Exact Ezekiel; Chapters 23-24
ZADOK PUBLICATIONS - Dr. C. R. OLIVER
October 1, 2017
This Newsletter may be watched in a video HERE.
ZADOK PUBLICATIONS MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Introduction:
October 1, 2017 Exact Ezekiel Chapters 23-24 This chapter brings the hearer a step down from the previous appraisal of Israel's character, as seen by the Living Lord. Israel's self-appraisal would never have included seeing themselves and their religious piety in terms of being Idolatrous, let alone Adulterous. Now the Lord calls them Prostitutes! God's contempt for their wholesale mindset is clearly seen in this new indictment. To be an adulterer is one thing, but to be called idolatrous prostitutes is another. Prostitution is based on an illicit transaction and is about selling oneself for gain, fame or money. (Men and women are known to prostitute themselves for favor or fame or monetary gain. Politicians and Churchmen do the same, for the same reasons. Whatever their reasoning, the result is identical-a liaison at the lowest level.) More and more, the Gomer syndrome of Hosea manifested itself in the affairs of God's Chosen people. Covenant with God slowly meant nothing to them; His love was spurned for a sordid, temporary fix. Once one identifies with the role of a prostitute, no action is deemed as inappropriate behavior. All parties associated with the prostitute's transaction are tainted by such activity and God was not willing to be a part of it. His solution is spelled out in this twenty-third chapter. It opens by answering the unspoken question revolving around His accusation. In essence it says, you ask Me, "When did we prostitute ourselves?" In the 23rd Chapter, He tells them where and when! Chapter 23:
In these opening lines, the persons of interest are identified. They are Samaria and Jerusalem (the ten tribes of the North [now captured and carried off to Assyria and later dispersed to every nation]) and Judah/Benjamin (the southern tribes). They have the same mother: Sarah (and they have the Isaac and Jacob lineage). Israel's time in Egypt was a time when they became acculturated into society. They witnessed enticements that competed with their God. They learned to allow themselves to be spiritually abused under the guise of receiving favors from their enslavers. Those who came to Egypt in their innocence learned how to manipulate their seduction for advantage. (O' Church, could this not be said of you?) God, like Hosea, married them anyway, as they matured. But, what they had learned in Egypt did not leave them, even though God's love surrounded them. The Joseph years of prosperity saw many children born to this union. Israel entered Egypt as a few, but departed Egypt as a multitude. However, it soon became evident that Moses led a people who could witness deliverance of gargantuan scale and turn to say, "Why did you have us leave a pleasant land to die in the desert?" Ode to Samaria: Oholah
Oholah made treaties with Assyria which led to her enslavement. Their flashy army offered protection and security. The ten Northern Tribes were betrayed and carried away to captivity in a foreign land, which eventually disintegrated, and they were scattered over the Caucasus and spread to every nation, carrying their youthful lessons with them. The other two tribes cared less, they said, "she got what she deserved." Prostitutes (Judah) grow callused. (Church, have you been seduced, captured and enslaved while the world claps in approval? Liaisons are like that.) Ode to Judah: Oholibah
Jerusalem made treaties with Babylon, Assyria and Egypt, at different times, to ensure protection. They emptied their coffers and gave away the treasures of Solomon's Temple. (Earlier in Ezekiel, discussion was made about these alliances.) These liaisons yielded nothing as all the governments failed to honor their word. Hence, they were weakened to the point they were enslaved in Babylon. The following passage tells about this betrayal. Oholibah's escape from reality gave her a false picture of her lover's abilities. She foolishly embraced a false construct, based on a fantasized picture projected on the wall of her devotions.
The brochures oversold the product. Illusions are like that! Remember, this prophecy is aimed at the "church crowd" gathered in Ezekiel's home to hear from God. Is it easy to be duped? The "golden calf" was still in their hearts, even though it had been centuries since the Exodus. Notice how Oholibah was disgusted with her lying liaisons, just as God was disgusted with Oholibah. With Egypt on her mind, she was blind to the facts of her condition. (O' Church can this be said of you?)
Virgin innocence is not recoverable.
(The reference to noses and ears being cut off speaks to the luxury places where the well attired female had nose ornaments and earrings. Those items have made a comeback.) A beachhead was established in this passage, however, that would turn the significance of the battle around. The leaders and elders needed to know God was the author of their captivity-not the ambitions of the Babylonians and Assyrians. They needed to know why they were enslaved in Babylon: it was to cleanse them. What they had in Egypt would no longer be on their mind. (O' Church, there is a soon coming cleansing in order for a chaste bride to emerge. The Son will not marry a prostitute.)
