The Day of Death (Ezekiel 24)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:09.599 Let's pray. Lord, you are good in all of your ways and wise 2 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:16.000 as well, I'm indeed you open to ups the gates of righteousness and allow 3 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.480 us to enter in. You give us the strength to enter in, you 4 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:23.760 give us hearts that desire to enter in in. This, of course, 5 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:29.440 is a marvelous thing, because, apart from you and your light in our 6 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:36.600 lives, we would remain in the cages and slavery of our own sin, 7 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:44.240 we would remain hiding from you in the light, clinging to the death they 8 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:49.240 that we deserved. But you have softened our hearts and have allowed us to 9 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:57.000 see, even sometimes through great trials and difficulties, you have opened our minds 10 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.840 to know the truth of your love, of your strength, that you might 11 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:06.560 become our song and salvation. And so we asked that you would continue to 12 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:11.159 do that work in us this evening, perfecting and strengthening us, until the 13 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:15.959 day of the return of the Lord Jesus. We ask now that you would 14 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.560 help us to give attention to your word, and we pray this in Jesus 15 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:26.319 name. And if you're made able to remain standing, please do. And 16 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:53.200 let's turn to Ezechiel twenty four, in the ninth year, in the Tenth 17 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.359 Month, on the Tenth Day of the month, the word of the Lord 18 00:01:56.439 --> 00:02:00.040 came to me. Son Of man, write down the name of this day, 19 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:06.799 this very day, the King of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem, 20 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:12.479 this very day, and utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say 21 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:16.520 to them, thus says the Lord God, set on the pot, set 22 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:22.039 it on, pour in water. Also, put in it the pieces of 23 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.919 meat, all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it 24 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.039 with choice bones. Take the choicest one of the flock. Pile the logs 25 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:35.159 under it, boil it well, seethe. Also its bones in it. 26 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.879 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, woe to the bloody city, to 27 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.680 the plot whose corrosion is in it and whose corrosion has not gone out of 28 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:50.960 it. Take out of it, peace after peace, without making any choice, 29 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.560 for the blood she has shed in is in her midst. She put 30 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:59.280 it on the bare rock. She did not pour it out on the ground 31 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:02.759 to cover it with dust. To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, 32 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:07.639 I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it 33 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:10.560 may not be covered. Therefore, thus, as the Lord God, woe 34 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:15.960 to the bloody city. I also will make the pile great heap on the 35 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:22.159 logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices 36 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:27.800 and let the bones be burned up. Then set it emptied on upon the 37 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.280 coals that it may become hot and it's copper may burn, that it's unclean 38 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:38.360 uncleanness may be melted in it, it's corosion consumed. She has wearied herself 39 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:44.000 with toil. It's abundant corrosion does not go out of it into the fire 40 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.919 with its corrosion, on account of Your Unclean, lewdness, because I would 41 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:53.439 have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness. You shall not 42 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:59.000 be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the 43 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.840 Lord, I have spoken. It shall come to pass. I will do 44 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:08.120 it. I will not go back, I will not spare, I will 45 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:14.000 not relent. According to your ways and your deeds, you will be judged, 46 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.120 declares the Lord God. The word of the Lord came to me. 47 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:21.759 Son Of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your 48 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:28.439 eyes away from you at a stroke. Yet you shall not mourn or weep, 49 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:33.439 nor shall your tears run down, sigh, but not allowed. Make 50 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:39.879 no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put on your shoes. 51 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.399 Put your shoes on your feet. Do not cover your lips, nor 52 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.480 eat the bread of men. But I so. I spoke to the people 53 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.600 in the morning. Or sorry, so I spoke to the people in the 54 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.639 morning and at evening my wife died, and on the next morning I did 55 00:04:56.680 --> 00:05:00.800 as I was commanded. And the people said to me, will you not 56 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.519 tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus? 57 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:08.120 Then I said to them the word of the Lord came to me. Say 58 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.560 to the House of Israel, thus says the Lord, God behold, I 59 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:15.759 will profane, I will profane my sanctuary. The pride of your power, 60 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:18.519 the delight of your eyes and the yearning of your soul, and your sons 61 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:23.360 and your daughters, whom you left behind, shall fall by the sword, 62 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.480 and you shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your lips 63 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:30.199 nor eat the bread of men. Your Turbans shall be on your heads and 64 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.120 your shoes on your feet. You shall not mourn or weep, but you 65 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:42.040 shall rot away in your iniquities and grown to one another. Thus shall Iseek, 66 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.160 you'll be a sign to you. Be To you a sign according to 67 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:50.399 all that he has done, you shall do when this comes, then you 68 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:55.839 will know that I am the Lord God. As for you, son of 69 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:00.240 Man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their 70 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.040 joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul's desire, and 71 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.720 also their sons and daughters, on that day, a fugitive will come to 72 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:11.920 you to report to you the news. On that day, your mouth will 73 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:15.439 be open to the fugitive and you shall speak and be no longer mute. 74 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:20.879 So you will be assigned to them and they will know that I am the 75 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:39.279 Lord. May God bless his word to us. He may be seated. 76 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.879 So as we come to is echial twenty four, we come to that moment, 77 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.839 that event in history, that is equel has been talking about for some 78 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:54.279 time. Indeed, the Lord has been talking about through other prophets for quite 79 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:00.240 a long time, even as far back as the golden calves being made at 80 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.439 the foot of Mount Sinai, or the people coming into the land, and 81 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.920 during Joshua and in the time of the judges, there has been a constant 82 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:16.360 competition between their in in their hearts for God and the Gods of this world. 83 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:23.279 And God has proven over and over and over again that he alone is 84 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:26.959 the one true God, be he alone is the living God, that he 85 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.920 alone is the one who must be obeyed, must be worshiped and served above 86 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:38.199 all others. And yet, despite his constant patience, despite his many reminders, 87 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.519 despite the prophets and the examples and the heroes and the victories, the 88 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:47.519 amazing provisions and the miraculous events, despite the warnings and the discipline, all 89 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:53.360 again, over again and again and again, the people have not listened, 90 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:59.560 they have not softened their hearts, they have not turned to the Lord. 91 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:05.800 And so, as he has promised on, their iniquity has stacked up and 92 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:13.759 now he will judge, as he has promised he will do. This judgment 93 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:20.279 upon Jerusalem is described in a parable and the first part of the chapter, 94 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:26.560 and I'd like to just explain it to you in case you miss some of 95 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:33.399 the that the specifics here. The Lord says to Ezekiel that Jerusalem is like 96 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:39.879 a pot, a pot with corrosion in it. I'm Jerusalem is the city 97 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:46.039 that is not pure. It has a problem, and what God is going 98 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:50.279 to do to fix the pot and and to judge those in the city. 99 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.679 Is he he calls the pot to be set and the people to be put 100 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:03.200 in the pot. God is pure rifying them in his judgment. The waters 101 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:09.120 in the pot signify these waters of judgment, and this is what he says 102 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.559 in it. In like for is in verse six. Woe to the bloody 103 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:16.000 city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it and whose corrosion has not 104 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:20.919 gone out of it. Take out of it peace after peace, without make 105 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:26.759 any any choice. This likely refers to the fact that Jerusalem, the people 106 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.720 of Jerusalem, were taken out of the city bit by bit. Remember that 107 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:37.879 Ezekiel is at this moment in Babylon. He's not in Jerusalem. He's seeing 108 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:43.120 these things, he's hearing these things about what's happening in this far away place, 109 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.840 because of course the Lord sees all and the Lord knows all. He 110 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.720 tells this to Ezekiel among the exiles. There they are, some of those 111 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:56.480 who have already been removed. But God is going to continue to boil, 112 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:01.600 boil the bones and the meat of the stew. He's going to judge his 113 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:09.360 people until the problem is gone, even so far as the burn bones may 114 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:18.639 be burned up. This likely speaks to a long and difficult trial. I 115 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:24.759 don't think I've ever boiled anything long enough for the bones to be boiled up. 116 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.360 Usually right if you have a you know, leftover Turkey carcass or something 117 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:31.840 like that, you know you put it and you boil things away. But 118 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:39.519 the image here is that God will keep going and going and going until even 119 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:41.399 of the bones undergone, and then even when the bones are gone, he 120 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:46.919 will take the empty pot and put it on the fire until the the corrosion 121 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:56.639 in the uncleanness is melted away, the corrosion is consumed, as we have 122 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:01.000 seen in this book. And we must always remember the Lord is right in 123 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:07.679 all of this. We've sung many songs and seeing passages of scripture, just 124 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:13.840 this evening, about the goodness of the Lord, the the everlasting and steadfast 125 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:20.279 love of the Lord, his his strength and perfecting on power and people's lives, 126 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.559 on the ways that he continues to save us over and over and over 127 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:33.519 again. Israel, though, has not listened, refused to listen. It's 128 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.679 described in many places here. It's described in verse twelve. As she is 129 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:48.240 wearied herself with Toil, the toil of sin. She's so she's sinned so 130 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:52.000 much, so hard, so long, that she's even tired from it. 131 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:58.519 It's so sticky to the city, so sticky to this pot, that it 132 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:05.159 requires this ex this exceeding amount of judgment to fix this problem. Sin Has 133 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:09.759 gone so deep into the city, so deep into the people, into this 134 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:16.919 pot itself, that it it takes a lot of work to fix the problem. 135 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.279 God has offered chances for forgiveness, he's offered opportunities to be cleansed. 136 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:30.080 He says in verse thirteen, I would have cleansed you, and you were 137 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:37.559 not cleansed from your uncleanness, uncleanness. Why were they not cleans because they 138 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.440 did not repent, they did not turn, they did not listen. Despite 139 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:48.559 his warnings, despite his pleadings, despite the examples and the prophets and encouragements 140 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:56.639 of all kinds. You will know, he says that I am the Lord, 141 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:03.120 God will not be mocked, and we must meditate on this. We 142 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:11.320 must our world and our hearts. The Devil himself would have us to be 143 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:16.720 constantly distracted from this fact, constantly busy about other things, thinking that other 144 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:24.960 things are more important, that God is someone who can be ignored or not 145 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.480 not paid attention to. That we can pretty much do what I want, 146 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.919 what he what we want, that he won't mind. He does mind, 147 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:41.000 he does care. He is good, after all, and a good God 148 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:46.679 cares about good things. He wants us to know this, he wants us 149 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.440 to remember it, and he promises, and Jesus promises and speaks to this 150 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.039 off and that there will come a day, at the day of his return, 151 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:00.840 when all the world will be judged like this and, worse all the 152 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:07.759 world, every single human heart that has ever lived will be judged, and 153 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:13.759 that should be a fearful thing. If it's not, you're not hearing the 154 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.799 word of the Lord and you are being exactly like this rebellious house that says 155 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:26.080 another day, another time, not a big deal. But God is serious. 156 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.360 Verse Fourteen, he says I am the Lord, he is the great 157 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:35.480 king, he will not relent. He has spoken. It shall come to 158 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:43.159 pass. And we all know authorities in our lives, bosses, parents, 159 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:48.320 governors, rulers of various kinds, who promise that they will do something and 160 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:52.320 then not really be able to do it, not really have the power to 161 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.320 do it, not have the will to do it, and not have the 162 00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:00.399 resources to do it. You know, talk is cheap, talk is never 163 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:05.120 cheat with God. He's the one, after all, who speaks things into 164 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:11.159 existence. He is the one who speaks this word to Israel and through through 165 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.559 Ezekiel, he's the one who is creating these signs, he's the one who's 166 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:24.679 doing all of these things, and this is the word of judgment that comes 167 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:31.679 to them in the second part of Ezekiel Twenty Four. Another sign happens, 168 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:39.399 and you remember that Ezekiel has been to them a sign. This is expressed 169 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:45.120 in Verse Twenty Four. Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign. God 170 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:50.440 has used the prophet and his own life to show to them certain things, 171 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:56.000 to be a picture of certain things, and it's not just a picture that 172 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:00.000 you draw our talk about, but these are actual things that happen in his 173 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:06.159 luck, excuse me, in his life, that the Lord then uses. 174 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:15.159 And here the Lord uses this tragic thing, the death of his own wife 175 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:22.960 that he delights in, that he loves. He says, son of Man. 176 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.240 This is verse sixteen. I am about to take the delight of your 177 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:37.240 eyes away from you at a stroke, in a moment. And then he 178 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:42.960 tells him that his reaction is to not mourn. This is what he's going 179 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:51.159 to require of you. Can you even imagine receiving this command, not only 180 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:56.240 to have the your wife, taken away from you, like like job's children 181 00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.919 and other things were taken away from him, but then to say to job 182 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:06.599 or something like that, and I don't want you to mourn, do not 183 00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:10.759 mourn, and he gives a very, very specific things about that. Don't 184 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:18.039 cover your mouth, don't take your hat off, your turban, don't even 185 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:22.519 don't take the shoes off your feet. These are other signs of mourning. 186 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:26.359 Right to bear one's head, to take off the shoes, to put on 187 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:30.599 sackcloth and ashes these. Keep your clothes on, keep everything as they are, 188 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:36.400 go about your business. Sigh, he says in verse Seventeen. But 189 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:45.440 not allowed. Make no mourning for the dead. Our emotions are difficult to 190 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:52.079 control, but this is one of those really hard places that remind us that 191 00:17:52.400 --> 00:18:00.319 sometimes God tells us to control them, even when it's really, really hard 192 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:06.559 and will be. And Ezekiel, in his obedience, did exist exactly this, 193 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:15.359 so that at the death of his wife, no reaction on the part 194 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.799 of Isekiel. Or sorry, he says in verse eighteen. He tells this 195 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:23.640 to the people. In the morning, his wife dies in the evening, 196 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.759 just as the Lord has said. Remember, the Lord is powerful, he 197 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:32.720 speaks and he does as he wills. He does not react. And then 198 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:37.160 on the next morning the people verse Nineteen Come to me, came to him 199 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:41.519 and said, what's going on? You're not mourning, you're not sad that 200 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:47.880 your wife has just died and you're not reacting. Why is this? And 201 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:53.079 then he tells them it's not out of hardness in his heart, but it 202 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:59.759 is the word of the Lord that says that when he takes the delight of 203 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.839 their eyes, namely the temple in particular, in the city in general, 204 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:08.960 when he lays siege on the city and brings it all to an end like 205 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:18.160 thorns in the fire, when he does this, that they also will not 206 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:23.160 mourn, that they will not mourn, and they will not mourn because they 207 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:32.319 don't care, but because something inwardly is really wrong. And I'm not exactly 208 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:36.839 sure how to describe it, but in verse twenty three is described this way. 209 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.960 You shall rod away in your iniquities and grown to one another. Now 210 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.960 we do know that there was groaning. That happen we have a whole book 211 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.039 called lamentations about this event and the morning and the the the crying out that 212 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:56.039 happened at that time. But these people in Babylon, something about this event 213 00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:03.079 and part of God's judgment on the city that's farther away and also on the 214 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.400 people that have already been taken out of the pot and are now in Babylon. 215 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.279 Something about his judgment is going to Pon that, come upon them in 216 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:15.640 such a way that when they hear this news, it's going to just rock 217 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:22.960 them away from the inside that they just sort of go about their own business 218 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:29.480 and they're just hurting. And thus, Ezekiel shall be assigned to you. 219 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.079 As for you, this is verse Twenty Five, son of man, surely 220 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:37.119 on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, 221 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.319 the delight of their eyes and their souls desire and their sons and their 222 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:47.799 daughters, on that day a fugitive will come and report to you the news. 223 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:52.400 So this day, right when when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, comes 224 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.039 into Jerusalem lay sees on the city, someone's going to get out and run 225 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.519 and on that day they are going to receive the news that what Ezekiel has 226 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:07.160 said, they will have testimony from another person that it's happened right. So 227 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.480 God is going to confirm the word of his prophet with yet another sign of 228 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:15.880 his providence and his work. On that day, then your mouth will be 229 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:21.880 opened to the fugitive