Day #247

Sermon - Audio
Ezekiel 24-27 - Audio
Ezekiel 24-27 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Ch 24 -

Ezekiel’s eccentric method of symbolically acting out his teachings offers a unique opportunity for some creative learning. These object lessons from the first 23 chapters culminate in the last prophetic/priestly instructions (see the previous blog posts for these object lessons):

· Ezekiel said Jerusalem was like a pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! “Encrusted” and “deposit” are from the Hebrew word ḥel’âh and could be translated “rusted” and “rust.” In the fire of God’s judgment Jerusalem’s “impurities” floated to the surface. Her corruption could not be hidden. She was as unappealing as rusty scum floating on the surface of a meal being cooked. The meal was ruined by the rusty scum, so the contents of the pot were dumped.

· Ezekiel had lost the “delight” of his eyes, and the exiles would lose Jerusalem, the delight of their eyes, to Babylon. The exiles thought there was no way Jerusalem could ever be destroyed – it was God’s city, the place of the temple. But God’s glory had left the temple (Ezk 10), and now the building stood as a shell of marble and gold. The catastrophe would send all the exiles into a state of shock, where no amount of mourning would be enough. It would force them to acknowledge their Lord: “When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.”

Ch 25-27 –

Ezekiel transitions from Jerusalem to give messages against those nations surrounding it. If God would not spare His own people because of their sin, how could the nations around her hope to escape His judgment? God’s judgment began in Israel, but it would extend from there to other nations.

This judgment was based on the Abrahamic covenant (Remember that? “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse”).

The first three—Ammon, Moab, Edom—formed the eastern boundary of Judah; the fourth nation, Philistia, was on her western boundary. Tyre and Sidon, cities of Phoenicia, were the principal powers north of Judah; Egypt was the major power to the southwest. God’s judgment would extend out from Judah in all directions.

An example in Tyre –

As an expression of how great the destruction would be, Ezekiel pictured Tyre as a strong, seaworthy vessel sailing on the high seas. She was the pride of the fleet, built with the best materials and manned by the best crews. The crewmen of a ship would have been the most rugged and physically fit of anyone at the time. But the ship and its crew sink in to the heart of the sea, breaking to pieces.

Ezekiel was using the “east wind” in a dual meaning. Eastern winds on the Mediterranean were known to be the most violent, ship-breaking storms; but also the storm from the east referred to Babylon, east of Tyre. Tyre’s ship of state was about to go down with the loss of all her people and her wealth.