Ezekiel Prosecutes the Covenant

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:09.240 You may be seated, and let's turn in God's Word to Ezekiel Twenty two, 2 00:00:41.960 --> 00:01:00.079 Ezekiel twenty two, let's hear God's word. The word of the Lord 3 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.840 came to me, saying, and you, son of Man, will you 4 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:10.439 judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then declare to her all her 5 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:15.719 abominations? You shall say, thus says the Lord God, a city that 6 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.000 sheds blood in her midst so that her time may come, and that she 7 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:25.680 makes idols to defile herself. You have become guilty by the blood you have 8 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:30.760 shed and defiled by the idols you have made. You have bought your days, 9 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:36.599 I'm sorry, yes, and you have brought your days near. The 10 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:41.079 appointed time of your years has come. Therefore, I have made you a 11 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:46.519 reproach to the nation's and a mockery to all the countries. Those who are 12 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:49.200 near and those who are far from you will mock you. Your name is 13 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:57.319 defiled, your full of tumult. Behold the princess of Israel, and you, 14 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.719 every one, according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 15 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:07.079 Father and mother are treated with contempting you. The sojourner suffers extortion in 16 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:10.520 your midst. The fatherless and widow are wronged. In you, you've despised 17 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:15.919 my holy things and profaned my sabbaths. There are men in you who slander, 18 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:20.680 to shed blood, and people and you who eat on the mountains. 19 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:25.400 They commit lewdness in your midst. In you, men uncover their father's nakedness. 20 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:30.520 In you, they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual and purity. 21 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:35.520 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife. Another leudely defiles his daughter in 22 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.800 law. Another and you violates his sister, his father's daughter. In you, 23 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:45.400 they take bribes to shed blood, you take interest and profit. You 24 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:51.280 make gain of your neighbors by extortion, but me you have forgotten, declares 25 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:55.439 the Lord. Behold, I will strike my hand at the dishonest gain that 26 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.199 you have made and at the blood that has been in your midst. Can 27 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.879 your courage endure or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall 28 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:07.919 deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do 29 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.120 it. I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, 30 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:19.639 and I will consume your uncleanness, uncleaning uncleanness, cleanness out of you 31 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.599 and you shall be profaned by your own doing, in the sight of the 32 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:28.680 nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when the word 33 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:30.479 of the Lord came to me, son of man. The House of Israel 34 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:35.719 has become draws to me. All of them are bronze and tin and iron 35 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:39.000 and lead in the furnace. They are dross of silver. Therefore, the 36 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:44.520 says the Lord, God you, because you have all become dross. Therefore, 37 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.080 behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as one 38 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:53.039 gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace to blow 39 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.800 the fire on it in order to melt it. So I will gather you 40 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.039 in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and 41 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:04.120 melt you. I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of 42 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:08.199 my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it, as 43 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:12.199 silver is melted in a furnace. So you shall be melted in the midst 44 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:17.120 of it. You shall know or I have poured out my wrath upon you, 45 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:20.120 and the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, 46 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:25.160 say to her, you are a land that is not cleansed or reigned upon 47 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:29.680 in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is 48 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:33.279 like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured human lives, they 49 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:38.160 have taken treasure and precious things. They have made many widows. In her 50 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:42.480 midst, her priests have done violence to my law and, if profane my 51 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:46.639 holy things. They have made no distinction between the coalie and the common, 52 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.079 neither of they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they 53 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:56.240 have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her Princes 54 00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.279 in her midst are like wolves, tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying 55 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:04.360 lives to get dishonest gain and her profits of smeared whitewash for them, seeing 56 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:10.199 false visions and divining lies for them, saying thus says the Lord God, 57 00:05:10.199 --> 00:05:14.800 when the Lord is not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion 58 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:18.759 and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exhorted, 59 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:25.279 extorted from the sojourner without justice. And I sought for a man among them 60 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.720 who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the 61 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:35.079 land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore, 62 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:40.000 I have poured out my indignation upon them, I have consumed them with 63 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:45.040 the fire of my wrath. I've returned their way upon their heads, declares 64 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:49.480 the Lord God, my God, bless his word to us this evening. 