and you shall speak in no longer be mute. You 230 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.720 will be assigned to them and they will know that I am the Lord. 231 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:30.160 So in these signs and his ekiels actions, in the work of the the 232 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:33.960 destruction of the city, God is showing over and over to the people that 233 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:48.880 remain in Babylon that he is the Lord. So what lessons do we take 234 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:56.240 from this, beyond the things we've already considered? One of them is this 235 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:06.440 just because God is not judging you in the fullness of his wrath, it 236 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:14.519 doesn't mean he's not dealing with you. Sometimes we think that we're getting away 237 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:19.680 with X, or Y or Z because God's not striking us with lightning or 238 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:26.400 destroying our house or whatever it is that he might do, and we think, 239 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.960 well, God must not see or God must not care, but that's 240 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:36.519 not true. Yes, there was a judgment that was coming for the city 241 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:40.480 and yes, there's a judgment that is going to come for all the world 242 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:45.599 at the end of time, but that doesn't mean God is absent until then. 243 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.519 And how do we see that in this passage? We hear it in 244 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.079 his pleadings. We hear it in the past accounts of opportunities for forgiveness. 245 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.759 We hear it in the rebellion of the people. We also hear it and 246 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:03.000 see it in the way that he's working with them right now. Right now 247 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.119 they're in Bab one, their city is being destroyed, their sons and their 248 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:12.000 daughters are being destroyed. All of these terrible things are happening and God is 249 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:18.000 still speaking to them. He's still talking to them, he's still calling them 250 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:26.039 in many ways to repentance. I you will know that I am the Lord. 251 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.519 And in the way that all of this happens, from the prophecies to 252 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:33.119 the work of Ezekiel, to the death of his wife, to the fugitive 253 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:40.079 coming, all of these things, they are reminding us that God sees everything, 254 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:45.880 God knows everything and he is powerful over everything. You're right. Remember 255 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:51.880 a chapter or so back there was this prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar was going to come 256 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.440 to Jerusalem and face this choice. Would you go to one place or would 257 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.519 he go to another, the other being Jerusalem? These things, they seem 258 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:07.400 random, they seem by chance, but they're not. Nebuchadnezzar's power, Nebuchadnezzar's 259 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:12.799 strength. All of this is happening because of what God is doing. This 260 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:18.359 tragedy in is eekiel's life, the the the death of of this woman. 261 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:25.599 All of this is in the Lord's hands and being used for the Lord's purposes. 262 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:33.759 This puts some poignancy on hymns like we sang earlier. This is for 263 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:41.480 seventy six yeah, when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows 264 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.680 like sea billows roll whatever my lot. Thou hast taught me to say it 265 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:52.160 is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, 266 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.400 though trial should come, let this blessed Assurance Control that Christ has regarded my 267 00:24:56.519 --> 00:25:04.519 helpless estate and has shed his own blood for my soul. One of the 268 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:12.119 amazing things we see here is the obedience of Ze Ezekiel. I can hardly 269 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:22.799 imagine how difficult that would be to have the Lord take your wife and tell 270 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:27.160 you not to mourn as a sign for a people you might be despising, 271 00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:33.720 people who are rebellious, people who are not listening, people who were recently 272 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:41.039 removed from Jerusalem itself for all their idolatry and all of these things. That's 273 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:48.559 a trial. How does Ezekiel remain steadfast? How does he not say, 274 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:55.759 Lord, I'm done being a prophet and pull a Jonah, say I'm I'm 275 00:25:55.799 --> 00:26:04.119 out. It doesn't say it's not the focus of the chapter, but I 276 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:08.400 think Ezekiel knows what all the Lord's people know, what we sang in that 277 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:14.400 song and what we heard in psalm eighteen. Let me turn back to there 278 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:18.000 and read that to you, verse eighteen, and Psalm One. Eighteen says 279 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.440 the Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to 280 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:30.839 death. There are hard things we face in this life, but we hold 281 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:37.799 fast to the goodness of the Lord in Remember, in this whole situation, 282 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.440 it is not the Lord who is acting unjustly, it is the people. 283 00:26:44.359 --> 00:26:48.160 They are the ones who have the obligation to obey and refuse to obey. 284 00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:52.240 They are the ones who have the chance to repent and refuse to repent. 