Wednesday, May 18 2011
Ezekiel 24
Verse of the Week: V24 “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”
1. The People Disobeyed God
V2 “Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.”
God sent the Babylonians to punish the people of Jerusalem because of their disobedience. In fact, Prophet Ezekiel described the city of Jerusalem as a boiling pot filled with scum or sins and was good for nothing. It was a sad day for the people of Jerusalem because they were God’s chosen people yet they disobeyed their God.
V6 “Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! Bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.”
2. The Prophet Obeyed God
V16 “Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.”
When God told Ezekiel to tell the people of Jerusalem in the morning that He would suddenly take the desire of his eyes and that he should not mourn, little did he realized that the desire of his eyes was his beloved wife. In fact, God took away his wife suddenly in the evening, and Ezekiel obeyed God and did not mourn though it was not easy for him.
V18 “So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.”
3. The Priests Disobeyed God
V21 “Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.”
The people of Jerusalem thought that they could hide their sins in the sanctuary of God or behind the priests, yet God immediately destroyed the sanctuary and the priests as they were unholy before God. Nothing, not even the Church or the Bible, and no one, not even the Pastor, can save you from the judgment of God if you are unholy before the holy God.
V24 “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”
Prayer of the Week
Dearest God, please help me to obey You in everything including crises in my life.
