EZEKIEL - CHAPTERS 12-15: THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING
"THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING,"
(Ezekiel 12-15)
Taught by: Carolyn Sissom
March 11, 2008 (Tuesday Morning Bible Study)
"The word of the Lord came also unto me saying," (Ez. 12:1)
Here begins a new section of the book. Chapters 12-19 may be classified as
distinct division of Ezekiel's prophecy. They are not dated as to time
given or recorded, but the theme is still one of judgment for the nation's
continued disobedience and idolatry. I believe it is significant that there is no time given and the prophecies are timeless. Chapters 4-11 have repeatedly shown
the certainty of Jerusalem's destruction; chapters 12-19 present the
necessity for it! Chapters 8-11 centered about the Temple. Chapter 12
deals with the Throne of Israel (King Zedekiah). How futile was the
people's confidence that the kingdom and its capital would be spared. So
today, God continues to deal with false preachers in high places!
Chapter Twelve contains another symbolic action to emphasize Jerusalem's
impending fate: Ezekiel removed his household goods with no place to go.
(Vs. 4-7)."Then shall you bring forth your stuff by day in their sight, as
stuff for removing: and you shall go forth at evening in their sight, as
they that go forth into captivity. Dig through the wall in their sight, and
carry out thereby. In their sight shall you bear it upon your shoulders,
and carry it forth in the twilight. You shall cover your face, that you see
not the ground; for I have set you for a sign unto the house of Israel.
Verse 12 is an amazing detailed prophecy of Zedekiah's fate. He was the
last King of Judah. His secret flight, capture, and removal to Babylon
without seeing it. Five years late this came to pass when Zedekiah
attempted a secret escape. The King was captured, his eyes were put out,
and he was carried in chains to Babylon. (8) And in the morning came the
Word of the Lord unto me, saying... "And the prince (King Zedekiah) 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 sees not the ground with his eyes. My net (Chaldean army)
also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in snare (net of a
hunter); and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet
shall he not see it, though he shall die there." ((Jer. 52: 7-11; 11Kg. 25:
1-7) Josephus said that Ezekiel sent a copy of this prophecy to King
Zedekiah! He adds that the king rejected the Word as being false.
Verses 14-16 deals with King Zedekiah's departure into Babylon, being
blinded by Nebuchadnezzar. (Verse 15 - "And they shall know that I am the
Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, disperse them in the
countries" (Jer. 52: 7-11; 11 Kg. 25: 1-7). Verses 17-20 deals with
Ezekiel's trembling pointing to the terrors of the approaching siege of
Jerusalem. The people consider the announced judgments a belonging to the
distant future, God promises to end their excuse for temporizing by
declaring the imminence of those judgments :Moreover the word of the Lord
came to me saying, Son of man, eat your bread with quaking and drink your
water with trembling and with carefulness. (21-28) their taunting proverbs
come to nothing and the Word of the Lord would come to pass! "And the word
of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is that proverb that you
have in the land of Israel saying, "The days are prolonged, and every vision
fails?" Tell them therefore, thus says 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." The
Word that the Lord has spoken shall be done... The word of man shall fail,
but the word of God shall stand. Thus is introduced the next chapter
concerning false prophets.
Chapter 13: Ezekiel has already pronounced the judgment of God on the city
of Jerusalem the princes, and the king. Now in this chapter he rebukes the
false prophets. The test of a true prophet is found in Deut. 13: 1-5; 18:
21-22. Jeremiah struggled with this in Jer. 5:30-31; 14:13-18; 23:9-40;
29:8-10; 21-23.
The following are principles for judging prophecy and prophets:
1. Does it edify? (1 Cor. 14:3)
2. Does it agree with the letter and the Spirit of the Word of God, the
Scriptures? (11 Cor. 1: 17-20; Amos 3:3; 11 Pet. 1:21)
3. Does it exalt the Lord Jesus Christ? (1 Cor. 12: 1-3)
4. Does it bear witness with the spirit within those who hear it with
an open heart? (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17)
5. Does it produce the fruit of life and liberty? (Matt. 7:16)
6. Does it come to pass? (Deut. 13: 1-5)
7. All prophecy is judged, being in the in-part realm of imperfection.
(1Jn. 2:27; Jn. 10:27; Heb. 13:17; Acts 20:27; 1 Cor. 12:10; 14:29)
The false prophets spoke lies and were contaminated with paganistic
divination. Their message was as useless as whitewash on a mud brick wall
to protect it against a storm. False prophetesses were also denounced.
'AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING,...(2b)say unto them that
prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; thus says
the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit,
and have seen nothing! O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the
deserts. You 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. They
have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord says; and the Lord
has not sent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm
the word. Have you not seen a vain vision, and have you not spoken a lying
divination, whereas you say, the Lord says it; albeit I have not spoken?
God wasn't interested in Ezekiel's popularity!
These false prophets will not be able to enter into the Land of Israel
according to verse 9. I would say for the church of the 21st century this
means that the false prophets of today will not enter into His Glory. "They
shall not be in the assembly (secret council) of my people, neither shall
they be written in the writing (register) neither shall they enter into the
land."
Bro. Bill Britton comments on this:
"What is the land of Israel to us? It's our promised land, isn't it? It's
that place of immortality. It's that place of overcoming. It's that place
of ruling and reigning with Christ. It's that new country that belongs to
us. It's that land of everlasting ruler ship and kingship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's that land of...no death. It's our country! What is the
horrible thing...that these preachers were preaching that made God so angry
at them?...They were preaching peace to the people when there is not peace.
