August 8, 2025 • 33 mins
What happens when God finally decides enough is enough? In this sobering journey through Ezekiel 11-12, we witness one of the most haunting scenes in scripture: the moment God's glory abandons Jerusalem.
The vision begins with the God's Shekina glory presence departing from the temple - first from the Holy of Holies to the front of the temple building, then to the outer court, through the east gate, and finally resting on the Mount of Olives before disappearing. This progressive withdrawal symbolized the removal of God's protection before Jerusalem's destruction by Babylonian forces.
We explore how this ancient vision connects profoundly to Jesus Christ, who would later enter Jerusalem from that same Mount of Olives, effectively bringing God's glory back to the temple, only to ascend from that same mountain after His resurrection with the promise to return one day.
Ezekiel is commanded to perform a strange prophetic action - packing exile baggage in daylight, digging through his wall at night, covering his face, and departing in darkness. This bizarre behavior precisely prefigured how King Zedekiah would attempt to escape Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege, only to be captured, blinded, and taken to "Babylon, though he would not see it" - a prophecy fulfilled with chilling accuracy.
Most striking is God's response to people claiming these warnings were for the distant future: "None of my words will be delayed any longer." The repeated refrain "then you will know that I am the LORD" serves as both warning and promise - some recognize God's sovereignty through mercy, others only through judgment.
This episode challenges us to consider: are we listening to false messages of peace and prosperity while ignoring divine warnings? The glory that departed Jerusalem will once again return in Jesus Christ. Are we ready for His final return?
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Today on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going
to see a trip that Ezekiel'sgoing to go on and we're going
to see where.
It's not going to be a pleasantvacation, but we're also going
to see God's glory abandon thecity of Jerusalem.
It is a very scary thing whenGod abandons you, when you get
so far away from God that heabandons you.
(00:42):
It's a very serious, very scary, very sobering thing.
Hello and welcome.
We are Reasoning Through theBible.
We do detailed verse-by-versestudies through the Word of God.
If you're new to us, go to ourwebsite,
reasoningthroughthebiblecom.
There you can see free lessonplans on how you can teach the
Bible and have helps for yoursmall group or your church.
(01:06):
We'd also love to hear from you.
Send us a note at info atreasoningthroughthebiblecom if
you have questions or comments.
But today we're going tocontinue to reason through.
We are at the last part of the11th chapter of Ezekiel and
Ezekiel is seeing a vision ofthe city of Jerusalem and he's
(01:30):
got a very hard message thathe's going to have to give to
the Jewish people.
Steve, can you start at 11.22and read to the end of?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
the chapter.
Then the cherubim lifted uptheir wings, with the wheels
beside them, and the glory ofthe God of Israel hovered over
them.
The glory of the Lord went upfrom the midst of the city and
stood over the mountain which iseast of the city, and the
Spirit lifted me up and broughtme in a vision by the Spirit of
(02:01):
God to the exiles in Chaldea.
So the vision that I had seenleft me.
We have here this message andagain what he talks about in
verse 22, the cherubim lifted uptheir wings with the wheels.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
This goes all the way back to the beginning of this
particular vision.
They appeared to him andthere's a detailed description
of this.
If you missed it, go back toEzekiel, chapter 1, and you'll
see a very detailed vision ofthe throne of God and how God
would arrive and give messagesto Ezekiel.
It's a very powerful message.
(02:41):
Here we see the glory of God inthe form of this throne pick up
from the midst of the city.
If you remember, if we hadfollowed it since chapter 9, the
glory of God was hovering overthe ark, that is, in the Holy of
Holies behind the veil in thetemple, holies behind the veil
(03:08):
in the temple.
It picks up from there and itgoes to the front of the temple
building and filled that eveninto the inner court.
Then it went out through theeast gate of the temple to the
gate of the city, and here itgoes from the midst of the city
and stood over the mountainwhich is east of the city.
Now the mountain which is eastof the city is the Mount of
(03:30):
Olives.
Starting back again at Ezekiel,chapter 9, through this vision
we've seen the glory of Godsteadily leave the temple, leave
the outer court of the temple,leave the city of Jerusalem, and
it's gone out the east gate tothe Mount of Olives.
One of the major themes that isthreaded through the Word of God
(03:52):
is the glory of God leaving thetemple, and we know from the
Gospels that it came back.
It came back in the form ofJesus Christ, who is the glory
of God.
He started the triumphal entryfrom the Mount of Olives, went
into the East Gate and found thecity lacking and they crucified
(04:18):
him.
Then, in Acts 1, he goes backout to the Mount of Olives as
the resurrected glory of God andascended into heaven from the
Mount of Olives.
If we saw in Zechariah 14, theLord Jesus is going to return to
the same Mount of Olives and goback into the city of Jerusalem
(04:40):
and set up the temple in themillennium.
And it's a very glorious timehere.
It's a very sad time, verysobering time, because God is
abandoning Jerusalem and he'sgoing to send in Babylon to
exercise his wrath.
Let's move on to the next one.
We're going to see Ezekiel'sgoing to pack up to go on a trip
(05:01):
and we're going to see hisluggage here.
So, steve, can you read inEzekiel, chapter 12, the first
seven verses.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son of
man, you live in the midst ofthe rebellious house who have
eyes to see but do not see, earsto hear but do not hear, for
they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, son of man, preparefor yourself baggage for exile
and go into exile by day, intheir sight, even go into exile
(05:34):
from your place to another placein their sight.
Perhaps they will understand,though they are a rebellious
house.
Bring your baggage out by day,in their sight, as baggage for
exile.
Then you will go out at evening, in their sight, as those going
into exile.
(05:54):
Dig a little hole through thewall in their sight and go out
through it.
Load the baggage on yourshoulder in their sight and
carry it out in the dark.
You shall cover your face sothat you cannot see the land,
for I have set you as a sign tothe house of Israel.
(06:14):
I did so as I had been commanded.
By day, I brought out mybaggage like the baggage of an
exile.
Then, in the evening, I dugthrough the wall with my hands.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I went out in the dark and carried the he has this
command and this, again, veryunusual activity that God has
asked him to do.
He acts out God's messages.
But don't miss the very firstverse of this chapter.
It says then the word of theLord came to me, saying and he
(06:53):
gives out the word of God.
Now this Ezekiel chapter 12,five times in this one chapter
we have the word of the Lordcame to me.
Ezekiel is claiming to writethis in first person.
It came to me.
