Ezekiel 6-7

Introduction

Pretty much we’re all here. Good to see each of you this morning. For some reason, this Sunday we got a few extra chairs. Last Sunday got kind of concerned. We were so full that everybody came in. It was kind of a struggle. If you’re using your workbook, our lesson today is really lesson number five, chapters six and seven in the uh prophecy of Ezekiel. I’m kind of curious though, as a class, if someone were to ask you, what do you know about Ezekiel? Either the man or the uh are the uh Bible book called Ezekiel? How would you answer that? I’d just say it’s a prophet. What would you say about Ezekiel? Okay. Uh I’d just say it was a prophet. Um that’s all? I think we all all know that.

What’s special about Ezekiel that you would recall? You guys at the back, why don’t uh give her a chance with a baby and place to see? Okay. Uh what would you say about Ezekiel more than he’s just a prophet? Is that all? I think it’s kind of distinct about him is God tells him to act out a lot of uh the prophecies, like you know, his cutting of his hair and cutting that up and then laying on the side. He was a prophet. Uh sometimes the the statement said he’s God’s visual aid because he did act out some of the prophecies that God had in store. What else would you know about Ezekiel as a man? He was a priest. He was a priest, that’s a good one.

What else about Ezekiel? He’s been taken captive during the second. Good. At the time, he would be uh his time of work and life would be uh around taken captive. Uh what date? 592. 597. 597. He didn’t start prophesying to 592. He was 25 when he’s taken captive, and at age 30, the very first verse would be the time where he began his prophecy that is recorded. What else do you recall about him as as a man? Anything? Was he married? And that’s about all we know, because later on we’ll get that where he tells he’s told not to grieve their dead. I don’t know if you paid any attention to this, but uh he lost his wife at a very young age in reading through the scripture.

He would have only been 34 at the time he lost his wife. That’s a good point. So and and that’s about all we know though. But he was not the publicly mourn about it. But I characterized him as God’s faithful messenger in times of trial, personal trial and tribulation, personal trials, dispersonal trials. There were also there were also trials with Judah with Israel that were brought on by themselves. And God was used just using him to uh carry the message forth and what were some of his personal trials? What right off chapters two and three we had a week ago was it a week ago?

Yeah, all right. All right. First of all, his place is he’s taken to Babylon by the river Kivar. He’s not the first remnant taken, the first remnant was taken at what point in time?

What date? Uh 606, 605 in that area. And then 597 the second, and at that time, we know a number were taken, about 10,000 of the best. We don’t know how many were taken with Daniel. But uh, so he was taken captive, and in that sense, a trial as a captive away from homeland. But more than that, as a prophet, what was a trial to him? What kind of people he’s gonna face? What did God say about it? They are a rebellious rebellious people. And uh of their attitude, they are any of the words you remember?

Impudent. And Ezekiel, they’re gonna listen to every word you say. No, they will not listen to you. Well, then why would God send him anyway?

They would have no excuse that they may know that a prophet has been among them, or that they may know that God has warned, God has spoken. How many times that they may know that I am the Lord? Some sixty-three times we’re gonna find it in the book, and especially in our lesson today. So I hope you think about okay. They were unclean, they were embarrassed about being unclean too. All right. When you say they were embarrassed, well, they’re embarrassed about their uncleanness because they were in uh they were in a land of you know not Judah. They were not clean. Well, they were taken away from their homeland. And uh when you think of Ezekiel uh prophesying, uh therefore uh you would think of him uh well, I guess what I’m trying to get is we’ve got the date, but who is he contemporary with that we may know from the Bible?

Name Jeremiah Jeremiah and Daniel. I want you to recall those. A lot of people, you know, sometimes we just we know about there’s a book called Jeremiah, we know there’s a book called Daniel, but how many times do we place them in the same period of time? And it was a period of time that was really distressful for God’s people. I just use the word midnight hour for God’s people, because Jeremiah and Ezekiel particularly forecast and foretold what’s gonna happen to Judah. God’s going to bring down who? He even named in Jeremiah. Who? Babylon. There’s your enemy, and he’s going to come from the north, and you will be taken captive. And so they had an opportunity and time to repent, but they did not. They did not repent.

Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem. Daniel was taken in the first remnant, taken captive, Ezekiel taken in the second. And although they were contemporary in time, Jeremiah probably 20 years, 25 years older, probably Daniel and Ezekiel about the same. But if they conferred with one another, we have no record of it. I’ll just put it that way. They were in the same time period, you might say, and with much the same prophecies, at least Ezekiel and Jeremiah, warning God’s people or else. So I hope all of those things were keep in your mind that you, you know, at least in your mind, you’ve got some idea about who Ezekiel is and about the major thrust of his work. And in fact, our lesson today is, as I said, chapters six and seven, and they they really somewhat, but not somewhat, they do go with that you had Wednesday night.

I know some of you were not able to be here Wednesday night. But after opening up with chapters 2 and 3, that you’re going to find these are rebellious people, hard hearted, impotent, they probably won’t listen to you. If you went there, if you went to a people of a strange speech, that is Gentiles, so to speak, they’d come nearer listening to you. Then my people will listen to you. But I still want you to go. I want you to prophesy. I want you to tell them, at least it’s the Lord’s word. And in some ways, is there a lesson for us today? Do you find our our society today really wanting to hear more about the word of God? How many people really say, come on, let’s have a Bible study.

It’s going to happen, doesn’t it? And so, whether you’re good people, maybe morally good people, but it’s just an attitude that says, Well, I’m just not that interested. I’m satisfied. And and so much, I think Josh had a great lesson this morning from the Psalm, how there are some who who just uh they may say, I believe in God, but but they don’t really uh know where God is. They don’t want to really do his will and do his way. They kind of feel like it’ll be all right regardless of what we do. But anyway, Ezekiel had a uh uh a very important work to be done. In fact, uh after opening up those first uh chapters two and three, particularly, chapter one, he saw the throne scene in the vision.

Then chapters two and three, son of man, Ezekiel, I want you to go to this people. Then chapters uh four and five, he does some illustration. Alex, do you remember the first one that he did? Um was that the hare or the? No, that was way on. That was about the fifth one. All right, Jenny? Was it the siege of uh take a clay tablet? Oh, yeah, draw a scene of Jerusalem, build sieges against it. In other words, what’s gonna happen to Jerusalem? What did happen to Jerusalem? Did Babylon come against them? Did Nebuchadnezzar came against them? Yeah. And so they besieged the city. You remember how many how long? 18 months. You’re both on the way, but you’re not quite all the way. Two and a half years.

Two and a half years. And second Kings chapter 25, we’ll we’re gonna turn and read later on there. But so during that siege, people are going to escape. So, what’s the next visual aid that Ezekiel did to say you’re not gonna be able to get out? Iron blade iron blade. Set it between you and the city. In other words, uh, first of all, they’re going to be attacking the city, and you want to get it out. Well, you won’t be able to go through that iron wall. So then during that time of the siege, what’s going to happen to the people left inside? What other thing did he do? Laid down on his left side. Pardon? All right, laid down on his left side. How many days?

390 for the sin of Israel. And then for the sin of Judah, how many days? 40 days on the other side. Well, that’s got to be old and get good old and hurry, doesn’t it? I hate that for a week. 390 days or 40 days. And it doesn’t mean that he didn’t ever get up. Obviously, there would be times he would have to get up. In fact, one of the reasons he would have to get up is because he was to make what to eat. Right. And some bread to eat. Was it a whole lot? Filled yourself all you want? No. In fact, it was a very limited diet, wasn’t it? I brought a piece of bread because you were not here with tonight, just a little piece of bread, but about eight ounces of bread.

Told him the thing to put in it and how to cook it, in fact. It was uh at first, you know, cook it over a human dung, and then he even uh rejected that. I’ve never eaten that kind of polluted bread, so he said, okay, well, over cow’s dung, which would be more familiar to them in that time. But not only the limited amount of bread, how much water?

A little less than a quart, actually. Less than a quart. I got a question. What is human dome? What is waste? What is that? Waste, human waste.

I thought it was pretty bad, but it was. It was. Dried. They can be caught fire, and it’s sometimes uh I learned that from the Western world, the cowboys out in the West will that’s what they build their fire on the cowbill. So you just answered. I wanted to know if they were using it like to fuel the fire. Is there anything else? Yeah, for fuel. Okay. Works good, doesn’t it? Somebody knows. All right. Uh then after saying, here’s those who are within the city, and you’re going to be afflicted. This is the polluted bread you’re going to eat and the scarcity of it. But then what else does he do as a visual aid? Uh about the pestilence that’s going to come against them, or the or the sword that’s going to come against them.

All right, haircut and a shape. And for a priest, is that something he would normally do? No. No. In fact, the law of Moses would not do that. So again he illustrated. Here is uh the because when he took the hair, he divided into what? Three parts. First part. What did he do?

Chopped it up. Swords. Some gonna die by the sword, aren’t they? Another part. Burn fire. Do it in the fire. And a third part? Scattered. Scattered to the wind. But he took a part of it and sowed it into his garment, didn’t he? But anyway, it was as though to say here, everybody’s not gonna die the same way. But there are going to be death and destruction. Why? Because why would God let this happen to his people? Aren’t they his people? Does God love them? Because they’re abomination. You know, sometimes we just we take uh uh we just think that God is love, and no matter what we do, you know, he’d never be mistreat us. But I think it’s pretty powerful. And you look at chapter five and verse five.

What does he say here? This is Jerusalem. And what’s so significant about Jerusalem? What does he say?

And what did Jerusalem do? Rebelled. Rebelled. How bad? And the other nations. Worse than all the others. Even so around. And therefore in verse 8, I am against you, will they execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations? Stu. Who saw him doing the hair burning? Well, I believe that must have been those Jews that were with him and saw him. I don’t know exactly how the setup, we’re not told, but it was so that he was demonstrating to those with whom he is captive also. But it was in some kind of town meeting forum, some kind of or like in the palace, he would do it like that. Well, they didn’t have a palace there, I’m pretty sure as captive. Pardon? Not their own, but uh wherever he was.

Well, by the river Kibar, he was about a hundred so miles or so away from Babylon itself, the capital city. So I think of it more probably uh temporary uh huts or whatever uh built for them. Uh people in captivity like that. But no doubt. Who respected him as a prophet? Okay, quite question class. Y’all got an answer for that? Nobody. Nobody respected him. Well the Lord did. But I think the people knew that he was supposed to be a prophet, like those who know Jeremiah was supposed to be prophet. He he kept saying, How many times does this book say, now the word of the Lord came to me, say is that not an appeal? I’m telling you, I’m God’s messenger. That’s what a prophet is.

So what’s what’s going on with the people when he’s scattering the hair and setting it on fire? What do you think? They’re just laughing at him? What do you think? We’re not really told their reaction except what God said to start with, they’re gonna listen to you? No, no. No. So they’re not, you know, they may be mocking him. I don’t know. We’re not given a definite reaction, but Elijah, I mean, uh Ezekiel, you do it because I want him to know. I’m just wondering why. That a prophet has been among them. So when you think about all this, get the effect on the people, at least they’re being taught whether they’re going to respond or not. But the point I want you to get here is, as in and I just read those verses in chapter 5 and verse 5.

I set you in the midst. I wanted you to be an example, and instead, you’re the very worst. You’ve done worse than even the Gentiles. That reminds you. And it even points out that the leaders, including the spiritual leaders, were doing the same sins as all the people, and I think that God wanted him to set himself apart from the other priests. Yes. Well, in our in the very last part of our lesson today, if I get on and get to it, I’ll get over this introduction here. They will they will even seek for the priest and the prophet and the counsel, wise counsel, and they will not find it. They’ll seek peace but will not find it. So in all of this, though, the the real thought that I want to leave with you is God in chapter 5 and verse 11, the very last phrase of it, my I will not spare, nor will I have pity.

That’s a hard statement. That’s not the God we hear about today much, do we? God would not spare and would have no pity. Is this the God of love that we all hear about? Yes. Yes, he is a God of love. And he will lift up and bless his people. But when people rebel against his way and do not care about what he has said, God gonna have still still gonna have pity? No. He is a God of justice. As Hebrews 10 says, He our God is a consuming fire. We have to understand that God loves and he has done so much to provide for his people. He’s given to us even his only begotten son, dying on a cross. Let us not just take advantage of God’s goodness and say, Oh, well, I don’t know.

1. Prophesy Against the Mountains of Israel

I, you know, I’m pretty good anyway. Let’s understand it’s important that we hear the word of God, and let’s keep it faithfully, not take the presumption that it won’t matter. Well, moving on in, as I said, chapter six and seven really uh continues, I think, and once you’ve got this background, what is God doing it and why is he doing it? In chapter six, reading verses uh one through seven, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys, indeed, I, even I will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

Now let’s stop for just a moment. Here he is in Babylon, and he looks to the west, if you were to go almost straight across, that you would see perhaps Jerusalem pretty much on the same latitude. But here’s the flat land around the river, Tigris and Euphrates and the river Kebar are coming down. It’s more a flat, fertile ground for that matter. But now, as he looks toward Jerusalem, what stands between him and Jerusalem as the eye would see? Over over in Jordan are more of a mountainous region, uh, and certainly in between, uh, as you would look. And so he says, Look at the mountains. What’s he doing? What’s God saying to Ezekiel? Look back to homeland. You look back to Judah. You look back to the mountains in which Judah lies.

And he says, say to the mountains. You think that’s literally just talking to the hills and the ravines and what? No. No, no. As I read this, the mountains, the mountains represent not just mountains, they’re every high place. They’re the locations of uh adultery and idolatry and whatever. That’s what’s on the high places. But would you say that they kind of stand for the people? Though he says, speak to the mountains, the people who live and work on the mountains and have built the high places. So he’s really saying, Prophesy to the people who have used the mountains as places to put their idols and to the high places. And as he says in verse 4, then your altar shall be desolate. Your incense altars shall be broken.

And I will cast down your slain men before your idols. I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. In all your dwelling places, the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate. Your idols may be broken and made deceased. Your incense altars may be cut down and your works may be abolished. The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Alright, what’s gonna happen to these high places? They would build their idols there, perhaps, you know. That’s maybe the highest point where sometimes even I know in places they you build a church building, they will a high place, people can see it.

But highest place. Evidently the idols were often, they would pick those highest of places because it’s nearer to the heavens, maybe to the moon god and the sun god or whoever God they thought they were worshiping. But now what does he say is going to put as a carpet around those places? You think about it. Verse 5. I’ll lay the corpses. I don’t lay the bones of those. I’ll scatter your bones all around your altars. Let’s turn to Jeremiah chapter 8, if you would. Jeremiah chapter 8, verses 1 through 3. What did Jeremiah have to say about this same sort of thing? Jeremiah chapter 8, verses 1, 2, and 3. Anyone have it, would like to read it, please. At that time, saith the Lord, they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah, of Jerusalem, out of their graves, and they shall spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have loved and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom have sought, and whom they have worshipped, they shall not be uh gathered nor be buried, yet shall be dung upon the face of the earth, and the death and the death shall be them, and death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.

Alright. You take even their bones. You know, what a display. You know? God bring down these orders. Now, these orders, if their gods were really gods, shouldn’t they raise those bones up and give them life? Shouldn’t there be something gun positive? But there’s nothing positive. Don’t even bury them. You leave them there. Indeed, it it will be a time where uh the fury of God against idolatry will be made so evident, even. And yet, the very purpose, you’ll know these are not gods. And who is the one true God? The one who’s still living, the one who is able to answer. And as he says in verse 7, our last phrase, you shall know that I am the Lord. I may go to your research question, was it?

2. Know That I Am the Lord; A Remnant

Uh yeah. In your research question, page 23. Find every time in these two chapters, the statement is made. Know that I am the Lord. How many people found that? How many times did you find it? Seven times. Seven times. Ye shall know that I am the Lord. Ye shall know that I am the Lord. Ye shall know that I am the Lord. Just think of the emphasis. You shall know that I am the Lord. You shall know that I am the Lord. Over and over. The point is who’s really in charge. That’s the message of Ezekiel. And God, of course, through Ezekiel. Back in chapter 6, verses 8 through 10. Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations when you are scattered through the countries.

Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart, which has departed from me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the Lord. I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them. I’ve not said it in vain. I will do it. But why would God spare a remnant? And God did, of course. There were those even who are with Ezekiel, you might say, is a remnant, because later in well, Jeremiah said they’d be in captivity. How many years? You remember Jeremiah? 70.

70 years. And you have the first remnant goes in 606. When was the first remnant to return? 70 years later. Those are just some dates. Right there. 536 and 70 years later. So in 536, they do begin coming back, and with Haggai and Zachariah do rebuild the temple. Why would God spare a remnant? Aren’t all these people guilty? It’s probably some good, like Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and Daniel. We don’t know the names of them, but there’s still a few. But he along with Abraham come back.

Okay. Fulfill Abraham’s promise. God made a promise. His promise was that he would bring forth the seed through whom he would bless all families of the earth. Jesus Christ. And so God did. There were some nations, God said, I’ll make a complete destruction of them. They will not be remembered anymore. Where is Edom today? Esau’s dissent. But here is his brother, Jacob’s descendants. We still have lineage of Jacob’s descendants among us. But God had a promise. And it’s a promise that really affected you and me. That’s why God spared a remnant. Because he would bring forth through Abraham’s lineage, through Jacob’s lineage, through Judah, would be the Messiah, the Christ. And therefore, through him there is the promise of blessing today to all who come to him by faith.

3. Pound Your Fist and Stamp Your Feet

So God said, I’ll spare a remnant. But did you notice in the verses we read? One of the things is, even though where they go, they will remember me. They’ll tell the story, so to speak. They will rehearse what God has done to the rest of this big nation who sinned against me. And they, as verse 10, would say, will be able to say that God did not say in vain what he was going to do to this rebellious house. God’s word came to pass. So in verses 11 through 14, chapter 6. Thus says the Lord God, pound your fist and stamp your feet and say, Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel. Or they shall fall by the sword by famine and by pestilence.

Can you imagine? Boom, boom, boom.

No doubt he called attention when he did things like that. I don’t know. It’s out in the open. Surely a lot of these signs were done in a visual way that others could see. And what is he saying? Pounding his fists and stamping his feet. All the abominations of the house of Israel. What’s going to happen? Well, what did we even learn in our last lesson back in chapter 5 and verse 12? A third of you shall die by pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst. One third will fall by sword. I’ll scatter another third to all the winds. I’ll draw out so even here’s kind of a repeat. All the evil abominations, they shall fall by sword, by famine, by pestilence. Verse 12, I’m reading now, chapter 6.

Who he who is far off shall die by the pestilence. He, well, what is pestilence? Plague. Plague or disease and infirmity of some sort. He who is near shall fall by the sword. There’s the enemy coming in and conquering by warfare, you might say. He who remains as the seeds shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend my fury upon them. Well, pretty tough, right? But verse 13, what’s going to happen again? Again that they shall know that I am the Lord. When they’re slain or among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. So I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate.

4. The End Has Come

Yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Dibnah and all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Moreover, verse 7, chapter 7, verse 1, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, an end. The end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now the end has come upon you, and I’ll send my anger against you, I will judge you according to your ways. And I will repay you for all your abominations. Let’s stop and get an account of this. The end. It is an end, but more than that, it is the end for Judah. What’s really going to happen? Um let’s see. Can we look at the board and answer this question?

Probably how many years before the temple is destroyed that Ezekiel is saying this? Five. About five, right. You might say it’s been from the time they left Egypt in Egyptian bondage to this point in history is about a thousand years. And from that time, God, even as they left Egypt, what did he give them as a place to go to worship God? At Mount Sinai. What did what did they build at Mount Sinai? The tabernacle. Tabernacle, as it moved from place to place.

Even the tabernacle had the holy of holies, didn’t it? But now when the temple is destroyed, where’s it going to go to worship? Where are they going to offer this sacrifice? Where’s the high priest going to offer it? Temple’s going to be destroyed. There’s an end. There’s a desolation. It’s a terrible time. Look at 2 Kings, if you would, chapter 25, and let’s kind of get the historical background. 2 Kings, chapter 25.

Verses 1 to and 3. It came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and all his army, came against Jerusalem and camped against it. They built the siege wall against it all around. Isn’t that what Ezekiel said would happen? And it was the siege until the 11th year of King Zedekiah. Alright, during the reign of Zedekiah. So this starts in the ninth year. And to the 11th year, verse 3, by the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so severe in the city. There was no food for the people of the land. Is that what Ezekiel had illustrated? That’s what we had in Wednesday night’s lesson then.

So that’s what, you know, in the historical part. Yeah, this is what happened. Maybe five years later. But just as God had said, so it came to pass. Verse 4, the city wall was broken through, and all the men of the war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden. Anyway, it goes on to read how Zedekiah fled toward the plain of Jericho, only to be captured, brought back, witnessed his sons being put to death, and then he’s blinded and taken in chains to Babylon. It’s a sad finish that chapter 25 is a sad finish for that matter. But just as really both Ezekiel and Jeremiah had predicted, it came to pass. Why do you think the people didn’t know and prepare for it?

5. Peace When There Is No Peace

Just to kind of put yourself back at that point in time. Why’d they ignore these words of Ezekiel or these words of Jeremiah? All right, Kathy, first. Because there were other prophets and priests who were telling them we’ve got the temple, we’re the most people. They were lying to the masses, and it’s a whole lot easier to believe the lie than the truth of the prophets of the word of God, because they didn’t like what the prophet, the true prophets were saying. Well said. Is there anything for us today in that? Do you think there could be? It is so easy to think. You know, it’s so easy for people to say it really doesn’t matter. God is love. He is. And you know, God knows us all, and it just really doesn’t much matter because God wants us all to be saved, doesn’t he?

That’s Bible verse too. So does it really matter what we do? And we get lulled into a thinking. But it really doesn’t matter. Don’t be too narrow-minded to think you must obey. I want you to turn a couple of passages. Jeremiah chapter 6, first of all, and we’ll go in chapter 7 and chapter 8. Just to sort of those of you who are in the Jeremiah class, I think have an advantage in the rest in this class. Because you’ve gone through some of these verses. As Kathy just said, Chapter 6, verses 13 through 15. Jeremiah chapter 6. 13 through 15. Somebody who hasn’t read, would like to read?

Well, I will. Chapter 6 and verse 13. Because from the least of them, even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to what?

From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the herd of my people, slightly saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No. They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time I punish them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Yeah, there are prophets saying, Peace, peace when there is no peace. I’m going to go to the next one. Let me read a couple more. Chapter 7 and verse 4. Chapter 7, Jeremiah. Do not trust in these lying words saying the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, and the temple of the Lord are these.

In other words, we got the temple. Don’t you know God wouldn’t destroy the temple? That’s pretty easy to make people believe, don’t you think? They trusted in these false prophets. One more passage, chapter 8 and verse 11. Chapter 8 and verse 11. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying, Peace, peace when there is no peace. Yeah. So there are prophets, there are preachers today who can say, peace, peace. It doesn’t matter who you’re made. God loves you, and it’ll be right for everybody. That’s the easiest message of all to say. Rather than saying, look, you need to repent. How many times do you hear some of the preachers of today? I mean, if you I listen to sit here on TV or in the radio, and very seldom do you hear that word repent?

That’s a hard word. You who are committing adultery or are living in an adulterous relationship, you need to repent. Does it matter who you marry or divorce? The world today doesn’t matter. Does it matter what your lifestyle is? You mean, wow, yeah, well, we we’re gonna accept homosexuality and and uh we’re gonna have same-sex marriages, and air preachers today are saying, Well, you know, that’s the way God made us, so it doesn’t matter. That’s kind of thinking. Does it really matter that we drink and even to drunkenness? Or that we become a dope addict or get involved with things that we know are against God? Does it really matter? I would say, as Ezekiel turned to the hills and spoke to the mountains, you know, we have a different kind of idol.

Well, we don’t build a idol of gold or silver and set it up on a high place, but we have a different form of idol. Maybe some of them happened this afternoon.

People worship, and that’s morally right, not necessarily wrong. But I’m telling you, there’s so many things that go on in our society today, and we hear a lot of preachers saying, it’s all right. Peace, peace. It’s all right. Everybody’s gonna be saying. Kathy, did I run over what you want to say now? No, I just find it interesting that then as a now, these false prophets, these priests that are preaching, are saying lies, they’re believing them their own lives. And they’re sincere, they they sincerely believe their own lies. They well, they get to a point where they do. I, you know, 2 Thessalonians 1 speaks about how the God will send a strong delusion that they may believe a lie in the place of truth. Because they receive first of all, it starts with they receive not the love of the truth.

When people do not receive the love of the truth, in the place of that will come believing a lie. And yes, there they become sincere in that. But they start with not receiving the love of the truth. So our attitude must be do we really love the word of God, the truth. Well, let’s let’s go further. That’s in chapter 7. I know this bell’s gonna ring about five minutes, and I’m not gonna be through. So I’m gonna start with chapter 7, verse 3. The uh now the end has come upon you, and I will send my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways. I will repay you for all your abominations. My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, a disaster, a singular disaster. Behold, it has come. An end has come. The end has come. It has dawned for you. Behold, it has come. Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land. The time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. Your idle gods are not going to help you. In verse 8, now upon you I will soon pour out my fury and spend my anger upon you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. In verse 9, the my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will repay you according to your ways.

Your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Y’all notice that verses eight and nine are actually a repeat of verses two and three. In effect. And again, God said, I’ll not have pity.

6. Social, Military, Economic and Political Disruption

Well, now in these remaining verses, he looks at different aspects, you might say, of life. In verses 10 through 13, there will be social disruption. In verses 14 through 18, there’s military disruption. In uh verses 19 through 22, there’s economic disruption. And finally, in verses 23 through 27, there’s political disruption. All of these things are coming. There’s the end. Well, let’s see the first one. Verses 10 through 13, social disruption. Behold the day, behold it has come, doom has gone out. The rod is blossomed, pride is budded. That’s an interesting way of putting it. The rod has blossomed by pride is budded. Who’s he talking about? Judah. But here’s an illustration. Just like the the rod, so it blossoms, and now it’s come to fullness. It’s reached the point where doom is uh justified by God.

