A Happy Marriage Requires Fighting (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Ephesians 6:10-20

1. Strength for the conflict. In the Lord (Eph 6:10-11).
2. Source of the conflict. Not flesh and blood (Eph 6:12).
3. Strategy for the conquest. Full armor of God (Eph 6:13-20).
• Truth (Eph 6:14a)
• Righteousness (Eph 6:14b)
• Gospel of peace (Eph 6:15)
• Faith (Eph 6:16)
• Salvation (Eph 6:17a)
• Word of God (Eph 6:17b): Read the Bible together. Pray together.

Absolute truths regarding marriage

1. God brought you together (Mt 19:6; Mk 10:9; Gen 2:24).
2. Marriage is forever.
3. God intends for you to be gentle and humble in heart (Mt 11:29; Rom 8:29).

"Conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29) is what God intends for you through marriage (and all of life).

What a happy marriage always needs (Rom 8:32)

1. Love that is unconditional
2. Forgiveness that is endless
3. Grace that is ever present

Marriage is meant to mirror our relationship with God (between Christ and the church -- us)

1. For richer or poorer
2. In sickness or in health
3. For better or worse
4. (Whether cuter or less cute, more handsome or more ugly, fatter or thinner!)
5. ...till death do us part.

"...be content [satisfied] with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake [abandon] you'" (Heb 13:5; Dt 31:6).

A True Leader

Face the Truth and Accept Rebuke (Ezekiel 15-19)

You did not remember, yet I will remember: "...you did not remember the days of your youth..." (Eze 16:22, 43) "Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth... Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed... So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord" (Eze 16:60-63)

Face the truth (Accept rebuke); Useless, Faithless, Lustful, Presumption and Deserving of Judgment

• [Ezekiel 15 - A useless vine] You are useless. Why is Jerusalem like a useless vine (Eze 15:8)?

• [Ezekiel 16 - A nymphomaniac bride] You forgot God's grace and used your beauty for yourself. What is the problem with forgetting your past and how you once were (Eze 16:22, 43)?

• [Ezekiel 17 - The eagle and the vine] You broke your oaths. How important is it that you keep your oaths and your promises (Eze 17:18)?

• [Ezekiel 18 - Only the sinner needs to die] You blame others and do not take responsibility. What happens when you blame others (Eze 18:2)?

• [Ezekiel 19 - A lament] Your leadership sucks. What may be some causes of bad or failed leadership?

A Lament for the Dynasty of David (Ezekiel 19)

1. Presumption. The promises of God to the ancestors are no guarantee of divine blessing for their descendants. Ezekiel 18 affirms that children die for their own sins; they do not inherit the guilt of their parents. God had promised to bless Jacob/Isreal (Gen 49:8-12), and then narrowed this privilege to the house of David (2 Samuel 7). After four centuries of uninterrupted rule, the dynasty was governing the people as if by divine right, without any sense of accountablity to the people of God. For such leaders, the promises of David count for nothing.
2. Servanthood. The call to leadership is a call to servanthood. Ezekiel 19:3, 6 is a sharp indictment of the exploitative behavior of Israel's kings. Much of the responsibility for the fall of Judah/Israel would rest on their shoulders. According to Moses, leaders serve by divine appointment for the good of the people (Dt 17:14-20). The last kings of Judah were not the only ones who had betrayed their calling. Sadly, the history of the world and of the church is strewn with the victims of monarchical excesses. Solomon--the wisest of Israel's kings--demonstrated himself the consummate fool by disregarding Torah. So are all who use divine election as an excuse for high-handed rule. Government exists for the people. People do not exist for the government.
3. Commitment. The presence of God's chosen representative is no substitute for personal commitment to him. The people of Judah, even the exiles, continued to look on the ruling members of the dynasty as sure signs of divine favor, a kind of good luck charm. So long as a Davidide sat on the throne, God's protection was sure. They failed to realize that none of the divine promises was automatic; all are contingent. Without submission to the will of God of both leader and led, shepherd and sheep, pastor and congregant, any claim to security with God is a delusion.