He says he is Ezekiel writingthis and he is claiming very
directly to be giving out thevery words of God.
This isn't some thought, somereligious thing that somebody
(07:16):
made up.
This is the very words of God.
So if anybody says where doesthe Bible say that it's teaching
the Word of God?
Five times in this one chapterwe're told that he's giving out
the Word of God.
It also is a topic break for us.
Whenever he says the Word ofthe Lord came to me, then it is
a new message.
And yes, there's a theme thatgoes through the whole book, but
(07:39):
there's individual messages andthis is one of the ways to know
where a new message starts iswhen the Word of the Lord comes
to Ezekiel.
What exactly, steve, was heasked to do.
There's another one of theseunusual activities.
What was Ezekiel asked to do?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
He's being asked to act out preparation to go into
exile, pack up baggage, whichnormally when people are taken
out of their domain and takeninto exile, they can really only
take a very small amount oftheir belongings.
It's not like moving a wholehouse to somewhere else.
(08:18):
He's being told by God act thisout, and it's very specific
several times here to do thiswithin the sight of the people.
He is not only just to receivethis message and word from God
to tell the people, but he is tomake sure that they observe him
(08:39):
taking all of these actions ofpacking up baggage as if
preparing for exile, and then toleave his house and go to
another place.
So it's another very visibleobject lesson that God is
wanting to give to the people,as to Jerusalem's going to fall
and the people that are left inJerusalem there's going to be
(09:01):
another wave that's going to betaken into exile Again nothing
in here is just for noparticular reason.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
God has reasons for all of this.
He is to pack bags as if he'sgoing into exile in broad
daylight, carry them out intothe street and set them there as
if he's ready to leave.
He then goes back into thehouse and waits till dark.
(09:27):
He then digs a hole through thewall, picks up his belongings,
covers his face so that he can'tsee, and then carries this off
on his shoulder as if he's goinginto exile.
This is very interesting.
Again, people would bewondering what in the world is
Ezekiel doing this time?
(09:48):
And everybody's going to bewatching.
He would be speaking the wordsof God and, as we saw in
previous sessions, he's alreadygiven messages that proved he
was a prophet.
He predicted the death of aperson before the news had even
got there, so people knew he wasspeaking the very words of God.
When this actions of packingthe bags and waiting till dark
(10:13):
and then leaving and coveringyour face, all of these things
have symbolic meanings, what isthe daylight and the dark part,
steve?
Do we know?
What would those be?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
symbolic of.
One of the things that they'resymbolic of is what's going to
happen to the king that is therein Jerusalem.
We find out this information inthe latter parts of 2 Kings,
chapter 25, but the king that isthere right now is King
Zedekiah, the true king,jehoiakim.
(10:47):
He has already been taken intocaptivity by Nebuchadnezzar and
King Zedekiah has been put inhis place.
But he's not the true king,he's not from the lineage of
David, and what happens we findthis out in 2 Kings 25, is that
Zedekiah is taken prisoner,trying to escape from Jerusalem
(11:10):
through a breach in the wall.
He's taken to Riblah, which isan encampment where
Nebuchadnezzar is.
They kill his sons in front ofhim and then they put his eyes
out.
So this is depicted by Ezekielof him digging the hole to go
through and then putting a blindover himself so that he can't
(11:32):
see the land.
It's a depiction of Zedekiah.
What happens to him?
That he's also going to betaken into exile, but he's not
going to see the land of Babylonbecause his eyes are going to
be put out.
Now.
We talked in last session,glenn, that the prophecies are
near-term prophecies thatEzekiel is giving.
(11:55):
At this point Some of them arestill far off, but most of them
are near-term, as this is goingto play out in the next year or
so with the people.
They're going to see the kingZedekiah coming in to the exiled
part and he's going to beblinded and they're going to see
and talk about how did you getout?
(12:15):
They're going to have thisstory of him going through the
wall.
All of this is a depiction ofEzekiel from God to the exiles
that what he is telling him istrue and accurate, as put over
many, many times, so that thepeople will then know that I am
Yahweh.
This is another example of that.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
What's interesting, Steve, is the prophecy was
you're going to go to Babylonbut not see it.
And I'm sure there was someskeptic out there saying, well,
that's impossible.
If you're going to Babylon,then you'd see it.
Well, not with Zedekiah.
They put his sons in front ofhim, killed them, poked out his
(12:58):
eyes and then took him toBabylon.
So he did indeed go, but hedidn't see it.
The Word of God was literallyfulfilled.
The other part of thisprediction was also literally
fulfilled in the sense that,remember, he was to take his
bags out suddenly one day, setthem in the street and then wait
till nightfall, dig through thewall at dusk and then walk away
(13:25):
during the night.
This was literally fulfilled inJeremiah 39.4 and 52.7, when
they ended up digging throughthe walls, trying to escape the
Babylonian siege and being takenaway into captivity.
All of this was a very clearprophecy of what was going to
(13:48):
happen with the Babyloniancaptivity around the city of
Jerusalem, with the Babyloniancaptivity around the city of
Jerusalem.
God gives very clear messagesto people so that we don't have
to guess what he's trying to say.
Now, Steve, can we take thatinto our day?
Has God given us a very clearmessage that applies to us.
(14:09):
Hopefully we won't have aBabylonian army laying siege to
us, but there's been othermessages that are equally clear,
is there not?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Plenty of them.
Jesus left them to us the Sermonon the Mount of those chapters
in Matthew, his dealings withthe rulers, the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, the healings thathe gave and the messages behind
the parables, and also theprophecies that were given by
(14:39):
him of his Olivet Discourse inthe upper room, then the
aftermath of his apostles andthe letters they wrote Peter,
james, paul.
All of these things had beengiven to us as to help us to be
able to live our lives today, aChristian life of being in
Christ, as Paul likes to put it.
(15:00):
And there are still yet futurethings that are going to happen.
By knowing that theseprophecies that he's given to
Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Daniel,as contemporaries at this time,
and other prophets, zachariah,haggai, and on and on, when they
come true, then we can knowthat the future ones that are
(15:23):
still out there, they're goingto come true too, and we
shouldn't be foolish enough tosay foolish enough to say, oh,
it's been centuries since Jesushas left and I don't think he's
going to come back anytime soon.
Yeah, I don't really think thatsome of these prophecies that
they say are in the future aregoing to happen.
(15:44):
It's a very foolish thing to dothat because they are going to
happen.