65 00:05:54.480 --> 00:06:05.439 So here Ezekiel is not using songs and proverbs parables. He does use a 66 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:12.040 few metaphors as the Lord gives them to him, but in the whole Lord 67 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:18.519 Calls Ezekiel to act like a prosecuting attorney. Ezekiel is to stand and to 68 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:25.800 speak the truth about the sins of Israel. The Lord has given him the 69 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:32.399 case, and Israel is guilty and defiled. God is righteous and we see 70 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:40.120 that all of her sins are made known. We hear this passage and we 71 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:45.040 see these things piled up, one after another after another. There are many, 72 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:49.720 many lessons that are to be learned, not all that we can deal 73 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:56.319 with tonight, but important things for us to know. Now, some of 74 00:06:56.360 --> 00:07:01.040 these things we've touched on before, sometimes frequently throughout the book of Ezekiel, 75 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:06.279 as it has a common theme and touches in similar ways on these things. 76 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:12.560 But I think it's so important to hear anew and a fresh as God's word 77 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:16.560 comes to us. Because we are very hardhearted, we forget these things. 78 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:21.000 Will Confess all day how bad sin is and then go do it. Will 79 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.240 say how evil and how rotten it is. We'll talk about how despicable it 80 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:29.759 is and then we go and we sin. We do the very same things 81 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.800 on some of the very same things that are mentioned here. We must remember, 82 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.920 and it's one of the ways that the Lord impresses on our hearts, 83 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:43.160 how much we need him, righteous he is, and that we need someone 84 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:48.519 to stand in the breach for us, even our savior, Jesus. So 85 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:53.759 I'd like to go through this passage with you this evening think about some of 86 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:59.560 these things, to give an exposition of it. We begin in the first 87 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:07.560 few verses. God Calls Ezekiel I'm to stand and to judge, to judge 88 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.959 on the bloody city. This is not an English swear word here. This 89 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.839 is literally it is good either. Is described by being bloody, and he 90 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:22.920 says as much over and over again. It is a city that sheds blood 91 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.480 in her midst. In verses three, froo fought. Three through five, 92 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:31.360 we have kind of a summary of the case. What is what is Ezekiel 93 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:37.039 going to proclaim two things. Murder primarily two things, but there are a 94 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:43.600 couple others. Murder and idolatry are the two big ones. She is guilty 95 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.200 and she is defiled. These are the other two things that come up again 96 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.519 and again. And then finally judgment is coming and that judgment is going to 97 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:58.200 be a reproach. What's a reproach? A reproach is a big time disappointment, 98 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:05.919 massive disapproval, chastisement, a reproach to the nation's a mockery to the 99 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:11.039 countries and other places. In Ezeki we've heard about how Israel become, will 100 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:15.879 become, a by word right, like just a phrase that people use to 101 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:24.480 express foolishness or or destruction or judgment. God is going to come and judgment 102 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:31.000 against his people. The indictment and the or the specific charges come in versus 103 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:37.879 six through twelve, and let's look at those now. He begins with the 104 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.159 princes of Israel. In verse six, he says the princes of Israel and 105 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:48.240 you everyone, according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 106 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:52.720 Now, of course this sounds horrific and evil. I think it helps to 107 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.720 impress the point when we remember what the duties of the king actually are. 108 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.200 In Psalm Seventy two, verses one through four, we read this. Give 109 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.840 the king your justice, so God, and your righteousness to the Royal Sun. 110 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:11.120 May He Judge Your people with righteousness and your poor with justice, but 111 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:15.720 the mountains bear prosperity for the people and the hills in righteousness. May he 112 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.279 defend the cause of the poor, of the people, give deliverance to the 113 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:24.440 children of the needy and crush the oppressor. This is a King Right. 114 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.240 This is a real king, a godly king. He is one who rules 115 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:35.159 according to the Justice and Righteousness of God. He's happy to be called God's 116 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:39.600 Royal Son. He's not hoping to be named after the baals or other false 117 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:46.080 gods. He knows God and he knows that he rules by him. Then 118 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:50.240 he run. He judges the People in Righteousness. He doesn't go after his 119 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.879 own way. He judges even the poor with justice. A true king, 120 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.879 a king after God's own heart, is not one who looks around and sees, 121 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:03.039 okay, who can advantage me here? How much money do you have? 122 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:09.360 What's your status? What's your rank? How stronger you know? He 123 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:15.320 does justice for the poor, for the needy for the cause of the poor, 124 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.480 for the children of the need. Right like the needy of the needy, 125 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.159 he comes and he protects them and he provides for them. And those 126 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.360 who would seek to oppress them, even though they have power, strength of 127 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:31.279 power and wealth, status whatever else, no problem. He's going to crush 128 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:37.279 them. It's going to crush the oppressor, because that's what a king does. 129 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:43.559 He protects his people. The result of this is prosperity, not just 130 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:48.600 for him, not just for his elite few, not just for the people 131 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:52.120 who happened to get close to him, who bribe him or whatever. It's 132 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:58.440 prosperity for the people. Even the hills, everything use the flowering. The 133 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:03.759 people are flowering. It's a happy place, a happy kingdom, a blessed 134 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:09.440 place. From the top to the bottom, from the great to the small, 135 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:16.840 all our prosperous under the rule of that King. So then Ezekiel comes 136 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.799 to the princes in the name of the Lord and says, according to your 137 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:26.120 power not, you have protected the poor, you have protected the children of 138 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:28.600 the needy, you've ruled in righteousness and justice and we have prosperity all over 139 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:33.799 the place. What does he say? He says you have been bent on 140 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:41.279 shedding blood. This is the thing that you've been driving after, your main 141 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.279 objective, your mission statement, the thing that keeps you up at night, 142 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:50.039 makes you work there in the next day to shed the blood and of innocent 143 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:58.279 people. He then goes and describes other things. Saw The tribute to the 144 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:03.279 king's described of the people in general, as well various things drawn from the 145 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:09.720 holiness codes in Leviticus. Nineteen, twenty and twenty five. Father and mother 146 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.919 are treated with contempt, the Sojourner suffers extortion. In your midst, the 147 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.440 fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. Have you ever decided it not 148 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:22.759 to go to a certain place because you're afraid of her, your safety? 149 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:24.639 Have you ever gone to a certain pleasure you like? I don't know the 150 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.480 language, I don't know the people, I don't trust that place. It 151 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:37.039 doesn't seem safe. Here are a people in Israel where it's not safe, 152 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.639 a place where you don't want to go across their border and find yourself among 153 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.080 this people, because you're going to get extorted, you're going to get robbed. 154 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.960 It's not a place that treats the poor with or treats the sojourner with 155 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:54.840 hospitality and protection, but instead uses their weaknesses and advantage to steal, to 156 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:01.720 rob not just the sojourners but those who are there among them. The fatherless 157 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:07.440 and the widow are wronged among them. And so we have these various ways 158 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:15.759 in which the the social code is is broken. Parents, pilgrims, the 159 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:22.320 poor. And then he moves into worship practices. He talks about their places 160 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.679 and their times. Are Despised. You despise my holy things, you profane 161 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:33.120 my sabbaths. Then there's more murder, idolatry, sexual sin. He talks 162 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:35.320 about. There are those who shed blood at those who eat on the mountains. 