Verse 11 violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their multitude, none of them, nor shall there be wailing for them. The time has come, the day draws near. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn. For wrath is on their whole multitude. For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, though he may still be alive. For the vision concerns the whole multitude, and it shall not turn back. No one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. You know, why buy land when destruction is imminent? And you know, even where he says, you know, the seller shall not return to what’s been sold. And if you know, if you’re going to be taken captive, if that’s the end, you’re gonna be gone away from it.

Would you want to invest in land, property? And you know you’re about to be taken captive, or there’s gonna be a death. No. So the end has come. Think about the things we have a lot of plans, every one of us in this room has some kind of plan for tomorrow, I’m sure. But let’s just say it’s uh, you know, social, and uh you were really about to buy that house or whatever. But you know, in a year from now, or even five years from now, there’s gonna be doom. Would you still want to invest when it started with it? Uh back I’ve told this story before it’s back in about 1970. I was living in Alabama, and at that time Amway was big. And the thought was, oh, if you get into Amway, it’d take you about five years, and then you can become independent.

In other words, self-sustaining. You’d be making enough money, you’d be rich. But at that point in time, by the year 1975, was really being preached. That’s going to be the end now. 1975. In fact, I have a book that the Jehovah’s Witnesses printed. That listed there’s gonna be in October of 1975 that would be the end of the 6,000 years, and it would start the 1,000 year. In other words, it’s gonna be the end. Well, the story is that there was this couple who were who were in Amway trying to make, you know, people get sponsor people. And he said, I came to this one after I gave all that talk about him, and I said be in five years. He said, Oh, I’m not gonna sign up, because in five years it’d be the end of the world.

I mean, you know, so why but why sign up and work for five years if it takes five years before you get, you know. That’s the kind of thing even here, Ezekiel’s saying, Why would you do this if you know the end is coming? Well, here is the end. Better hurry on now. Verses 14 through 18. There’s military disruption. They’ve blown the trumpet, made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle. For my wrath is on all their multitude. The sword is outside, the pestilence and famine within. Yeah, there’s a sword outside. But who’s going out to fight them? In fact, preparations to fight would be futile. Continue, verse 15. Whoever’s in the field will die by the sword, and whoever’s in the city, famine and pestilence will devour him.

There’s death outside, there’s death inside. Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity. Every hand will be feeble, every knee will be as weak as water. They will also be girded with sackcloth. Horror will cover them, shame will be on every face, ball is on all their heads. So what if you have a good army? They’re not going to fight. But then there’s economic disruption. Verse 19: they will throw their silver into the streets. Their gold will be like refuge. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They will not satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs because it become it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

You know, if you if you today the doctor says, Look, I’m sorry, but by the end of this week, it’s terminal. You know, sometimes doctors can tell you that. And then in the middle of that week, you get the word, hey, you’ve just inherited a million dollars. You think it means anything? Not a thing. And so he said, Here’s silver and gold. It’s gone. Silver and gold. It doesn’t matter. Is that the second bell? Did y’all hear the second bell? All right. You’ve got to listen to me. Go jump over to verse 25. Let’s finish it. Destruction comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster. Rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet.

Conclusion

But the law will perish from the priest, counsel from the elders. Alright, they’ll leak they want word from the prophet, the priest, and the wise men, the counsel, but there is none. Verse 27: the king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, the hand of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, according to what they deserve. I will judge them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Indeed will come upon them. Kind of a sad stuff statement, isn’t it? You know, really, in one sense, I kind of hate to teach as if it’s got a lot of negative in it. But it’s also got a lot of serious warning for all of us even today.

Um a question. Going back to the buyers and the sellers of the land and not thinking, you know, why why bother buying when the destruction is coming? When we’re at Jeremiah, Jeremiah was instructed to go purchase land. Because he said we’re coming back in seven years. Right. Okay. He did. But as a normal that was even as a lesson for them to say, hey, there will be a return. But if you know you’re not going to be alive seventy years later, would you? All right, Angie.