Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel again. Ezekiel never gave commentary. He always reported exactly what the Lord said. He was the middle man, the town crier reporting, that’s it. We should all seek to do the same.

What did the Word say? Prophesy against the mountains. I cannot say what I would do in the same situation, but it would give me pause. The reality is that the Lord created everything that is in existence with words. Because of that, everything in existence responds to words – especially if the words are spoken by and carry the authority of the Lord (like all of scripture does). The word was destruction. Since the people would not rid the mountains of the idols and idolatrous worship spots, the Lord would do it. He would destroy the lifeless idols and place the lifeless bodies of their worshippers before them. When He was done, they would KNOW that HE was God. BUT He would be merciful and there would be those who escaped the sword and be scattered among the nations. They would remember the Lord and how His heart was crushed by their idolatry. When they did, they would loathe themselves for their behaviour.

The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel again. He told him to tell the people this is what the Lord God of Israel says to Israel: the end has come. He would judge them according to their ways and repay them for all their abominations. This is a TERRIBLE thing. May NONE of us get what we truly deserve. And thank you Lord for the New Covenant in Jesus.

The Lord was not going to spare anyone. He was not going to have pity. They would know by the judgment that He WAS God. This prophecy came before Nebuchadnezzar’s final sacking of Jerusalem – he attacked it more than once and conquered it several times, but the final one would be total destruction and not just a conquering. Their pride would be cut off and struck down. Those who survived and were scattered or taken captive would NOT live to return. This was an END to them and their time in His Land. Pestilence, famine, and sword would take them. Those outside the city and those inside the city. VERY few would escape to be scattered. And God was clear about why.

The people had chosen idolatry. The people had chosen that path as the way to riches. But their gold would not save them. Their THINGS would not satisfy their stomachs. Their idols would not help them. It would ALL be a stumbling block to them. All that they thought brought them majesty and improved their beauty would be like ashes as their destruction overtook them. The Lord would give it all as plunder to strangers. To the wicked of the earth. His face would be turned away from them all and let them defile and rob the Temple. The people filled the land with crimes of blood and filled the city with violence. God would bring the worst of the Gentiles and they would possess it all. Disaster would come upon disaster. The people would cry and seek visions of prophets, but they would get nothing. He would treat them EXACTLY as their actions deserved and they would KNOW that HE was God.

A vision came to Ezekiel. He was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem. And the Lord showed Ezekiel the idols that had been set up. The abominations that were there. The secret worship of the seventy (probably the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews and the highest form of legal judges they had) of idols and images of beasts. They burnt incense to them. All of the seventy elders did this. In one of the Gates, women were performing a weeping ritual regarding the worship of a fertility/agriculture idol. In the inner court of the Temple twenty-five men were worshipping the sun, their backs turned toward the Holy Place. The Lord showed it all and asked Ezekiel if he saw it. THIS was why the Lord would act in fury. THIS was why He would not spare them OR show mercy. They were not only scorning Him, they were mocking and defiling things the LORD had said were holy. He didn’t have to explain Himself, but He made sure Ezekiel saw all that the Lord saw. God ALWAYS wants us to understand His ways, the whys behind His actions and character. The details He sometimes keeps hidden for our benefit, but He wants us to understand their foundations.

The Lord then called for those supernatural beings He had put in charge of the city of Jerusalem. One (the Man in Linen) was charged with marking the foreheads of those who refused to participate in the abominations – the godly men, women, and children who lived in the city. The others He told to go out and kill everyone. Ezekiel cried out, wondering if even the remnant would be destroyed in the Lord’s fury. God told him, he was NOT going to spare the wicked but give them exactly as their deeds deserved. He was giving them what they knew they were asking for. They ALL knew the Law and NO ONE was ignorant – we know that because there were those who wept and cried to see these terrible things done.

“And I looked, and look! On the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim something like a stone of sapphire, and like the appearance of the shape of a throne it appeared above them. And he spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go in among the wheel area under the cherubim and fill the hollow of your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and toss them on the city.” And he went right before my eyes.” (Ezekiel 10:1-2)

He (the man who had previously marked the godly to protect them) did go and take the fire. But you’ll notice as you read that he approached the cherubim who took the fire and then passed it to the man and then the man went out to throw the fire. This procedure gave it time to cool off. Yes, the fury of the Lord was going out onto the city – but not the full force of it. Even in judgment the Lord is merciful.

Ezekiel finishes chapter ten with a further description of the four living creatures (not the angelic messengers that we’re more familiar with, like Gabriel) and the wheels whose spirits were also living. The glory of the Lord was spectacular here and it was the same as when Ezekiel had been visited by the River Chebar (back in chapter one). They moved the same, looked the same, and acted the same. Truly the chariot of God was there and His glory cloud was filling the inner court from the south side of the Temple where they stood.

Summary

Key Players: God, Ezekiel, Cherubim, Man in Linen

Key Verse(s): Ezekiel 6:1-7, 13-14; 7:1-13, 25-27; 8:5-6, 17-18; 9:3-11; 10:6-7