Ezekiel 19 – 24
Interesting, Ezekiel refers to “princes” of Israel which are the kings of Judah. A “prince” is below the king, so are Judah’s kings not the same stature of Israel’s? Verse 19:12 talks about their future:
But the vine was plucked up in fury,
cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried up its fruit;
they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
fire consumed it.
Judah lived well as and portrayed as a vine that God plucks in judgment. How often do things seem to be going well when suddenly they turn on a dime? Sometimes that is just life and other times that is God’s judgment. Often times when things turn we look to what we did wrong or what we have not done for God, when in reality it’s just life. Or as I mentioned recently, the bigger picture may be looking out for the needs of others and not just your desires.
As you learn reading Kings and Chronicles Judah and Israel tend to stray from God’s grace most of the time. It’s interesting how you can live in God’s presence and still drift. We do it all the time and one could argue we don’t have prophets accurately predicting the future or miracles happen. At the same time our “prophets” are quickly discredited on any deviation and our “miracles” are explained away by science. Even if the mathematicians and scientists can explain these events, often times they cannot explain why or how.
Verse 20:9 is repeated three times in this chapter:
But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
As Ezekiel writes these he is going through a “Readers Digest” version of this history. Each time God punishes Israel he writes this verse or something very close. The point is to remind everyone that we are in God’s blessing when we follow Him, otherwise we are often times on our own without His protection.
A quick note one chapter 21, notice the section before in chapter 20 is titled “The Lord Will Restore Israel” and this one starts with how God will punish them. This is one of the problems of prophecies is often times you get two choices, and it follows your decisions. It shows how we do have an active role with God and we are not “preordained” for the path we are on. Jonah and Nineveh are the best example of this happening. God was using Jonah to warn Nineveh of the pending judgment, they repented and were forgiven.
Verses 22:27 & 28 provide may provide insight into our times today:
27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD’, when the LORD has not spoken.
Do you notice how this is common among the many visions and stories of a nation or the world unraveling? Think about how many times we see warnings of “false visions” and people insisting God is speaking to them when He is not. I am still trying to develop hearing that small voice and pray it becomes clearer. Often times my “small voice” is my desire and not the will of God. Unfortunately we all get God’s voice confused with our own unless we have worked on it for years. Rarely does it just happen where God is speaking through an “infidel”.
I am not real keen on the imagery used in chapter 23 about “whoring”, but it does make the point how man has moved away from God. If we looked at our “materialism” more as “whoring” our souls from instant gratification, pulling us away from God, then maybe we would avoid that “trap.” Think about what things pull you away from God and apply that imagery to the act. Does it change your perception and desire to continue?