God is true and accurate in hisword happened.
God is true and accurate in hisword.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Ezekiel's prophecy.
He's acting out this predictionand again they came literally
true.
But what he's trying to do isto give a message to the people
to be ready, because this isgoing to happen.
He says there's going to be atime when, suddenly, one day,
you have to pack your bags anddig out through the wall to
(16:14):
escape, and it's going to be atnight and it's going to be very
dark.
So he gave a clear predictionwith this.
What does the New Testamenttell us to be ready for?
Well, it tells us to be readyfor the Lord's return, does it
not?
We are to be ready for theLord's return because he could
come back at any time, and weare to be about the Lord's
return, does it not?
We are to be ready for theLord's return because he could
come back at any time, and weare to be about the Lord's
(16:37):
business.
Things are going to be veryradically different when he
comes back.
The people in those days weresaying look, it's always been
like this.
Jerusalem hasn't been conquered.
The army came once or twice nowand they didn't conquer
Jerusalem.
So we're okay, and it's alwaysbeen like this, so it always
(16:57):
will be like this.
And Ezekiel's message reallyGod's message through Ezekiel is
that?
No, no, it's going to be quitedifferent.
It's going to be very different, steve.
Is it going to be differentwhen Jesus comes back or is it
going to be the same?
You know, the New Testamenttalks about oh, people are going
to scoff at the idea of Jesuscoming back, but are we sure
(17:22):
that he'll come back?
And how different is it goingto be.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
We can be assured that he's going to come back,
because the angels that werestanding there with the apostles
as he ascended from the Mountof Olives they said why are you
gawking like you are?
Just as you've seen Jesusascend, in the same way.
He's going to come againsomeday.
We are to be ready for him forany type of an imminent return,
(17:46):
and it's going to be a gloriousday, part of it whenever he
comes back on the second time,going to be back in judgment and
he's going to be judging thenations as far as what they have
done with Israel.
And he's going to come back andprotect Israel and set up his
kingdom a long-awaited kingdomthat is spoken of so many times
(18:07):
in all of his different prophetsto set it up where he will rule
from Jerusalem.
We went through that in veryspecific detail when we went
through Zechariah and it's goingto be true and accurate.
Whenever the kingdom is set up,he's going to rule from
Jerusalem All the nations, notjust the nation of Israel.
(18:28):
And guess what, glenn, we'regoing to be helping rule with
him as well, as we're told asbeing believers in Christ,
there's going to be rewards thatwe're going to have.
One of those rewards is we'regoing to help rule the other
nations along with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
The next section, starting in Ezekiel 12, 8, he
says In the morning, the word ofthe Lord came to me, saying so.
This is another one of thesesections where he introduces a
new message.
The word of the Lord came to me.
Therefore, we have the nextmessage that God gives through
the prophet Ezekiel, son of man.
(19:05):
Has not the house of Israel,the rebellious house, said to
you what are you doing?
Say to them, thus, says theLord God.
This burden concerns the princein Jerusalem as well as all the
house of Israel who are in it.
Say I am assigned to you, as Ihave done so.
It will be done to them.
(19:26):
They will go into exile, intocaptivity.
The prince, who is among them,will load his baggage on his
shoulder in the dark and go out.
They will dig a hole throughthe wall to bring it out.
He will cover his face so thathe cannot see the land with his
eyes.
I will also spread my net overhim and he will be caught in my
(19:46):
snare, and I will bring him toBabylon, in the land of the
Chaldeans.
Yet he will not see it, though.
He will die there.
I will scatter into every windall who are around him, his
helpers and all his troops, andI will draw out a sword after
them.
So they will know that I am theLord when I scatter them
(20:07):
amongst the nations and spreadthem among the countries.
But I will spare a few of themfrom the sword, the famine and
the pestilence.
That they may tell all theabominations among the nations
where they go and may know thatI am the Lord.
God warns Ezekiel that thepeople are going to ask him what
he is doing and Ezekiel'sactions are a sign to Israel
(20:30):
that God is taking them intoexile in a foreign land.
In verse 12, even the wealthyhave to go into captivity.
Their wealth and position isnot going to protect them.
Steve, will the wealthy andpowerful be protected from the
wrath of God when it comes inthe Great Tribulation?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, they won't, and it's clear that God is not a
respecter of any man.
The way to escape that wrath isto become a believer in Jesus
Christ, that he is the anointedone, the Messiah, and, through
his death, burial andresurrection, believe in him and
trust on him.
That is the way to be able toescape the wrath.
(21:11):
It doesn't matter from whatarea of the social class that
you come from, how much moneyyou have, any of that.
Scripture says come to the Lordas you are and believe in Him
and trust in Him, and we willreceive rewards on the other
side of this world whenever weget into that kingdom.
(21:32):
So no, you're not going to beable to claim how rich you are
or how much wealth that you havein order to enter into the
kingdom.
It's very clear.
Jesus says I am the way, thetruth and the life.
No man comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
It's Jesus Christ.
Believe on him and trust on him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
And again, like we discussed earlier, in verse 13,
he says he's going to bring himto Babylon, in the land of the
Chaldeans, but he will not seeit, though.
He dies there, and that'sbecause the Babylonians blinded
him before he got there.
It was literally fulfilled.
And he says in verses 14 to 16,god's going to scatter them
(22:13):
amongst the nations, but he'salways going to preserve a
remnant so that they can go andtell the story.
God always preserves a remnant,but he also always brings
justice.
We cannot hide behind the factthat we are in the church and
therefore go live like the devil.
We will face consequences.
Yes, he has a remnant, but wecannot abuse his grace.
(22:36):
Steve, can you start at verse17 and go through 25?
We'll see the next message.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son
of man, eat your bread withtrembling and drink your water
with quivering and anxiety.
Then say to the people of theland Thus says the Lord God
concerning the inhabitants ofJerusalem, in the land of Israel
they will eat their bread withanxiety and drink their water
(23:04):
with horror, because their landwill be stripped of its fullness
on account of the violence ofall who live in it.
The inhabited cities will belaid waste and the land will be
desolation.
So you will know that I am theLord.
Then the word of the Lord cameto me, saying Son of man, what
(23:26):
is this proverb you people haveconcerning the land of Israel,
saying the days are long andevery vision fails?
