Lessons From Ezekiel – Lesson 28
If you remember Ezekiel is divided into 3 sections. Section 1 before the siege, section 2 is during the siege and section 3 is after the siege.
The content and feel of the 3 sections are very different.
Before the siege God is trying and trying to get thru to anyone who will listen. Judgment is coming, judgment is coming, and judgment is coming.
And in the first section God is also explaining over and over the why. And God is trying to get the attention of a younger generation whose kids and grandkids are the ones who will go back during the restoration.
So we had a lot of very dramatic and visual object lessons throughout.
While the siege is going on God turns Ezekiel’s attention to all of the surrounding nations who have done Israel wrong. Judgment is coming for them also.
This would show Israel that God is not just picking on them, that God is fair and just in dealing out judgment. The wicked nations around them are also receiving judgment.
This also would counter those wicked nations reveling in watching what God does to Israel. They all have judgment coming their way.
The break where section 2 ends and section 3 begins is Ezekiel 33:21
EZE 33:21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
The first message from God after the siege is over is don’t stay in the land and a reminder of why.
Eze 33:23 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
EZE 33:24 Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
Some people were trying to stay in the land. And notice their reasoning. They know about the deal God made with Israel on Mount Sinai but are trying to appeal to the promise that was made to Abraham. The argument would be that the promise to Abraham was not conditional and it predated the deal at Mount Sinai. So therefore we don’t have to leave. The promise of Abraham takes precedent.
They are trying to argue with God and beat God with their reasoning. It kind of boggles the mind doesn’t it. That men would try to win and get one over on God. Even trying it at all is a flawed idea.
But there is a serious flaw in their thinking. The promise was to Abraham and His seed as a nation, and yes it was unconditional. God deals with nations and God deals with individuals. And as a nation that land has always been theirs. And it will always be theirs.
However, as individuals they could lose the privilege of living there. The deed held by God is always in their name. Jacobs’s sons had to go to Egypt. God says that land is still theirs but they can’t live there.
After 400 years in Egypt they get delivered and are on the way to the land, but the people blow it because of 10 spies and lose their privilege to live on the land. 40 years later their children get to go into the land.
After centuries of disobeying God these current individuals have lost the privilege to live in that land. The deed is still being held by God and it is still in Israel’s name. But these individuals have to leave.
Others will come back and stay for almost 500 years. Then most of them will reject Jesus and lose the privilege to live on the land. And for century after century they did not get to go back.
But the deed to the land has always been in their name. The deed to the land and the privilege to live on it are two different things.
God made this clear in the deal that was made on Mount Sinai.
In that deal if they would do what the Lord said then they would get blessings upon blessings in that land. It is a long list. And if they refused to then they would get curses sent their way. And it is also a long list. And those blessings and cursing’s are wrapped up in two things.
Obedience to God and that specific land. In the curse section of that deal it says.
Due 28:24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
Due 28:25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
God clearly said that if they blew it, then they would be removed off the land.
Some of them try to stay using the Abraham argument, but God reminds them that they can’t hide behind Abraham and that they are responsible for their own choices and wicked actions.
He is teaching them that the deed to the land and the privilege to live on it are two different issues.
EZE 33:25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?
EZE 33:26 Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land?
Every one of the ones trying to stay in the land are wicked. Every one of them have been told to leave. They all had the chance to go into captivity. Instead they thumb their nose at God and try the legal loophole angle.
But there are never any loopholes with God. God must do as He says.
EZE 33:27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.
EZE 33:28 For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.
EZE 33:29 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.
So that is the end of dealing with those in the land. They either obeyed God and left and lived or they stayed in rebellion and died.
Now after dealing with those rebels God will turn His attention to those that did go into captivity.
And this is where the tone changes.