163 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:41.679 This is not picnicking, this is worship of false gods. They commit 164 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:43.919 lewdness in your midst. And then he lists all kinds of just horrible, 165 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:50.639 despicable things. And the people are wild and crazy with their lusts and their 166 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:56.480 sexual sin. On top of all of that, you've have financial sins, 167 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.679 predatory lending, more extortion, even hit men verse twelve and you they take 168 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:09.200 bribes to shed blood, hit men or false justice judges who are willing to 169 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.639 look the other way or give give justice. CARE quotes there to the highest 170 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:20.399 bidder. Israel is an awful place to live. This is not the land 171 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.320 flowing with milk and honey and everything's fertile and growing and protected and safe and 172 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.720 full of love. This is the country that you do not want to go 173 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:35.000 to ever if you can avoid it. This is a sodom and de Maura. 174 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:43.120 Israel has become one of these places where you put yourself and your family 175 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:46.919 at great risk, and if you happen to live there, well, it's 176 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.000 just awful. And in all of these things, one of the things that 177 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:58.039 impresses me this huge list. It's like this flurry of activity, this whirlwind 178 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.399 of sin, all these things that they're doing and paying attention to an after 179 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:08.240 and then he ends at Verse Sixteen. And you shall be profaned in Oh, 180 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:15.200 not verse sixteen, Verse Twelve, he says, and make gain of 181 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:19.200 your neighbor's extortion. But me, you have forgotten the one thing that they 182 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:22.799 are supposed to remember, the one thing that is to guide them and all 183 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:30.080 their things, they have forgotten. So these are the charges. They are 184 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:38.080 extreme, they are consistent, they are fair. We don't have to go 185 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:42.960 very far to see the proof of these things. Zekiel, as we have 186 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.840 read in earlier chapters has had visions and which he's been able to look in 187 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:52.440 and see people doing these things. And then we have, of course, 188 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:59.320 the histories that are recorded for us in the Scriptures, where God records the 189 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.079 acts of the Kings. He tells us what they have done, the alliances 190 00:17:03.119 --> 00:17:11.039 they've made, the the the murders they have committed and in lots more. 191 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:15.599 Well, given all of these things, the Lord then moves in verses sixteen, 192 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:21.799 or rather thirteen through twenty two, into his righteous judgment and he he 193 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.880 centers it around two verbs, scattering and gathering. First there is the scattering, 194 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.039 I'm he says he will strike his hand at the dishonest game that they 195 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.039 have made of the blood that is in their midst. He gives them a 196 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:42.319 challenge similar to what we hear and job right. Can your courage endure in 197 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:47.640 all your pride and all your strength, you know your talk is cheap. 198 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:52.440 Is essentially what he's saying. I will disperse you through the countries, I 199 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.400 will scatter you, and he says I will consume your uncleanness, uncleanness out 200 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.440 of you. That that is a very striking image to me, that he 201 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:11.839 will consume, he will consume their uncleanness out of them. Whatever that if 202 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:18.519 refers to exactly. It's not a pleasant image, is it? It's a 203 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:26.079 very raw, even violent image. But it also gives this indication that through 204 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:33.160 this judgment, God is somehow fixing the problem, that he is going in 205 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:38.400 and he's dealing with this. It's almost like the surgeon going in and just 206 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:44.279 taking out all the bad stuff, except it's one step further, because he 207 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:48.440 says he's going to just consume it, whether that's with eating or fire. 208 00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:55.720 Nevertheless, God is, in his great power, in his awesome strength, 209 00:18:55.799 --> 00:19:00.880 is going to deal with this problem and his people. It will not stand 210 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:06.400 and he will do this part by scattering them to the nation's now, many 211 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.079 other parts of the prophets, there's this one to move that happens as God 212 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.599 speaks. The first move is he says he will scatter them and then he 213 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:18.640 says he will gather them, and that note, that gathering, is often 214 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:22.599 a very hopeful note. Piece he is and we've seen this in other places, 215 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.319 where he will gather them out of those lands and bring them back in 216 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:33.519 and establish a city, establish his people as holy. He will bring he 217 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.000 will bring them back here. However, the image is not positive. That's 218 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:42.640 not contrary to other places. He's just using the image of gathering in a 219 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:49.359 different way. That's all that's happening here. And this gathering is again a 220 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:56.640 very, very powerful one, very frightening one. What is it? It 221 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:03.400 is gathering into the furnace. Is the metaphor that he uses. Now again, 222 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.160 thinking about metaphors in scripture, this is a good reminder that God can 223 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:14.759 use the same image in different ways, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. That's 224 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.039 fine. He's allowed to do that. We do that all the time as 225 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.359 well. I only mention that to say that we want to be careful when 226 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.440 we come to these metaphors, that we don't take, you know, sort 227 00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:29.200 of what we've heard elsewhere and imputed into this passage when it doesn't fit. 228 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:33.680 So, as I mentioned with the gathering, same thing with the furnace. 