Have you ever watched a tv or movie scene where there are two people who aren’t on speaking terms and they involve a third person to communicate on their behalf?
👱🏼♀️ “Mary-Sue, please tell my sister that I will NOT bail her out.”
👩🏽🦱 (Mary-Sue)
👩🏼 “Is that so? Well, Mary-Sue, you can remind my sister that she owes me because I covered for her last week when she went to the football game and left me to do the dishes and babysit!”
👩🏽🦱
👱🏼♀️ Mary-Sue, please tell my sister that she agreed to that arrangement because I PAID HER!”
That’s what chapter 20 feels like.
If Ezekiel was a prophet today and God communicated with him by text…
ZEKE: Lord, the elders are here and they’re wondering if there’s a massage for them.
YHWH: A message for them?
YHWH: Ha! OMDB
ZEKE: What’s OMDB? I don’t know all those abbreviations.
YHWH: Over my dead body.
ZEKE: Oh. Well- They’re sitting in my house and I think they plan to stay til they get an answer.
YHWH: NO messages. YOU talk to them.
ZEKE: But what do I say?
YHWH: Give them the history review.
ZEKE: 😑 ok
In this history review there is a pattern of God saying…
“…I said, ‘I’m going to pour out my fury on them!’ But then I didn’t do it – for the honor of my name.” For the sake of brevity we will focus only on this part of the statement so the verses will not be quoted in entirety.
🤓 Here ya go. 🎛️📟
What’s that?
🤓 It’s an “I didn’t wipe them out” counter.
Ooo. Very helpful. Let’s begin.
EGYPT (v 5-9)
When the Israelites were in Egypt they had adopted the gods of Egypt. God told them to get rid of them. They didn’t.
“…Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt. But I didn’t do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name…”
Ezekiel 20:8-9 NLT
🎛️📟1️⃣
WILDERNESS (v 10-17)
The LORD brought Israel out of Egypt and gave them His laws and Sabbath as a way to give them a special life and mark them as holy. They violated the laws (especially the one about not making idols).
“…So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness. But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name…”
Ezekiel 20:13-14 NLT
🎛️📟2️⃣
DESCENDANTS (v 18-26)
The LORD brought the descendants into the Promised Land. He told them to keep His laws and warned them not to worship idols. They didn’t listen.
“…So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name…”
Ezekiel 20:21-22 NLT
🎛️📟3️⃣
Again and again the people consistently worshiped idols. They never consistently worshipped Yahweh alone. They took the blessings He gave – deliverance from Egypt, survival in the wilderness, victory in the Promised Land, prosperity and wealth and divine protection – and what did they do? They worshiped other gods.
For nearly 1000 years God has been patient and merciful and gracious. And instead of repenting, the nation is taking advantage of God’s kindness. Because Yahweh didn’t show up in fire and brimstone and turn them all to ashes, they assumed He must not mind.
Like many people today, they saw God’s mercy and assumed it was apathy. Like – He didn’t care if they committed adultery or worshiped idols.
Humans mistake God’s mercy for apathy at the risk of their eternal souls.
Just because He didn’t strike you dead on the spot for that sin doesn’t mean “He doesn’t mind.” If His Word says it’s sin, it’s sin.
Let us remember (again) that the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Israel (both in 586BC and 70AD) is the biblical model for “The Day of the LORD” otherwise known as Judgement Day. It’s even called “the Day of the LORD” back in Isaiah.
Note the behavior and mindset of these elders of Israel. It may be a clue- a foreshadowing of the behavior and mindset of the leaders (of the corrupt church?) at the time of the end. They are so corrupt that they see no problem with having Yahweh as one God among a smorgasbord of others. They see no conflict between being “people of God” and living in sin. They see no problem with seeking Yahweh for blessings but also doing whatever the world does. It’s like a buffet.
👩🏻 🍽️ I’ll take a little Jesus and a little mysticism, ooo, I’d like to try some energy healing and yoga, and oh that secularist philosophy looks good too. Yes, I’d love a slice of the Bible but could you trim off the offensive parts? Thanks. And oh my! Look at those desserts! New Thought and Pantheism and a little sexual freedom… better leave some room for those…
“You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen.”
Ezekiel 20:32 NLT
The LORD is not going to allow His nation to be like the other nations. For one thing, if He did, in all likelihood, the birth of Messiah would be thwarted. So He is FINALLY going to “vent His fury” and, quite literally, put the fear of God into them. They will be terrified of the consequences of idolatry and will have zero tolerance for it after God is through. He is going to whoop them so hard that it will basically implant a new collective core memory: idols = death. 🗿🟰☠️⚰️🪦
All this death and destruction is a purge. Most of the people are so committed to their sin that nothing will induce them to repent. That only leaves one alternative. Yahweh removes them from the land of the living so their cancerous idolatry can no longer spread. Then with the few who remain who DO obey Him, He can start over.
Read that paragraph again.
I wasn’t describing Ezekiel’s day.
I was describing the future judgement.
To The Reader 