Judah smirked when Samaria was taken captive years before; now she will be dispersed throughout the nations just like the ten Northern Tribes. Who was to blame? They were! How far reaching is this punishment to be? It would be beyond their imagination! However, their assumed denial of conditions was to be shattered by the Prophet's "in their face" accusations. Ezekiel was to confront the elders with God's list of grievances against them. He was to spare no one. Simply put, while standing in front of those from Samaria, who might have lived in Jerusalem and escaped the Diaspora caused by Assyria, they would not escape God's scathing indictment this time.
Perhaps the word "accuse" carries more than a pointed finger of rebuke. According to the Hebrew words associated with it, it involved casting aside protocol or rank and clearly stating God's view of their religious community and those individuals responsible. Ezekiel was to leave nothing out, but make sure every aspect is openly exposed.
The true man of God has a duty not to gloss over the deeds of sin-conviction comes when he is faithful to God's text. Which of the first list (vs.36-39) would not be a description of current society? Adultery with what is often determined to be "just part of the culture" becomes acceptable behavior, even if it violates the word of God. A murderous abortion, in the millions, finds no appeasement from the Most High. This trilogy of darkness also includes disregard for the sacred things of God: defiling the Temple and breaking the Sabbath. The worst case scenario is found in verse 39, which uncovers the raw hypocrisy of the religious community. Acting as if God doesn't care, they entered the sanctuary of Praise just after worshipping idols and burning their children. Their nonchalance expressed a total disregard for the holiness of His Presence. (O' Church, is this not repeated weekly, almost daily, in the realms of ecclesia? What would God list today? Would His list include "coming before Him laden with sin and never occasioning repentance?") Samaria and Judah must now drink the wine of judgment. Review the following verses.
Verses 40-44 describe a whole nation who made treaties and gave their treasures to the likes of Assyria, Egypt and Babylon. Even the Lord seemed "put off" with those nations who favored Israel. Those are the three nations who slept with the prostitutes. God called Israel "old prostitutes," who were "worn-out." One of the reasons those nations fell in history was their being "one in the flesh" with Israel's prostitution. Verse 45 is a powerful incentive to live a righteous life in these end-time days. Clearly, the righteous have untainted vision and judge in holiness; they are tasked to judge these adulteress and murderers. This is a clear picture of the righteous being outside the religious spectrum. The righteous are separate from the norm of piety sprinkled with compromise. They SENTENCE Samaria and Judah to ALL the punishment they deserve. Where are the righteous today? Where are their righteous judgments? The revival bandied about in these days must start with the inkhorn in the Temple marking the righteous and showing the need for repentance to the rest.
Full punishment did fall on Israel. Several months before Jerusalem was burned and the Temple destroyed, Ezekiel was again answering the question, "How in the world did we wind up here?" God carried out the sentence of the righteous, by fully destroying the nation. Why is it important to study the prophets? How is the Old Testament important to those of modern times? The answer is given in verse 48 as a "warning to others not to follow their wicked example!" (O' Church are we not perilously close to emulating them? This warning is like that of Sodom; it is a universal road block with a written notice: "Don't travel this road for it leads to destruction.") Chapter 24:
Sometimes, exact dates are historically important. We mark them when wars start and aggressive behavior begins or ends among nations. We celebrate victories by calendaring holidays commemorating various historic events. So, God instructed Ezekiel to mark down this date as a most important date. Mind the matter, for Ezekiel was hundreds of miles from Jerusalem in a day when mass communication was not invented. He was told this day is important because Babylon began their final assault against Jerusalem on this day, which was an assault that would last two years and bring mass destruction to the population. Babylon was angered at Jerusalem's resistance and eventually they attacked Egypt and took authority over it because of their collusion with Judah. Jeremiah had something to say about this ordeal of death. Hear him in this passage:
The day on which Nebuchadnezzar blockaded the city of Jerusalem, by throwing up a rampart, is still kept as a fast-day in consequence (Zech 8:19)
Every citizen of the city would be in jeopardy of sword, famine and fire. Two years of supplies being interrupted caused their citizens to starve. The razing of the city was heartbreaking to those who cherished her heritage. Unfortunately, God was saying through His servant, "there is nothing to be done now." This judgment is sure and prayer would not avail. Boiling pot of corruption: Remember, there were no news agencies to report on the conditions that occurred in Jerusalem and no interpretation of "on the ground activities" during the siege. (Except Jeremiah, who was many miles away in The City.) The "all knowing God" proffered an illustration that would be imprinted on the audience at hand and would act as an unforgettable commentary on the events of punishment. It was a boiling pot of corruption. The scene had several ingredients, but the overall take was simple. This was an illustration which involved everyone from the elite upper classes (choice lambs) to the lowest inhabitant. The mention of various parts of the choice meats indicate "a cream of the crop" stew being boiled by the fires of war. Bones and flesh were separated in the corrupt pot (dividing the soul and the spirit). Religious hierarchy, along with the elders of the people, formed the horrid mix.