References:

1. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, NICOT (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1997.
   
2. Wright, Christopher J.H. The Message of Ezekiel, BST (Bible Speaks Today). IVP, Downers Grove, IL, 2001.
   

References:

1. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, NICOT (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1997.
2. Wright, Christopher J.H. The Message of Ezekiel, BST (Bible Speaks Today). IVP, Downers Grove, IL, 2001.

Encouragement, Idolatry, Beauty, Responsibility (Ezekiel 13, 14, 16, 18)

• [Eze 13:19, 22-23] When is encouragement wrong or bad?

• [Eze 14:3] When happens when you set up idols in your heart?

• [Eze 16:15] When others see your beauty, do they lust after your beauty or do they long for the God and Giver of your beauty?

• [Eze 18:2-4] Why is it always wrong to blame God and others (such as parents, the church)?

"The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them" (Eze 18:20).

# Why does blaming others and God prevent us from experiencing peace and joy?

The complaint of the exiles (Eze 18:2) encapsulates two fundamental human tendencies that are apparent in fallen humanity since the fall of man: (1) blame others and (2) blame God. Man would do anything but accept personal responsibility for sins committed.

# Why is it bad and wrong to blame others and God?

1. I dismiss or diminish my own personal responsibility. Then there is no real need to apologize or repent. But without repentance there can be no forgiveness and salvation. Thus blaming others provides a specious (superficially plausible but false) sense of security (I didn't really do anything wrong, it is his/her/their fault), and it blocks us from repentance and forgiveness, from peace and joy.
2. I make myself a victim rather than acknowledge that I'm a sinner. Blaming others and the victim mentality provides the perfect logic to unrepentance: "I'm the injured party here. Others and God have to get their act together."

The mantra today is "I am not to blame. It is someone else's fault (directly or indirectly)." So we blame the following:

• our genes,
• our environment,
• our upbringing,
• government failures, corrupt self-serving politicians,
• psychological stress.

We find the fault and blame with anything and anyone but ourselves and our own choices and actions. We also blame God. We encounter the popular perversity of people blaming the God they don't believe exists for allowing or causing things that he should have stopped or never allowed. But such blame-shifting tactics were unacceptable to Ezekiel then, and unacceptable to God then and now. Every generation and every individual needs to face up to take responsibility for their own sin, and to recognize that in God's justice, only the wicked will ultimately perish under his wrath and judgment, whatever the outward appearances to the contrary.

The Gospel and Religion

Binary to make a point: Religion (wrongly understood and poorly communicated) says, "Live like this." The Gospel says, "You can't!" Religion says, "You better..." The Gospel says, "Freedom." Religion says, "Obey." The Gospel says, "Believe." Religion says, "Conform." The Gospel says, "Be transformed." Religion says, "Work." The Gospel says, "Rest." Religion says, "Do." The Gospel says, "Be." Religion says, "Change." The Gospel says, "Respond." Religion says, "Disgrace." The Gospel says, "Grace." Religion is about rules. The Gospel is about Jesus.

Know One Thing - John Wesley

Wesley's famous declaration:

"I want to know one thing -- the way to Heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri" [man of one book]. Standard Sermons, ed. Edward H. Sugden, 2 vols. (London: Epworth Press, 1921), 1:31-32.

The Call - Bonhoeffer

Sobering Truth about the Church

Over the centuries the Church has done enough to make any critical person want to leave it. Its history of violent crusades, pogroms, power struggles, oppression, excommunications, executions, manipulation of people and ideas, and constantly recurring divisions is there for everyone to see and be appalled by.

Can we believe that this is the same Church that carries in its center the Word of God and the sacraments of God's healing love? Can we trust that in the midst of all its human brokenness the Church presents the broken body of Christ to the world as food for eternal life? Can we acknowledge that where sin is abundant grace is superabundant, and that where promises are broken over and again God's promise stands unshaken?

