Search The Scriptures -- Ezekiel

Study 11 – Ezekiel 17

1.      The Lord rebukes Judah of turning to Pharaoh for help rather than turning toward Him.

2.      One can refuse to cooperate with the will of God and can be disobedient to the point where He withholds His promises, but rest assured He will achieve His purposes and He will never give up no matter what.  The will of the Lord will be accomplished on the earth!

Study 12 – Ezekiel 18 and 19

1.      The Lord speaks through Ezekiel that He deals with people as individuals and that He deals with each one based on righteousness.

2.      Each person is responsible before God for their own righteousness. The goal of the Lord is not to bring wrath upon the unrighteous, but for the unrighteous to come to repentance so that His wrath will be diverted. The Lord makes clear that it matters not the degree of the unrighteousness of a man prior to His repentance. Repentance truly covers a multitude of sins.

3.      The three kings referred to by Ezekiel were more than likely: Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. These kings had very short reigns in which they accomplished nothing.

Study 13 – Ezekiel 20:1-44

1.      Over and over in this passage God refers to His blessings being poured out on His people to be subsequently rejected. God restrains His wrath out of a love for His people. Our salvation depends solely upon the grace and the mercy of the Lord.

2.      The Lord will bring the people back to the land that He had promised them and He would bring them back to a place of righteousness. They will reach this place when they come to a point where they are abhorred by their own sin. It is the refusal to recognize sin that leads people into exile. Our own culture is far from leaving its place of exile because everyone does what he sees right in his own mind and the very idea of something being a sin against God is foreign to the minds of most people.

Study 14 – Ezekiel 20:45-21:32

1.      The fire is kindled by the wrath of God against the nation of Judah for their idolatry. Babylon will be the sword that is drawn, but it is ultimately the Lord Almighty that is wielding it. The Lord will use whatever means necessary in order to accomplish His will. “His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so our His ways higher than our ways.”

2.      True peace rests in one place alone – the shadow of the Almighty.