November 17th Ezekiel 11 The Lord condemns Jerusalem
1:
Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate
of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door
of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son
of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the princes of the people.
2:
Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise
mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: 3:
Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the
caldron, and we be the flesh. 4:
Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. 5:
And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak;
Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know
the things that come into your mind, every one of them. 6:
Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the
streets thereof with the slain. 7:
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in
the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron:
but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. 8:
Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith
the Lord GOD. 9:
And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into
the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10:
Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel;
and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 11:
This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in
the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: 12:
And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my
statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the
manners of the heathen that are round about you. 13:
And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of
Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud
voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the
remnant of Israel?
The
Lord promises
14:
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 15:
Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred,
and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the
inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto
us is this land given in possession. 16:
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far
off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the
countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the
countries where they shall come. 17:
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from
the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been
scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18:
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the
detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from
thence. 19:
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will
give them an heart of flesh: 20:
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do
them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21:
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their
detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way
upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD. 22:
Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside
them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23:
And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and
stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24:
Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the
Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision
that I had seen went up from me. 25:
Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD
had shewed me.
Ezekiel
12 Ezekiel portrays the deportation
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. 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.
The
Spirit of the Lord lifts Ezekiel up to bring him to the East Gate of
the temple. Twenty five men stand below him at the gate, Ezekiel
recognises some of them then the Lord says these are the men who plan
wickedness in this city and give very bad advice. They say, the
judgment of God is not near, however this city is a caldron and the
people are the flesh to be boiled. The Lord says, l will bring war to
the city because you have not kept the law nor ordered your lives
according to the Lord and you have lived like the wicked nations.
Then Ezekiel fell down and asked if the Lord would totally destroy
the whole nation and God promised that though they would be scattered
yet he would bring a remnant back to the land. He then gives the most
wonderful promise of a New Covenant in which he will unite them as
one in heart. He will put a new spirit in them. (They will be born
again) Then they will keep the laws of the Lord and his ordinances.
They will enter into a new relationship with God. Then Ezekiel saw
that the glory of the Lord went from the entrance to the temple to
the Mount of Olives. Then the Lord enabled Ezekiel to tell this
vision to those on the banks of the Babylonian river. Later the Lord
spoke again to Ezekiel. The Lord said you live in the middle of a
people who have eyes but cannot see, they have ears but cannot hear
because they are a rebellious house. So the Lord said l want you to
move house in the daytime so that the people will see you. Then
Ezekiel was to dig through a wall for all to see and carry his stuff
away through it in the evening. Ezekiel was to cover his face so that
he could not see the ground. Ezekiel is told to explain that he is a
living parable of what will happen to Israel. Next he is told to eat
his bread and drink his water with shaking of his hands to show what
it will be like when the Babylonians come. All these things are to
happen so that Israel will know that God is the Lord. there used to
be a proverb which said that..’The days are prolonged, and every
vision faileth?’ However in the future no-one will ever say this
proverb again. However they will say…’The days are at hand, and
the effect of every vision, because there will never again be any
empty visions nor flattering messages by divination within the house
of Israel’. The Lord himself will speak and the word he speaks will
come to pass.
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