By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Ezekiel
21:28-22:16
Joshua
24:15
And
if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for
yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers
served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods
of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord.”
(NKJV)
God is a righteous God
and must judge sin, but Jesus has taken the wrath of God upon himself even
though he knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). However, Forgiveness from sin
is not automatic requiring one to make a choice. We can continue in our sins
and suffer condemnation (John
3:18)
or confess our belief in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and be saved (Romans
10:9-10). For those reading this who have not made that
choice, I will explain how to do that at the end of this post.
The text begins with the
Lord telling Ezekiel to prophesy concerning the Ammonites and their reproach.
He is to tell them a sword is drawn and polished for slaughter (Ezekiel
21:28). The prophets of the ammonites see false visions for
them and divine lies that cause them to mock the people of Jerusalem whose day
of reckoning has come but whose iniquity will also end (Ezekiel
21:29). However, the sword of slaughter is to return to its
sheath for God Himself will judge the Ammonites in their land (Ezekiel
21:30). They will be delivered into the hands of brutal men,
skillful in destruction with the Ammonites remembered no more (Ezekiel
21:31-32).
The text then shifts to
the abominable sins of Jerusalem to show them all their abominations (Ezekiel
22:1-2). The city is a bloody city, guilty of bloodshed and
idolatry by making idols to worship. This has caused their days to draw near
when they will be a reproach to the nations and a mockery of all countries (Ezekiel
22:3-4). Those far and near Jerusalem will mock the city as
infamous and full of tumult (Ezekiel
22:5).
The sins of Jerusalem include,
·
The princes of Israel used their power to
shed blood.
·
Making light of father and mother
·
Oppressing strangers
·
Mistreating the fatherless and widows
·
Despising the holy things of God
·
Profaning the Sabbaths
·
Slandering to cause bloodshed.
·
Eating on the mountains food sacrificed to
idols.
·
Commission of lewd acts in the city
·
Taking bribes to shed blood.
·
Charging interest to their fellow Jews
·
Extortion from their neighbors (Ezekiel
22:6-12)
The Lord beats His fists
at the dishonest profit and the bloodshed committed in the city (Ezekiel
22:13). The Lord asks if their hearts will endure or hands
remain strong when He deals with them, something he vows to do as He has spoken
(Ezekiel
22:14). The Lord intends to scatter the people of Jerusalem
among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries and remove their
filthiness from them (Ezekiel
22:15). The people of Jerusalem shall defile themselves in
the sight of the nations and know the Lord is the Lord (Ezekiel
22:16).
The merciful and gracious
God is also righteous. In Ezekiel
21:28-32 God tells the Ammonites about his coming judgment
against them for their rejoicing at the profaning of the Temple and the
desolation of the land (Ezekiel
25:1-7). This text speaks of the Lord intending to bring a
sword against the Ammonites (Ezekiel
21:28-29), but He later commands the sword to return to its
sheath because God Himself intends to pour out His indignation against the
Ammonites (Ezekiel
21:30-32). Woe to any person or nation that falls under the
judgment of God. Jerusalem, however, is not innocent for her sins are many (Ezekiel
22:1-12). God beats his fist at the sins of Israel asking if
their hearts can endure or their hands remain strong, leaving Him with no
choice but to scatter them among the nations (Ezekiel
22:13-16).
God will judge those who
rejoice at the fall of the people of God, but the people of God are not
innocent and will suffer for unrepentant sin in their lives. Instead of
rejoicing when a child of God falls, we should pray for their restoration. The
Corinthian Church encountered a man in the Church who had committed sexual
immorality with his father’s wife (1
Corinthians 5:1). Instead of mourning this abomination,
the Corinthians were puffed up with pride (1
Corinthians 5:2). Their mourning should have included
turning over the man’s flesh for destruction to save his soul and spirit (1
Corinthians 5:3-5).
Those who become aware of
the sin in their lives by the conviction of the Holy Spirit do not need
judgmental condemnation for their sins but the loving direction to Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of sins and restoration to a relationship with God (John
12:32). Everyone has sinned (Romans
3:23)
and is at a fork in the road, needing someone to direct them on which way to
choose. Will we as believers sit at the fork as judges or traffic directors? I
encourage everyone reading this who is a believer in Jesus as his or her savior
to become a traffic director.
If you are reading this
and have never prayed for the forgiveness of your sins and to make Jesus the
Lord of your life, restoring a relationship with God, I invite you to do so by
praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
May God challenge,
convict, and bless everyone reading this post.
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