! It reminds me of a story that came out of World War II. A group of soldiers asked their new chaplain if he believed in hell, and he laughed and said that he didn't. The men said, "Well, sir, if there isn't a hell, then we don't need you. But if there is a hell, then you're leading us astray—and that's worse!" There is no substitute for God's Word.
of God builds carefully on a strong foundation and keeps the wall in good repair, but a hireling builds carelessly and whitewashes things to make them look better.
God explained how He would judge the false prophets (Ezek. 13:9). First, they would be exposed as counterfeits and no longer have an exalted reputation among the people. They would lose their prominent places in the councils of the nation. God would treat them like Jews who had also lost their citizenship (Ezra 2:59, 62) and therefore be deprived of the privilege of returning to their land. It appears that the false prophets in Jerusalem would be slain by the enemy, and those in Babylon would be left there to die. The counterfeit prophets gave the people a false hope, so God gave them no hope at all.
False Prophecy (13:1–23) Ezekiel had answered the shallow, selfish thinking of the exiles and the people in Jerusalem, but now he attacked the source of their blind optimism: the messages of the false prophets. Jeremiah in Jerusalem had to confront a similar group of men who claimed to have a word from the Lord. The false prophets claimed to speak in the name of the Lord, just as Jeremiah and Ezekiel did, but they didn't get their messages from the Lord. Ezekiel spoke against both false prophets (vv. 1–16) and false prophetesses (vv. 17–23) who were actually using the occult practices forbidden to the people of Israel (Deut. 18:9–14).
It's a serious thing to be called of God and to speak His Word to His people. To assume a place of ministry without being called and gifted is arrogance, and to manufacture messages without receiving them from the Lord is impertinence. The false prophets in Ezekiel's day were guilty of both. Popularity is not a test of truth. History shows that those who spoke the truth were usually rejected by the majority, persecuted, and even killed. Jesus used the same image of a storm to warn us about false prophets (Matt. 7:15–27). It's easy for people to say, "Lord, Lord," but it's not easy to walk the narrow road and confront the crowd that's going in the opposite direction.
The lying prophets (vv. 1–16). Four times in this paragraph God declares that the false prophets saw vanity (nothingness) and spoke lies. God hadn't called them (Jer. 23:21–22) and God didn't give them their messages, yet they claimed to be His prophets. They spoke out of their own imaginations, and their "inspiration" was self-induced. Ezekiel compared them to the foxes (jackals) that lived as scavengers in the deserted ruins of the land. They cared only for themselves, they did nothing to improve the situation, and they lived off the fears of the people. In times of crisis, there are always religious opportunists who prey on weak and ignorant people who are seeking cheap assurance and comfort.
The lying sorceresses (vv. 17–23). The gift of prophecy wasn't given exclusively to men, for several prophetesses are named in Scripture: Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judg. 4:4–5), the wife of Isaiah (Isa. 8:3), Hulda (2 Kings 22:14), and the daughters of Philip the evangelist (Acts 21:8–9). Noadiah (Neh. 6:14) was apparently a self-styled prophetess and not a true servant of God.
The Jewish women Ezekiel was exposing were more like sorceresses who claimed to be prophetesses. They practiced the magical arts they had probably learned in Babylon, all of which were forbidden to the Jews (Deut. 18:9–14). They manufactured magic charms that people could wear on various parts of the body and thus ward off evil. They also told fortunes and enticed people to buy their services. Like the false prophets, they were using the crisis situation for personal gain and preying on the fears of the people. A Christian executive in Chicago told me that during the Depression, worried businessmen frequently visited a fortuneteller who sold her services from a fine restaurant.
Ezekiel also compared the false prophets to workmen who failed to build something that would last. The spiritual "wall" that had protected the Jewish people for centuries had fallen into ruin, and prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah were trying to rebuild and strengthen it by proclaiming the Word and calling the people back to God. But the false prophets ignored the word of God and substituted their own lies ("untempered mortar" kjv = whitewash).4 They were like workmen who whitewashed a weak wall to make it look sturdy, because they promised peace when God had promised destruction (Ezek. 13:10, 16; Jer. 6:14; 7:8; 8:11). Just as the storm would come, and the rain, hail, and wind knock down the wall, so God's wrath would come and destroy Jerusalem, the prophets, and their deceptive messages. A true prophet tells people what they need to hear, but a false prophet tells them what they want to hear (2 Tim. 4:1–5). A true servant
But these women weren't helping people; they were hunting them and catching them like birds in a trap to take their money. They told the people lies, they didn't expose their sins, and they kept them from trusting the true and living God and depending on His Word alone. Instead of condemning the evil and rewarding the good, they were slaying the good and rewarding the evil! Through their divinations, they gave false hope to the wicked and condemned the just, and they were
Ezekiel 13—14
change their minds about idols and the sin of worshipping idols, and then turn to the Lord who alone is worthy of worship. God would judge each sinner personally and deal with each one personally (v. 7), and some of them He would use as examples to warn the other exiles (v. 8).
willing to do it for just a handful of barley and a scrap of bread!5 But their end would come. God would strip them of their charms and amulets and then take His people back to their land, leaving these evil women behind to die.
False Piety (14:1–11) Except when God told him to leave, Ezekiel was confined to his house (3:24) and was not allowed to speak unless he was declaring a message from the Lord. The elders of the exiled people came to visit him to see what he was doing and to hear what he had to say about their situation (8:1; 20:1). The prophet gave them two messages from the Lord.
A casual reading of verse 9 would give the impression that it was the Lord's fault that people were worshipping idols, but that isn't the case. Everybody in Israel knew the Ten Commandments and understood that it was a sin to make and worship idols (Ex. 20:1–6). Even if someone very close to them enticed them to practice idolatry, they were not to yield (Deut. 13). God permitted these enticements to test the people to make sure they were loyal to Him. Of course, God knows what's in the human heart, but we don't know our own hearts, and these tests help us to stay humble before the Lord and walk in the fear of the Lord. An illustration of this truth is seen in 1 Kings 22. God permitted a lying spirit to work in the minds of the false prophets to convince Ahab to go into battle. Micaiah, the true prophet, told the assembly what would happen, but they rejected the truth and put their trust in lies. God spared the life of the king of Judah but took the life of wicked King Ahab.
He exposed their hidden sin (vv. 1–5). God told His servant that these elders were like some of the spiritual leaders Ezekiel had seen in his vision of the temple (chap. 8): outwardly they were serving the Lord, but secretly they were worshipping idols. Instead of having a love for God and His Word in their hearts, the elders had idols in their hearts. Yet they piously sat before God's prophet and acted spiritual, but to them, listening to Ezekiel speak was more like religious entertainment than receiving spiritual enlightenment (33:31). They were like the people in Isaiah's day who drew near to God with words but not with their hearts (Isa. 29:13). Jesus said that the Pharisees in His day were guilty of the same sin (Matt. 15:8–9), and so are some professed Christians today. Idolatry in the heart puts a stumbling block before the eyes (Ezek. 13:7; 7:19; 18:10; 44:12), and this leads to a tragic fall.