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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday November 23, 2014
THE IDOLATRY OF
ISRAEL’S LEADERS
(The certainty
of the LORD’s judgment)
Ezekiel 14-15
In Ezekiel chapter 14, the LORD,
once again, visits Ezekiel at his home at the exact same time that the
religious leaders of Israel were also paying him a visit. Here in verses 1-11,
the LORD again warns HIS prophet of their wicked hearts, and their evil intentions
and agenda.
False religious leaders,
who have embraced many doctrines that have led them, both wittingly and
unwittingly, out of the will of GOD, often consult true men of GOD, not seeking
to know how they can get back in the good graces of the LORD, but rather, to
find out if there is a “loophole” that they can get through, or establish (i.e.
denominations), in order to get around doing the will of GOD exactly as HE
commands.
Their success in these
evil schemes requires them to be able to achieve their goals without exposing
their ill-intentions and disobedience to the people that they are trying to
deceive. They have literally convinced themselves that whatever things they
decide to introduce into their churches (human ingenuity) will be okay with
GOD. That’s how it was back then, and
that is especially how it still is in religions today.
Here in this passage
(Vs.1-8) GOD tells Ezekiel that;
"Son of man, these
leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that lead
them into sin. Why should I let them ask ME anything? Give them this
message from the Sovereign LORD: I, the LORD, will punish the people of Israel
who set up idols in their hearts so they fall into sin and then come to a
prophet asking for help. I will do this to capture the minds and hearts of all
MY people who have turned from ME to worship their detestable idols.
"Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign
LORD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and stop all your loathsome
practices. I, the LORD, will punish all those, both Israelites and foreigners,
who reject ME and set up idols in their hearts so they fall into sin, and who
then come to a prophet asking for MY advice. I will turn against such people
and make a terrible example of them, destroying them. Then you will know that I
am the LORD” (NLT).
And so we see, while
these leaders were sitting before Ezekiel, GOD informed his prophet of how they
had already set up idols of other gods in their hearts, and by doing so, had
automatically set up stumbling blocks to themselves, and, to the people of
Israel. In fact, the idolatry of Jerusalem was now being displayed openly, even
in the church house.
These hypocritical leaders
were now coming to the “True GOD” for advice, while, at one and the same time,
worshiping other gods in their hearts. Here, instead of giving them the
information they requested and desired, GOD instructs Ezekiel to give them this
more urgent information that they needed to know, so that they might, even at
this late date, change their thinking.
GOD says HE will stand
against false prophets and cut them off from the Christian community (v.9) in
the last days, then and now, because GOD doesn’t change. What GOD expected of
HIS people then, HE still expects from HIS people now. False prophets and
hypocrites, who claim to want GOD’s advice, and in reality, only seek to use
the knowledge for personal gain, will be punished for their sins (v.10). They
will be used as an example to show others not to stray from GOD, polluting
themselves with sin (v.11).
In verses 12-20 the
LORD highlights the very four forms of punishment that HE was about to pour out
on Judah, they are;
·
famine
·
beasts
·
war
·
plagues
Here in this passage,
GOD tells us that HE would no longer delay punishing the wicked for the sake of
the righteous living among them. In fact HE says that, even if Noah, Daniel,
and Job were living there, HE still wouldn’t spare Judah (Vs. 14, 16, 18, &
20). This, of course, is an allusion to the time of Abraham when he attempted
to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah and the wicked cities of the plains (Genesis
18).
That occasion in
history introduced the thought that if only 10 righteous people could be found
among them, GOD would spare those cities. Here, however, GOD leaves Judah with
no such hope, as HE uses two of history’s most righteous men of the past (Noah
and Job), and one who currently lived among them in Babylon (Daniel), as
examples of GODly men who could not change Israel’s fate, because of their
righteousness.
Here GOD is clearly
stating that, HE will only spare those who are righteousness seekers, from
judgment, and HE will, by no means, spare the wicked, for the sake of the
righteous. GOD does, however, give the wicked more time to get right, because
of the righteous people living among them, but ultimately, HE punishes those
who are evil, as HE judges every man according to his own sins.
In Ezekiel 15, we see
one of six Old Testament biblical analogies of “the vineyard” being used to
depict “the moral degeneration of the human race” (the others are Psalm
80:8-18, Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21, Ezekiel 19:10-14 & Hosea 10:1). These
analogies represent the steady, persistent, continuing moral decline of mankind
since the beginning of creation.
Here in verses 1-5, the
LORD presents us a picture of mankind as being something that was once
fruitful, but now, has died and become useless to GOD in the world. HE opens up
this chapter by posing a series of questions to HIS prophet, Ezekiel;
“ Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree?
Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? Can
its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too
quickly. Vines are useless both before
and after being put into the fire!”
The LORD goes on to
explain to Ezekiel that the people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing
among the trees of the forest, and since they have rendered themselves useless
under GOD, by way of their sins, HE has set them aside to be burned like fuel.
Even if they were able to escape from one fire, the LORD says, HE will cast
them into another one. GOD was intent on desolating the land completely because
of Israel’s sin, and leaving it to rest for 70 years, before starting all over
again, just as HE had warned the nation, through HIS prophet, Jeremiah
(Vs.6-8).
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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