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834. Bible Study: Ezekiel 12 (Prophecy Fulfilled) · Faith by annm2705

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  Ezekiel chapter 12 the exile symbolized dear Lord, please be
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  with us as we read through this chapter or maybe more and let us
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  have wisdom and insight from the Holy Spirit and anything that
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  would apply to our current lives or ways of living.
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  Please reveal that to us. We ask that this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. The exile symbolized the word of
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  the Lord. Came to me, Son of man, you are
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  living among a rebellious people.
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  They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear.
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  But they do not hear for they are a rebellious people.
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  So I had underlined that in my Bible because a rebellious
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  people, they have everything they need to listen to God.
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  They have eyes and ears. They can hear and they can see,
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  but they can continue in rebellious ways, so that can
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  apply to us as well. Therefore, Son of Man, pack your
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  belongings for exile, and in daytime, as they watch, set out
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  and go from where you are to another place.
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  Perhaps they will understand, though, they are a rebellious
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  people. During the daytime while they
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  watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile.
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  Then in the evening while they're watching, go out like
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  those who go into exile. While they watch, dig through
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  the wall and take your belongings out through it.
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  Put them on your shoulders as they are watching and carrying
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  them out. At dusk, cover your face so that
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  they cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to
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  the Israelites. So we have to remember this is
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  God talking to Ezekiel, giving him instructions on how he's
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  going to get a message to the Israelites.
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  Verse 7. So I did what I was commanded
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  during the day. I brought out my things, packed
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  for exile. Then in the evening I dug
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  through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at
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  dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.
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  In the morning the word of the Lord came to me.
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  It's really interesting because God keeps communicating with him
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  as he's obeying, and that might be significant too, like God may
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  communicate more when we are obedient.
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  In the morning the word of the Lord came to me.
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  Son of Man, did not the Israelites that rebellious
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  people ask you, what are you doing?
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  This is another point that God's seeing.
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  He's watching everything we're doing right now, just like he
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  was watching Ezekiel. He's saying to this, didn't
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  those rebellious people ask you, what are you doing?
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  So he's watching the whole time to see how people respond.
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  And that applies to us today too, because God is watching to
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  see how we respond to the message about his Kingdom.
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  Verse 10 Say to them, This is what the sovereign Lord says.
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  This prophecy concerns the Prince in Jerusalem and all the
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  Israelites who were there. Say to them, I am a sign to you.
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  As I have done so it will be done to them.
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  They will go into exile as captives.
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  The Prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at
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  dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go
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  through. He will cover his face so that
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  he cannot see the land. I will spread my net for him,
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  and he will be caught in my snare.
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  I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he
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  will not see it. And there he will die.
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  I will scatter to the winds all those around him, his staff and
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  all his troops, and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
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  So there's a lot in that little paragraph there in that verse, I
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  guess. 17 And let's see. So there's there's a Prince
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  among them and thankfully the study Bible helps us with that.
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  Who was the Prince? This was Zedekiah, the king of
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  Jerusalem, who tried but failed to escape capture in by the
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  Babylonians. And that whole account is found
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  in second Kings chapter 25 verse through one through 6.
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  So and then it says that so he tried to escape the Babylonians,
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  but what happened is the Babylonians captured him and
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  they also blinded him and then they executed his sons in front
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  of him. I think they did that first they
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  executed his sons in front of him and then they blinded him
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  and then they took him into captivity.
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  So, you know, this is a prophecy that Ezekiel gave that was
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  actually fulfilled. And it is kind of like it's
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  stated clearly when you read it in hindsight.
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  But if you're reading it or hearing it in advance of
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  something happened, of something happening, then there would be a
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  lot of questions like what does this mean?
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  And that's the same for us today with prophecy that when we look
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  at it in hindsight, we'll probably see, oh, that's how it
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  happened. But today a lot of people are
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  speculating because it is kind of almost like a Riddle.
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  And I do think that the Holy Spirit reveals things to people
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  and reveals things gradually, just like the prophet Daniel,
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  who he said, you know, when he gave the prophecy, he said these
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  will be sealed up until the end. So in the end, is God revealing
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  these things, you know that they nobody could figure them out
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  until the time was appropriate. And it seems like that is the
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  case actually. So going back to what the
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  Scripture said, the prophecy about Zedekiah, I will spread my
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  net for him. So Zedekiah was captured and he
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  will be caught in my snare. So you can also see that God is
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  actually behind this, like he's saying this in the future about
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  what's going to happen. And he's using the Babylonians,
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  he's using Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is his resource,
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  his tool. Nebuchadnezzar has it in his own
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  heart to do these things. So God's not forcing him or
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  manipulating him to do this. He's letting Nebuchadnezzar's
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  free will decide that he wants to do this, but God is allowing
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  it because of what Israel did. So this shows us a lot about how
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  God responds to, I guess our, our rebellion in general.
