Day 249: Ezekiel 22-24

(The previous post covered prophecies that gave specific details how God's Judgment would come through Nebuchadnezzar.)

Ezekiel 22
¹ Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
² And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

(God commanded Ezekiel to show Jerusalem her abominations. Jerusalem was referred to as "the bloody city.")

³ And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A city that sheddeth blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that maketh idols against herself to defile her!
⁴ Thou art become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

(Here we see why Jerusalem was called "the bloody city": much blood was shed in this city.)

⁵ Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall mock thee, thou infamous one and full of tumult.
⁶ Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been in thee to shed blood.
⁷ In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

(The princes (elders) themselves were the ones destroying the people.)

⁸ Thou hast despised my holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.
⁹ Slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness.
¹⁰ In thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity.
¹¹ And one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in thee hath humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

(Many of God's Laws were being broken.)

¹² In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
¹³ Behold, therefore, I have smitten my hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

(God judged them according to their "dishonest gain": gaining for the wrong reason.)

¹⁴ Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it.
¹⁵ And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries; and I will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

(God would scatter and disperse the Jews.)

¹⁶ And thou shalt be profaned in thyself, in the sight of the nations; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
¹⁷ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
¹⁸ Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross unto me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

(Here the "house of Israel" was specific to the Jews in Jerusalem who, at that time, made up the whole of Israel while the other ten tribes were in captivity. The Jews were called the "dross of silver." Dross was the waste/refuse that came off of metal while it was being refined.)

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
²⁰ As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

(God would judge them in the midst of Jerusalem.)

²¹ Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof.
²² As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.
²³ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
²⁴ Son of man, say unto her, Thou art a land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in the midst thereof.

(The false prophets devoured souls. They took from the people. They used their gift to directly benefit themselves at the expense of the people.)

²⁶ Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

(The priests profaned holy things and did not cause the people to discern between Godly things and unclean things. The priests were supposed to help the people discern/understand the difference between the clean and the unclean.)

²⁷ Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

(The princes (elders) destroyed souls. They gained at the expense of the people they were meant to lead. They gained for the wrong reason.)

²⁸ And her prophets have daubed for them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not spoken.
²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
³⁰ And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

(God found none to do His Will. No man stood for what was right…for God.)

³¹ Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought upon their heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(They went "their own way" and God would recompense them according to their works. God was Just.)




Ezekiel 23
¹ The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,
² Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother:

(Two women were sisters and were symbolic of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capitals of Israel and Judah respectively.)

³ and they played the harlot in Egypt; they played the harlot in their youth; there were their breasts pressed, and there was handled the bosom of their virginity.
⁴ And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they became mine, and they bare sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.

(The elder was Oholah (Samaria) and the other was Oholibah (Jerusalem). Ezekiel 16 stated that Samaria was the elder sister and Sodom was the younger sister of Jerusalem.)

⁵ And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors,

(Oholah (Samaria) played the harlot (fornication/idol worship) with Assyria.)

⁶ who were clothed with blue, governors and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
⁷ And she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them; and on whomsoever she doted, with all their idols she defiled herself.
⁸ Neither hath she left her whoredoms since the days of Egypt; for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the bosom of her virginity; and they poured out their whoredom upon her.

(Samaria (Israel) had been committing idolatry since the days of Egypt.)

⁹ Wherefore I delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted.

(God delivered Oholah (Samaria) to the Assyrians who she lusted after.)

¹⁰ These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they slew with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments upon her.
¹¹ And her sister Oholibah saw this, yet was she more corrupt in her doting than she, and in her whoredoms which were more than the whoredoms of her sister.

(Oholibah (Jerusalem) saw this but was more corrupt than her sister. Judah/Jerusalem should have learned from Israel’s mistakes.)

¹² She doted upon the Assyrians, governors and rulers, her neighbors, clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men.
¹³ And I saw that she was defiled; they both took one way.
¹⁴ And she increased her whoredoms; for she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion,

(Oholibah (Jerusalem) increased her idolatry by pursuing Assyria and Babylon.)

¹⁵ girded with girdles upon their loins, with flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them princes to look upon, after the likeness of the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their nativity.
¹⁶ And as soon as she saw them she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea.
¹⁷ And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her soul was alienated from them.

(The Babylonians defiled Oholibah (Jerusalem) with their whoredom.)

¹⁸ So she uncovered her whoredoms, and uncovered her nakedness: then my soul was alienated from her, like as my soul was alienated from her sister.
¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, remembering the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

(Oholibah embraced the defiling of the Babylonians and multiplied her idolatry.)

²⁰ And she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses.
²¹ Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of thy youth, in the handling of thy bosom by the Egyptians for the breasts of thy youth.
²² Therefore, O Oholibah, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy soul is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side:

(In response to Oholibah's idolatry, God raised up Babylon against Oholibah (Jerusalem)…)

²³ the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and rulers all of them, princes and men of renown, all of them riding upon horses.
²⁴ And they shall come against thee with weapons, chariots, and wagons, and with a company of peoples; they shall set themselves against thee with buckler and shield and helmet round about; and I will commit the judgment unto them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.
²⁵ And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy residue shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
²⁶ They shall also strip thee of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.
²⁷ Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt; so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
²⁸ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy soul is alienated;
²⁹ and they shall deal with thee in hatred, and shall take away all thy labor, and shall leave thee naked and bare; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
³⁰ These things shall be done unto thee, for that thou hast played the harlot after the nations, and because thou art polluted with their idols.

