Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 16

• Ezekiel 16:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
• 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 

God in His mercy does not just send judgments upon a disobedient people before He shows them the reason for the judgment. He will send a messenger to show them what causes the judgments that are to come. 

• Ezekiel 16:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. 

The land of Israel used to be the land of the Canaanites. God did not allow Israel to possess that land until the iniquity of the Canaanites was full or to the point where there was no way to get them to repent and change. 

God says that His spirit will not always strive with man. There is a point when iniquity gets so bad that He has to stop it or it will spread to the innocent and continue forever. 

• Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 
• 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 
• 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 
• 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 

God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham back before He had any children to inherit it. God knew that the Canaanites would continue in sin and get so bad that He would have to destroy them. Yet God in His mercy did not allow Abraham to have one inch of their land until their iniquity got to the point where there was no hope. 

The children of Israel went to the land of Egypt because of famine. They went under bondage for 400 years and after that time through the leadership of Moses they went and possessed the land of Canaan. 

I wonder sometimes why they had to go to Egypt and be in bondage. Perhaps because Abraham went to Egypt when there was a famine without consulting God. Then again it could have been because Joseph's brothers sold Joseph as a slave so perhaps their descendants would become slaves in Egypt also. The bible doesn't really state why they suffered bondage for 400 years. Perhaps it is in some other Jewish writings. 

The reason Ezekiel states that their father was an Amorite and their mother was a Hittite was because the land of Canaan where the Hittites and Amorites dwelt, was the land given to Israel to possess it. 

• Ezekiel 16:4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 
• 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. 
• 6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. 

Though Israel was small and despised, God had mercy upon them and called them to be His people. 

• Ezekiel 16:7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. 
• 8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. 

Israel became God's chosen people, the apple of His eye. They were chosen to bring forth the one that was to save from sin and usher in the hope of eternal life. They were chosen to spread the gospel and to rule the world with a rod of iron. 

• Ezekiel 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 
• 10 I clothed thee also with embroidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. 
• 11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 
• 12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 
• 13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 

Got blessed them mightily and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. He prospered them and they became a mighty nation under King David. 

Many times when we have it easy and are prosperous, we tend to forget who gave it to us and we get exalted in ourselves forgetting to be humble and thankful to God. God in His mercy sometimes has to take back some of the things He allows us to have in order that our souls are saved in the long run. 

We need to willing to serve God when we live in prosperity or when we are in need. We always need God in both cases. There is never a time when we should think that we can live independent from God. We need His word, we need His presence, we need His righteousness, we need His holiness and we need His Holy Spirit. To have all these things we desperately need, we must come through the Messiah or Christ that He sent to save us from sin and bring us all the above mentioned gifts. 

• Ezekiel 16:14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 
• 15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 

Instead of being thankful to God and continually serving Him in love and thanksgiving, they began to lust after the gods of the other nations. Their gods allowed them to sin and still have religion. 

• Ezekiel 16:16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colors, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 

The riches God blessed them with were then used to decorate the high places for idol worship. This is the same as spiritual adultery or spiritual fornication. Spiritual adultery and fornication leads to the literal practice of adultery and fornication. In fact their worship includes such practices as using temple prostitutes and sexual orgies and many gross abominations. Child sacrifice and the live sacrifice of virgins sometimes enters into idolatrous worship. Using images is forbidden by God because demon spirits are behind any worship that is not to the real God. They cause us to feel religious but it will not be real. 

• Ezekiel 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, 
• 18 And tookest thine embroidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.

In our civilized world today, we may think they were a little silly to worship a statue but the world seems to return to that silliness because we read in the book of Revelation that idolatry returns to latter day false worship. Some religions still use images and even some churches bow down before an image that is supposed to represent Jesus or Mary but such things are forbidden by the scriptures. In the latter days though, image worship appears to increase. 

This type of thing happens when men and women began to reject God's holiness, then they reject God's word, and substitute their own commandments and ordinances. When we reject God, we open ourselves up to demonic forces that either will cause atheism or if we still want religion, the devil will give us a counterfeit religion with all the trappings. There are strict legalistic ones and there are loose ones that allow sin. It is dangerous to reject the truth for then we will believe a lie. 

• Ezekiel 16:19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. 
• 20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, 
• 21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them? 

Idol worship required the sacrifice of children. They had to pass through fire and other such heathen abominations. Israel should have known better but once they rebelled against God, the deceiver can then come in like a flood and deceive them into believing they are worshipping a real god. 

Because of the coming of Jesus Christ, we do not see too much of this type of sacrifice today but it appears to be returning because it is seen in book of Revelation. There is a revival of idolatry to come in the latter days. It may be that the New Age movement mixed with the false harlot church will usher this type of thing in. Many churches already uses images that represent Christ so it would not be hard to get into full blown idolatry. 

Churches need to get rid of images now and not be part of the latter day deception to come. 