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  I mean, this is specifically to Israel, but it is applicable
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  because God doesn't change. So if we are rebellious, the
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  same would hold true for us because he, he doesn't have any
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  favorites. He shows no favoritism.
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  He's a just God. And when we read these things,
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  we can we can apply these to ourselves because because God
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  doesn't change. And it's a good way to evaluate
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  our lives. Like if we've been give getting
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  warnings or if we've been feeling a conviction from the
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  Holy Spirit about certain things in our life, we need to address
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  those things and, and work with God, not against God to change
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  those. You know, ask for more power
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  from the Holy Spirit to overcome things because the Holy Spirit
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  has that power available. It's just do we trust in God?
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  Are we going to try and do things on our own?
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  So let's see, I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the
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  Chaldeans, but he will not see it and there he will die.
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  So people would probably be questioning, you know, how is he
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  going to bring him to the Chaldeans?
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  But he won't see it. How could he not see it if he's
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  there? Well, you know, that's how it
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  was actually fulfilled. He was blinded.
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  His eyes were gouged out, which is awful.
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  But that's what happened to Zedekiah, the king of Israel.
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  I will scatter to the winds all those around him, his staff and
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  all his troops, and I will pursue them with a drawn sword.
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  Remember, this was also the prophecy about that.
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  I think it was Jeremiah that gave.
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  He said that those who stayed in Jerusalem would be killed by the
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  sword, but those who fled are not fled, but, you know, went
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  into exile with the Babylonians. They should do it peaceably and
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  they would retain their life and they could have families and
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  they could, you know, work and do all these things, but they
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  would be in captivity during that time.
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  And those things were holding true.
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  Verse 15 They will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them
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  among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
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  But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and
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  plague, so that in the nations where they go, they may
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  acknowledge all their detestable practices.
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  So that's interesting too. So he's sparing a few of them,
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  not showing favoritism, but he's saying so that in the nations
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  where they go, they may acknowledge all their detestable
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  practices. So God knows our hearts.
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  So maybe he is sparing the ones whose hearts see all the
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  detestable. I mean, they recognize, they
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  realize that these are bad things that Israel or you know,
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  like in our case that we have done and that we would
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  acknowledge that that's what God wants us to, to see the things
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  that we're doing that are so awful, to recognize that not
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  say, oh, they're OK, they're not that bad, but recognize them and
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  evaluate the way we live according to what God says is
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  right and wrong. We don't make up the rules.
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  God is the creator. He, he made everything.
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  He created us. He makes the rules and we get to
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  choose to either live by them or reject them.
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  If we're willing to live by them, we can be in his Kingdom.
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  If we just say, no, I don't, I don't want your rules, God,
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  that's it. Then we can live in the
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  alternate place, which is the burning lake of fire and or I
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  don't know if it's there, but it's something that there will
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  be permanent torment and God is just so whatever we've done, you
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  know, it's it's like what you sow you will reap.
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  So it's but it's going to not be a place that people are happy
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  in. It's really interesting if you
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  not that we can put a lot of faith in near death experiences,
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  but there our people, if you search near death experiences,
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  some people experience the presence of God and others
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  experienced a horrible place that they just wanted to escape
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  from and God actually spared them.
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  It seems like God actually gave them a vision or an insight to
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  what what place they may have been headed to.
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  And those people who had that vision and saw that in their
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  near death experience, when they didn't die, they turned to the
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  Lord. I don't know that there was any
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  single one who kept the same life that they did.
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  At least from videos that I've seen, that people have given
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  their testimonies about what happened to them.
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  And I think God allows that. And so people will listen to
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  that. He's trying to reach people in
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  so many different ways. Some people will respond to
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  that. Other people.
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  I mean, there's so many different ways that a person,
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  all, you know, all of a sudden realizes that this is true and
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  that God is present, God is living, and what God has said
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  will actually happen. OK, let's get back to Scripture.
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  So he wants, you know, He wants people to know him.
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  Verse 17 The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, tremble
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  as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink
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  your water, say to the people of the land, This is what the
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  sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the
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  land of Israel. They will eat their food in
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  anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be
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  stripped of everything. Now it gives a reason why
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  everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.
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  So these must be like God is not in just he is a just a righteous
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  God. And so he if he does these
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  things, we may think, Oh my gosh, that's horrible that he's
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  doing this. But do we really know?
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  I mean, if, if we saw what God saw, in fact, people are often
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  harsher than God, God is merciful.
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  And if people actually saw what God saw, they might say, oh, get
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  rid of them right now, kill them, you know, I mean, and we
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  just don't know everything. So we make assumptions just
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  thinking that all people are good or these are innocent
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  people. But God is saying right here,
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  it's because of the violence of all who live there.
