The Bible says in Ezekiel 3:22-24, And the hand
of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the
plain, and I will there talk with thee.[23] Then I arose, and went forth
into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory
which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.[24] Then the
spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said
unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house. One thing very noticeable
about these verses is the fact that the Lord was guiding Ezekiel every place
that Ezekiel went. If you want to get closer to the Lord and learn more about
the Lord, you must be willing to go where He leads you. Your will must be
surrendered to His will. Find out the way that the Lord is going and go with
Him. In verse 22 God told Ezekiel, Arise,
go forth into the plain. And then in verse 24
God told Ezekiel, Go, shut thyself within
thine house. Where should you go: wherever
God leads you. Because Ezekiel went where the Lord
told him to go, it says that God talked to Ezekiel, God showed Ezekiel the
glory of the Lord, and the Spirit entered into Ezekiel.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 3:25-27, But thou, O
son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with
them, and thou shalt not go out among them:[26] And I will make thy
tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not
be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.[27] But when I
speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let
him forbear: for they are a rebellious house. Initially God told
Ezekiel not to speak. In verse 25 God said, thou shalt not
go out among them. But then in verse 27 God
told Ezekiel, I will open thy mouth, and
thou shalt say unto them. There might be a
time and a situation where God does not want you to speak. And then of course,
just like Ezekiel, God may lead you in such a way as to say to you, Now is the
time to speak. It says in the New Testament, If
any man speak, let him speak as of the oracles of God. Ezekiel was told to say to the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
People need to hear the Word of God. One reason to read, and study, and learn
the Word of God is not only for your own benefit, but also so that you can be
Gods spokesman and tell others what it says.
Once again God tells Ezekiel not to
have any false expectations about how people will react to the truth. God said
in verse 27, He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him
forbear: for they are a rebellious house. The Lord has given to each
individual a free choice: a free will. You can choose to accept Jesus as your
Savior, or you can choose to reject Him. The choice is yours because God has
given you a free choice. Why do some people reject the Lord? They reject Him
because they are rebellious. If you truly accept Jesus as Savior, part of that
attitude is a desire to serve Him and to follow Him. If you do not want to
serve and follow Jesus, then you are rebellious against God.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 4:1-9, Thou also,
son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the
city, even Jerusalem:[2] And lay siege against it, and build a fort
against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set
battering rams against it round about.[3] Moreover take thou unto thee
an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set
thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against
it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.[4] Lie thou also upon
thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according
to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their
iniquity.[5] For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity,
according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt
thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.[6] And when thou hast
accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the
iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a
year.[7] Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of
Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against
it.[8] And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn
thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.[9]
Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and
millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof,
according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three
hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. In this
passage God tells Ezekiel to go through this elaborate symbolic display as a
teaching and a warning to the Israelites. It was very important to God that the
children of Israel understand this message. Ezekiel created a small model of
the city of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel was told to lay
down beside that model one day for every year of Israels existence. Ezekiel
would eat his meals while he was lying there. How much God wanted Israel to
repent. How much God wants all sinners to repent. He loves every soul. Jesus
came and died so that every soul could be saved.
The results of not turning to the Lord
will be terrible. In the case of the Israelites, it would be the destruction of
Jerusalem, and therefore, the destruction of their hopes and dreams for their
country. God also showed them through Ezekiel how much they would suffer
because Ezekiel was told to eat bread that was cooked with cow dung as the fuel
for burning and cooking the bread. It says in Ezekiel 4:10-17, And thy meat
which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to
time shalt thou eat it.[11] Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the
sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.[12] And thou
shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out
of man, in their sight.[13] And the LORD said, Even thus shall the
children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will
drive them.[14] Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been
polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which
dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into
my mouth.[15] Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for
man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.[16] Moreover he
said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem:
and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water
by measure, and with astonishment:[17] That they may want bread and
water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
At least Ezekiel had bread and water while he lay next to his model of
Jerusalem being besieged.But when the real siege would come, the Israelites
would lack bread and water and they would consume away.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 5:1-7, And thou,
son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it
to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weight,
and divide the hair.[2] Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the
midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt
take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt
scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.[3] Thou
shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.[4]
Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn
them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of
Israel.[5] Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in
the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.[6] And
she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my
statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have
refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.[7]
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations
that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept
my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that
are round about you; Once again the Lord has Ezekiel go through an elaborate
demonstration in order to teach the people of Israel what will happen to them
if they do not repent. Ezekiel was told to shave off his hair and divide it
into three parts: one third of his hair would be burnt, one third would be cut
up with a knife, and one third would be blown away with the wind. In other
words two thirds of the Israelites would be destroyed, and one third of them
would be cast out into other countries. That is exactly what eventually
happened to the Jewish people when they were conquered by Babylon.
In verse 6 God said that the
Israelites had become more wicked than the other
nations of the world. God said that Israel hath changed my judgments into
wickedness more than the nations. The requirement of the law was
obedience, but the children of Israel did not obey God and did not want to obey
Him. There is a way in which the desire to obey God does fit into the Gospel of
Christ. Being saved through faith in Christ in not simply
fire insurance. A person only turns to Jesus for salvation, if that
person also wants to start obeying and following Jesus. That is why it says in
John 3:19-21, And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.[21] But
he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 5:8-12, Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am
against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of
the nations.[9] And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and
whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.[10]
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons
shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole
remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.[11] Wherefore, as I
live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with
all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I
also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any
pity.[12] A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with
famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall
by the sword round about thee and I will scatter a third part into all the
winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. It is not a pretty
sight when you see someone, or in this case a nation, reap judgment from God
because they knowingly and purposely turned away from Him. That is one of the
lessons that we can learn from Israel in history. The same thing will happen to
any nation that turns away from God after He blessed them. Judgment starts with
the people of God. The measure of your responsibility is the measure of your
opportunity. God brought judgment upon Israel because of all their abominations.
They did things that were abominable in Gods eyes. We need to be concerned
with what God wants and what God thinks. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people. It is a terrible thing to fall into the
hands of the living God. Be not deceived, God is not mocked:
whatsoever a man soweth that shall a man also reap. It would get very bad in Israel:
cannibalism. God warned them in verse 10: Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,
and the sons shall eat their fathers. I am glad that I do not live under the law, and therefore cannot
ever suffer the curse of the law. Jesus became a curse for us. As it is written in Deuteronomy: Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Thank you, Jesus, for
suffering in our place. If you do not know Jesus as your Savior, today you can
bow before Christ and ask Him to forgive you.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2016 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved