The Sermons of Ezekiel
Ezekiel – Chapters 4-24
Lesson VI
1. Much of Ezekiel’s preaching was by
“signs” and “symbols”: Object lessons.
When I started to preach, “object lessons” were only for children.
Ezekiel had to act out his sermons because the people were rebellious
and more like children than adults.
1 Corinthians 3:1
(1) And I, brethren,
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as unto
babes in Christ.
In writing to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “I could not speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal.” Plain preaching does not appeal to rebellious,
carnal people.
Ezekiel 4:1-3
(1) 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.
Ezekiel 4:1-3 With tile he was to
make a map of Jerusalem. Then set
battering arms against it to warn the city that the day would come when it
would be besieged by their enemies.
Ezekiel 4:9-17
(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.
(10) 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.
Ezekiel 4:9-17. During the days that he was to be confined to
bed, he was to weigh his food (verse 10) and measure the water that he drank
(verse 11) and defile it (verses 12) to warn the people that the day would come
when they would eat the defiled bread among Gentiles (verse 13) when God would
bring famine to Jerusalem (verse 16).
Ezekiel 5:1-5, 8-9, 12
(1) And thou, son of
man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause [it] to
pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take
thee balances to weigh, 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.
(8) 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.
(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.
Ezekiel 5:1-5 He was to cut his hair and
divide it into three parts.
Verse 12 explains what was meant by this drama.
Verses 8-9 The Lord was going to do in Jerusalem and the Nation “what
he had not done”.
Ezekiel 6:1-12
(1) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(2) Son of man, set
thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy
against them,
(3) And say, Ye
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith
the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the
valleys; Behold, I, [even] I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy
your high places.
(4) And your altars
shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your
slain [men] before your idols.
(5) And I will lay the
dead carcases of the children of Israel before their
idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
(6) In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high
places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,
and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and
your works may be abolished.
(7) And the slain
shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I [am ]the
LORD.
(8) Yet will I leave a
remnant, that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations,
when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
(9) And they that
escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried
captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed
from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they
shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have
committed in all their abominations.
(10) And they shall
know that I [am] the LORD, [and that] I have not said in vain that I would do
this evil unto them.
(11) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine
hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of
the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by
the pestilence.
(12) He that is far
off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword;
and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by
the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.
Ezekiel 6:1-12 In verse 11 he
was told to “smite with his hand” to picture the smiting of Jerusalem that was
yet to come.
Ezekiel 12:1-16
(1) The word of the
LORD also came unto me, saying,
(2) Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have
eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they [are]
a rebellious house.
(3) Therefore, thou
son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and
remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove
from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider,
though they [be] a rebellious house.
(4) Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as
stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even
in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.
(5) Dig thou through
the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
(6) In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders, [and] carry [it]
forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face,
that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee [for] a sign unto the house
of Israel.
(7) And I did so as I
was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in
the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I
brought [it] forth in the twilight, [and] I bare [it] upon [my] shoulder in
their sight.
(8) And in the morning
came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
(9) Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house,
said unto thee, What doest thou?
(10) Say thou unto
them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This
burden [concerneth] the prince in Jerusalem, and all
the house of Israel that [are] among them.
(11) Say, I [am] your
sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove [and]
go into captivity.
(12) And the prince
that [is] among them shall bear upon [his] shoulder in the twilight, and shall
go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover
his face, that he see not the ground with [his] eyes.
(13) My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare:
and I will bring him to Babylon [to] the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he
not see it, though he shall die there.
(14) And I will
scatter toward every wind all that [are] about him to help him, and all his
bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
(15) And they shall
know that I [am] the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and
disperse them in the countries.
(16) But I will leave
a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence;
that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they
come; and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
Ezekiel 12:1-16
He was instructed to “remove his stuff”. His actions are explained in verses 11-28.
Ezekiel 12:17-28
(17) Moreover the word
of the LORD came to me, saying,
(18) Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with
trembling and with carefulness;
(19) And say unto the
people of the land, Thus saith
the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, [and] of the land of Israel; They
shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with
astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because
of the violence of all them that dwell therein.
(20) And the cities
that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye
shall know that I [am] the LORD.
(21) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(22) Son of man, what [is]
that proverb [that] ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The
days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
(23) Tell them
therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this
proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say
unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.
(24) For there shall
be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination
within the house of Israel.
(25) For I [am] the
LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it
shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say
the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
(26) Again the word of
the LORD came to me, saying,
(27) Son of man,
behold, [they of] the house of Israel say, The vision
that he seeth [is] for many days [to come], and he prophesieth of the times [that are] far off.