They're telling people, 'Don't worry. You're not going to have to go
through it. There's not going to be a war with the Babylonians. God isn't
going to let us be taken..." (BB)
Kelly Varner interprets,"the overflowing shower, the great hailstones and
the stormy wind as descriptive of the sons of God energized by the Holy
Spirit in the Day of the Lord." Also, we know this to be natural disasters. We are even now experiencing severe weather patterns.
These false prophets were denounced for prophesying messages of hope without
Divine authorization that misled the people into a false security without
need for repentance. The false prophetesses were denounced for deceiving
the people with false promises pampering the love of fleshly ease and
personal indulgence. Of their victims with prophecies that distressed the
righteous and encouraged the wicked.
(Vs. 22-23) "Because with lies you 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;
Therefore you shall see no more vanity nor divine divinations; for I will
deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
Chapter 14: This chapter is a rebuke to the Elders of Israel who had
evidently come to inquire of the Lord. (2) AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO
ME, SAYING, Son of Man, these men have set up their idols in their heart,
and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face; should I be
inquired of at all by them?
These men were hypocrite, and like so many people today, make up their
minds what they want to hear and then try to seek out a prophet to agree
with their folly! The false prophets of the preceding chapter had preyed
upon Israel and made merchandise of them, but they were able to do so
because the nation was ready for such false utterances because of the
misleading of their elders. Though Ezekiel addresses the exiles firstly,
his message is designed for the entire nation.
(7-10) "for everyone of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that
sojourns in Israel, which separates himself from me, and sets up his idols
in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face,
and comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will
answer him by myself; 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 you shall know that I am the Lord. And if the prophet be
deceived when he has 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."
A prophet can discern what a person's motive is for seeking the Lord. If
the prophet does give the man the answer he desires (thus allowing himself
to be a party to the inquirer's sin), then the punishment of the prophet
shall be even as the punishment of him that seeks unto him."
They were denounced for inquiring of God without any intention to obey Him,
nor with any inclination to depart from their idolatry upon which their
hearts were set.
Bro. Bill Britton: "There were a lot of prophets in Israel...that
prophesied out of their own heart, but somehow deep in their heart these
elders know that this man Ezekiel has the Word of the Lord. A man that's
not willing o compromise, a man that's willing to make a fool out of
himself, as Ezekiel did, laying in the streets...to become, not just to
speak, but to become a prophecy to the people!.,. And this is where the
idolatry in the last day end-time move of god is...it's people have their
idols in their hearts! Sometimes it's a man, and when that man falls, their
whole foundation crumbles; sometimes it's a doctrine, and they will fight
for that doctrine...and when you prove it to be wrong, they go to pieces,
and can't accept the truth...idols set up in their hearts! Sometimes it's
an organization or a church...This is a very serious thing...when you begin
to go and hunt for a prophet to give you an answer to something, but you
want your answer, you want the prophet to give you what you want to
hear...if that prophet gets sucked into that thing...if he does not have the
permission and be a push-button prophet as well as the man that he has
spoken to...it's a serious thing, that we make up our mind what we want to
do and then try to get some prophet to confirm that so if it doesn't work,
we can blame the prophet for it or the Lord." (BB)
Verses 12-20 paralled Jeremiah 7:16 and 15: 1-4. According to Jeremiah even
Moses and Samuel, well known for their power in intercessory prayer would
not avail to deliver the doomed city and her people. (Ez. 14:20) "Though
Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall
deliver neither son or daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by
their righteousness." Judgment was inevitable; famine, evil beasts, the
sword, and pestilence would be the instruments of the judgment. (Four =
universal judgment of the Day of the Lord) The destruction of Jerusalem is
now inevitable and the city will not be spared under any condition. The
reference to these three patriarchs or Godly men showed that they stood high
in the estimate of God and had great covenantal influence.
1. Noah - the principle of Faith
2. Daniel - the principle of dedication or courage.
3. Job - the principle of patience or endurance.
Verse 22 - Here again is the immunity of the saints. "Yet behold, therein
shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and
daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and you shall see their
way and their doings; and you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I
have brought upon Jerusalem even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their doings; and you
shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done to it,
says the Lord God."
Eastgate Ministries, Inc. is a remnant church. Let us stay bent over before
the Lord, loving Him and loving one another in the reverence and awe of the
Lord.
Chapter Fifteen: In chapters 15-17 appear three parable which show there is
no hope of deliverance for Jerusalem. The people were hoping for aid from
edom, Amon, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt (17:15)
In this chapter, we have the parable of the Vine. Because of sin and
idolatry, God would root up the nation of Israel, (Matthew 3:10) "And now
also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every three which
brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." He will
plant a brand New Vine, Christ Jesus. The branches from that planting
would be men from every nation, making up the Holy Nation, the church
whether Jew, Gentile, Slave, Free, Male or Female.
"AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME SAYING, Son of Man what is the vine
tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the
forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? Or will men take a
pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for
fuel; the fire devours both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned.
It is meet for any work?" When it was whole, it was not good for work; how
much less shall it be worthless for work when the fire has devoured it and
it is burned. Therefore thus says the Lord God; as the vine tree among the
trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give
the inhabitants of Jerusalem."
The only use of the vine was fruitbearing. This wild vine was only fit to
be burned in the judgments of the Lord. So we see the worthlessness of
Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem and much more so after that event.
We will continue on the 24th . I will be visiting my "Grands" in Baton
Rouge on the 17th -20th.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
www.eastgateministries.com <http://www.eastgateministries
Scripture is from King James Bible. Text is from Principles of Present
Truth by K.V. with quotes from Bill Britton.