Therefore, say to them Thussays the Lord God, I will make
this proverb cease so that theywill no longer use it as a
proverb in Israel, but tell themthe days draw near, as well as
(23:50):
the fulfillment of every vision,for there will no longer be any
false vision or flatteringdivination within the house of
Israel.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
We see this again more very clear, very severe
predictions by God through theprophet Ezekiel.
He tells us at the end of verse19 why he is doing this.
So, steve, what reason does Godgive at the end of verse 19 for
destroying the?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
land he says there at the end of 19, it's because of
the violence of all who havelived in it.
This is another indication ofwhat they were doing.
They're stubborn and obstinatepeople.
They weren't following hisordinances and statutes.
The leadership in the templearea had a secret area where
they had idol worship.
They were worshiping the sun,turning their back on God.
(24:41):
Now we have another indicationof what was happening.
There was great violence thatwas in the land.
So these are very robust people, Glenn, from the standpoint of
how robust they are in theirdisobedience of God.
From the standpoint of howrobust they are in their
disobedience of God, it'swell-rounded.
It seems like they're coveringevery bit of the bases
(25:04):
associated with what can you doin order to offend God.
It seems like they're takingevery aspect of their lives to
do it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
He says in here it's the violence.
Is this particular reason andthe other reason you mentioned
also, steve, where he hadearlier called it adultery, when
they brought in these idols andthese statues here at the end
of verse 19, it's because theirland will be stripped of its
fullness on account of theviolence of all who lived in it.
(25:30):
I think of our day.
We live in cities where there'sa lot of violence.
We live in a day where there'sa lot of violence, and back then
they had violence too.
The crime in our cities isn'tnew.
It's been happening since theancient days, but here God knows
about it.
Now he's going to do somethingabout it.
(25:51):
The ancient Israelites didn'tget away with violence and crime
, and neither will we.
There will come a day when wepay a great price for allowing
all of the violence in ourcities.
God predicts desolation anddestruction of the people of
Israel, and that's happened.
That land was indeed desolatewhenever God would judge upon it
(26:16):
.
Whenever the Jewish people werethere and in obedience, the
land itself would be blessed andit would be very fruitful and
productive.
When they disobeyed, god sentthem out of the land and it
turned into a wasteland.
God will not be mocked.
He will hold justice.
And in verse 22, the falseprophets had predicted that the
(26:38):
days of Jerusalem would be longand its destruction would be
very far off, or any predictionswould fail.
The people were listening tothe wrong teachers.
God says he's going to stop thefalse teaching.
We today have false teachers.
But people were crying out whydon't you just stop this false
(26:58):
teacher?
And God says, okay, I will.
I'm going to send in thishorrible pagan nation and we're
going to stop those falseteachers.
God stopped the false prophetsby sending in a country, babylon
, that was very much worse thanthe false prophets were.
God will not be marked, but allthese prophets had predictions
(27:20):
that were false.
God's prophets had predictionsthat came true within the
lifetime of the prophets.
That's how we know that theyare speaking for God.
God is in control, his nationis in control and he moves the
nations around as he sees fit.
He will not allow evil forever.
(27:42):
He will deal with it.
He is patient, but he will dealwith it.
The next verses, 26 through 28,say this Furthermore, the word
of the Lord came to me sayingSon of man, behold the house of
Israel is saying the vision thathe sees is for many years from
now, and he prophesies of timesfar off.
(28:03):
Therefore, say to them Thussays the Lord God, none of my
words will be delayed any longer.
Whatever word I speak will beperformed, declares the Lord.
So the people here were sayingthese false teachers were saying
oh, ezekiel's words, they mayhappen, but it's going to be a
long time in the future that ithappens.
And God is saying no, thedestruction of Jerusalem will
(28:27):
happen soon, steve.
What else can we learn fromthose verses?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
We can learn that we need to be able to discern
whether or not the teachers aretelling us the truth or not.
In this case, as you mentioned,these were prophets that God
had sent over and over again andthey had ignored the ones God
had sent and they were followingthe false prophets that were
giving them hope and tellingthem that, oh yeah, all these
(28:56):
visions that Ezekiel is talkingabout, they haven't come to
fruition yet.
Therefore, they're not going tocome to fruition.
Well, they end up coming andGod says they're going to come
true, so that you will know thatI am the Lord Yahweh.
I find that very interesting,glenn, that people want to just
(29:21):
look at God as being a lovingGod and a protective God and a
sanctuary.
God said that earlier in theverses that even though he was
spreading the people out intovarious countries and nations,
he was still going to be asanctuary for them.
But there's still discipline.
That's going to happen and Godis going to discipline the
people.
And I find it interesting that,not just here but in the later
(29:44):
verses that we're going to gothrough next and other chapters,
that he says, through thisdiscipline, they are going to
know that I am the Lord.
So I don't know about you,glenn, but I don't want to be on
the side that's going to befinding out that God is a Lord
through his wrath.
I want to be on the side thatsays I know who the Lord God is
(30:06):
and I don't want to have to gothrough that wrath.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
We need to make sure we're clear here on that, in the
sense that I also don't want tobe facing God's wrath.
Just because God is patientdoesn't mean that he will allow
sin forever.
He will deal with it and hewill deal with people that are
rebellious towards His Word.
We have here to wrap up thischapter.
(30:30):
People had claimed oh, thevision he sees is for many years
from now, and his message wasno, this is going to happen soon
.
Now we have to be very clearabout that and what he's
applying to.
We've pointed out that God hasdifferent prophecies.
Whenever he introduces a newone, the word of the Lord came
(30:50):
to me.
There's many of them in thisbook.
We've already seen thatjudgments where he's going to
send the Babylonian army in andtake them captive into Babylon,
but he's also going to come aday when he brings them back.
Well, obviously those two areopposing.
They're not going to happenimmediately.
At the same time, what he'sspeaking here they're not going
(31:11):
to happen immediately at thesame time.
What he's speaking here, thingsthat are going to happen soon,
is the destruction of Jerusalem.
That's what's going to happensoon.
The prophecy of regatheringthem was still future, and
there's other prophecies laterin the book, again in chapter 36
, where he says that I'm goingto gather you back and change
(31:31):
your heart, and the message ofthe valley of the dry bones all
those were future to the time hegave them.
This particular prophecy he'stalking about here is the
prophecy of the destruction ofJerusalem.
Now, steve, this is again a lotof hard language here, but I
think it's quite needed.
Our churches don't deal enoughin the wrath of God, and it's
(31:54):
very sobering he says severaltimes then you will know that I
am the Lord.