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  And if people see true violence for no reason, in fact all
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  reasons, I mean, God would, you know, the vengeance is his.
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  But if people see that and say it comes against them or against
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  their family, they want justice. And so that's what God does.
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  So we we can't be double minded with this.
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  I mean, if we put ourselves in a position where either we or our
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  family or someone we care about is really violated, hurt, and we
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  will want justice for them. So why, if we want it, would it
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  be not appropriate for God to do it when God is?
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  God is ultimately good. The only one who is good is God.
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  We are not good. So it's just something to think
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  about. I think our minds get a little
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  bit skewed sometimes and we don't think through what it
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  scripture actually says or who God is.
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  The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be
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  desolate. Then you will know that I am the
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  Lord. Sometimes God has to level us.
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  He has to just like wipe out everything so that we can see
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  that it's not all about us. God is there and when we are
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  rebellious, sometimes the levelling is a little bit he
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  ever quite. He might require a little bit
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  more to do to us when we're really rebellion rebelling,
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  there will be no delay. The word of the Lord came to me,
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  Son of man, this is, this is wait, son of man, what is this
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  proverb you have? In the land of Israel the days
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  go by and every vision comes to nothing.
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  Say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
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  I'm going to put an end to this proverb and they will no longer
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  quote it in Israel. Say to them, the days are near
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  when every vision will be fulfilled, for there will be no
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  more. False visions are flattering
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  divinations among the people of Israel.
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  But I, the Lord, will speak what I will, and it shall be
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  fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious
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  people, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the sovereign
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  Lord. The word of the Lord came to me.
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  Son of Man, the Israelites are saying the vision he sees is for
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  many years from now, and he prophecies about a distant
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  future. Therefore say to them, this is
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  what the sovereign Lord says. None of my words will be delayed
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  any longer. Whatever I say will be
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  fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.
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  Now that's chapter 12, the end of it.
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  And so God finally had enough with people.
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  If he did it once before, is he going to probably do it again?
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  Because there's still unfulfilled prophecy.
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  And at some point God's going to say, OK, time, time for it to
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  all be fulfilled. And so we need to be watch, we
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  need to be prepared. Ultimately, we need to have our
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  relationship right with God. We need the Holy Spirit.
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  And you know, we obviously need to be grateful to Jesus that he
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  made the way for us. Let's see so the questions from
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  the study Bible How did people pack their things for exile?
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  They travelled light invading armies, plundered valuables and
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  destroyed nearly everything. So a sack or bundle filled with
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  travel essentials was all was about all the people could pack
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  for a long enforced March to the place of exile.
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  God commanded Ezekiel to perform this drama at 2 busy times early
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  in the day and in the evening. By doing so, the maximum number
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  of people saw him. While some were offended by his
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  enacted prophecy, others were frightened by what it meant.
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  How did digging through a wall symbolize exile?
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  Actually, I'm going to go back to it says, you know that one
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  statement. While some were offended by his
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  enacted prophecy, others were frightened by what it meant.
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  So what do you think happens to people?
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  They there's two different responses to these kinds of
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  messages. They're either like, I don't
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  want to hear it. That's just awful bad news.
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  And you know, I'm just walking away from this.
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  I'm not going to listen to it. So those are the offended people
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  and they don't want anything to do with it.
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  But yet it's still going to come.
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  It's just foolishness. But then there's others who are
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  frightened by it because they're, they're frightened
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  because they don't have the Holy Spirit.
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  They have a fear of God. They've seen what God can do and
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  this is actually good because that may cause them to turn from
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  their ways. You know, it, if they were, if
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  they were wise, that's what they would do is say, because
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  throughout the Bible, it always says if they would repent and
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  turn to me and, and they're, you know, even, I guess it was maybe
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  David, who God gave him multiple options of you know what his,
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  what would come next as a result of his sin.
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  And he gave him like 3 different options.
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  I can't really remember what they are right now, but one of
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  them. Well, anyway, what, what David
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  chose was, I'm going to choose what you would do to me because
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  you have mercy. Like he, he chose God providing
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  the punishment rather than man because he knows that God is
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  merciful and, and people are not.
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  And so we, you know, learned that about God.
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  Like God has a lot of mercy. So we shouldn't be fearful.
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  I mean, fear is good if it leads us to repentance and if we've
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  repented and we are right with God, there's no reason to fear.
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  And that's how it says like fear.
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  When someone has fear, it's that they have not made been made
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  perfect in love. So.
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  If we're not perfect in love, not perfect as far as what we
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  do, but if we're we haven't experienced the love of God,
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  yes, we'll have fear. Or if we know that we're living
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  in rebellion against God, yes, we'll have fear.