By randomly dipping into the pot in no apparent order, the stage was set for a lesson in the school of "hard knocks." (We might use a different phrase today; we might say, "any way you cut it, everyone is involved.")
Two very distinct aspects can be learned from the Scriptures above. 1. God is the power behind this judgment. He wants it clearly understood this captivity and war is His doing. It is not the aggression of a Babylonian dictatorship seeking conquest over them. It is also not some grand conspiracy of the Assyrians, Edomites, Jebusites or Canaanites. None of Israel's enemies are responsible for their plight. He takes full responsibility for the boiling pot and no amount of cleansing makes a difference at this point in time. Jerusalem was corrupt going in, during and coming out. Even the pot (Jerusalem) would not be cleansed once they were judged. Lewdness and Idolatry proliferated every fiber and sinew of their being and no matter what order would be chosen, not one piece of the stew exuded anything but the stench of corruption. 2. The Lord tried to cleanse them, but they refused. By sending Joel (835 BC), Amos (760 BC), Hosea (755 BC), Isaiah (740 BC), Micah (735 BC), Zephaniah (639BC), Jeremiah (627 BC), Habakkuk (607 BC), Daniel (605BC) and finally Ezekiel (592 BC), He sought them out. Two Hundred Forty-two years of prophetic pleading was sent to no avail. (O' Church there is a lesson to be learned here, for when one remembers Whitfield, Edwards, Moody and Finney, the Lord again was sending His messengers. The trail of revivalists from Wesley to Billy Sunday and Billy Graham tell the tale of God's desire for a converted born again society. Alas, look at the scene under the church's present day watch; there is a constant conspiracy to undermine Christianity, whether through Progressive Liberalism or unmitigated immigration [bringing foreign gods by the thousands]. What would be God's judgment of us, given our Two Hundred year history?) Exact Ezekiel's awesome task: Ezekiel's "dearest Treasure" would be taken from him; it was a tremendous personal loss in the prophet's life. God instructed him about his reactions.
(In my advanced years, I have sought to console many acquaintances in ministry whose wife passed before they did. I am acquainted with their sorrow.) Ezekiel's dearest treasure stood beside him through thick and thin. Ezekiel's wife must have entertained and cooked for the many who visited their home. She comforted the prophet, consoled him and embraced his difficult tasks of ministry. He leaned on her strength and treasured her love. God knew how much she meant to him. (No book can prepare the wife of a minister. No advice can tell them the many times they must pray for his safety and courage.) A prophet's wife dries his tears of joy and sorrow, defends him in the market place, shields him from the wrathful inquirer, and lends her personal relationship to God as support, often while remaining in the background. (Such is my wife and I know her many roles and tasks.) This awesome loss was the ultimate test of Ezekiel's faithfulness to the word of the Lord. It is after this event that Ezekiel was given the most profound prophecies of his entire ministry. He saw into the distant future and experienced the wonder of things yet to take place. He became a prophet, not to Israel alone, but to the world. God gave him chapters 37, 38, 39 as well as the great teaching on the Sons of Zadok in chapter 44. He viewed the Holy City of heaven and stood by the river of life and was baptized in it.
How often do you tend to depersonalize the prophets? It is good to look into their lives and examine the cost of being a man of truth with uncompromising adherence to the word of God. The ministry must never be a profession; it must always be a calling. Note: the underlined portion of the passage: "I did everything I had been told to do." Go ahead, put his shoes on your feet and imagine what coursed his soul where only a silent whimper was allowed. (Spiritual exactness was a prime factor in the early church. Acts 8 reveals how important it was to Philip and his reward for his faithfulness to it. It is a missing factor today, both in pulpit and pew.) God used this event to drive home a greater truth than the Corrupt Cauldron.
Exact Ezekiel's example was forever emblazed in their hearts and minds. This grand exclamation stood as a symbol to them and their future generations.
Ezekiel was told he will have an "En Punto" experience with a survivor of the fire. There was a stipulation; your voice will be taken away until he arrives. The sudden return of his voice would signal him that this is the man of occasion. (Does God still plan these kinds of meetings where strangers come into your life and you know it is from the Lord? Yes! Hear Him---more now than at any time in history. The Spirit will lead you away from harm and to provision.) Until Next month, Dr. Cosby R. Oliver, PhD. |
Zadok Publications
P.O. Box 132874
The Woodlands, Texas 77393
(936) 230-3543
Email: zadokbookstore@zadokpublications.com
On The Web: ZadokPublications.com
Paperback volumes may still be ordered through our website.
To see the currently available books from Amazon, click on the cover images below.
In Spanish:
In German:
To see the currently available books from Barnes & Noble, click on the cover images below.
In Spanish:
In German:
Last modified: 02/04/2019