Fear No Fear

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

God spoke to Ezekiel and told him to tell the people the Lord was drawing His sword and was going to use it against them. From the north to the south, the sword would come and cut them off. They would hear about it and pee themselves in fear. It was coming and it was coming NOW – this was not a far-off prophesy. It was a mighty sword prepared for slaughter. People’s hearts would melt in fear. It would slash left and right. It despised those who tried to block it – to no avail. It would strike and it would satisfy the Lord’s fury toward the sin of the people. [In the New Covenant, Jesus took the fury and satisfied the Lord’s wrath against sin. That’s why He isn’t judging the world, but extending grace so they can receive salvation in Jesus and avoid judgment (John 3:16-18).] All of this broke Ezekiel’s heart, but he faithfully reported it to the people. None of this had happened yet and the people could not figure out why he was so sad. He told them when they heard the truth of what he was saying, they too would be sad.

The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, would be the Lord’s sword. He would come and attack Jerusalem bringing ruin, guilt, and punishment. The attack on Jerusalem would remind the people of their sins. Would show them their guilt. Would show them the uselessness of relying on human treaties. They would see the armies of Babylon as God’s sword cutting them down for their sins against God and they would be captured. God would remove the crown of the king of Judah and hold it in check for the worthy king that would be raised in future (Jesus). Ezekiel also spoke against the Ammorites (descendants of Lot from his rape by his daughter – Genesis 19:38). They too would be judged. The sword would come against them and their wickedness. They would not be remembered. [Not only do they not exist today, it is only in Bible scholarship we know of them. The archaeological record has forgotten them completely.]

The people of Jerusalem brought this on themselves by their actions. They had sought to be like the nations around them, and even those nations despised them – knowing instinctively that God’s people should be different. The leaders of Jerusalem had led them astray. They disrespected their parents, they oppressed strangers and foreigners, they oppressed widows and orphans, and they shed innocent blood – in the city and in their worship of idols – eating the food sacrificed to the idols. They had sex with their father’s wives, had sex with their neighbour’s wives, had sex with their daughters-in-law, had sex with their sisters, and had sex with women during their periods. Total moral degeneracy. The leaders also took bribes to kill the innocent, took usury and interest on lent money, extorted neighbours for dishonest profit, and forgotten their covenant with the Lord. The leaders were cheats and liars. The priests did not teach the Law, did not show the difference between clean and unclean, and made no distinction between the holy and the common. The prophesied saying ‘the Lord said this’ when He had NOT spoken. Therefore, the Lord would destroy them. Punish them with His fury. He didn’t WANT to. He had looked for someone to stand in the gap and repair the wall between them, but NO ONE was willing [I thank the Lord we have Jesus as our mediator and no longer need humans to stand in the gap for us – 1 Timothy 2:5]. Judgment was coming on them all. He would refine them like silver and gold in the city. He would melt them down. None would escape. And all would know that the judgment was just, that they deserved it.

“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother, and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And they became mine, and they bore sons and daughters, and their names are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah.” (Ezekiel 23:2-4)

Sin is not smart. Sin is emotional. If we thought about what it would cost us, we wouldn’t do it. Sin ALWAYS costs more than we want to pay, takes us further than we want to go, and keeps us longer than we want to be there. The nations of Israel and Judah (the two sisters) were enticed by the nations around them. They did not understand the loving, kind, and blessing God who had chosen them as His people. They didn’t realise the satisfaction that comes from a relationship with Him. So they looked to what they didn’t have – because they didn’t invest in knowing about Him – and chose THAT to want. It was foolish. Doubly foolish for Judah when they witnessed the punishment of Israel. But neither of them changed course. Neither of them stopped. Both of them went forward hardcore. It was so bad that people would sacrifice their children to an idol and then go to the Temple to worship God. How disgusting. They had so hardened their hearts they didn’t even feel the pain of it or see the contradiction. They did this ON PURPOSE. None of this was God’s fault. He took them out of where idolatry was (Egypt), but they refused to leave idolatry. They lusted after other nations and other gods. Calling to them, enticing them, spreading their legs for them. They were adulterous. Craving men hung like donkeys who ejaculated like horses (Ezekiel 23:20). They were animalistic in their lusts and adultery – something we were NEVER meant to be (the animal kingdom was never meant to model proper sexual practise). They changed allegiances between nations, going back to Egypt after having the Assyrians and Babylonians. They defiled the very Temple, placing idols and images there. No one forced them in any of this. They chose this behaviour. They chose to despise the Lord.

They would be judged. Their sins would be exposed. Their ‘lovers’ would be aroused against them in anger. They would be delivered into the hands of those they hated, who would then deal hatefully with them. They would pay the wage for their sin, all would see it and the reasons for it. Everyone would know God did this and that He IS God.

Summary

Key Players: God, Ezekiel,

Key Verse(s): Ezekiel 21:6-10, 24, 30-32; 22:17-22, 30-31; 23:28-35