229 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:38.279 There's other passages in scripture that speak of the furnace as a very positive image. 230 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:45.680 Right, the refining fire of God's work. Difficult, hard suffering sometimes, 231 00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:48.680 but nevertheless what's the result? The dross has gone away and you're left 232 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:53.079 with something really precious. That God works through us in a heart hard ways, 233 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:59.920 sometimes to result in something good. That is not the image here. 234 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:06.559 What does he say? He says, this is verse eighteen. The House 235 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:11.759 of Israel has become dross. To me right, they are not something good 236 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.759 that needs to be refined. They are the leftovers, the dross that needs 237 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.839 to be getting gotten rid of. All of them are bronze, tins, 238 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:22.720 iron, lead in the furnace. They are the Dross of silver. Therefore, 239 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.920 because you have become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into 240 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:30.359 the midst of Israel, as one gathers, this is verse twenty, silver 241 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:34.160 and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow the fire 242 00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:37.960 on it in order to melt it. So I will gather you in my 243 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.920 anger and in my wrath and I will put you in and melt you. 244 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:45.920 You will blow on you with the fire of the wrath. This imagery of 245 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:52.359 melting corresponds with the challenge to courage right, to melt away, right sort 246 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.519 of fall apart, to have your spine go limb, to fall on the 247 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:02.759 ground. This kind of melting imagery as the opposite of courage. Right. 248 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:06.400 They have this talk. They say, they, they, they consider themselves 249 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:11.599 proud and powerful, as they take their bribes and shed the blood and worship 250 00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:17.240 whom and how they want. But God says we're done with all of that. 251 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:23.519 It's over. Jerusalem, you will become to me as a furnace and 252 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:30.000 I will gather you in and I will melt you. You will not stand 253 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.279 as verse twenty two as silver is mental melted in a furnace. So you 254 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:37.839 shall be melted in the midst of it and you shall know that I am 255 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:42.240 the Lord. This is a phrase. I just to say it again because 256 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:45.880 I think we, at least I, need to keep remembering this as a 257 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:51.279 phrase that keeps coming up in Ezekiel over and over again these judgments. One 258 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:55.279 of the key things, the most important things, God desires to do. 259 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.519 His objective is to make it known that he is the Lord. It's something 260 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:06.000 that is forgotten and rejected and despised over and over again, and he is 261 00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:11.920 going to act in such a way that it will be undeniable, undeniable, 262 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:25.960 unquestionable. They will know finally that he is the Lord. As we come 263 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:30.559 into verse twenty three, we find that there will be no help during this 264 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:37.240 time. There's no washing or cleansing that comes upon the land and then he 265 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:42.599 gets into the pollution of the land, the ways in which is defiled, 266 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:52.920 and he gives us five peas, particularly focused on the leadership, and then 267 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:56.839 the last one on the people generally, as he comes back again to the 268 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:03.319 problems that are in the land. He first addresses the prophets, although sometimes 269 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:07.640 this is translated princes here, and he says they are like a roaring a 270 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:12.319 lion, a roaring lion. This is verse Twenty Five. The conspiracy of 271 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:17.119 her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They 272 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:22.039 have devoured human lives and they have taken treasure and precious things. They have 273 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:29.720 made many widows in her midst, destroying families, putting people into poverty, 274 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.279 just tearing, destroying. You remember a while back, as ekiel talked about 275 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:41.039 Israel as being a roaring lion that was raised up and just creaking havoc everywhere. 276 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:45.000 And what happened? God sent people to capture the lion and put her 277 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:51.240 down. He brings that imagery back here, particularly applied to the Prophets, 278 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:55.960 those those prophets who are supposed to be speaking the word of God, revealing 279 00:24:55.960 --> 00:25:02.599 things, strengthening instead on they are destroying. Next he indices the priests. 