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NOVEMBER 6
Ezekiel 14:12-16:42
Chapters
14 and 15 belong together, then chapter 16 will introduce a very disturbing
image that will be used by God again in this book.
Ezekiel
14:12-23
Vs.
12-20 The message here is very straightforward. The people who remain in Judah
and Jerusalem (these people in Babylon had been a part of that crowd) are so
sinful, that if these three men were there, by their own righteousness they
could only save themselves. Now, Daniel, from the book of Daniel, is listed as
part of this trio. To understand the significance of his inclusion, look at
Genesis 6:9 and Job 1:8.
So,
who were these men? We understand Noah being in this group. He was the most
righteous man on earth during his lifetime. Job was the most righteous man on
earth at the time he lived and the only one that could have faced that kind of
testing. This must mean that at the time of this writing, Daniel was the most
righteous man on earth. Wow! What company to be named in. Daniel will be the
next book we read and once we read the first six chapters, you'll never be able
to think of them as disjointed children's stories again. This also means that
at this most critical time for the nation of Israel, God had placed on earth,
in Babylonian government, in world government, one of the most righteous,
God-fearing and God-following men who has ever walked the planet. His impact is
largely hidden, but we'll discuss it as time goes on. That a man like Daniel
was even present shows God's grace, mercy and steadfast love to His people.
Vs.
21-23 Apparently the people in Babylon had already begun to reform a little.
Even though they are praying for those left in Jerusalem, those in exile don't
quite remember how bad their conduct was. When these people are brought from
Jerusalem to Babylon, the people who are already in exile in Babylon will be
appalled to see how idolatrous and evil these newcomers are. They will
understand and know why God had to
bring such cleansing to the city and the land.
Ezekiel
15
This
is a very simple message. These people were so corrupt, they couldn't be used
for anything, even as a peg in the wall on which to hang a vessel. Israel's
purpose was to bear fruit for God. If you want an interesting connection
between Israel's purpose and the church's purpose, read John 15:1-8. There is
nothing wrong with being a branch in the vine unless you don't want to abide in
the vine and bear fruit.
Ezekiel
16:1-42
This
image of a whore expresses God's jealousy and sense of betrayal by Israel.
We'll see it again in a few chapters. The focus here is on Jerusalem. The city
is being used to represent the people. The people's hope was in the city and
the temple, because of God's promises associated with the city. Yet, God would
destroy the city and all that was in it. The judgment of Jerusalem would be a
picture of His displeasure with the people.
Vs.
1-5 Verse 3 is important to note that the message is to the city. Apparently it
was settled by Amorites and Hittites. The city now will become a picture of God
choosing this people to be His people as He chose Jerusalem to be His city.
Vs.
6-7 This selection was on the basis of God's mercy and pity. Under His care the
city/nation became healthy and grew.
Vs.
8-14 The image of God entering into a special relationship with people is
common in Scripture. What is interesting in both the Old and New Testaments is
that the image is marriage. We will see this image of marriage a couple more
times in the OT, and in the NT we have the image of the Bride of Christ. In
both testaments, these special people are meant to show the salvation of God
out of gratefulness for His blessing and deliverance. In a way, the image
represented in the verses up to this point could be true of everyone who knows
Christ.
V.
8 Notice that this covering is what took place in Ruth 3:9 between Boaz and
Ruth.
Vs.
15-22 This is where the analogy with anything good and redemptive breaks down.
Notice the description of ungratefulness. This was true of Israel as God's
chosen nation and Israel is an example to all mankind. All mankind is guilty of
this. Everyone enjoys the blessings of God every day, but rather than turning
to God in Jesus Christ to give Him thanks, we use His benefits to ignore Him.
V.
15 is interesting. It was pride in the very beauty and privilege given by the
Lord that sin took and perverted. This wouldn't be the first time that God's
blessing was warped by sin. In Ezekiel 28:11-17 we'll find one of those
passages that seems to rise above the description of a human, to a description
of Satan and his fall. There, too, it is because of his God-given beauty and
privilege that he chose to rebel against God.
Notice
v. 17. They took what God gave them and made idols of them. Some of these idols
were used in sexual worship rites.
V.
20 is appalling and Malachi 2:15 shows another reason why God was totally upset
with this.
Vs.