Henri Nouwen

Only the One Who Sins Dies (Ezekiel 18)

Big idea: The Individual is ALWAYS Responsible

"For everyone (all souls) belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one (soul/person) who sins is the one who will die" (Eze 18:4).

Ezekiel 18 contain one of the most profound, moving and influential reflections on the relationship between God's justice and human freedom. It is one of the most powerful and robust evangelistic appeals in the OT, where Ezekiel skillfully, carefully and passionately articulates his reasons and logic together with a heart felt pastoral concern for his contemporaries. It is rich and complex with several levels of meanings related to the questions the exiles were raising (Eze 18:2, 19, 25, 29). It probably reflects an actual disputation that Ezekiel had with his hearers, possibly on more than one occasion. This all begins with a common, well known saying not only among the exiles, but also back in Isreal (Eze 18:2; Jer 31:29-30).

To those who presume on the grace of God, it sends a stern warning; to those who despair of life, it offers hope. In both respects it provides a healthy corrective in approaching human evil and suffering that would absolve the individual of responsibility for his or her own life and destiny. In chapter 18, Ezekiel firmly and strongly and repeatedly repudiates and refutes the following:

1. Blaming others for his or her fate (Eze 18:2). To be sure, parents need to always be reminded that God holds them responsible for the welfare of their children (Exo 20:5). But children may not absolve themselves of personal responsibility for their own destiny. It is NOT inevitable that death is destined for the children of the wicked, nor is life promised for the children of the righteous. Rather each individual dies for his or her own sin, and lives by his or her own righteousness. Each person is master of his or her own destiny.
2. Eternal destiny or condemnation is already determined by one's past choices and decisions. Death for the wicked and life for the righteous can be arrested at any time. No one can bank on an abundance of past good deeds to ensure their future well-being, nor do they need to despair that an abundance of past evil will condemn them in the future. The appeal to "repent and live" (Eze 18:30, 32b; 14:6) assumes real personal freedom to determine at any time one's own conduct and also the destiny that God decrees for a person.
3. Blaming and accusing God for being unfair (Eze 18:25, 29), unscrupulous, capricious and unpredictable. God's moral universe runs according to fixed rules. It includes the following:
1. The person who sins dies for his or her own sin (Eze 18:4b, 20a).
2. Righteousness is expressed primarily by right action (rather than credal assent) (Eze 18:5-9).
3. Those in authority and with means will be held accountable for the way they treat the weak and marginalized.
4. A person's past behavior need not determine his or her future well-being (Eze 18:21-22).
5. God is on the side of life for all, rather than death for any (Eze 18:23, 32).
4. God is primarily bent on judgment and death (Eze 18:23, 32). The gospel is crystal clear that God promises hope and that he stands on the side of life, not death, while also warning of judgment. To be warned is not only to remind one of the poeril of one's course but also to be directed to the way of escape. God's mercy and grace move him to plead with men and women to accept that way, to repent of their sin and find life in him.
5. Bible teachers/leaders proclaiming what people want to hear. People in despair need a message of hope. Those wrapped in self-pity and in their own misery need a vision of God's mercy. The leader/teacher must lead the way against the teaching of cheap grace and it's counterpart work righteousness. One's appreciation for grace is directly proportional to one's consciousness of sin. No teacher or leader does anyone any favors by promoting a sense of well-being when one is governed by the law of sin and death (cheap grace/work righteousness). For them there is no substitute for a call for repentance.
6. God's covenant with his people (Israel) is over. For those in exile its benefits have been suspended. But underlying God's passionate appeal for the nation's corporate repentance and revival is his commitment to his people. God has given his word (promise) and he longs for the day when they will reciprocate and respond.

Choose your words to give life or death (Proverbs 18:21)

Anger (Proverbs 29:11)

A Harlot, Whore and Prostitute (Ezekiel 16)

Big idea: God blesses you with every possible blessing under heaven, but you use and abuse his blessing for yourself like a brazen prostitute!

"But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore..." (Eze 16:15, ESV).