So I think it's true then, andit's true today.
Whenever God does judge people,that's when we know who's
really in control.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Here in verse, 28, he says who's really in control
here?
In verse 28, he says none of mywords will be delayed any
longer.
The time has come.
The only way left is for themto be exiled.
There's going to come a timewhenever Jesus Christ is coming
back Glenn, we don't know whenit is, but God, the Father, does
(32:28):
, and his word is not going tobe delayed anymore.
So we need to make sure thatwe're on the right side whenever
he returns.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That brings us to the end of Ezekiel, chapter 12, and
the end of today's session.
But be back with us again nexttime as we continue to reason
through the book of Ezekiel.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Thank you so much for watching and listening.
May God bless you.
Today on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going
to see a trip that Ezekiel'sgoing to go on and we're going
to see where.
It's not going to be a pleasantvacation, but we're also going
to see God's glory abandon thecity of Jerusalem.
It is a very scary thing whenGod abandons you, when you get
so far away from God that heabandons you.
(00:42):
It's a very serious, very scary, very sobering thing.
Hello and welcome.
We are Reasoning Through theBible.
We do detailed verse-by-versestudies through the Word of God.
If you're new to us, go to ourwebsite,
reasoningthroughthebiblecom.
There you can see free lessonplans on how you can teach the
Bible and have helps for yoursmall group or your church.
(01:06):
We'd also love to hear from you.
Send us a note at info atreasoningthroughthebiblecom if
you have questions or comments.
But today we're going tocontinue to reason through.
We are at the last part of the11th chapter of Ezekiel and
Ezekiel is seeing a vision ofthe city of Jerusalem and he's
(01:30):
got a very hard message thathe's going to have to give to
the Jewish people.
Steve, can you start at 11.22and read to the end of?
Speaker 2 (01:40):
the chapter.
Then the cherubim lifted uptheir wings, with the wheels
beside them, and the glory ofthe God of Israel hovered over
them.
The glory of the Lord went upfrom the midst of the city and
stood over the mountain which iseast of the city, and the
Spirit lifted me up and broughtme in a vision by the Spirit of
(02:01):
God to the exiles in Chaldea.
So the vision that I had seenleft me.
We have here this message andagain what he talks about in
verse 22, the cherubim lifted uptheir wings with the wheels.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
This goes all the way back to the beginning of this
particular vision.
They appeared to him andthere's a detailed description
of this.
If you missed it, go back toEzekiel, chapter 1, and you'll
see a very detailed vision ofthe throne of God and how God
would arrive and give messagesto Ezekiel.
It's a very powerful message.
(02:41):
Here we see the glory of God inthe form of this throne pick up
from the midst of the city.
If you remember, if we hadfollowed it since chapter 9, the
glory of God was hovering overthe ark, that is, in the Holy of
Holies behind the veil in thetemple, holies behind the veil
(03:08):
in the temple.
It picks up from there and itgoes to the front of the temple
building and filled that eveninto the inner court.
Then it went out through theeast gate of the temple to the
gate of the city, and here itgoes from the midst of the city
and stood over the mountainwhich is east of the city.
Now the mountain which is eastof the city is the Mount of
(03:30):
Olives.
Starting back again at Ezekiel,chapter 9, through this vision
we've seen the glory of Godsteadily leave the temple, leave
the outer court of the temple,leave the city of Jerusalem, and
it's gone out the east gate tothe Mount of Olives.
One of the major themes that isthreaded through the Word of God
(03:52):
is the glory of God leaving thetemple, and we know from the
Gospels that it came back.
It came back in the form ofJesus Christ, who is the glory
of God.
He started the triumphal entryfrom the Mount of Olives, went
into the East Gate and found thecity lacking and they crucified
(04:18):
him.
Then, in Acts 1, he goes backout to the Mount of Olives as
the resurrected glory of God andascended into heaven from the
Mount of Olives.
If we saw in Zechariah 14, theLord Jesus is going to return to
the same Mount of Olives and goback into the city of Jerusalem
(04:40):
and set up the temple in themillennium.
And it's a very glorious timehere.
It's a very sad time, verysobering time, because God is
abandoning Jerusalem and he'sgoing to send in Babylon to
exercise his wrath.
Let's move on to the next one.
We're going to see Ezekiel'sgoing to pack up to go on a trip
(05:01):
and we're going to see hisluggage here.
So, steve, can you read inEzekiel, chapter 12, the first
seven verses.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son of
man, you live in the midst ofthe rebellious house who have
eyes to see but do not see, earsto hear but do not hear, for
they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, son of man, preparefor yourself baggage for exile
and go into exile by day, intheir sight, even go into exile
(05:34):
from your place to another placein their sight.
Perhaps they will understand,though they are a rebellious
house.
Bring your baggage out by day,in their sight, as baggage for
exile.
Then you will go out at evening, in their sight, as those going
into exile.
(05:54):
Dig a little hole through thewall in their sight and go out
through it.
Load the baggage on yourshoulder in their sight and
carry it out in the dark.
You shall cover your face sothat you cannot see the land,
for I have set you as a sign tothe house of Israel.
(06:14):
I did so as I had been commanded.
By day, I brought out mybaggage like the baggage of an
exile.
Then, in the evening, I dugthrough the wall with my hands.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
I went out in the dark and carried the he has this
command and this, again, veryunusual activity that God has
asked him to do.
He acts out God's messages.
But don't miss the very firstverse of this chapter.
It says then the word of theLord came to me, saying and he
(06:53):
gives out the word of God.
Now this Ezekiel chapter 12,five times in this one chapter
we have the word of the Lordcame to me.
Ezekiel is claiming to writethis in first person.
It came to me.
He says he is Ezekiel writingthis and he is claiming very
directly to be giving out thevery words of God.
This isn't some thought, somereligious thing that somebody
(07:16):
made up.
This is the very words of God.
So if anybody says where doesthe Bible say that it's teaching
the Word of God?
Five times in this one chapterwe're told that he's giving out
the Word of God.
It also is a topic break for us.
Whenever he says the Word ofthe Lord came to me, then it is
a new message.
And yes, there's a theme thatgoes through the whole book, but
(07:39):
there's individual messages andthis is one of the ways to know
where a new message starts iswhen the Word of the Lord comes
to Ezekiel.
What exactly, steve, was heasked to do.
There's another one of theseunusual activities.