285 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:00.079 And yet Ezekiel seems to be doing all the right things. Is Echuel is 286 00:27:00.119 --> 00:27:04.599 being obedient. We don't have any sense that his wife was doing anything wrong 287 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:10.759 either, and this reminds us of a second thing I was very important to 288 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:22.400 understand. Sometimes in life, those who trust in the Lord and believe in 289 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:29.559 the Lord, are calling upon the Lord and live for him, will experience, 290 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:33.799 outwardly, what seemed like the very same things that those who do not 291 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:41.960 trust him or follow him experience. Great heartaches, death, loss, shame, 292 00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:51.960 dishonor and all kinds of other things. But what's the difference? What's 293 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:56.039 the difference? Even though these experiences, take death, for example, the 294 00:27:56.119 --> 00:28:00.160 death of a loved one, what's the difference? Well, in the heart 295 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:04.400 of the rebellious one, the heart of the one who refuses to turn, 296 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:11.839 the refuses to repent, those tragedies are just foretastes of greater and eternal punishment, 297 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:21.119 the boiling that will go and go and go until all is consumed or 298 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:26.960 eternally. But for the one who loves the Lord, what is the Lord 299 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:33.000 Promise? He promises that the those trials and those temptation, not temptations, 300 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:37.519 those trials and those difficulties, those things that we face, are being used 301 00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:45.799 to purify us, not to consume US completely, but to take away the 302 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:52.359 draws, to remove the sins that are deep, deep, deep down. 303 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.880 And I think Ezekiel understands that, as all the saints of the Lord Do, 304 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:03.720 that we depend on him and we trust him for his goodness and for 305 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:08.240 His grace, that even when we are called to great acts of obedience, 306 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:15.200 things that are seem impossibly difficult, we obey, not because we think that 307 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:21.000 we will somehow be able to earn God's favor through our obedience, but we 308 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:26.519 know that he's strengthening us, he's working in US and he will keep us 309 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.400 again. Psalm one hundred and eighteen. The Lord has disciplined severely, but 310 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:37.440 he has not given me over to death, and, of course, eternal 311 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:41.440 death is ultimately what's at play here. When the Lord is working in our 312 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:47.480 lives, when we feel hardship, when we feel discipline, we must look 313 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:52.039 to him and to him alone, and lean on him and trust him. 314 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:56.640 When the Lord is rooting out these things in our lives, let's pay attention 315 00:29:56.759 --> 00:30:00.519 to them and look to them and trust him that they are not plunging us 316 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:07.160 into death, but delivering us from them. That is the Lord disciplines us. 317 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:11.599 He disciplines us because he loves US and he will, as the PSALMA 318 00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:15.279 says in Verse Nineteen of Psalm One hundred and eighteen, open to me the 319 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:21.319 gates of righteousness that I may enter them and give thanks to the Lord. 320 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:23.759 That's what's going to happen to is Ekiel. That's what's going to happen to 321 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:30.640 all who trust and follow him. The Lord is doing his work in US 322 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.400 through trial, through difficulties, but he will bring us through to the other 323 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:41.920 side where the past will seem like nothing, the hardships will seem like nothing 324 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:49.240 compared to the weight of glory that we receive from God. And that happens 325 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:55.640 because of God's grace, this work that he does in our lives, where 326 00:30:55.680 --> 00:31:00.960 he helps us to know that he is the Lord and he teaches us. 327 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:06.680 He teaches us that even through the cross, and I'll finish with this, 328 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:17.319 Zekiel bore the signs of God's own work in his body. Yes, in 329 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:23.720 his life. Yes, you know who else did that? Our Savior, 330 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:29.599 our savior in his own life, in his own body, the son of 331 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:36.759 God that came in this world and died for sins. According to the scriptures. 332 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:45.920 If you think of Ezekiel's obedience was hard. Can you imagine Christ, 333 00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:52.519 not at one moment but at every moment and his life, being tempted and 334 00:31:52.640 --> 00:32:00.279 tried by Satan, the rebelliousness of Israel and all the world, even of 335 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:06.920 me, of you, coming at him full force, and then, ultimately 336 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:12.240 and finally, the wrath of God, in a way that is infinitely more 337 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:16.160 what is than what is described here in his Ekiel twenty four, coming upon 338 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:25.359 him on the cross? Why? One to be assigned to us that God 339 00:32:25.640 --> 00:32:31.359 deals with Sins and God forgives sins, as his cousin John said. Here 340 00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:37.440 is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, but 341 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:44.039 he's not only a sign, he is also the effective and the powerful word 342 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:52.160 of God who actually brings these things to pass. He is