Ezekiel 24
COMMENTARY:
: 12 She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. (2457 “scum” [chel’ah] means rust, impure deposit, filth, symbol of impurity of Jerusalem, encrustation of greenish corrosion, implying it to be an unclean substance, or disease.)
DEVOTION: Have you ever tried to clean up a pot that was tarnished with rust or dirt? It was old and someone thought it should be saved if it could be cleaned up. So you were the one who had to do the cleaning. You used a S.O.S. pad and scrubbed away at it for a great time to find that it could not be cleaned up.
This is what had happened to Judah. The LORD had sent Ezekiel to inform them that HE had used many prophets to try in clean them up but they refused to be cleansed. The liked the life they were living and thought that as long as the Temple was there for them to worship it the LORD would never really judge them for their actions. They were wrong. The LORD was longsuffering but under the ministry of true prophets HE would tell them that they were believing a lie.
The false prophets had given them a sense of false security. They would rather listen to someone who was saying what they wanted to hear rather than someone who was telling them they NEEDED to hear.
That was true then and it is true today as well. Most of those who claim to be believers are listening to the same message that the children of Judah were listening to in their day. It was a false message that everything is OK.
The problem is that many places of worship are full of rust and filth rather than the pure word of the Bible. People are worshiping the god of music and pastors who tickle their ears. God had had it with Judah and HE is probably had it with the churches of many countries today.
A false gospel is preached many places and the people are believing the false gospel which is just a lie wrapped up in some portion of a verse in the Bible. The Bible is misquoted to bring a message that was never intended.
CHALLENGE: Are you listening to the wrong message or the true message of the Word of God? Don’t just listen to what you want to hear but listen to what you need to hear from true prophets of the LORD.
: 17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of your head upon you, and put on your shoes upon your feet, and cover not your lips, and eat not the bread of men. (“tire” [p@’er] means head-dress, ornamental sash, turban, or a winding on the head. Habits are hard to break.)
DEVOTION: Traditions are hard to stop. Here we find that Ezekiel is told of the LORD that he was not to practice what is normal when someone dies that is loved. In this chapter Ezekiel’s wife is going to die.
The LORD chooses to use Ezekiel’s family as an example to the children of Israel. HE chooses Ezekiel’s wife. Ezekiel is told that he is not to mourn. He is not to cry. He is not to weep. He is not to let tears run down his cheeks. He is not to take off his head-dress. He is to put his shoes on. He is to not cover his lips. This tells us a little about how the children of Israel mourned for their dead.
Here we have a man who is a prophet of God who is about to lose his wife as a sign of what is coming to Israel. The LORD is telling the children of Israel that HE is not going to mourn their going into captivity. HE is going to judge them because they counted on the temple building more than HIM. They were full of scum. Not even a fire could get rid of all the sins they were committing.
My wife and I have been married for forty-five years yesterday. It would be hard on either one of us if the other died. Can you imagine not shedding a tear for your spouse? Some would not have trouble doing that, but the LORD has said that we are one. Here we have the LORD in a covenant relationship with Israel and HE is not going to mourn because HE has done everything to convince the children of Israel to return to true worship. They will not listen. They were HIS wife and they would not listen to HIM.
Could the LORD take someone we love away from us to get our attention? Could the LORD take all the blessings of this nation away to get our attention? Could the LORD take HIS Holy Spirit away from our churches because we are not serving HIM? Are we looking at the building more than HIM? Should HE have to take something away before we chose to listen to HIM? Let’s keep short accounts with the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Appreciate your spouse daily. Pray for your spouse. Remember that our spouse is the one we live with for the rest of our life, not our children.
: 25 Also, you son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters. (4885 “joy” [masows] means mirth, rejoice, exultation, gladness, delight, gaiety, and merriment.)
DEVOTION: The LORD states to Ezekiel that HE is going to take everything that the children of Israel depended on rather than HIM.
Jerusalem was full of people who seemed to be living the good life. They were raising their families. They enjoyed their children. They had wrapped their lives around their children. They wanted the best for their children. They were fulfilling their desires through their children.
Now the LORD was judging them and their children were going to be affected by the invasion. The LORD was allowing even the children to be killed by the Babylonians because they were learning the habits of their parents.
We can sometimes be so concerned for our children that we forget about our personal relationship with the LORD. If our example to our children is wrong they will learn wrong habits and beliefs.
Our delight should be in the LORD. If our delight is in the LORD our children will see it and practice being delighted in the LORD. The people of Jerusalem were not training their children right and they were not following the LORD.
Today we have to realize that the LORD has given us the same commands. We are to raise our children to honor the LORD and bring HIM glory. If they are not doing this they will find the judgment coming their way.
Ezekiel will speak out regarding judgment that has already happened. His wife was to be an example of the judgment. It is too late if we mourn rather than listen to the Word of God that warns us to live our lives properly, so that, we don’t have to see our families suffer unnecessarily.
CHALLENGE: Protect your family by giving them proper training. Keep the LORD first in your life and your children will follow your good example.
: 27 In that day shall your mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (6412 “escaped” [paliyt] means fugitives, survivor, someone who flees from an uncongenial situation, escaped by flight especially form a battle or slaughter, or deliverance.)
DEVOTION: Ezekiel was told to be silent while the LORD sent judgment on the people. Once the judgment was sent, he was allowed to open his mouth again.
He was only going to be speaking to those who had survived the attack. He was going to inform them that the LORD said it was going to happen and it did.
The voice of Ezekiel was going to inform the people what had taken place and why. They were a rebellious people and the LORD had warned them enough times for them to understand the message but they still didn’t change their behavior.
God wants us to understand that HE does warn us if things are going to go in the wrong direction and HE gives us time to repent but if we chose not to repent then the judgment will come just as it came on the children of Israel in the Old Testamet.
Too often we count on the longsuffering of the LORD instead of looking for HIS mercy once we repent of our sins and turn toward HIM again. This is a daily choice we have to make if we want to have the blessings of the LORD.
The children of Israel thought they could continue in sin and the LORD would never judge them. They were wrong and if we think the same way – we are WRONG!
God want us to confess our sins and walk in a way that is pleasing to HIM if we want HIS blessings on our life. HE continues to be longsuffering but just as HE did with Israel HE can do with us today.
CHALLENGE: The question we need to answer is “Are we keeping short accounts with the LORD by daily going to him in confession and seeking HIS forgiveness and blessing? Israel waited too long before they asked for help!
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