What was Ezekiel asked to do?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
He's being asked to act out preparation to go into
exile, pack up baggage, whichnormally when people are taken
out of their domain and takeninto exile, they can really only
take a very small amount oftheir belongings.
It's not like moving a wholehouse to somewhere else.
(08:18):
He's being told by God act thisout, and it's very specific
several times here to do thiswithin the sight of the people.
He is not only just to receivethis message and word from God
to tell the people, but he is tomake sure that they observe him
(08:39):
taking all of these actions ofpacking up baggage as if
preparing for exile, and then toleave his house and go to
another place.
So it's another very visibleobject lesson that God is
wanting to give to the people,as to Jerusalem's going to fall
and the people that are left inJerusalem there's going to be
(09:01):
another wave that's going to betaken into exile Again nothing
in here is just for noparticular reason.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
God has reasons for all of this.
He is to pack bags as if he'sgoing into exile in broad
daylight, carry them out intothe street and set them there as
if he's ready to leave.
He then goes back into thehouse and waits till dark.
(09:27):
He then digs a hole through thewall, picks up his belongings,
covers his face so that he can'tsee, and then carries this off
on his shoulder as if he's goinginto exile.
This is very interesting.
Again, people would bewondering what in the world is
Ezekiel doing this time?
(09:48):
And everybody's going to bewatching.
He would be speaking the wordsof God and, as we saw in
previous sessions, he's alreadygiven messages that proved he
was a prophet.
He predicted the death of aperson before the news had even
got there, so people knew he wasspeaking the very words of God.
When this actions of packingthe bags and waiting till dark
(10:13):
and then leaving and coveringyour face, all of these things
have symbolic meanings, what isthe daylight and the dark part,
steve?
Do we know?
What would those be?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
symbolic of.
One of the things that they'resymbolic of is what's going to
happen to the king that is therein Jerusalem.
We find out this information inthe latter parts of 2 Kings,
chapter 25, but the king that isthere right now is King
Zedekiah, the true king,jehoiakim.
(10:47):
He has already been taken intocaptivity by Nebuchadnezzar and
King Zedekiah has been put inhis place.
But he's not the true king,he's not from the lineage of
David, and what happens we findthis out in 2 Kings 25, is that
Zedekiah is taken prisoner,trying to escape from Jerusalem
(11:10):
through a breach in the wall.
He's taken to Riblah, which isan encampment where
Nebuchadnezzar is.
They kill his sons in front ofhim and then they put his eyes
out.
So this is depicted by Ezekielof him digging the hole to go
through and then putting a blindover himself so that he can't
(11:32):
see the land.
It's a depiction of Zedekiah.
What happens to him?
That he's also going to betaken into exile, but he's not
going to see the land of Babylonbecause his eyes are going to
be put out.
Now.
We talked in last session,glenn, that the prophecies are
near-term prophecies thatEzekiel is giving.
(11:55):
At this point Some of them arestill far off, but most of them
are near-term, as this is goingto play out in the next year or
so with the people.
They're going to see the kingZedekiah coming in to the exiled
part and he's going to beblinded and they're going to see
and talk about how did you getout?
(12:15):
They're going to have thisstory of him going through the
wall.
All of this is a depiction ofEzekiel from God to the exiles
that what he is telling him istrue and accurate, as put over
many, many times, so that thepeople will then know that I am
Yahweh.
This is another example of that.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
What's interesting, Steve, is the prophecy was
you're going to go to Babylonbut not see it.
And I'm sure there was someskeptic out there saying, well,
that's impossible.
If you're going to Babylon,then you'd see it.
Well, not with Zedekiah.
They put his sons in front ofhim, killed them, poked out his
(12:58):
eyes and then took him toBabylon.
So he did indeed go, but hedidn't see it.
The Word of God was literallyfulfilled.
The other part of thisprediction was also literally
fulfilled in the sense that,remember, he was to take his
bags out suddenly one day, setthem in the street and then wait
till nightfall, dig through thewall at dusk and then walk away
(13:25):
during the night.
This was literally fulfilled inJeremiah 39.4 and 52.7, when
they ended up digging throughthe walls, trying to escape the
Babylonian siege and being takenaway into captivity.
All of this was a very clearprophecy of what was going to
(13:48):
happen with the Babyloniancaptivity around the city of
Jerusalem, with the Babyloniancaptivity around the city of
Jerusalem.
God gives very clear messagesto people so that we don't have
to guess what he's trying to say.
Now, Steve, can we take thatinto our day?
Has God given us a very clearmessage that applies to us.
(14:09):
Hopefully we won't have aBabylonian army laying siege to
us, but there's been othermessages that are equally clear,
is there not?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Plenty of them.
Jesus left them to us the Sermonon the Mount of those chapters
in Matthew, his dealings withthe rulers, the Pharisees and
the Sadducees, the healings thathe gave and the messages behind
the parables, and also theprophecies that were given by
(14:39):
him of his Olivet Discourse inthe upper room, then the
aftermath of his apostles andthe letters they wrote Peter,
james, paul.
All of these things had beengiven to us as to help us to be
able to live our lives today, aChristian life of being in
Christ, as Paul likes to put it.
(15:00):
And there are still yet futurethings that are going to happen.
By knowing that theseprophecies that he's given to
Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Daniel,as contemporaries at this time,
and other prophets, zachariah,haggai, and on and on, when they
come true, then we can knowthat the future ones that are
(15:23):
still out there, they're goingto come true too, and we
shouldn't be foolish enough tosay foolish enough to say, oh,
it's been centuries since Jesushas left and I don't think he's
going to come back anytime soon.
Yeah, I don't really think thatsome of these prophecies that
they say are in the future aregoing to happen.
(15:44):
It's a very foolish thing to dothat because they are going to
happen.
God is true and accurate in hisword happened.
God is true and accurate in hisword.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Ezekiel's prophecy.
He's acting out this predictionand again they came literally
true.
But what he's trying to do isto give a message to the people
to be ready, because this isgoing to happen.
He says there's going to be atime when, suddenly, one day,
you have to pack your bags anddig out through the wall to
(16:14):
escape, and it's going to be atnight and it's going to be very
dark.
So he gave a clear predictionwith this.
What does the New Testamenttell us to be ready for?
Well, it tells us to be readyfor the Lord's return, does it
not?
We are to be ready for theLord's return because he could
come back at any time, and weare to be about the Lord's
return, does it not?
We are to be ready for theLord's return because he could
come back at any time, and weare to be about the Lord's
(16:37):
business.