280 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:07.279 The priests have done violence to my law, they have profaned my holy things. 281 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:11.160 Their job is to make a distinction between the holy and the common. 282 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:15.640 Their job is to teach the difference between the clean and unclean. These are 283 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.839 some of the essential jobs of priests. Were they doing their job? No. 284 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:26.599 Why might that be important? Is it just nice to know what's clean 285 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:32.160 and unclean? In Israel, it's essential to know what's clean and unclean, 286 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:37.519 because if you are defiled, you are prohibited from accessing the temple participating in 287 00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:42.440 worship. You it's important that you become clean and become holy. And if 288 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:47.160 the priests aren't teaching those things, if they're not helping the people, if 289 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:55.759 they're not guiding the people, then then God is then God is profaned, 290 00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.720 the people are profaned, and that's what he says here as well. Next 291 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:03.240 he comes to the princes, or perhaps officials, and he can again and 292 00:26:03.319 --> 00:26:11.000 tear characterizes them as a as a beast verse twenty seven. Her Princes in 293 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:15.200 her midst are like wolves, tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives. 294 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:23.039 Why? To get dishonest gain. And then the prophets her prophets have 295 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:29.759 smeared, whitewashed for them. Right. When? When? When the officials 296 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.880 are doing all of these things. Right, if the job of the prophets 297 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:37.319 to say no, that, like Ezekiel thus say, if the Lord, 298 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:41.400 this is true, what you're doing is false and if you continue to doing 299 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:45.240 doing so, there will be judgment. Is that what the prophets did? 300 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:48.079 Know, they smeared, whitewashed for them. They saw false visions, they 301 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:53.400 said lies and said peace, peace, where there is no peace. They 302 00:26:53.440 --> 00:27:03.079 said everything's Fine, God's happy, do what you want. And so at 303 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:11.400 every level across Israel society, throughout every institution in which leadership was found, 304 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:18.160 it was corruption, corruption, corruption, and not little, big. But 305 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:22.920 it's not just the not just the leadership, the people of the land. 306 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:26.960 In Verse Twenty Nine are mentioned. The people of the land have practiced extortion 307 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:30.319 and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and the needy, they have 308 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:38.279 extorted the sojourn or without justice. Then is ekiel speaking on behalf of the 309 00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:41.920 Lord, as the Lord gives him these words and commands him to speak them. 310 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.920 He says, and I saw a man among them who should build up 311 00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:52.200 the wall. What Wall you might ask the Ezekiel answers to stand in the 312 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:56.519 breach before me and the land, that I should not destroy it. Perhaps 313 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:02.880 this calls to mind Moses, right the end the golden calf incident, as 314 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:08.759 we sometimes call it. You fromistically comes down from Mount Sinai the tablets in 315 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:12.039 his hand, the very laws that they are commanded to given. They're in 316 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:15.640 this place where they have been called out to be wholly into worship, and 317 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:22.160 there they are worshiping the Gods of Egypt. God wants to destroy them. 318 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:30.440 Moses stands in the breach as a mediator and God withholds his judgment. Moses 319 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:36.440 as a type of Christ, pointing to the one who would come, Abraham, 320 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:38.160 in a way. I mentioned Sodom and Gomor earlier. Remember. The 321 00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:41.960 Lord was going to destroy the whole city and Abraham pleads with the Lord and 322 00:28:42.039 --> 00:28:45.960 says, if there's just a little bit of righteousness, there's just one or 323 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:51.079 two and the will you, will you not spare them? And ultimately lot 324 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:56.720 and his family we're spared because of Abraham's mediation. In this case. These 325 00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:03.119 things, these people appoint point to the need for someone to stand in the 326 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.119 breach. They point to the need that when the judgment of the Lord comes, 327 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:12.359 we need someone to to to be a mediator between God and man. 328 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:22.400 There's no one. There's no one. God looks. So God's looking for 329 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:27.559 one. He looks for someone to do this work, someone to stand in 330 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:32.680 the breach, to be a wall, to to take the to take the 331 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:37.759 heat, to protect the people from the judgments of the Lord. God is 332 00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:45.920 looking for him, but he finds none. Therefore, judgment I have poured 333 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.480 out, he says in the past tense, a speaking in a sometimes of 334 