• Ezekiel 16:22 And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood. 
• 23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) 
• 24 That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street. 
• 25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms. 

Spiritual adultery is compared to a whore than opens up to all that pass by. They had forgotten the days of their youth when God was their God. 

• Ezekiel 16:26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. 

Again this fornication was spiritual when they served the false gods of the Egyptians and other nations that surrounded them. 

Instead of using their knowledge of God to influence the nations around them, they let the nations around them influence them and lead them away from the real God. Israel was supposed to convert the world but the world converted them. 

• Ezekiel 16:27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. 

Nations that do not serve the real God may have pretended to love Israel but they did not. They actually hated them. Satan hated them because they were the ones to bring forth the Son of God that was to defeat him. He still hates them because they have to be a nation again in the land of Israel for latter day prophecy to be fulfilled. 

• Ezekiel 16:28 Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. 
• 29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. 
• 30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; 
• 31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire; 

High places were actually that. They were build high in order to do sacrifice to a god but it was not the real god. 

• Ezekiel 16:32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! 
• 33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. 
• 34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. 
• 35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: 
• 36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; 
• 37 Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. 

The very nations that they desired to copy after and worship their gods and live their lifestyle would be the very nations that would be allowed to come in destroy their cities and take them captive. 

Assyria took over the kingdom of Israel and years later, Babylon took over the kingdom of Judah that was sometimes called Israel. 

• Ezekiel 16:38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy. 
• 39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. 
• 40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 
• 41 And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. 
• 42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 
• 43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations. 
• 44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. 
• 45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 
• 46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. 

Samaria was the old kingdom of Israel. 

• Ezekiel 16:47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. 
• 48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 

Sodom was not as wicked because they did not have the presence of God and the witness of God's signs and wonders that Israel had in their midst. 

• Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 
• 50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. 

We see how Sodom ended up in sexual immorality and violence. They had pride, they had plenty of provisions and were prosperous, they were idle and neglected the poor. This leads to violence, sex perversion and the harming of innocent children. 

This sounds like some countries today. 

Those with a haughty spirit is one that thinks they are rich and increased with goods so they do not need God. In the case of the United States, we are rich increased with goods, highly educated and have weapons, so we think we can get along without God. 

• Ezekiel 16:51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. 

Samaria which was the northern kingdom of Israel after Judah and Israel were divided after the death of Solomon. Samaria was judged first and their country taken by the Assyrians. Judah had a few more years but they did the same things knowing what judgment came upon the northern kingdom of Israel. 

• Ezekiel 16:52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters. 
• 53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: 
• 54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. 
• 55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. 

It looks as if in the latter days these kingdoms will be restored. 

• Ezekiel 16:56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride, 
• 57 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. 
• 58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD. 
• 59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. 
• 60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. 

This new covenant is the gospel of Jesus which is: 

• Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
• 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 

That is why God sent His Son Jesus to come and be one of us to usher in the way of salvation so that not only Israel shall know the Lord but all those who will believe and receive Him turning away from their sins and trusting only in God. There is an old song we use to sing, "We shall know Him, we shall know Him, when redeemed by His side we shall stand. We shall know Him, we shall know Him, by the prints of the nails in His hands."

• Ezekiel 16:61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. 
• 62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: 
• 63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD. 

When Jesus came the first time it was not to set up the kingdom they were expecting and deliver them at that time from Roman oppression. He had to come the first time to make a sacrifice for sins. That He did giving His own sinless life. Through the blood He shed, sin is forgiven to all who believe. 

Israel as a nation rejected this the first time around except for a remnant who started the church age. In these latter times many of Israel whom we call Messianic Jews have come to the knowledge of Jesus and are continuing what the apostles started. Except for a few remnant Gentile churches, most of the church went into apostasy a few years after the death of the apostles and did not do the Lord's will until about the time of the Anabaptists and the holiness movement of John Wesley and others. 

God has always had a people so I'm sure there were many that we do not know about who stayed true to the original gospel that the apostles taught. 

Here are signs to look for: Any religious organization or church that oppresses those that disagree with them, tortures or puts to death opponents are not representing Jesus Christ. God never gave the church any authority to put anyone to death or to turn them over to secular authority to be put to death for what they believe. I'm not talking of crime like murder and theft but the crime of not believing what the established religion of a region believes. The conscience must be judged by God.

The church was only given the authority to teach the word and preach the gospel in love and in the spirit. When they kicked God's spirit out and kicked His word out, substituting doctrines and traditions of men, that is when they went into apostasy and started using force to make converts and got out of the will of God. 

This delayed the true gospel from being preached to the world and the Jews until these latter days when the spirit of God has been poured out again and the gospel was preached again. 

I fear for the church now because some are falling away from the truth. I believe the warning to the church of Laodicea is a warning to today's church. 

Just as being rich and increased with goods caused Israel to forget God, lets hope we don't do the same thing and forget the one who blessed us.

Ezekiel Chapter 17

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