In this one chapter (16), Israel is called a harlot, whore or prostitute some 21 times, and together with sexually explicit verbal graphics (Ez 16:25, 26, 36) is jarring and highly disturbing. Yet in all her promiscuity she was never "satisfied" (Ez 16:28-29). Ezekiel wants it to be very clear that Israel does not stand accused of just a single act of adultery (which is bad enough), but of prolonged, addictively repeated, insatiable promiscuity with multiple partners. It is an explicit and terrible indictment of "unrestrained nymphomaniacal adventures."

Unbelief is the mother of every anxiety

The ever quotable Augustine

Heart of Flesh (Ezekiel 36:26)

"I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. From all your defilement and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart; I will implant a new spirit within you. I will remove the stone heart from your body; I will give you a heart of flesh. I will implant my Spirit within you. I will cause you to walk in my decrees, so you will diligently observe my laws. ... You will be my people, And I will bet your God" (Ezekiel 36:25-28).

What will God do for his people?

1. Cleanse (Eze 36:25). God will purify Israel of its defilement ('to be clean" repeated 3x). This cleansing mixes the metaphors of priestly cleansing rituals and blood sprinkling ceremonies. It is God's direct cathartic actions, removing the defilement caused by the people's idolatry and other violations of God's covenant. In this context it is not simply an external ceremonial cleansing accompanying the internal renewal (26-27) but a wholesale cleansing from sin performed by God, a necessary precondition to normalizing the spiritual relationship between God and his people.
2. Replace (Eze 36:26). God will remove Israel's fossilized heart and replace it with a sensitive fleshly organ (Eze 11:19). Heart (leb) and spirit (ruah) represent the person's internal locus of emotion, will and thought. Like Jesus (Mt 15:17-20), Ezekiel recognized the problem of rebellion and sin against God to be more deeply ingrained than mere external acts. Ezekiel describes the heart as stone, which speaks of coldness, insensitivity, incorrigibility, and even lifelessness (Nabal in 1 Sam 25:37). Ezekiel knew this well having had to deal with the obduracy of his people from the time of his call (2:4-11; 3:4-11).  But God has been struggling with this problem for centuries. The present solution is more radical than the circumcision of the heart (Dt 30:6-8). The only answer is the removal of the petrified organ and its replacement with a warm, sensitive and responsive heart off flesh.
3. Implant (Eze 36:26a, 27a). Concomitant with the heart transplant, God will infuse his people with a new spirit, his Spirit. Seemingly the juxtaposing of ruah and leb suggests that they are synonymous. However the synonymity is seldom exact in Hebrew parallelism. Here the new heart is given to the Israelites, but the spirit is placed within them. The provision of the new heart involves the removal of the hard heart and its replacement with a heart of flesh, the source of which is unspecified. But the new spirit placed within is identified as God's ruah (27), which animates and vilifies the recipients. The subject, not developed here is afforded full blown exposition later (37:1-14). 
4. Walk and act (Eze 36:27b). God will cause his people to be obedient to himself. "I will make that you walk in my statutes and observe my covenant standards and act [accordingly]." God will no longer gamble with Israel as he did in old times, and Israel rebelled against him; in the future--no more experiments! God will put his spirit into them, he will alter their hearts (and minds) and make it impossible for them to be anything but obedient to his rules and his commandments. The declaration abandons all hope that Israel, in her present condition, can achieve the ideals of covenant relationship originally intended by God. The status quo can be altered only by direct divine intervention.
5. Renew (Eze 36:28). God will renew his covenant with his people. Ezekiel climaxes God's restorative with the announcement of the fulfillment of God's ancient ideal: a transformed people living in their homeland, covenantally related to their divine Lord. Jeremiah and Ezekiel obviously have the same covenant renewal in mind (Jer 31:33). But what Jeremiah attributes to the divine Torah, Ezekiel ascribes to the infusion of the divine ruah. With the restoration of these relationships, not only have ancient Near Eastern perceptions of normal relations among deity, people, and land been satisfied; but God's name has also been sanctified and his own ancient ideal for the nation is finally achieved.