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:56.440 theologians will talk about this like the historical future or prophetic future, speaking in 335 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:02.200 the past tense of something that is still future as a way to indicate certainty, 336 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:04.880 like this is so certainly going to happen. We'll just talk about it 337 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.880 as if it were in the past. I've poured out my indignation upon them, 338 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:12.240 I've consumed them with my fire and wrath. I have returned their way 339 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:17.319 upon their heads, declares the Lord. And it's with that last line, 340 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:21.079 their way upon their heads, that we see the fairness of all of this, 341 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:25.400 as we see all these horrible, despicable things, things that we would 342 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:26.960 not want to be a part of, we would not want to be the 343 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:36.240 victims of we also see that God is very fair. They want to go 344 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:40.079 after all these things, the with for which the wages of sin is death. 345 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:42.519 They want the idols of the nations and the demons that are attached to 346 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:48.319 them. This is what they will have. The way that they have chosen 347 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:56.000 is the way that will return upon them in judgment. And then we end 348 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.359 this is the word of the Lord. What are we to learn from this? 349 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.359 What does God want us to learn from his why did he record this? 350 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:11.680 Well, perhaps to simply note that we're still here. Here, we 351 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:18.079 are worshippers of Yahway, and if you don't know how that is, you 352 00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:22.799 at least have to ask the question. Right, if God came upon his 353 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:26.839 people in the scattering and in the gathering and is just going to destroy them 354 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:32.480 all, there's some thing that happened there, and that's important to know, 355 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:37.880 and to know very well what happened. What happened if, of course, 356 00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:42.839 is that God provided someone to stand in the breach? God would eventually provide 357 00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:48.440 his own son, the incarnate second person of the Trinity, to stand and 358 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:53.359 to take all of the wrath, all of the judgments of the Lord for 359 00:31:53.440 --> 00:32:00.559 our Sake, for the sake of his people, of Israel, so that 360 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:05.400 we would not have to face the righteous in indignation of God, so that 361 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.960 we would not have to be melted in the fire and thrown away, so 362 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:13.160 that we would not have to become a by word, but instead we'd become 363 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:24.880 children, beloved body of Christ, and so much more. My point is 364 00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:31.960 that simply reading this and a being able to read this points us to the 365 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:38.400 grace of God, an amazing and wonderful thing. I think it's also worth 366 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:45.200 pointing out that in this catalog of sins, we come to learn very clearly 367 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:52.920 what the Lord hates, the things he detests. If you get a new 368 00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:57.599 job right one of the most important things that you do is figure out what 369 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:02.519 your job is, what is your boss wants you to do. If you 370 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:06.640 go to another country, you want to know what are the rules, what 371 00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:12.440 are the laws? The Bible tells us that it calls on us it. 372 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:16.880 It is imperative that we learn to discern the will of the Lord. And 373 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:22.319 so when God comes with his megaphone and says here is the word of the 374 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:28.440 Lord, here is my will, this is what I detest, we should 375 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:31.319 really really listen and not be like, well, I don't know, what 376 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:36.039 does he moar really want? He's telling us what he wants and what he 377 00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:39.559 doesn't want. And here in the catalog of sins, we see four things 378 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:45.680 in particular too are highlighted at the beginning, murder and idolatry, and then 379 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:50.799 two are added in the middle, sexual sin and then oppression of the weak 380 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:59.720 and vulnerable. So the four things, murder, idolatry and bad worship, 381 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:06.519 sexual sin and the oppression of the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. 382 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:10.639 These are the big ones that God mentions here in is Echel twenty two. 383 00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:15.760 These are the big ones that ham he hammers over and over again and all 384 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:22.239 their many expressions of them. We have to ask ourselves how seriously are we 385 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:29.880 taking these, these four things in our culture in general? I would guess 386 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:35.559 that maybe one out of four of these gets sort of red mostly recognized as 387 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:38.559 being a serious sin to be concerned about, and I would put that as 388 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:45.280 murder. Most people, if you ask them murder bad thing, they yeah, 389 00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:50.159 that's bad. We should avoid that. We should not do that. 390 00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:57.159 That being said, what about these others? Sexual sin, idolatry, oppression 391 00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:00.960 of the week and the poor? What about in our churches. Again, 392 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:05.760 this is just these are my hunches. I'm not a social scientist or anything 393 00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:09.639 like that, but I'm guessing in most churches that we'd call good would give 394 00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:17.599 maybe three out of four. Some churches are are maybe stronger on idolatry, 395 00:35:17.719 --> 00:35:22.840 very careful about worship, but don't think very much about the poor. They 396 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:27.000 don't think much about the vulnerable. They're happy to come together and do what 397 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.559 they need to do and pat themselves on the back for their good worship. 