(28) Therefore say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none
of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be
done, saith the Lord GOD.
It was to warn the Nation that the Babylonians would come (verse 13) and
remove the children of Israel, not only from Jerusalem, but from the cities of
the Nation (verse 20).
Ezekiel 17:1-23
(1) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(2) Son of man, put
forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of
Israel;
(3) And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great
eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers,
which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took
the highest branch of the cedar:
(4) He cropped off the
top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick;
he set it in a city of merchants.
(5) He took also of
the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed [it] by
great waters, [and] set it [as] a willow tree.
(6) And it grew, and
became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and
the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth
branches, and shot forth sprigs.
(7) There was also
another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine
did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he
might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
(8) It was planted in
a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches,
and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
(9) Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots
thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it
shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many
people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
(10) Yea, behold, [being] planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in
the furrows where it grew.
(11) Moreover the word
of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(12) Say now to the
rebellious house, Know ye not what these [things mean]? tell
[them], Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the
king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
(13) And hath taken of
the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him:
he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
(14) That the kingdom
might be base, that it might not lift itself up, [but] that by keeping of his
covenant it might stand.
(15) But he rebelled
against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him
horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he
escape that doeth such [things]? or shall he break the
covenant, and be delivered?
(16) As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place [where] the king [dwelleth] that made him king, whose oath he despised, and
whose covenant he brake, [even] with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
(17) Neither shall
Pharaoh with [his] mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by
casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
(18) Seeing he
despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand,
and hath done all these [things], he shall not escape.
(19) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he
hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense
upon his own head.
(20) And I will spread
my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to
Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed
against me.
(21) And all his
fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain
shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have
spoken [it].
(22) Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch
of the high cedar, and will set [it]; I will crop off from the top of his young
twigs a tender one, and will plant [it] upon an high
mountain and eminent:
(23) In the mountain
of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and
bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every
wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
Ezekiel 17:1-23
In verse 1, the prophet is told to “put forth a riddle, and speak in a
parable unto the house of Israel.” Again
the explanation is given in the passage. The great eagle (verses 3, 7) is none other
than the Kingdom of Babylon who will come to Jerusalem and take the king
captive (verse 20), (cf Daniel 7:4, Ezekiel 21:18-27).
Daniel 7:4
(4) The first [was]
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked,
and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and
a man's heart was given to it.
The lion had eagle’s wings. Bible history records the coming of
Nebuchadnezzar to do this.
Ezekiel 21:18-27
(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.
(24) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to
be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your
doings your sins do appear; because, [I say], that ye are come to remembrance,
ye shall be taken with the hand.
(25) And thou, profane
wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity [shall have] an end,
(26) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the
crown: this [shall] not [be] the same: exalt [him that is] low, and abase [him
that is] high.
(27) I will overturn,
overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no [more], until he come whose right it
is; and I will give it [him].
The diadem will be taken from the Kings of Israel. The throne will be over-turned,
and over-turned again until, UNTIL, “He come whose right it is.” It will not be forever. One day the Lord will come and sit on the
throne of David in Jerusalem (cf Luke 1: 31-33 and
Acts 2:29-31).
Luke 1:31-33
(31) And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name JESUS.
(32) He shall be
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give
unto him the throne of his father David:
(33) And he shall
reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no
end.
Acts 2:29-31
(29) Men [and]
brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre
is with us unto this day.
(30) Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne;
(31) He seeing this
before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Ezekiel 23:1-4, 30
(1) The word of the
LORD came again unto me, saying,
(2) Son of man, there
were two women, the daughters of one mother:
(3) And they committed
whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed,
and there they bruised the teats of their virginity.
(4) And the names of
them [were] Aholah the elder,
and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they
bare sons and daughters. Thus [were] their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
(30) I will do these [things]
unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, [and] because
thou art polluted with their idols.
Ezekiel 23: 1-4, cf verse 30
As we have already seen, he likens both Israel and Judah to adulterous
daughters.
2. In his preaching Ezekiel names their sins
as the cause of their judgments.
Ezekiel 8:9-12
(9) And he said unto
me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
(10) So I went in and
saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all
the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the
wall round about.
(11) And there stood
before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the
midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick
cloud of incense went up.
(12) Then said he unto
me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in
the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
Ezekiel 8:9-12
They were worshipping the animal cults of Egypt. (See Romans 1:23 below.)
The seventy leaders, who had been chosen to guard against idolatry, are
seen leading into idolatry.
