Day 247: Ezekiel 16-18

(The previous post covered God's judgments on Israel and false prophets.)

Ezekiel 16
¹ Again the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
² Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations;
³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.

(The birth of Israel was of Canaan, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived before going to Egypt, also the land God promised to the Israelites. However, the reference to the father and mother referred to the actual people that founded Jerusalem.)

⁴ And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

(In ancient times, new born babies were rubbed with salt in order to harden their skin. This protected the babies from illnesses and impurity.)

⁵ No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born.
⁶ And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live.

(Judah/Jerusalem was pictured as a cast off new born baby left to die. God saw the state of this "child" and told it to "live," to repair.)

⁷ I caused thee to multiply as that which groweth in the field, and thou didst increase and wax great, and thou attainedst to excellent ornament; thy breasts were fashioned, and thy hair was grown; yet thou wast naked and bare.

(God caused Judah to be profitable: grow, multiply, and increase.)

⁸ Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest mine.

(After Judah was made profitable, God again saw Judah and protected her. He entered a covenant with Judah: God married Judah...)

⁹ Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

(…and washed her with water and anointed her with oil: Ephesians 5:26.)

¹⁰ I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with sealskin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk.
¹¹ And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
¹² And I put a ring upon thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.
¹³ Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper unto royal estate.
¹⁴ And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(Judah prospered during the kingdoms of David and Solomon.)

¹⁵ But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was.

(Although God loved Judah, she still trusted in herself and committed fornications. Notice, the following description was of adultery and worshipping other gods...)

¹⁶ And thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and playedst the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
¹⁷ Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them;
¹⁸ and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them.
¹⁹ My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, saith the Lord Jehovah.
²⁰ Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter,
²¹ that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire unto them?
²² And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood.
²³ And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord Jehovah,)
²⁴ that thou hast built unto thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a lofty place in every street.
²⁵ Thou hast built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom.
²⁶ Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger.
²⁷ Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of thy lewd way.

(Because of Judah's fornication, God sent Judah into the will of those that hated her.)

²⁸ Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied.
²⁹ Thou hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith.
³⁰ How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord Jehovah, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot;
³¹ in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire.
³² A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband!
³³ They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms.
³⁴ And thou art different from other women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different.

(Verse 32 blatantly stated Judah and God were married. Judah committed adultery against God. She acted as a harlot.)

³⁵ Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah:

(The Word from God was concerning Judah's judgment for acting as a harlot against her husband (God)…)

³⁶ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them;
³⁷ therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.
³⁸ And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon thee the blood of wrath and jealousy.

(God will judge Judah because of her idol worship.)

³⁹ I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy lofty places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels; and they shall leave thee naked and bare.
⁴⁰ They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
⁴¹ And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women; and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt also give no hire any more.

(God would send the enemies of Judah to execute judgment on her.)

⁴² So will I cause my wrath toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.
⁴³ Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast raged against me in all these things; therefore, behold, I also will bring thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations.

(God would bring their ways upon their heads. God was Just.)

⁴⁴ Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
⁴⁵ Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that loatheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

(Judah was the daughter of the ungodly people that founded Jerusalem.)

⁴⁶ And thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

(Israel was Judah's older sister.)

⁴⁷ Yet hast thou not walked in their ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways.

(Judah was more corrupt than the Hittites, Amorites, Samarians, and Sodomites. Judah should have learned from these other nation's mistakes.)

⁴⁸ As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
⁴⁹ Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

(The four causes of judgment against Sodom:
1) pride,
2) fullness of bread,
3) prosperous ease (idleness of time),
4) not strengthening the poor/needy.

Notice, God blatantly stated the four causes of judgment against Sodom. Anything else stated as a cause of the judgment of Sodom is not inline with the Word of God.)

⁵⁰ And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
⁵¹ Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done.

(Israel (Samaria) did not even commit half of the sins that Judah did.)

⁵² Thou also, bear thou thine own shame, in that thou hast given judgment for thy sisters; through thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they, they are more righteous that thou: yea, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
⁵³ And I will turn again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, and the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them;

(Israel will be regathered, in the Millennium.)