Things are going to be veryradically different when he
comes back.
The people in those days weresaying look, it's always been
like this.
Jerusalem hasn't been conquered.
The army came once or twice nowand they didn't conquer
Jerusalem.
So we're okay, and it's alwaysbeen like this, so it always
(16:57):
will be like this.
And Ezekiel's message reallyGod's message through Ezekiel is
that?
No, no, it's going to be quitedifferent.
It's going to be very different, steve.
Is it going to be differentwhen Jesus comes back or is it
going to be the same?
You know, the New Testamenttalks about oh, people are going
to scoff at the idea of Jesuscoming back, but are we sure
(17:22):
that he'll come back?
And how different is it goingto be.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
We can be assured that he's going to come back,
because the angels that werestanding there with the apostles
as he ascended from the Mountof Olives they said why are you
gawking like you are?
Just as you've seen Jesusascend, in the same way.
He's going to come againsomeday.
We are to be ready for him forany type of an imminent return,
(17:46):
and it's going to be a gloriousday, part of it whenever he
comes back on the second time,going to be back in judgment and
he's going to be judging thenations as far as what they have
done with Israel.
And he's going to come back andprotect Israel and set up his
kingdom a long-awaited kingdomthat is spoken of so many times
(18:07):
in all of his different prophetsto set it up where he will rule
from Jerusalem.
We went through that in veryspecific detail when we went
through Zechariah and it's goingto be true and accurate.
Whenever the kingdom is set up,he's going to rule from
Jerusalem All the nations, notjust the nation of Israel.
(18:28):
And guess what, glenn, we'regoing to be helping rule with
him as well, as we're told asbeing believers in Christ,
there's going to be rewards thatwe're going to have.
One of those rewards is we'regoing to help rule the other
nations along with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
The next section, starting in Ezekiel 12, 8, he
says In the morning, the word ofthe Lord came to me, saying so.
This is another one of thesesections where he introduces a
new message.
The word of the Lord came to me.
Therefore, we have the nextmessage that God gives through
the prophet Ezekiel, son of man.
(19:05):
Has not the house of Israel,the rebellious house, said to
you what are you doing?
Say to them, thus, says theLord God.
This burden concerns the princein Jerusalem as well as all the
house of Israel who are in it.
Say I am assigned to you, as Ihave done so.
It will be done to them.
(19:26):
They will go into exile, intocaptivity.
The prince, who is among them,will load his baggage on his
shoulder in the dark and go out.
They will dig a hole throughthe wall to bring it out.
He will cover his face so thathe cannot see the land with his
eyes.
I will also spread my net overhim and he will be caught in my
(19:46):
snare, and I will bring him toBabylon, in the land of the
Chaldeans.
Yet he will not see it, though.
He will die there.
I will scatter into every windall who are around him, his
helpers and all his troops, andI will draw out a sword after
them.
So they will know that I am theLord when I scatter them
(20:07):
amongst the nations and spreadthem among the countries.
But I will spare a few of themfrom the sword, the famine and
the pestilence.
That they may tell all theabominations among the nations
where they go and may know thatI am the Lord.
God warns Ezekiel that thepeople are going to ask him what
he is doing and Ezekiel'sactions are a sign to Israel
(20:30):
that God is taking them intoexile in a foreign land.
In verse 12, even the wealthyhave to go into captivity.
Their wealth and position isnot going to protect them.
Steve, will the wealthy andpowerful be protected from the
wrath of God when it comes inthe Great Tribulation?
Speaker 2 (20:49):
No, they won't, and it's clear that God is not a
respecter of any man.
The way to escape that wrath isto become a believer in Jesus
Christ, that he is the anointedone, the Messiah, and, through
his death, burial andresurrection, believe in him and
trust on him.
That is the way to be able toescape the wrath.
(21:11):
It doesn't matter from whatarea of the social class that
you come from, how much moneyyou have, any of that.
Scripture says come to the Lordas you are and believe in Him
and trust in Him, and we willreceive rewards on the other
side of this world whenever weget into that kingdom.
(21:32):
So no, you're not going to beable to claim how rich you are
or how much wealth that you havein order to enter into the
kingdom.
It's very clear.
Jesus says I am the way, thetruth and the life.
No man comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
It's Jesus Christ.
Believe on him and trust on him.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
And again, like we discussed earlier, in verse 13,
he says he's going to bring himto Babylon, in the land of the
Chaldeans, but he will not seeit, though.
He dies there, and that'sbecause the Babylonians blinded
him before he got there.
It was literally fulfilled.
And he says in verses 14 to 16,god's going to scatter them
(22:13):
amongst the nations, but he'salways going to preserve a
remnant so that they can go andtell the story.
God always preserves a remnant,but he also always brings
justice.
We cannot hide behind the factthat we are in the church and
therefore go live like the devil.
We will face consequences.
Yes, he has a remnant, but wecannot abuse his grace.
(22:36):
Steve, can you start at verse17 and go through 25?
We'll see the next message.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son
of man, eat your bread withtrembling and drink your water
with quivering and anxiety.
Then say to the people of theland Thus says the Lord God
concerning the inhabitants ofJerusalem, in the land of Israel
they will eat their bread withanxiety and drink their water
(23:04):
with horror, because their landwill be stripped of its fullness
on account of the violence ofall who live in it.
The inhabited cities will belaid waste and the land will be
desolation.
So you will know that I am theLord.
Then the word of the Lord cameto me, saying Son of man, what
(23:26):
is this proverb you people haveconcerning the land of Israel,
saying the days are long andevery vision fails?
Therefore, say to them Thussays the Lord God, I will make
this proverb cease so that theywill no longer use it as a
proverb in Israel, but tell themthe days draw near, as well as
(23:50):
the fulfillment of every vision,for there will no longer be any
false vision or flatteringdivination within the house of
Israel.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
We see this again more very clear, very severe
predictions by God through theprophet Ezekiel.
He tells us at the end of verse19 why he is doing this.
So, steve, what reason does Godgive at the end of verse 19 for
destroying the?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
land he says there at the end of 19, it's because of
the violence of all who havelived in it.
This is another indication ofwhat they were doing.
They're stubborn and obstinatepeople.
They weren't following hisordinances and statutes.
The leadership in the templearea had a secret area where
they had idol worship.
They were worshiping the sun,turning their back on God.
(24:41):
Now we have another indicationof what was happening.
There was great violence thatwas in the land.
