LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 16
GOD’S RESTORATION BY LIFE
WEEK 7 - MONDAY
Scripture Reading: Ezek. 29:6-7; 33:7, 11; 34:11-16, 23-31; Matt. 3:1-2; 13:3-23; 1 Cor. 3:9
Read and pray: “Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why should you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezek. 33:11)
In the last message we considered God’s judgment upon the seven representative nations surrounding the nation of Israel: Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt.
The dates of Ezekiel’s visions are significant. For example, the vision in chapter twenty-six concerning Tyre was in the eleventh year, and the vision in chapter twenty-nine against Egypt was in the tenth year. This indicates that Ezekiel’s record is not according to chronology but according to significance.
He wrote not according to the historical sequence but according to the sequence of significance. According to the spiritual significance, Tyre comes before Egypt, although in fact Ezekiel saw the vision concerning Egypt before the vision concerning Tyre. The record concerning these seven nations is not arranged according to historical events but according to significance. This is strong proof that these seven nations have a spiritual significance.
The last three nations—Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt—are mainly related to the riches of the world and the natural resources. Tyre represents the riches of the world and prosperity, which damage the church life. We may say that we love the church, but if we follow worldly riches and prosperity, we will become a damage to the church life.
We need to cry out to the Lord that in His mercy none of us in the local churches in the Lord’s recovery would be concerned with worldly riches. Instead of being concerned with worldly riches, we should prefer to be poor.
From the concern for worldly riches comes Sidon as thorns that prick and thistles that cause pain, as indicated in the Lord’s parable in Matthew 13:3-23. The church is like a field to produce something (1 Cor. 3:9). Thorns and thistles frustrate the growth of the proper plants in the field.
In the church life, none of us should be concerned with worldly riches and prosperity. If we are concerned with riches, we may damage not only our own growth but also the growth of others.
The last nation, Egypt, is closely related to Tyre and Sidon and represents the development of the natural resources for others to trust in. When the people of God become poor and lack food, they place their trust in Egypt. However, God said that Egypt was a staff made of reed and was not strong enough to be trusted (Ezek. 29:6-7).
If you trust in Egypt, you will be hurt. This indicates that the natural resources are not reliable. Even many people in the world realize this. If you place your trust in the natural resources or in the riches that come from the development of the natural resources, you will be a damage to the church life.
We should not regard this understanding of the spiritual significance of the seven nations as mere knowledge. Instead, we need to apply this understanding to ourselves in the church life.
GOD’S JUDGMENT AND
GOD’S RESTORATION
In this message we come to the third section of the book of Ezekiel—the section of restoration (chs. 33—39). God’s judgment is always with a purpose, and God never executes His judgment without a purpose.
The purpose of God’s judgment is to bring in restoration. He does not execute judgment apart from His purpose of restoring something. We need to remember that God’s judgment is based on His righteousness, His holiness, and His glory.
Wherever the condition among His people or the world does not match His righteousness, holiness, and glory, God will execute His judgment for the purpose of restoration. God wants to restore His people according to His righteousness, holiness, and glory. As we will see, while God’s judgment is by fire, God’s restoration is by life.
ESTABLISHES THE WATCHMAN
In His restoration by life, the first thing the Lord does is establish the watchman. Ezekiel 33:7 says, “So you, son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word from My mouth and give them warning from Me.”
A watchman is one who has been commissioned by God to give His people a warning, to sound the trumpet so that the people of God may turn to Him and repent. The principle is the same in the New Testament, where God sent John the Baptist as a great watchman.
When John the Baptist came, he sounded the trumpet of repentance, crying out, “Repent!” (Matt. 3:1-2). In principle, Ezekiel expressed the same thing when he exhorted the people to turn from their evil ways. God did not want them to die; His desire was that they would turn and live.
Concerning this, Ezekiel 33:11 says, “Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why should you die, O house of Israel?”
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