The only solution for the fallen human race is a fundamental cleansing, a heart transplant, an infusion of the divine Spirit. It is tempting to imagine that social ills can be healed by economic, social, educational and political programs or regime change. But Ezekiel's radical theocentricity finds the answer in God alone. Yes, efforts to advance and improve social conditions must be lauded. But to propose these as the answer for a person's needs without reference to the fundamental problem--the depravity of the human soul--is to continue the idolatry of the Israelites. What is needed in our day is a dramatic reversal and return to the biblical heart imagery, and to a recognition that the required transformation can be achieved only by the gracious act of God. Only God can remove our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh; new life comes only by the infusion of his Spirit.

The future of Israel rests in the eternal immutable promises of God. In 586 BC the nation saw all their hopes and aspirations dashed. To the exiles all God's promises regarding their status as his covenant people, their title to their ancestral homeland, the right of the Davidic dynasty to rule, and the residence of God in Zion seemed in vain. But Ezekiel reassures his people that God has not forgotten his covenant; the ancient promises still stand. Therefore, the population must be regathered, their hearts transformed, and their community returned to the homeland, there to enjoy the blessings of God. After all, his honor is at stake.

God is Fair in His Judgments (Ezekiel 16-19)

• An unfaithful and promiscuous wife (Ezekiel 16).
  
• Judgment based on sins of the present, not the past (Ezekiel 17). Eagle, ceders and a vine.
• Basic common sense responsibility (Ezekiel 18). Each individual is responsible for himself/herself. The accountability of the individual.
  
• The end of an era: the Davidic dynasty (Ezekiel 19).

Ezekiel 16. Having likened Israel as a bad vine (Ezekiel 15), it is almost as if Ezekiel heard someone say that it was not fair since Israel was the chosen vine, and thus God should care for her. Ezekiel answered through an allegory that God had always and continually cared for Israel (Ezekiel 16). Having found her as a castaway infant, God rescued, wooed, married and adorned her. But she became unfaithful. As a harlot, she prostituted herself with other nations in following after their gods as her lovers. Throughout her history she had rebelled against God. Her wickedness had become even worse than that of Sodom and Samaria before her. Therefore, God was perfectly just in bringing judgment upon her. He promised at her birth that she would be judged if she disobeyed His covenant with her (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 30). Though the situation looks extremely bleak at this point, God reminded the exiles that He would be faithful to His promise of restoration in the future (Deu 30), just as He would be faithful to His threats of judgment.

Ezekiel 17. In light of the allegory of Ezekiel 16, one might have complained that the present generation was being judged for Israel's past rebellions. So Ezekiel presented a riddle which emphasizes that the rebellion of the present generation against God was by seeking security and help from Egypt (Ezekiel 17). There is no hope in seeking help from Egypt nor in following Zedekiah. There is only a hope in the restoration of God's kingdom and His righteous King, the Messiah. Zedekiah would fall, and the remnant would be scattered.

Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel treats another prevalent major misconception. "Are we judged because of our father's sins?" Ezekiel refutes this by emphatically stating that each man or woman is responsible for his or her own deeds. It is the principle of individual responsibility. Each individual is responsible for themselves as to whether they would live or die. A person lives or dies according to their own decision to obey or disobey God's ways (Dt 30:15-20). But God declares that is is His desire that everyone lives. This is why He gave the Law. It is so that everyone would know how to live as God meant life to be lived. If one lives according to the righteous ways of God, they would be declared righteous and live. But if they disobeyed God's righteous ways and broke the covenant, God promised that they would die as a result of their unrighteous deeds.

The penalty here was physical death, not eternal death. One's eternal salvation was not the issue. Eternal salvation was by faith in the Messiah in OT times, just as it is today. Salvation was never attained by keeping the stipulations of the Law, nether then nor now. The Law of Moses/Mosaic covenant demonstrated how one who already had entered into a relationship with God was to continue to live.

Ezekiel 19. The section (Ezekiel 12-19) concludes with a final dirge/funeral lament for the recent rulers of Judah: Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin/Jehoiakim. The genuine rules were gone. They last one was Josiah. Since the ruler Jehoiachin was already exiled in Babylon (597 BC), the peopole were not to look to unofficial rules such as Zedekiah. Judgment was imminent.