Ezekiel 8:14-15
(14) Then he brought
me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which [was] toward the north;
and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
(15) Then said he unto
me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt
see greater abominations than these.
Ezekiel 8:14-15
At the gate of the Temple the women were weeping for Tammuz. This worship of Tammuz came from Babylonian
worship.
Unger’s Bible Dictionary, page 1068:
“Tammuz. Ezekiel refers to the
worship of this god in
“The fourth Babylonian month, corresponding to July, was named in honor
of this god which, in post-Biblical times, became the name of the fourth month
to the Jews. Byblos, the Biblical Gebal, was a very prominent center of Adonis cults, very
much like that of Tammuz. Tammuz worship
was connected with licentious festivals. In
“The mourning of the women for him (Ezek
Tammuz was “the god of spring vegetation.” The god of prosperity, if you will! And his worship was connected with the basest
immorality to which women could give themselves.
Idolatry and immorality are
inseparable.
(Romans 1:21-26; cf 1 John 5:21; Colossians 3:5; 1 Timothy 6:9; etc..)
Romans 1:21-26
(21) Because that,
when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
(22) Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools,
(23) And changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted
beasts, and creeping things.
(24) Wherefore God
also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
(25) Who changed the
truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the
Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
(26) For this cause
God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature:
1 John 5:21
(21) Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Colossians 3:5
(5) Mortify therefore
your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which
is idolatry:
1 Timothy 6:9
(9) But they that will
be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish and hurtful
lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Ezekiel 8:16-18
(16) And he brought me
into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the
temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and
twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces
toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
(17) Then he said unto
me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light
thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit
here? for they have filled the land with violence, and
have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their
nose.
(18) Therefore will I
also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and
though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Ezekiel 8: 16-18
Sun worship was Persian Idolatry as well as Egyptian. But now the priests of
Ezekiel 8:12
(12) Then said he unto
me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in
the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
In Deuteronomy 4:14-20 Moses had warned the children of Israel about
this very thing of worshipping the sun and the moon.
Deuteronomy 4:14-20
(14) And the LORD
commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do
them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
(15) Take ye therefore
good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that]
the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
(16) Lest ye corrupt [yourselves],
and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male
or female,
(17) The likeness of
any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
(18) The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the
ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
(19) And lest thou
lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, [even] all the
host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them,
and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the
whole heaven.
(20) But the LORD hath
taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt,
to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.
3. In his preaching, he warned Israel of
God’s sore judgments.
Ezekiel 14:21
(21) For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore
judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and
the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
Revelation 6:8
(8) And I looked, and
behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed
with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to
kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the
earth.
Ezekiel 14:21 cf
Revelation 6:8
There seems to be no question as to the fact that what has happened in
Israel’s history is typical of what will happen during the Tribulation.
See also: Ezekiel 5:16,17
Ezekiel 6:11,12
Ezekiel 7:15
Ezekiel 12:16
Ezekiel 14:13,15,17,19
Ezekiel 23:46-49.
Ezekiel 5:16-17
(16) When I shall send
upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for [their] destruction, [and]
which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and
will break your staff of bread:
(17) So will I send
upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence
and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken [it].
Ezekiel 6:11- 12
(11) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine
hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of
the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by
the pestilence.
(12) He that is far
off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword;
and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by
the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.
Ezekiel 7:15
(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.
Ezekiel 12:16
(16) But I will leave
a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence;
that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they
come; and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
Ezekiel 14:13, 15, 17,
19
(13) Son of man, when
the land sinneth against me by trespassing
grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff
of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and
beast from it:
(15) If I cause
noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be
desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
(17) Or if I bring a
sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off
man and beast from it:
(19) Or [if] I send a
pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off
from it man and beast:
Ezekiel 23:46-49
(46) For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them,
and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
(47) And the company
shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall
slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
(48) Thus will I cause
lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may
be taught not to do after your lewdness.
(49) And they shall
recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols:
and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.
It seems clear that so-called natural human problems are often
judgments of God. As long as men
continue to sin there will be wars, famines and the like. Men want peace but they do not want
righteousness. Without righteousness
there can be no lasting peace. See 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
(1) I exhort
therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and]
giving of thanks, be made for all men;
(2) For kings, and [for]
all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and honesty.
4. In
his preaching Ezekiel had to face false prophets.