⁵⁴ that thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
⁵⁵ And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; and thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.
⁵⁶ For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,
⁵⁷ before thy wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, that do despite unto thee round about.
⁵⁸ Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith Jehovah.
⁵⁹ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

(Judah forsook God so God would forsake her. God was Just. Their Covenant would come to an end, for the time being. This Covenant would be re-established during the Tribulation and continue through the Millennium and for eternity: everlasting.)

⁶⁰ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

(God will remember His Covenant. Once our Covenant ends with the pre-Tribulation rapture of the church, God will re-establish this everlasting Covenant.)

⁶¹ Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder sisters and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
⁶² And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah;
⁶³ that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(Samaria was seen as the elder sister and Sodom was seen as the younger sister of Jerusalem.)




Ezekiel 17
¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
² Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;

(Ezekiel received a riddle (parable) from God…)

³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

(The "great eagle" was Nebuchadnezzar.)

⁴ he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it unto a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

(Cropping of the topmost of the young twigs symbolized Nebuchadnezzar taking control over the princes and the best of the people.)

⁵ He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow-tree.
⁶ And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

(The "branches" of this vine turned towards Nebuchadnezzar.)

⁷ There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

(The other "great eagle" was Pharaoh. The king of Egypt during the time when Zedekiah fled to Egypt.)

⁸ It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
⁹ Say thou, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots thereof.
¹⁰ Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.

(This vine in Egypt (Judah and Zedekiah) would be planted, but would wither.)

¹¹ Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
¹² Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon:

(God told Ezekiel to ask the Jews if they knew what these parables meant, the why. The parable of the eagle was a symbol of Babylon taking the kings and princes of Jerusalem to Babylon.)

¹³ and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;
¹⁴ that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

(Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and put his trust in Egypt.)

¹⁶ As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.
¹⁸ For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.
¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head.
²⁰ And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.

(God would send the rebellious people to Babylon.)

²¹ And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

(Verses 22-24: Messianic prophecy - Christ was the Branch that will be planted (and not wither). His Kingdom will come forth.)

²² Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain:

(The "lofty top" was the highest branch - Christ.)

²³ in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.

(These verses referred to the conditions during the Millennium.)




Ezekiel 18
¹ The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying,
² What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
³ As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

(This proverb, believed by the people, meant that the fathers' sins would be passed on to their children.)

⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
⁵ But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,

(If a man be Just and do Right…)

⁶ and hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a woman in her impurity,
⁷ and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath taken nought by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
⁸ he that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true justice between man and man,
⁹ hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept mine ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(…he will live regardless of what his fathers have done.)

¹⁰ If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth any one of these things,

(If this Just and Right man begat a son that did evil…)

¹¹ and that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,
¹² hath wronged the poor and needy, hath taken by robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
¹³ hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken increase; shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

(…the son would not live. A bad son from a good man would not live. Next, God showed the contrastive case that proved each person would be judged for themselves and not because of their parents, both good and bad.)

¹⁴ Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins, which he hath done, and feareth, and doeth not such like;

(If a man was evil and begat a son that did Righteousness and Justice…)

¹⁵ that hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor's wife,
¹⁶ neither hath wronged any, hath not taken aught to pledge, neither hath taken by robbery, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
¹⁷ that hath withdrawn his hand from the poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed mine ordinances, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

(…the son would not die for his father's sins.)

¹⁸ As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity.

(The father would die for his own iniquity.)

¹⁹ Yet say ye, Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? when the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
²⁰ The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

(The son did not bear the iniquity of the father.)

²¹ But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

(If the wicked repented…)

²² None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

(…their transgressions would be forgotten. Remember, confession was the admission of wrong-doing. It was a say. Repentance was the repairing of the wrong-doing. It was a do.)

²³ Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

(God asked: Do I have any pleasure in the wicked dying and not repenting?)

²⁴ But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

(When the righteous turned away from righteousness and made progress towards wickedness, he would die.)

²⁵ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

(The people were saying that God was not Just. God brought this up after He proved He was Just.)

²⁶ When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth therein; in his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
²⁷ Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
²⁸ Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

("Because he considereth..." was contrastive thinking, considering you could be wrong. This was humble.)

²⁹ Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
³² For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.

(The answer to verse 23: God had no pleasure in the death of him that did not repent. Therefore "turn yourselves and live...")

(This post covered God's analogy of being married to Judah and Israel, as well as the causes of Sodom's Judgment.)

Day 248