Alexander, Ralph. Ezekiel. Moody Bible Institute, 1976.

Exile, False Prophets and Idolatry (Ezekiel 12-15)

Sign of the Siege (Ezekiel 12)

1. Judgment is greatest for those with the richest spiritual tradition. Those with no ears or eyes may be forgiven for their indifference or oblivion. But in the face of God's lavish expressions of covenant grace and patience, the refusal to hear and see not only results in the further dulling of the senses; sooner or later the door of divine mercy will slam shut.
2. God's word must be understood on God's terms. Like Ezekiel's audience we are often tempted to adjust divine revelation to suit our desires, rather than letting it shape us. By clever rationalization we transform messages of reproof and correction into illusory promises of hope.
3. In the face of calamity God remains sovereign over history. When things fall apart we may despair that God is no longer in control. But his hand is present even in the direst circumstances. The goal of his discipline, as well as his benefactions, is that all may:
1. acknowledge their sinfulness,
2. confess his righteousness, and
3. submit to his lordship.
4. Judgment is always just in God's system of justice. Sodom and Gomorrah's violent end was on account of their own brutality (Gen 18:20; 19:24-25). But the Judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25) plays no favorites. When the land is filled with violence once again, it must be emptied, irrespective of the identity of its inhabitants. The coming judgment on Jerusalem serves as a solemn warning to those who call themselves his people, or consider themselves cultured but express their disrespect for God through violent and inhuman conduct.
5. Even in times of crisis people may live under the illusion that all is well. Eating and drinking are necessary for physical health. But God taught his people during their years of wondering, which Jesus reminded the devil that people do not live by bread alone (Dt 8:3; Mt 4:4). Life is found not merely in physical sustenance but in following the example of Ezekiel -- finding nourishment in the revelation of God and living by it. To those who do so, God pronounces the sentence of life; those who refuse face the sentence of death.
6. The certainty of the fulfillment of God's word is based on the person and character of God (12:21-28). The challenges of arrogant and rebellious people will not change the fact that when God speaks he acts. Within a few years of this utterance the cynics would be silenced by the terrible truth of his word. Also, God's method of reckoning time is different from ours, and we may be much nearer the day than we realize.

Counterfeit Prophets (Ezekiel 13)

13:1-16 serves as a warning to all who would claim to be spokespersons for the living God by identifying the marks of a counterfeit. What do false Bible teachers characteristically do and who are they?

1. They claim divine authority, even when they speak only from their own inspiration. Their perspective was simply private opinion that was politically motivated to gain the approval and control of their audience. Expert training, oratorical gifts, a charismatic personality, long tenure and a wealth of experience may qualify one to lecture or perform or entertain, but these aptitudes alone do not authorize one to stand behind the pulpit. The message of those who claim to speak for God must have his signature. Does our proclamation declare the message of God as revealed in the Scriptures?
2. They proclaim messages that people want to hear, especially when the truth is painful. For the exiles and the Jerusalemites no word would have been more welcome and at the same time more deadly than to hear that all was well. Reassurances of well being serves neither the community nor individuals in moral and spiritual decline. For many the illusion becomes the reality. They live in the land of "all is well" even when nothing is.
3. They are more interested in their own status than in the welfare of the community. They are like jackels (Eze 13:4), scavenging among the ruins for personal advantage, capitalizing on the calamity of others. Frauds assume no responsibility for the fate of the people; they look out only for themselves.
4. They pass away. Only the word of the Lord endures (Isa 40:7-8) and achieves its life-giving objectives (Isa 55:10-11).
5. They stand under the judgment of God. One who is self-inspired to claim to speak for God is the height of arrogance, and to seduce gullible people with flattering words or threats is utter folly. But God is not mocked. What leaders sow, that they will reap.
6. They occupy positions of power but they will answer to God for the manner in which they exercised their authority. The leadership exercised by the women (13:17-23) was reprehensible in two ways: their motives were parasitic, and their methods were sinister. They were interested only in their own status. Such problems continue to plague the community of faith. Men and women enter the ministry of the church, driven more by a hunger for power than passion for the people, and they exercise power in ways often indistinguishable from the world outside. But the kingdom of God is offered to the meek, not to the arrogant and self-assertive. Whoever would truly be a leader at all must be a servant of all.
7. They exploit the vulnerable especially in times of crisis. Difficult experiences may leave one doubting God's presence and power. Peter personalizes the power behind evil, describing him as an adversary, the devil, prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8). But the believer must know that God has provided all the resources needed to resist the malevolent world (Eph 6:11-12). Ultimately, the kingdom of light and life will triumph over the kingdom of darkness and death (Jude 24-25).

