Ezekiel 20:45

The Bible says in Ezekiel 20:45-49, “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[46] Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;[47] And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.[48] And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.[49] Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?” Parables are one way in which God presents His truth to the world. Jesus used parables a lot. People who are not spiritually minded do not understand the parables. That symbolizes the fact that God’s truth is only for those who seek God and want to have Jesus as their Savior. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 13:10-18, “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?[11] He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.[12] For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.[13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.[14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:[15] For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.[16] But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.[17] For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.[18] Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.”

The parable that God gave to Israel starting in Ezekiel 20:45 revealed the fact that God was going to destroy them with a terrible destruction. Just as a great fire can destroy a forest, God would bring destruction on the nation of Israel. It says in Ezekiel 20:47, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched.” The Lord creates and the Lord destroys that which He hath created. He destroys when He decides that it is time for judgment. Turn to Jesus while you have time.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 21:1-5, “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[2] Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,[3] And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.[4] Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:[5] That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.” At the end of chapter 20 God used the visual of a forest being devoured by fire. In the first part of chapter 21 God uses the visual of a sword being drawn and cutting off whatever is in its way. Israel will be cut off. The law can be harsh because it is based upon man’s obedience. The law requires obedience. And so the law always brings judgment. Thankfully, when we accept Jesus as Savior, we are no longer under law, but under grace. As we go through these Old Testament books, we see what happens to those are under law. It is not pretty. What a difference Jesus makes. In verse 5 God said, “That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.” God made it clear to the Israelites that this Babylonian captivity was not just a punishment like others in Israel’s past. This time the Israelites had gone too far away from God for too long, and the Lord was going to make a permanent change this time. The change is this: the Jewish people would be under the control of the Gentile nations, and it will remain that way all the way until the return of Christ. This partly answers the question of what has happened to the Jews through the centuries as they have been persecuted, and chased from one country to another around the world. They do not get to decide their fate any more. The Gentile nations get to decide it. At the end, under the rule of the antichrist, the armies of the world will come against Israel to destroy them all. And that is the moment that Jesus will return and save Israel and destroy the armies of the antichrist in the battle of Armageddon. It says in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Once they look upon Jesus at His Second Coming, and have true repentance, they will believe on Him, and thus be saved. Believe me, they will be ready for the Savior: those who survived the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. That is, those who survived up to that point because without Jesus Return to the Earth, they would all perish by the armies of the antichrist.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 21:6-7, “Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.[7] And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.” The word that is translated “sigh” in verse 6 means “groan.” In the context it means to groan in agony and sorrow. Every true patriot wants to see their country advance and prosper. That is the longing of their heart. And Ezekiel is called “son of man,” meaning that he feels the pain that everyone else will feel. Ezekiel knew the sorrow that was coming and he had to bring that sad message to the people. This is the future that the Jewish people had: “every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water.” It is much better to trust in the Lord. The strongest and bravest people in the world are those who learn to get their strength from Christ through faith in Him. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”

The Bible says in Ezekiel 21:8-14, “Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[9] Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:[10] It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.[11] And he hath give it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.[12] Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.[13] Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.[14] Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.” In these verses the Lord mentions a sword over and over. You would think that anyone would get the message with a shining sword drawn and ready to do its work. There were no human rights in those days, and so it is very clear what the sword stood for: death, death, and more death. Soldiers with swords used their swords once they were unleashed on a city. God is saying that He would unleash them on Israel. It says in verses 9 and 10, “Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter.” It does not pay to hate God, to lie to Him, or to rebel against Him. And it is even worse if you are under the law and do those things. Thank God that once we believe in Jesus, we are not under law, but under grace. Sometimes the purpose of great hardships and great suffering is to turn to the Lord Jesus for help and forgiveness. Unfortunately for the Jewish people, they did not learn. Not to worry: they will be given more opportunities.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 21:15-23, “I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.[16] Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.[17] I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.[18] The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,[19] Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.[20] Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.[21] For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.[22] At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.[23] And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.” The point of these verses is to emphasize to the Israelites how certain their judgment would be. God spent a lot of time telling the Jewish people how terrible their future would be because God always gave them a chance to repent, and hoped that maybe the warnings would wake them up. The same thing is true today. Jesus sends His believers to tell the world that hell awaits unbelievers unless they turn to Jesus. Do you really want to go to hell? That is what awaits anyone who has not had the new birth through faith in Christ. God is the Judge, the righteous Judge of the earth. God has a judgment planned for everyone who deserves His judgment. And there will be no escape. God told the Israelites in verse 16, “Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.” No matter what they tried or which way they went, they would not be able to avoid God’s judgment (unless they repented.) People are running from God every day, but there is no escape other than in the arms of Jesus.

God told the Israelites exactly what would happen. Babylon would come to Jerusalem and there would be swords at every gate. In other words there would be no escape. Even though the King of Babylon was a heathen, and used the heathen religious practices such as “divination,” God still would use them as His instrument of judgment. God uses people, imperfect people, for each part of God’s plan. In the same way God uses Christians, imperfect Christians, to spread His Word.

You can avoid the wrath of God earned because of your sins, by turning to Jesus and asking Him for forgiveness.

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