So these are very robust people, Glenn, from the standpoint of
how robust they are in theirdisobedience of God.
From the standpoint of howrobust they are in their
disobedience of God, it'swell-rounded.
It seems like they're coveringevery bit of the bases
(25:04):
associated with what can you doin order to offend God.
It seems like they're takingevery aspect of their lives to
do it.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
He says in here it's the violence.
Is this particular reason andthe other reason you mentioned
also, steve, where he hadearlier called it adultery, when
they brought in these idols andthese statues here at the end
of verse 19, it's because theirland will be stripped of its
fullness on account of theviolence of all who lived in it.
(25:30):
I think of our day.
We live in cities where there'sa lot of violence.
We live in a day where there'sa lot of violence, and back then
they had violence too.
The crime in our cities isn'tnew.
It's been happening since theancient days, but here God knows
about it.
Now he's going to do somethingabout it.
(25:51):
The ancient Israelites didn'tget away with violence and crime
, and neither will we.
There will come a day when wepay a great price for allowing
all of the violence in ourcities.
God predicts desolation anddestruction of the people of
Israel, and that's happened.
That land was indeed desolatewhenever God would judge upon it
(26:16):
.
Whenever the Jewish people werethere and in obedience, the
land itself would be blessed andit would be very fruitful and
productive.
When they disobeyed, god sentthem out of the land and it
turned into a wasteland.
God will not be mocked.
He will hold justice.
And in verse 22, the falseprophets had predicted that the
(26:38):
days of Jerusalem would be longand its destruction would be
very far off, or any predictionswould fail.
The people were listening tothe wrong teachers.
God says he's going to stop thefalse teaching.
We today have false teachers.
But people were crying out whydon't you just stop this false
(26:58):
teacher?
And God says, okay, I will.
I'm going to send in thishorrible pagan nation and we're
going to stop those falseteachers.
God stopped the false prophetsby sending in a country, babylon
, that was very much worse thanthe false prophets were.
God will not be marked, but allthese prophets had predictions
(27:20):
that were false.
God's prophets had predictionsthat came true within the
lifetime of the prophets.
That's how we know that theyare speaking for God.
God is in control, his nationis in control and he moves the
nations around as he sees fit.
He will not allow evil forever.
(27:42):
He will deal with it.
He is patient, but he will dealwith it.
The next verses, 26 through 28,say this Furthermore, the word
of the Lord came to me sayingSon of man, behold the house of
Israel is saying the vision thathe sees is for many years from
now, and he prophesies of timesfar off.
(28:03):
Therefore, say to them Thussays the Lord God, none of my
words will be delayed any longer.
Whatever word I speak will beperformed, declares the Lord.
So the people here were sayingthese false teachers were saying
oh, ezekiel's words, they mayhappen, but it's going to be a
long time in the future that ithappens.
And God is saying no, thedestruction of Jerusalem will
(28:27):
happen soon, steve.
What else can we learn fromthose verses?
Speaker 2 (28:32):
We can learn that we need to be able to discern
whether or not the teachers aretelling us the truth or not.
In this case, as you mentioned,these were prophets that God
had sent over and over again andthey had ignored the ones God
had sent and they were followingthe false prophets that were
giving them hope and tellingthem that, oh yeah, all these
(28:56):
visions that Ezekiel is talkingabout, they haven't come to
fruition yet.
Therefore, they're not going tocome to fruition.
Well, they end up coming andGod says they're going to come
true, so that you will know thatI am the Lord Yahweh.
I find that very interesting,glenn, that people want to just
(29:21):
look at God as being a lovingGod and a protective God and a
sanctuary.
God said that earlier in theverses that even though he was
spreading the people out intovarious countries and nations,
he was still going to be asanctuary for them.
But there's still discipline.
That's going to happen and Godis going to discipline the
people.
And I find it interesting that,not just here but in the later
(29:44):
verses that we're going to gothrough next and other chapters,
that he says, through thisdiscipline, they are going to
know that I am the Lord.
So I don't know about you,glenn, but I don't want to be on
the side that's going to befinding out that God is a Lord
through his wrath.
I want to be on the side thatsays I know who the Lord God is
(30:06):
and I don't want to have to gothrough that wrath.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
We need to make sure we're clear here on that, in the
sense that I also don't want tobe facing God's wrath.
Just because God is patientdoesn't mean that he will allow
sin forever.
He will deal with it and hewill deal with people that are
rebellious towards His Word.
We have here to wrap up thischapter.
(30:30):
People had claimed oh, thevision he sees is for many years
from now, and his message wasno, this is going to happen soon
.
Now we have to be very clearabout that and what he's
applying to.
We've pointed out that God hasdifferent prophecies.
Whenever he introduces a newone, the word of the Lord came
(30:50):
to me.
There's many of them in thisbook.
We've already seen thatjudgments where he's going to
send the Babylonian army in andtake them captive into Babylon,
but he's also going to come aday when he brings them back.
Well, obviously those two areopposing.
They're not going to happenimmediately.
At the same time, what he'sspeaking here they're not going
(31:11):
to happen immediately at thesame time.
What he's speaking here, thingsthat are going to happen soon,
is the destruction of Jerusalem.
That's what's going to happensoon.
The prophecy of regatheringthem was still future, and
there's other prophecies laterin the book, again in chapter 36
, where he says that I'm goingto gather you back and change
(31:31):
your heart, and the message ofthe valley of the dry bones all
those were future to the time hegave them.
This particular prophecy he'stalking about here is the
prophecy of the destruction ofJerusalem.
Now, steve, this is again a lotof hard language here, but I
think it's quite needed.
Our churches don't deal enoughin the wrath of God, and it's
(31:54):
very sobering he says severaltimes then you will know that I
am the Lord.
So I think it's true then, andit's true today.
Whenever God does judge people,that's when we know who's
really in control.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Here in verse, 28, he says who's really in control
here?
In verse 28, he says none of mywords will be delayed any
longer.
The time has come.
The only way left is for themto be exiled.
There's going to come a timewhenever Jesus Christ is coming
back Glenn, we don't know whenit is, but God, the Father, does
(32:28):
, and his word is not going tobe delayed anymore.
So we need to make sure thatwe're on the right side whenever
he returns.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That brings us to the end of Ezekiel, chapter 12, and
the end of today's session.
But be back with us again nexttime as we continue to reason
through the book of Ezekiel.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Thank you so much for watching and listening.
May God bless you.
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