Idolatry Condemned (Ezekiel 14:1-11)

1. Idolatry is a matter of mind/heart (Eze 14:2). God is directing his charges against his people not at images but at the deluded hearts and minds that have been seduced or deceived. True religion is essentially a matter of the heart (Dt 6:5; 10:12, 20). Thus, we are always to search our hearts (Ps 139:23), circumcise our hearts (Dt 10:16; 30:6; Rom 2:29) and to guard our hearts (Prov 4:23). 
2. Syncretism is always a threat. Ezekiel's compatriots--as they have been doing throughout their history--are "hopping between two opinions" (1 Ki 18:21). Externally, their appearance before the prophet and their inquiry appears commendable (Eze 14:1). But internally, their hearts were not centered nor focused on God. They may camouflage their hypocrisy and deceive humans, but they will not escape the scrutiny of God (Eze 14:2-4).
3. God does not respond to those who demonstrate no covenant faithfulness in their daily lives. To receive a favorable answer from God one must come with sincerity, honesty and on his terms, which includes his exclusive right to one's devotion (Eze 14:5). God tolerates no rivals.
4. Positions of privilege do not bring immunity from prosecution (Eze 14:9-10), but impose even greater accountability before our God and Judge. The prophet's task is to announce the truth and to call people to repentance for their sin (Eze 14:6), not to satisfy their lusts with false assurances of peace. True leaders are known by the divine authority of their message (Eze 14:4a, 6a), not by the popularity of their pronouncements. Thus, leaders who acquiesce before the flattery and seduction of hypocritical inquirers become accomplices in their crimes and receive the same punishments (Eze 14:10).
   
5. God is gracious and merciful to all who repent of their sin. Warnings of imminent judgment are often veiled signs of divine mercy. God's appeals to repentance offer specific hope of finding a sensitive ear with him. But the cry for mercy must be combined with a commitment to a new way of life (Eze 14:5, 11). 
6. In judgment God is not arbitrary, capricious, moody nor random. God's responses to human sin are consistent with his immutable character, and they have as their goal the transformation of sinful human beings into a covenant people, pure and exclusive in their devotion to him (Eze 14:5, 11).

Judgment will not be averted by the righteous few (Ezekiel 14:12-23)

1. Each person is responsible for his or her own welfare (Eze 14:14, 16, 18, 20). Children may not bank on the piety of their parents, nor an entire church depend on one or two righteous persons. However, there is hope and mercy for all who are righteous by God's standards, even for those who appear to be outsiders to the community of faith.
2. God is just in all his ways. The carnal mind struggles with the justice of God in the face of human tragedy. But the eyes of faith will recognize behind all tragedies the hand of God. God's people recognize that he does not operate arbitrarily or without cause. His actions are always according to his immutable principles of justice and righteousness. If people experience his wrath, it is because the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).

A metaphor (Ezekiel 15)

1. The claim to divine election is no substitute for covenant faithfulness. Israel's false claim to security is based on their being the royal vine, the privileged people of God. However, they must respond to the call of this high role with willing obedience to the divine King who has called them to himself. Grace places high demands on its recipients. Unless one matches one's claims with adherence to his will, one may well wake up one day to the reality that far from being his or her protector and patron, God has actually become the adversary (Eze 15:5).
2. The judgment of those who do not match profession with faithfulness is severe. Jesus likewise warns his disciples to bear the fruit of obedience to God (Jn 15:1-2, 6, 8-17).