God, this 343 00:32:52.279 --> 00:33:00.000 one who judged Jerusalem here judged his own son, not for his own sins, 344 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:04.960 of which he had none, but for our sins and the sins of 345 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:12.640 everyone who would put their faith in him. The Justice of God that is 346 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:22.400 pictured here in his Ecyel twenty four is pictured and poured out to an even 347 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:31.839 greater degree in the Cross of Christ and that's why, when we consider God's 348 00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:37.799 all seeing power, when we consider his perfect righteousness, we can consider the 349 00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:39.920 things that he's doing in our lives and the way he knows us and how 350 00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:45.519 far he knows our sins go down, our lusts, our pride, are 351 00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:51.359 impatience, all the hidden things, the doubts, the creeping addictions, all 352 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:58.400 of that. He knows all of that and then, instead of destroying us 353 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:04.240 for all of that, he gives us his son and says, believe on 354 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:09.559 him and you will be saved. That's why the PSALMIST and Psalm one eighteen 355 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:16.599 is running into the sanctu where of God, singing and shouting and praising God's 356 00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:23.920 name. That's why we come and we worship and we center our lives around 357 00:34:23.960 --> 00:34:29.400 the worship of God. To say, not what my hands have done, 358 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:34.360 but what you have done. You've saved me, you've loved me, you've 359 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:38.440 given me peace, and now I know that whatever trial happens in my life, 360 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:43.440 no matter how hard it is, no matter what obedience you call me 361 00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:49.800 to, I can follow you because you will not lead me to death, 362 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.960 because you've already endured death for me, that I might not die but might 363 00:34:55.079 --> 00:35:01.519 live and praise you forever. The Cross of Christ reveals to us the Justice 364 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:06.800 of God, as is Ekil twenty four does, but it also displays for 365 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:10.880 us the grace of God and gives us a hope of salvation. So my 366 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:15.559 encouragement and exhortation to you, straight from the word of God and the lips 367 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:22.320 of the Lord, is to trust him, believe him, cling to him, 368 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:25.960 so that you might not have to be judged for your sins, but 369 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:34.719 might have them forgiven and washed and cleansed for the glory of his name and 370 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:43.039 the good of your soul forever. Let's pray, Lord. We thank you 371 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:49.519 that before the Great Day of Judgment, this final day, the return of 372 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:55.400 Christ, before before that comes, you have you have disput your judgment on 373 00:35:55.559 --> 00:36:02.000 displet display in the world, in our own lives and in the past as 374 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:09.039 an easy Gal twenty four, you have opened us and showed to us the 375 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:20.719 rebellious nature of our hearts, the deceitfulness of sin and how clinging to the 376 00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:30.480 externals of religion or the hopes of idols, how these are nothing, no 377 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:37.199 protection, no salvation for us, and that only the forgiveness of our sins 378 00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:45.360 can bring us into a place safe enough to no longer be terrified by you, 379 00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:51.960 but to be embraced by you and held by you and loved by you, 380 00:36:52.119 --> 00:37:00.840 so that we might not shake in terror or mourn or rot away inside, 381 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:05.840 but through the confession of our mouths at through the confession of our sin, 382 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:10.440 by turning and repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus, instead of wasting 383 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:22.000 away in our mourning, we would instead feel the strength of your will and 384 00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:25.400 express it in our singing, that we would say, with the Psalmist, 385 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:34.480 that you have become our salvation and that we would hear ourselves and brothers and 386 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:39.639 sisters like us singing those glad songs of salvation, looking to the Cross of 387 00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:45.119 Christ and saying, the right hand of the Lord has done valiantly, the 388 00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:52.159 right hand of the Lord Exalts. Indeed, we shall not die and we 389 00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:59.039 shall live and we shall recount your mighty deeds and know that you are the 390 00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:07.000 Lord, because you have known us and loved us even before the foundation of 391 00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:13.800 the world and saved us through the great struggle and trial of the Cross of 392 00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:21.199 Christ, that we might live in him forever, having our sins forgiven a 393 00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:24.800 perfectly in his name. Lord, we thank you for his blood and we 394 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:29.599 thank you for his sacrifice, and we ask that you would help us to 395 00:38:29.639 --> 00:38:34.639 cling to him always and always live a life of repentance, trusting in your 396 00:38:34.679 --> 00:38:39.800 strength and in your grace. Your scriptures say that you are the author and 397 00:38:39.960 --> 00:38:45.159 the perfector of our salvation, and so, Lord, we ask that you 398 00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:50.440 would help us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and throw aside every weight 399 00:38:50.519 --> 00:38:55.760 of sin that clings so closely. We pray this in Jesus thing. Amen. 400 -->