Ezekiel 24:25 “As for you, son of Adam, know that on that day I will take from them their stronghold – their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes, and the longing of their throats – as well as their sons and daughters. Ezekiel 24:26 On that day a fugitive will come to you and report the news. Ezekiel 24:27 On that day your mouth will be opened to talk with him; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign for them, and they will know that I am Yahveh.”
when the news breaks
Ezekiel knew about the destruction of Jerusalem before it happened. In fact, he knew that he would hear the news of it happening from an escaped fugitive. The LORD told him to prepare for that day because when the news breaks, people would want to hear God’s word from him.
The news is breaking all around us, folks. Are we prepared to share the gospel, or are we just as clueless when the crisis comes?
LORD, ground us in your gospel truth so that when the next disaster happens, we are ready to share our hope with a world looking for hope.
Ezekiel 24:19 Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?” Ezekiel 24:20 So I answered them: “The word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 24:21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: notice I am about to desecrate my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the desire of your throat. Also, the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. Ezekiel 24:22 Then you will do just as I have done: You will not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners. Ezekiel 24:23 Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not lament or weep but will waste away because of your iniquities and will groan to one another. Ezekiel 24:24 Now Ezekiel will be a sign for you. You will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord Yahveh.’
the prophet a prophecy
In Ezekiel’s case, the prophet became a prophecy. He had lost his wife and children, but the LORD instructed him to go on without visible mourning. His heart must have certainly been broken inside. But he had to proceed with business as usual. Only when the people stopped to ask did he reveal the purpose for this bizarre normalcy.
The city was going to be destroyed, along with the temple. Disaster would be everywhere, but there would be no time for mourning. Before it happened, they would see it first in the activity of the prophet.
Jesus told his followers that they are the light of the world. Those watching believers in Christ should get a sense of what God is going to do next. Their lives should reveal the heart of their master.
Sadly, the church today spends far too much effort trying to look like everyone else. Where are our prophets — our living prophecies?
LORD, make us lights who reveal you to a watching world.
Ezekiel 24:15 Then the word of Yahveh happened to me. This is what it said: Ezekiel 24:16 “Son of Adam, notice I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a fatal blow. But you must not lament or weep or let your tears flow. Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not observe mourning rites for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners.” Ezekiel 24:18 I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. The next morning I did just as I was commanded.
what he feels
Ezekiel faces his greatest challenge. The LORD tells him his wife will die, and he is not to show mourning! What? LORD, how can you require any such thing of your servant? But wait, the LORD is suffering the same pain. The delight of his eyes is suffering and dying before him. Yet he must remain aloof.
LORD, forgive us for questioning the sufferings faced by your servants. We know that nothing we feel compares to what you feel.
Ezekiel 24:6 ” ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Tragedy to the city of bloodshed, the pot that has rust inside it, and its rust has not come out of it! Empty it piece by piece; lots should not be cast for its contents. Ezekiel 24:7 For the blood she shed is still within her. She put it out on the bare rock; she didn’t pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. Ezekiel 24:8 In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered. Ezekiel 24:9 ” ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: Tragedy to the city of bloodshed! I myself will make the pile of kindling large. Ezekiel 24:10 Pile on the logs and kindle the fire! Cook the meat well and mix in the spices! Let the bones be burned! Ezekiel 24:11 Set the empty pot on its coals so that it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt inside it; its rust will be consumed. Ezekiel 24:12 It has frustrated every effort; its thick rust will not come off. Into the fire with its rust! Ezekiel 24:13 Because of the infamy of your uncleanness – since I tried to purify you, but you would not be purified from your uncleanness– you will not be pure again until I have satisfied my wrath on you. Ezekiel 24:14 I, Yahveh, have spoken. It is coming, and I will do it! I will not refrain, I will not look compassionately, and I will not relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds. This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh.'”
it is coming, and he will do it
Kelly* describes the first major part of Ezekiel this way:
“The structure of the book is evident. The first half consists of prophecies in strict chronological order before the final destruction of Jerusalem, when Zedekiah brought on himself the just punishment of his rebellion and perjury. ( Chaps. i -xxiv.) .”