Ezekiel 8-24 Outline

Ezekiel's Vision of God's Departure from the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8-11)

1. Preamble to the first temple vision (8:1-4).
2. The abominations in the temple (8:5-18).
3. God's response to the abominations in the temple (9:1-11).
4. The burning of Jerusalem and God's departure from the temple (10:1-22).
5. The pot of stew (11:1-13).
6. The gospel according to Ezekiel (11:14-21).
7. Epilogue to the temple vision (11:22-25).

Prophecies of Woe against Israel (Ezekiel 12-24)

1. Signs of the Times (12:1-20)
   
1. Packed for exile (12:1-16).
2. A pantomime of horror (12:17-20).
2. Prophecy -- True and False (12:21-14:11)
1. Two oracles against cynics (12:21-28).
2. Two oracles against counterfeit prophets (13:1-23).
3. The oracle against prophetic abuse (14:1-11).
3. The High Price of Treachery (14:12-15:8)
1. A lecture on divine justice (14:12-23).
2. A metaphor on divine judgment (15:1-8).
4. The Adulterous Wife: Trampling Underfoot the Grace of God (16:1-63)
1. The call for Israel's arraignment (1-3a).
2. The indictment of Jerusalem (3b-34).
3. The sentencing of Jerusalem: The Ssuspension of grace (35-43).
4. Like mother, like daughter: Jerusalem's disqualification from grace (44-52).
5. The double ray of Hope (53-63).
5. Messages of Sin and Retribution (17-22)
1. The eagle and the vine: A fable (17).
2. Disputing the justice of God (18).
3. A "lament" for the Davidic dynasty (19).
4. Rewriting sacred history (20).
5. The avenging sword of God (21).
6. O Oholah! O Oholibah! (23)
1. The introduction of the accused (1-4).
2. The historical background of the case (5-35).
3. The case against Oholah and Oholibah (36-49).
7. The Boiling Cauldron (24:1-14)
1. Preamble (1-3a).
2. The popular saying (3b-5).
3. The dispute (6-8).
4. The counterthesis (9-13).
5. Conclusion (14).
8. The End of an Era (24:15-27)
1. The end is prefigured: The death of Ezekiel's wife (15-24).
2. The end is in sight (25-27).

New Bible Commentary

• Jerusalem's idolatry and its punishment (8-11).
• An acted message: exile foretold (12:1-16).
• An acted message: Israel to tremble (12:17-20).
• Prophecy will be fulfilled ... and fulfilled soon (12:21-25, 26-28).
• Condemnation of false prophets and prophetesses (13).
• Condemnation of idolatry (14:1-11).
• Judgment on Israel will not be averted by the righteous few (14:12-23).
• Jerusalem the useless vine (15).
• Jerusalem the unfaithful and promiscuous wife (16).
• Eagles, cedars and a vine -- a political parable (17).
• The accountability of the individual (18).
• Lament for the princes of Israel (19).
• Israel's persistent rebelliousness (20:1-44).
• Judgment by fire (20:45-49).
• Judgment by the sword (21:1-7).
• The sword is sharpened (21:8-17).
• The sword of the king of Babylon (21:18-32).
• The sin of Jerusalem (22:1-16).
• The smelting of Israel (22:17-22).
• Injustice in the land; corruption at every level (22:23-31).
• Oholah and Oholibah -- adulterous sisters (23).
• The parable of the pot: Jerusalem beseiged (24:1-14).
• The death of Ezekiel's wife and the significance of his grief (24:15-27).

References:

1. Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24, NICOT (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1997.
2. Wright, Christopher J.H. The Message of Ezekiel, BST (Bible Speaks Today). IVP, Downers Grove, IL, 2001.
3. McGregor, L. John. Ezekiel, New Bible Commentary, IVP, Downer's Grove, IL, 1994.