LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” (Col. 4:6)
Now we will continue to consider the various kinds of people among the children of Israel described in these chapters of Ezekiel.
The Priests
Ezekiel 22:26 says, “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, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”
Here we see that the priests violated the word of God, profaning the holy things, and even profaning the Lord Himself. They made no distinction between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean.
Because they did not minister the word of God, but rather violated it, they deceived and robbed the people. They committed violence against the word of the Lord and profaned the name of God.
This is also the situation with certain teachers in Christianity today. They minister the word of God in a violent way, deceive and cheat others through the misuse of the Word, and profane the name of God.
The Kings
Ezekiel 22:27 goes on to say that the princes, the kings, were in the midst of the land like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood and destroying souls for dishonest gain. Like many in Christianity today, they were eager to seize something for their own profit.
The Prophets
Ezekiel 22:25 tells us that the prophets were like roaring lions devouring souls. They took treasure and precious things, multiplying their widows.
Ezekiel 13:4-5 says, “Your prophets, O Israel, have been like foxes among ruins. You have not gone up into the breaches, nor built a wall for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.”
Like foxes of the desert, the prophets liked to hide and live in a desolate place. It is difficult for a fox to live in a proper house, but when the house is devastated, foxes can enter.
Moreover, the prophets did not close up the breaches nor build up the wall during the time of battle. Today the situation is similar, for very few Christians are willing to stand in the breach for the Lord’s recovery and for the Lord’s interest.
In Ezekiel’s time, there were many false prophets who prophesied according to their own heart. In 22:28 Ezekiel used a parable to describe their way of prophesying: “Her prophets have daubed them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken.”
Here Ezekiel said that their way of prophesying was like plastering a wall with weak mortar. Mortar is made of lime and must be completely saturated with water before being applied to a wall. This would cause the mortar to be properly cured. If the mortar is not completely cured with water before being applied to the wall, the rain will wash away the mortar, and the wall will fall apart.
The meaning of this parable is that many prophets ministered the word of God in a way that was not properly cured. To minister the word of God in such an unseasoned way is not to be saturated with the Holy Spirit nor soaked with the experience of life. Today many preachers and teachers are like plaster made with weak mortar. They may give a good sermon, but when a storm comes, their sermon is washed away like weak mortar.
A word that is fully saturated with the Spirit and with the experience of the divine life is absolutely different. When this kind of word is ministered, it strengthens the people of God to withstand every kind of storm that may come.
From this we see that we need teaching that is saturated with the Spirit and soaked with the proper experience of the divine life. This is not a matter of eloquence or of speaking words that are pleasant to the ears.
Rather, it is ministering the word of God in a real, solid, and fully Spirit-saturated way. This word will protect us, strengthen us, build us up, and enable us to stand against every kind of storm.
An even worse situation than that of the false prophets existed among the daughters of the people, who prophesied out of their own heart (13:17). They not only prophesied falsely; they also prophesied when the Lord had not spoken.
This kind of prophesying frequently occurs today. Many say, “Thus says the Lord,” but the Lord has not spoken. For example, in recent years, several people have prophesied that the city of Los Angeles would fall into the ocean, and some even predicted the exact date. But Los Angeles is still here. They said, “Thus says the Lord,” but the Lord never said such a thing. When these prophecies were not fulfilled, they proved to be false.
In addition to prophesying falsely, these women in Ezekiel also practiced superstition and witchcraft. For example, they sewed magical bands, amulets, as superstitious protection from demons. They also made veils to hunt souls (13:18-21).
Likewise, today certain pastors, preachers, and ministers speak in a superstitious way, comforting others in a false manner and not according to the truth.
The Elders
The Lord told Ezekiel that the elders, who came to him to inquire of the Lord, had set up idols in their hearts (14:1-3). Because of the idols in their hearts, the Lord would not be inquired of by them. They were not honest with the Lord.
Furthermore, they were greedy and robbed, taking the treasures of others into their own hands. In many respects, the situation today is similar.
The People
From Ezekiel 22:29 we see that the people practiced oppression and robbery. They afflicted the poor and needy and unjustly oppressed the stranger. The Lord was not able to find anyone among them who could repair the wall and stand in the breach.
Concerning this, verse 30 says, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the breach before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” Unfortunately, in Christianity today the situation is almost exactly the same.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Spiritual Warfare - “With the Armor of God”
No comments:
Post a Comment