(God delivered Judah into the hand of the Babylonians because she played the harlot after other nations and idols.)

³¹ Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thy hand.

(Judah walked as Israel did so God would treat Judah as He treated Israel. God was Just.)

³² Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, which is deep and large; thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.
³³ Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
³⁴ Thou shalt even drink it and drain it out, and thou shalt gnaw the sherds thereof, and shalt tear thy breasts; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
³⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.

(Samaria would be totally destroyed.)

³⁶ Jehovah said moreover unto me: Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholibah? then declare unto them their abominations.

(God commanded Ezekiel to declare to Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) their abominations…)

³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands; and with their idols have they committed adultery; and they have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass through the fire unto them to be devoured.
³⁸ Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
³⁹ For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house.
⁴⁰ And furthermore ye have sent for men that come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent, and, lo, they came; for whom thou didst wash thyself, paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments,
⁴¹ and sit upon a stately bed, with a table prepared before it, whereupon thou didst set mine incense and mine oil.
⁴² And the voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with men of the common sort were brought drunkards from the wilderness; and they put bracelets upon the hands of them twain, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.
⁴³ Then said I of her that was old in adulteries, Now will they play the harlot with her, and she with them.
⁴⁴ And they went in unto her, as they go in unto a harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women.

(The eight sins of Samaria and Jerusalem were listed.)

⁴⁵ And righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

(Judgment would come upon both Israel and Judah…)

⁴⁶ For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will bring up a company against them, and will give them to be tossed to and fro and robbed.
⁴⁷ And the company shall stone them with stones, and despatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
⁴⁸ Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.
⁴⁹ And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols; and ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.

(The destruction was severe and graphic.)




Ezekiel 24
¹ Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

(This prophecy concerned the judgment against Judah and Jerusalem…)

² Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this selfsame day: the king of Babylon drew close unto Jerusalem this selfsame day.
³ And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Set on the caldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:

(God gave Ezekiel another parable through Ezekiel performing a physical example. Ezekiel was told to pour water into a caldron which represented Jerusalem.)

⁴ gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
⁵ Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the caldron; make it boil well; yea, let the bones thereof be boiled in the midst of it.

(Ezekiel gathered the pieces of the sacrifice and put it in the caldron and then made a fire to boil the water. The pieces represented the people. The fire under the caldron represented the Babylonians.)

⁶ Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the bloody city, to the caldron whose rust is therein, and whose rust is not gone out of it! take out of it piece after piece; No lot is fallen upon it.
⁷ For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the bare rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust.
⁸ That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood upon the bare rock, that it should not be covered.
⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.

(The destruction of the city was to be great like a great fire burning under a pot until nothing was left but the bones and dry burned flesh…even the caldron (which represented Jerusalem) itself was burned and melted.)

¹⁰ Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.
¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the rust of it may be consumed.
¹² She hath wearied herself with toil; yet her great rust goeth not forth out of her; her rust goeth not forth by fire.
¹³ In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have cleansed thee and thou wast not cleansed, thou shalt not be cleansed from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my wrath toward thee to rest.
¹⁴ I, Jehovah, have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it: I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(God would not repent of this, judgment was coming. Next, was another prophecy...)

¹⁵ Also the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet thou shalt neither mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

(The "desire of thine eyes" was Ezekiel's wife. She had died. God told him not to mourn or weep for her. She symbolized the temple.)

¹⁷ Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

(All Ezekiel was told he could do was "sigh, but not aloud.")

¹⁸ So I spake unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

(Ezekiel obeyed God's command to not mourn his wife's death.)

¹⁹ And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

(The people did not understand the symbolism.)

²⁰ Then I said unto them, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
²¹ Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword.

(This command from God to Ezekiel served to teach the Jews that the coming destruction would be so great that they would be unable to mourn the loss of their city and temple…the temple being the "desire of [their] eyes.")

²² And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

(The people would do as Ezekiel did and suspend the acts of mourning.)

²³ And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another.

(Ezekiel was a sign to the people...)

²⁴ Thus shall Ezekiel be unto you a sign; according to all that he hath done shall ye do: when this cometh, then shall ye know that I am the Lord Jehovah.
²⁵ And thou, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their heart, their sons and their daughters,
²⁶ that in that day he that escapeth shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?
²⁷ In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him that is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: so shalt thou be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

(After the judgment on Jerusalem was finished, Ezekiel would speak again. This chapter concluded the first type of prophecies that were included in the Book of Ezekiel: Destruction of Jerusalem. The next chapter began the second type of prophecies (chapters 25-32): Judgment against other nations.)

Day 250