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  But if we're not in clear conscience, living against God,
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  there is nothing to fear. So how did digging through a
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  wall symbolize exile? Ezekiel's action symbolize the
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  way a conquering army systematically broke through the
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  walls protecting a city. See Amos 43 for a similar
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  prediction. So why did the Prince cover his
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  face? Covering one's face was a sign
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  of grief and humiliation, but in this case, the covering might
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  have been something Zedekiah wore to disguise himself during
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  his escape attempt. It's also possible, since the
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  Babylonians put out his eyes, that this was a metaphor for his
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  blindness. And who knows, maybe he actually
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  had like a bandana around his head because his eyes were
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  gouged out. I mean, there could be a lot of
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  different things, but it is interesting that there are these
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  metaphors, I guess, of covering one's face as a sign of grief
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  and humiliation. Why wouldn't he see the place
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  where they took him though? The Babylonians took the king as
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  a captive to their own country. They blinded him before he made
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  the journey. That would not be a fun way to
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  walk to a foreign land. And considering the times that
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  they were in, Can you imagine like stumbling over rocks or I
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  don't know if it's sand or you wouldn't see anything.
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  You were completely 100% relying on whoever was leading you, and
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  you probably would have a genuine fear that whoever was
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  leading you did not have your best interest in hand.
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  So there were probably a lot of stumbles and falls along the way
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  than a lot of things that you would run into because the
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  person leading you probably did not care one bit about you.
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  So that would be a horrible way to end your life like that.
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  No chance of recovery from that. But that is, you know, the
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  punishment that Zedekiah was apparently justified in
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  receiving by God for his actions.
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  Had the Israelites stopped believing in prophecies?
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  The Israelites had grown accustomed to hearing the quote
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  professional prophets proclaims that all would be well.
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  Thus they were skeptical when they heard Ezekiel's grim
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  message. I could understand that too,
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  because God had always been with Israel, had always protected
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  them. Had, you know, they had these
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  huge successes over other nations that would come against
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  them when it didn't seem like it was possible.
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  They had the all of these miraculous things happening.
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  So I could see like historically how they would always feel like
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  God is with us. Everything we do, God is with
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  us. But if they paid attention or if
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  they yeah, if they listen to everything God said, he always,
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  he gave them back at in Moses time, he gave them blessings and
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  curses. He said blessings if you do
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  these things, curses if you do these things.
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  And so did they pay attention to that part because you can't just
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  take the good stuff and say God is always good to us.
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  God always does good things because he's, he has justice and
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  he has righteousness and he wants, I mean, there's not going
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  to be evil in God's Kingdom. And that's something we can all
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  be like looking forward to because I don't think most of us
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  enjoy anything evil. We would prefer if we had no
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  evil evil to deal with and no sickness, no, no death, no
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  dying, no hardships, all those things.
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  And that's the way God's Kingdom is going to be.
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  And I mean, it's, it just sounds like an amazing place that is
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  hard to imagine just because all we've ever experienced is a
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  mixture of good and evil in our lives today.
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  But just think about all the things that bring anxiety,
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  distress, sadness, grief, mourning.
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  All that stuff's going to be gone in God's Kingdom and God's,
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  God's going through the people like who, who want, you know, I
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  guess, who is, who humbles themselves and repents of their
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  evil ways, who's willing to do that to be in my Kingdom and
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  who's willing to serve me. Because Jesus is going to be the
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  king when he returns and he's going to rule from Jerusalem,
• 25:30
  That means he's going to have authority and we are going to
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  respond to him. And we are under His leadership,
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  so we need to submit to him. Like, are we willing to do that?
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  Some people just are not willing to submit to anyone.
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  But foolishly, they don't realize that if you, I mean, we
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  are either in slavery under God's enemy, or we can submit to
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  God's rules and be protected by Him.
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  So that's our choice basically. But the problem is a lot of
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  people don't realize that they are in slavery because of what
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  happened in slavery by the evil one.
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  That's why we have natural sinful desires.
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  That's why it's all about, you know, a little toddler will, you
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  know, everything's about me, me, me as a toddler, because that's
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  just evidence of our sinful ways.
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  Like selfishness is not God. God is, is like selfless.
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  And the difference, I mean, it's it just seems like it makes it
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  really simple. If you think if it's selfish,
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  it's probably sinful. If it's for others, it's more
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  godly. And so that's, I don't know, I'm
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  going to end that part of it there.
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  So let's see what else is there in the questions and answers.
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  OK, what? What were these false visions
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  and flattering divinations? These were reassuring prophecies
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  giving given by false prophets and leaders through God's.
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  Though God's true prophets warned of judgment and
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  destruction, others insisted all would be well.
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  That's the end of the questions and answers for chapter 12.
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  So I'll end it here. And I hope you subscribe if you
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  want to stay in the Word every day, and we'll do a chapter a
• 27:30
  day for most days when I can. So thank you for being here.
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  And please share this if you think someone else would benefit
• 27:40
  from it.