23-29 Israel not only committed "adultery" by taking on the gods of
the surrounding nations, but rather than depending on God, they looked for help
from these other nations in terms of treaties and security. You see this in
Solomon's political marriages, and particularly with King Asa, when he sent
gold to have Syria attack the northern kingdom rather than take the matter to
God (2 Chron. 16:1-10). We have already seen how God leveled Egypt. Then we saw
how God destroyed the Assyrian army in a night. Why would you seek these
nations for help? But Israel did. Look at Psalm 78:5-7. They were to have only
sought hope in God.
Vs.
30-34 The imagery here is that of brazen, open harlotry. A normal harlot would
have made a chamber in private quarters. Israel did it openly in every square
and wide place in Jerusalem. What are referred to here are shrines and
memorials throughout the city that were actually small worship stations. These
also had a political/economic purpose in that they could say to a Babylonian
with whom they were doing business, “Look over there. We have a little statue
of Nebo. You want to go worship?”
A
normal harlot was paid for her work. Israel invited other nations in, adopted
their gods and may have given them financial incentives for bringing their
business to Jerusalem. Some of this probably happened to open up trade with
other nations. Honoring their gods would have shown good will. God didn’t think
so.
Vs.
35-42 The judgment God would bring would be very specific and connected to
their sins. None of the gods Israel worshipped would help them and none of the
nations they connected with would save them. In fact, the nations whose favor
they sought would all have a hand in exposing their sin and punishing them.
For
us in the harvest, we need to stay in the Word and allow lessons like this to
wash our hearts and our motives. The Lord is our hope and this world is where
we work. The world is not our hope. It is easy to put our hope in people and in
strategies, but the Lord has recorded these events and judgments to help us
keep our eyes on Jesus and to stay focused on the blessing of seeing others
come to Him and become disciples, who make disciples.
1
Corinthians 10:11 Now these things
happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction,
on whom the end of the ages has come.
Hebrews 7:18-28
Vs.
18-22 You can tell this was written to believers, because the unbelieving Jews
we see in the NT would have gone nuclear if they had heard this. When Jesus
made the new covenant with the bread and the wine, we know He could do it
because He is God. Here, it is also stated that on the human side, He could do
it because of God making Him a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Notice
how Psalm 110 is being relied on again. Who knew those words would be so
important? God Himself made an oath.
Vs.
23-25 Since Jesus lives forever, you only need this one priest and He
intercedes continuously for His people. This was something good for them to
remember in the situation they were facing. Hey, that's good for me to remember
too.
Vs.
26-28 Why would they want to go back to the law knowing this? They would have
to deny Jesus Himself.
Psalm 106:1-12
I
mentioned something yesterday about how helpful it is to know the point of
something while you are reading. So, we'll be reading this for three days.
Verse 47 will give you an idea of when this was written. If you understand
that, it puts this history into a slightly different light and you understand
the appeal being made in all of this song.
Vs.
1-3 If you read v. 47, these words take on some interesting significance. The
mention of God's goodness and His steadfast
love that endures forever are
something the exiles had experienced in a strange land during their punishment.
As we'll see in Daniel, and have seen in Esther and Nehemiah, God still did
show Himself mighty.
Vs.
4-5 Now we have the plea. Notice the request for remembrance, for salvation for
the people, gladness for the nation and glory for God's own inheritance.
Vs.
6-12 The sin of the nation is summarized in forgetting their salvation. How God
saved them from Egypt was supposed to have made a lasting impression. God knew
they would forget; and through their pride in God's blessing and perversion of
the glory and beauty He gave Israel, all mankind would see that we need a
spiritual cure, not just a physical fix.
Proverbs 27:4-6
V. 4 seems to stand alone, but it is very powerful. With both wrath and anger, a person will give regard to their own safety, but the motto
of jealousy is "blow up the
world." Jealousy is both anger and wrath with a sense of mission and dark
abandon.
Not that we can attribute to God the nasty side of our emotions, but
think of the jealousy He is talking about in Ezekiel. It definitely fits the
scenario.
Vs. 5-6 We still don't get "speaking the truth in love." Most
often we just avoid the subject. That's not love.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are interested in growing
deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the
growth of a discipleship culture in the church, that is, groups of 3-4
disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to
reach out and make disciples, who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most
universal and important discipleship manual we have and it is the key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here,
or what we are to be doing, or whom we are to be following. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us, as disciples, focused on Christ and our role in His
harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be
willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their
growth as disciples, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
Anyone reading along with us is
welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own
observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition
or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any
point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as
I understand it. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a supplement,
a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we will keep
following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who
make disciples. Being in the Word every
day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the essential
essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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