398 00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:36.599 Other churches focus a lot on the care of the poor. They focus very 399 00:35:36.679 --> 00:35:42.119 much on their community and taking care of of needs. But worship give or 400 00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:50.480 take, a native American God, Pagans, Gods, as long as we're 401 00:35:50.480 --> 00:36:00.039 helping people, these are big. They're really big. God cares about the 402 00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:04.559 things. Why not? Just because he's mean, because he cares for people, 403 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.400 because, like the king that we are supposed to have or the government 404 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:14.239 that we are supposed to have that human society needs so desperately, and especially 405 00:36:14.280 --> 00:36:22.320 a place like Israel, which is named after God's own name, we need 406 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:27.480 the kings and governments that are good, because, of course, God himself 407 00:36:27.559 --> 00:36:32.840 is good. God does not murder people. God is not like the Gods 408 00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:39.760 of Olympus and other places where sexual sin is rampant. God does not oppress 409 00:36:39.800 --> 00:36:44.719 the weak and the vulnerable. He doesn't laugh at his power and just mess 410 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:51.519 with people. He protects them, he loves them and, of course, 411 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:55.480 being the one true God, all glory goes to him. These are things 412 00:36:55.519 --> 00:37:07.480 that are serious, deadly serious, and we must care about them. Is 413 00:37:07.519 --> 00:37:10.880 Wise to know what the commands of the king are. Though we're not in 414 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:15.400 this particular land or under the Mosaic Law, this does not mean that the 415 00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:21.360 moral law just doesn't continue anymore or that worship doesn't matter anymore. It does, 416 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:25.800 and that's why, just as they needed, we need today, someone 417 00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:30.760 to stand in the breach. We need someone to endure the wrath. When 418 00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:36.400 we think about how callous we are against the sins that go against each other 419 00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:39.760 in the Lord, when we think about how often, how frequently, we're 420 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:46.159 willing to tolerate these things, I hope we come to see in a passage 421 00:37:46.239 --> 00:37:51.840 like this, how much we need the Lord to give us new hearts, 422 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:57.159 not just to protect us from his wrath, but actually changes from the inside 423 00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:01.679 to establish a heavenly holy city in which we can be apart and belong which 424 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:07.639 we can be protected and love being there. When, as we think about 425 00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:12.639 Jesus as our prophet, is our priest, as our prince with our king, 426 00:38:13.400 --> 00:38:15.480 we can look to him and know that he is the answer to these 427 00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:21.000 problems, to our heart problems, to our society problems, to or our 428 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:25.280 church problems, because, was he comes into this world, he uses his 429 00:38:25.320 --> 00:38:32.280 strength to protect us, he uses his words to tell the truth, he 430 00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:38.440 uses his office as a priest to intercede for us, on behalf of us 431 00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:44.320 and before God. He loves us. He doesn't destroy US and devours like 432 00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:49.559 a lion or like a wolf. He doesn't whitewash over things. Know He 433 00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:53.719 loves us and he meets all our needs. So, as we often do 434 00:38:53.800 --> 00:39:00.079 fall into these sins, we need to look to Jesus. We need to 435 00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:04.679 look to him as one who has established a new way and a new hope, 436 00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:07.519 not for anything we have done, but because of what he has done. 437 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:10.840 And that's why, when he comes into the world and he says coming 438 00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:15.760 to me, all who are weak and heavy late and we should run to 439 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:22.159 Jesus, we should call out him and say, Lord, Save Your Son 440 00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:29.199 of David, save me a sinner. Heal me, resurrect me, protect 441 00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:36.119 me, feed me, be my keen, be my prophet, be my 442 00:39:36.199 --> 00:39:43.960 priest. And so this week I want you to start planning now for the 443 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:49.440 Times of temptation that will come. There's this thing or that thing. Make 444 00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:55.440 your plans now to recognize sin for what it is and to recognize your savior 445 00:39:55.440 --> 00:40:00.079 for who he is. And when you feel those temptations, when you have 446 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:06.360 the devil whispering in your ear, when your flesh feels so strong, remember 447 00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:15.000 that he is stronger. Trust him and then give him all your praise. 448 00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:17.840 Let's pray our heavenly father.