Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 7

• Ezekiel 7:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
• 2 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. 
• 3 Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. 

I really wished that I could skip this chapter and get to the part of Israel's restoration for I hate to write of judgment against Israel for they have suffered so much. We must remember though that they are the elect of God, a peculiar treasure, God's chosen people, children of Abraham, children of the promise and the apple of God's eye. They had the law, the prophets, visitations from angels and were chosen to bring the gospel to all the earth. When they sinned with the grievous sin of idolatry, they were without excuse. 

Idolatry and the worship of images is a serious sin against God. 

God created us, gave us food, rain and sunshine. He gave Israel His very presence after delivering them from the bondage in Egypt. He gave them the law and last of all He gave them a way of salvation and eternal life in which they rejected. That was salvation through Jesus Christ. 

This judgment in Ezekiel is before Christ though. It is for the continual sin of idolatry even though God sent many prophets to warn them ahead of time. They refused to repent. 

• Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 
• 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 
• 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
• 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 
• 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 
• 6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

So serious was this sin of idolatry that is incurred the death penalty. This was the law, years before grace and mercy that we receive through Jesus Christ. It showed all mankind how we have sinned and were in need of someone stronger than ourselves to help us and place the law in our hearts so that we can keep it by the Holy Spirit rather than trying to keep it by our own strenth. Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. That is why God had to send His own Son to come into flesh yet without sin to pay the price for sin on the behalf of all who would receive this.

• Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 
• 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 
• 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 
• 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 
• 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 
• 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 
• 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 
• 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 
• 9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 
• 10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 

Because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the gospel, we no longer are to put people to death for breaking the law of God. Instead the final coming of Christ and the judgment of God will come at the right time and then all who do not repent of sin are judged. At this time we are in the day of grace and we do not put people to death for sins of the conscience. That is God's territory and we are to leave it alone. The church is not Israel and we were never given that authority. 

The governments of the land in which we live have authority to kill those that do things worthy of the death penalty, but we as believers in Christ have not been given that authority. We are to preach the gospel only. We have been given authority to heal the sick, preach the gospel, do mighty works in the name of Jesus in order to bring people to Jesus but we are to be wise and harmless. We can see that in Matthew 10:16. God may bring judgment but we are to walk in the Holy Spirit and never bring physical harm to anyone. We all will face the judge of all the earth when we depart from this life into the next one.

Idolatry was so serious though that at the time of Moses, it was a death penalty to worship idols. 

The Christian church that has allowed the use of images in worship need to cast those things out of the church and repent for it is a direct violation of the 2nd commandment. 

We are not even to make images of Jesus Christ. There is no way to make any image to represent God and all His glory. As I said in the previous chapter. There are demonic deceiving spirits that accompany images used in worship. Satan is out to harm, to steal the soul and to destroy all that he can destroy. 

The beloved apostle John's words to us are to keep ourselves from idols. Perhaps he saw the day coming when the church would allow images in their worship. If God judged Israel for idolatry, do you think He will not judge the church who had salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, sanctification of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We can walk around full of the spirit of God, why do we need to bow down to images. He gave us something better than that and that is His very presence in our innermost being. 

We do not need images. I want the Holy Spirit in me. 

• Ezekiel 7:4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 
• 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 
• 6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 
• 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. 
• 8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. 
• 9 And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth. 

Even though we live in the day of mercy and grace, do you think that God has changed? He still hates sin. Sin is separating us from a holy God. That is the whole reason Jesus came to die for our sins so that we would not have to die eternally for our own sins. In order to be free from the penalty of sin, we must forsake the sin, repent of sin and live for Jesus Christ.

Sin is still sin even though Jesus came to take away sin. Idolatry is still sin even though Jesus came and died for our sin of idolatry. It is still wrong. 

What kind of faith is it if we say we believe in Christ and then ignore or take lightly the sin that He died to save us from. To knowingly go back into sin, is to crucify Him all over again. 

Bowing down to images is like saying that we don't have faith in the invisible God and we need to look at something. God forbids this. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe."

• Ezekiel 7:10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. 
• 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them. 
• 12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 
• 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 
• 14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 
• 15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. 

Many modern teachers teach that God is a God of love and that He doesn't bring judgment. Those that teach that do not read their bibles. If God spared not the natural branches (Israel) take heed that He does not spare us. 

We are not going to get by with sin that we are openly doing even though we know the bible speaks against it. We must repent of sin to be saved, not just say we believe in Christ. To really believe is to understand why He died. He died to save us from sin. Not save us in sin but save us from sin. 

• Ezekiel 7:16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. 

To be free from sin, we must mourn for our iniquity. To truly repent is to be so sorry for our sin that we desire a savior from sin and do not want to return to it. 

• Ezekiel 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 
• 18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. 
• 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity. 

Riches, silver and gold were considered worthless at this point. They cast it in the streets. Money is the god of this world. We live for nice houses, possessions, money, high paying positions, education but it is all for nothing. 

Nothing matters if we lose our souls.

What profit will it gain me if I graduate from the best university in the land and lose my soul?
What profit will it gain me if I am the richest person in the world and lose my soul?
What will it profit me to be the best sports hero and win all games if I lose my soul? 

All is vanity and for nothing if a life is without God and full of unrepented sin. 

• Ezekiel 7:20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. 
• 21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. 

Because of their idolatry, God allowed their enemies to come and take it for spoil. 

Some churches use images in worship as I said before and they should throw them out but most of us do not use images in worship but we can have possessions and things for idols. 

Education can be an idol and I'm not against education for learning good things, sports can be an idol, rock stars, movie stars and obsessions with certain people we admire can be an idol, putting anything ahead of God is an idol. 

Still to set up an image to worship it either as a representation of God or as another god is the biggest insult that we can do to our creator. 

• Ezekiel 7:22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. 

Actually God doesn't have to actually send any judgment. All He has to do is remove His hand of protection and we are history. 

• Ezekiel 7:23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 

The chain represents being in bondage or in slavery. 

• Ezekiel 7:24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. 

Since they didn't honor and keep the sanctuary from being polluted by irreverence or half-hearted worship, the heathen will defile the holy places. I can't think of a worse judgment on America than for God to allow nations that do not respect our God or our savior Jesus Christ to take over our country and forbid us to worship our God. We need to worship Him while we can. 

• Ezekiel 7:25 Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 

They desired things that would rob them of peace so they will seek peace but have none. 

• Ezekiel 7:26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. 

I think this judgment is worst of all. I can't think of anything worse than not hearing the word of God, not being able to read it or meet with others to study it. 

• Ezekiel 7:27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 

This judgment affects the rich as well as the poor. No one escapes the judgment except a small remnant who stays faithful to God's word. 

It has always been that way. Only 8 people were saved during the great flood of Noah's day. In Elijah's day, only 7000 did not bow their knees to Baal. Only a remnant returned from Babylon. Only a remnant escaped the 70 AD destruction of Israel as a nation, only a remnant escaped the holocaust, only a remnant will go in the rapture of the church, only 144000 of Israel are sealed during the tribulation and only a remnant of Israel escapes the tribulation in the end. 

Jesus said that:

• Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 
• 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Lets be part of the remnant who stay faithful to God. DC

Ezekiel chapter 8

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