Ezekiel 13:1-23
Ezekiel 14:1-11 (cf
verse 9)
cf 2 Timothy 4:4
2 Timothy 3:7
Matthew 6:23
Ezekiel 22: 23-30
Ezekiel 13:1-23
(1) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(2) Son of man,
prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them
that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
(3) Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that
follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
(4) O Israel, thy
prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
(5) Ye have not gone
up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in
the battle in the day of the LORD.
(6) They have seen
vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith:
and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made [others] to hope that they
would confirm the word.
(7) Have ye not seen a
vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The
LORD saith [it]; albeit I have not spoken?
(8) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye
have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I [am] against you, saith the Lord GOD.
(9) And mine hand
shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall
not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the
writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of
Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.
(10) Because, even
because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and [there was] no peace;
and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered
[morter]:
11 Say unto them which
daub [it] with untempered [morter], that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower;
and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
(12) Lo, when the wall
is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye
have daubed it?
(13) Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend [it] with a stormy
wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and
great hailstones in [my] fury to consume [it].
(14) So will I break
down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered [morter], and bring it down to the ground, so that the
foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be
consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
(15) Thus will I
accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered [morter], and will say
unto you, The wall [is] no [more], neither they that
daubed it;
(16) [To wit], the
prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions
of peace for her, and [there is] no peace, saith the
Lord GOD.
(17) Likewise, thou
son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy
out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
(18) And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to
the [women] that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head
of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will
ye save the souls alive [that come] unto you?
(19) And will ye
pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to
slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not
live, by your lying to my people that hear [your] lies?
(20) Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against your pillows,
wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from
your arms, and will let the souls go, [even] the souls that ye hunt to make [them]
fly.
(21) Your kerchiefs
also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no
more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
(22) Because with lies
ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and
strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked
way, by promising him life:
(23) Therefore ye
shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people
out of your hand: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
Ezekiel 14:1-11
(1) Then came certain
of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
(2) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(3) Son of man, these
men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock
of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
(4) Therefore speak
unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up
his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh
to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the
multitude of his idols;
(5) That I may take
the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me
through their idols.
(6) Therefore say unto
the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent,
and turn [yourselves] from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your
abominations.
(7) For every one of
the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth
in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth
the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face,
and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer
him by myself:
(8) And I will set my
face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut
him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
(9) And if the prophet
be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet,
and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of
my people Israel.
(10) And they shall
bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be
even as the punishment of him that seeketh [unto him];
(11) That the house of
Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all
their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
2 Timothy 4:4
(4) And they shall
turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 3:7
(7) Ever learning, and
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 6:23
(23) But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that
darkness!
Ezekiel 22: 23-30
(23) And the word of
the LORD came unto me, saying,
(24) Son of man, say
unto her, Thou [art] the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day
of indignation.
(25) [There] is a
conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening
the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious
things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
(26) Her priests have
violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no [difference]
between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed
difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among
them.
(27) Her princes in
the midst thereof [are] like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to
destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
(28) And her prophets
have daubed them with untempered [morter],
seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus
saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
(29) The people of the
land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and
needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
(30) And I sought for
a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and
stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I
found none.
We can count on it that in every age true prophets will be faced with
the false prophets! (Matthew 7:21-23)
Matthew 7:21-23
(21) Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven.
(22) Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
“When the prophets prophecy falsely, what wonder if the whole Church be
given over to delusion.” - Joseph Parker
5. In his preaching, Ezekiel was a
literalist.
Ezekiel 12:25-28
Ezekiel 24:14
Ezekiel 12:25-28
(25) For I [am] the
LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it
shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say
the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
(26) Again the word of
the LORD came to me, saying,
(27) Son of man,
behold, [they of] the house of Israel say, The vision
that he seeth [is] for many days to [come], and he prophesieth of the times [that are] far off.
(28) Therefore say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none
of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be
done, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 24:14
(14) I the LORD have
spoken [it]: it shall come to pass, and I will do [it]; I will not go back,
neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and
according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith
the Lord GOD.
His message was rejected by the Nation but it came to pass. Most of the prophecies in Ezekiel chapters 4
through 34 have now been literally fulfilled.
It is on this basis we continue to look at other great prophecies in the
book.
If some prophecies have been
fulfilled, will others not be fulfilled in the same manner?
We are convinced that this is the way to consider the Prophetic
Scriptures.
God has spoken and He alone will fulfill His Word.
God, for 4000 years, has been interpreting prophecy by fulfilling it.
We can expect that He will continue to do the same.
Always remember that the prophecies of Christ’s First Coming were
fulfilled literally, so we can expect Second Coming prophecies to have the same
kind of fulfillment.