We are nearing the end of this first part. It makes sense that we would hear from the LORD here his assurance that “It is coming, and I will do it!” (14). History records that he did just that.
For a very long time now, we have been proclaiming the literal, visible glorious return of our Savior to judge and renew this planet. Just as there were many who were convinced that Ezekiel’s prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem would not happen, so many today are convinced that Christ’s second coming is folklore. It is not. It is coming, and he will do it.
LORD, give us the wisdom to prepare for your coming in the clouds.
________
*Kelly, William. Notes on Ezekiel. (London: G. Morrish, 1876), p.5.
Ezekiel 24:1 The word of Yahveh happened to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month. This is what it said: Ezekiel 24:2 “Son of Adam, write down today’s date, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Ezekiel 24:3 Now speak a parable to the rebellious house. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: Put the pot on the fire – put it on, and then pour water into it! Ezekiel 24:4 Place the pieces of meat in it, every good piece – thigh and shoulder. Fill it with the best bones. Ezekiel 24:5 Take the best of the flock and also pile up the fuel under it. Bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.
today’s direction
The unacceptable had happened. When the city was under attack, God was not there to rescue them, because he was the force behind the attack.
Each day we are walking toward a day like that, or away from it. Each day matters. What will we do today that turns us in the right direction?
LORD, help us to turn from sin and toward you. May our lives be consistently faithful to you.
Ezekiel 23:43 Then I said concerning this woman worn out by adultery: Will they now have illicit sex with her, even her? Ezekiel 23:44 Yet they had sex with her as one does with a prostitute. This is how they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, those depraved women. Ezekiel 23:45 But righteous men will judge them the way adulteresses and those who shed blood are judged because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. Ezekiel 23:46 “This is what the Lord Yahveh says: Summon a mob against them and consign them to terror and plunder. Ezekiel 23:47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. Ezekiel 23:48 So I will put an end to infamy in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your depraved behavior. Ezekiel 23:49 They will punish you for your infamy, and you will bear the consequences for your failures of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahveh.”
condemnation or compassion?
How does one reconcile this passage with that describing our Lord’s compassionate treatment of the adulterous woman in John 8?
Jesus chose not to condemn the woman but warned her to “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (John 8:11).
But Ezekiel was not talking about a woman caught in adultery. He was talking about two nations steeped in idolatry. The condemnation he predicted was just and was fulfilled in history.
Further, both incidents — Ezekiel’s condemnation and Jesus’ forgiveness — result in the same thing: “Then you will know that I am the Lord Yahveh.”
We cannot always predict how our LORD is going to react, but we can be assured that his action will be just, and we will recognize his touch.
Ezekiel 23:36 Then Yahveh said to me: “Son of Adam, will you pass judgment against Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare their repulsive practices to them. Ezekiel 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; they have committed adultery with their idols. And the children they bore to me they have sacrificed in the fire as food for the idols. Ezekiel 23:38 They also did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that same day and polluted my Sabbaths. Ezekiel 23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered my sanctuary to profane it. Notice, that is what they did inside my house. Ezekiel 23:40 “In addition, they sent for men who came from far away when a messenger was dispatched to them. And notice how they came! You bathed, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry for them. Ezekiel 23:41 You sat on a luxurious couch with a table spread before it, on which you had set my incense and oil. Ezekiel 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd was there. Hard drinkers from the desert were brought in, along with numerous men. They put bracelets on the women’s hands and beautiful tiaras on their heads.
inside his house
I am haunted by those words “what they did inside my house” in verse 39. The Lord knew how sinful Samaria and Jerusalem had been, both in courting the favor of foreign lands and their idols and in defiling the temple by trying to conduct business as usual in it.
Our generation needs to hear the hurt in the Lord’s words here. We are just as guilty in both places. We have sought after foreign gods, and tried to hide it by keeping up with traditions that we don’t understand in the church.
LORD, turn us away from the gods of this age, and back to you in truth.
Ezekiel 23:28 “For this is what the Lord Yahveh says: notice I am going to hand you over to those you hate, to those you turned away from in disgust. Ezekiel 23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take all you have worked for and leave you stark naked, so that the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your infamy and obscenity. Ezekiel 23:30 These things will be done to you because you committed fornication with the nations, defiling yourself with their idols. Ezekiel 23:31 You have followed the path of your sister, so I will put her cup in your hand.” Ezekiel 23:32 This is what the Lord Yahveh says: “You will drink your sister’s cup, which is deep and wide. You will be an object of ridicule and scorn, for it holds so much. Ezekiel 23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. Ezekiel 23:34 You will drink it and drain it; then you will gnaw its broken pieces, and tear your breasts. For I have spoken.” This is the declaration of the Lord Yahveh. Ezekiel 23:35 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: “Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and obscenity.”
the consequences of your indecency
Coffman comments on this text “Since the worship of those evil pagan gods was depraved and licentious almost beyond imagination, the representation of God’s Chosen People here under the figure of two sisters, insatiable in their lewdness, must be accepted as authentic and appropriate.”
We need passages like this in the Bible to remind us that sin is not a light thing. Our God is passionate about judging sin, even among people who claim him as their God.
Ezekiel 23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord Yahveh says: notice I am going to incite your lovers against you, those you turned away from in disgust. I will bring them against you from every side: Ezekiel 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans; Pekod, Shoa, and Koa; and all the Assyrians with them – desirable young men, all of them rulers and governors, officers and administrators, all of them riding on steeds. Ezekiel 23:24 They will come against you with a mob of peoples and with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will set themselves against you on every side with large and small shields and helmets. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will judge you by their own standards. Ezekiel 23:25 When I vent my jealous rage on you, they will deal with you in wrath. They will cut off your nose and ears, and the rest of you will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and the rest of you will be consumed by fire. Ezekiel 23:26 They will strip off your clothes and take your beautiful jewelry. Ezekiel 23:27 So I will put an end to your infamy and prostitution, which began in the land of Egypt, and you will not look longingly at them or remember Egypt anymore.
his jealous rage
What happened to Jerusalem was the result of the rage of a jealous God. The LORD took the very same nations who had lured Jerusalem into idolatry and turned those nations against the city. The resulting destruction by sword and fire was cataclysmic.
This is not a description of hell, but it does describe the motivation behind hell. Our God views our lives of sin as infamy and prostitution, and he will put an end to it. Repentance and faith is our only way out of this fate.
LORD, forgive us our idolatry. Restore us to your favor in Christ.
Ezekiel 23:11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, but she was even more depraved in her lust than Oholah, and made her promiscuous acts worse than those of her sister. Ezekiel 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians: rulers and governors, warriors splendidly dressed, horsemen riding on steeds, all of them desirable young men. Ezekiel 23:13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; both of them had taken the same path. Ezekiel 23:14 But she increased her obscenity when she saw male figures carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans, engraved in bright red, Ezekiel 23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads; all of them looked like officers, a depiction of the Babylonians in Chaldea, their native land. Ezekiel 23:16 At the sight of them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. Ezekiel 23:17 Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their lust. But after she was defiled by them, she turned away from them in disgust. Ezekiel 23:18 When she flaunted her obscenity and exposed her nakedness, I turned away from her in disgust just as I turned away from her sister. Ezekiel 23:19 Yet she multiplied her acts of obscenity, remembering the days of her youth when she committed fornication in the land of Egypt Ezekiel 23:20 and lusted after their lovers, whose sexual members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. Ezekiel 23:21 So you revisited the infamy of your youth when the Egyptians caressed your nipples to enjoy your youthful breasts.
other sister
This is another one of those PG passages in Scripture. It describes the judgment upon Jerusalem and the reason for it. Jerusalem lusted after the young studs of Babylon like her sister Samaria had lusted after the young studs of Assyria. She had allowed herself to be used until that was all she was. Like Samaria, it was now Jerusalem’s time to bear the penalty for her sinful idolatry.
LORD, may our desire be for you and your word. Purge from us the lust for other things.
Devotions 