EZEKIEL, Part 1 Kay Arthur
Lecture 8 Ezekiel 22-24
A Man to Build Up the Wall & Stand in the Gap
Ezekiel 22:24 “Son of man say to her; you are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation”. “
I am pouring My indignation out on you and nothing is happening. You are not responding, not repenting, not returning to Me. You are not confessing, not forsaking your sin. You are not throwing away your idols. You are not obeying my ordinances and my statutes. You are not observing my Sabbath. You are profaning them.
One purpose of judgment isto bring us to a correct knowledge of God, to bow the knee, to change our minds so that we line up with the Word of God.
Four Questions for You
#1 Have YOU dealt thoroughly with idols of the World?
Ezekiel 20:4-8. “Will you judge them, son of man? Will you make them know the abominations of their fathers; and say to them, … “On the day when I chose Israel … saying; I am the Lord your God, on the day that I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands”. “I said to them cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt”.
Because they had idols, He wasn't their King, Not their Supreme Ruler
Israel did not love God with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind and with all their strength, even thoughHe commanded them-
Ezekiel 20:30-32“…“As I live,” declares the Lord God,“surely with a mighty hand .. and with wrath poured out I shall be King over you.”
Lewdness HAD to be burned off
Because they carried their idols with them. Because they did not deal thoroughly with their idols. Because they didn't leave every last one at home.
#2 Will YOU be refined?
When silver is mined, it is not pure- mixed with all sorts of different ores, so they lay it down, and with a hammer they begin to break that silver-ore into smaller pieces. And then they build a fire at a certain temperature, and take the hunks of silver -ore into the crucible. And over the fire, it would begin to melt-some of the dross (other ores), would rise to the top. The silver smith would scrape it off and make the fire a little hotter. At that temperature, different impurities would be released,come up to the top, and he would scrape them off (7x). Silversmith would look down to see if he could see a dim image of himself …if so, he would know that he is getting someplace with the impurities, then he would make the fire hotter. How did he know when all the impurities were gone? When he could look into that silver and see a sharp image (mirror) of himself.
God likens his people to silver and to the refining of silver.
Proverbs 17:3 “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts.”
Proverbs 25:4 “Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith”
Proverbs 27:21-22 “The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, and each is tested by the praise accorded them.Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him”
Jerusalem, The Harlot: Isaiah 1:21 Isaiah 48:8
Jeremiah 6:22-30 The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire, in vain the refining goes on; but the wicked are not separated”
Rejected (Reprobate) Silver
Because they will not let go of their wickedness, their abominations, because they still have their idols among them, because they are not listening to his statues and ordinances. Because they are profaning his Sabbaths, they are not loving Him with all their heart, He is not King!
Ezekiel 22:1-2“And You, son of man, will you judge?’” Point out the dross, point out the corruption.. cause her to know all her abominations.” If it’s going to be a city that reflects my image and the glory of my name - then their abominations have to go.
Ezekiel 22:3“A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, that makes idols,contrary to her interestfor defilement”. If you have an idol in your life, precious one, it is contrary to your interest. It is going to bring an increased fire. Let it go! Be refined, be Christ-like. Make Him King, understand that He IS King.
Ezekiel 22:17-24 “‘Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me”. …therefore, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. I will gather you and blow on you the fire of the My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath on you.” 24 “You are a land that is not cleansed on or rained on the day of indignation.”
Ezekiel23 ‘Like the mother, so are the daughters... You did not learn a thing! You continued in your lewdness
Ezekiel 24:1-5,10 The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ….Put on the pot, put it on and also pour water in it…Make it boil vigorously.” …Then set it empty on its coals so that it may be hot and its bronze may glow and its filthiness may be melted in it, its rust consumed.”
#3 Have YOU dealt with YOUR lewdness?
Lewd: Vulgar, Not decent, obscene, lustful, base, vile, worthless, unprincipled, lascivious, lecherous
God will not tolerate lewdness. Ezekiel 23:46-49: Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land,
How do you let goof lewdness?
1.Confess it. 1 John 1:9 It’s keeping You from being King over me.
2.Lay it aside. Hebrews 12:1
3. God WILL cleanse you. Ezekiel 24:13 John 8:34-36. Ephesians 4:17-24
4. Put on the NEW self. Romans 13:11-14 Colossians 3:5-10
So every time that temptation raises its ugly head you say ‘In the name of Jesus Christ, I refuse to do it, to take it, to believe it’ …You will be set free!
#4 Will YOU Stand in the Gap?
Ezekiel 22:30 “I searched for a man who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it,
What are some Holes in the Wall of America?
God:National Motto- E Plurbius Unum: Out of many, One. What was the ONE consolidating factor? It was a fear of God. It was the God of the Bible. One Nation Under God. We know that that God is NOT Allah, NOT a Hindu god, NOT Buddha. We know that that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Jesus Christ; and that Jesus Christ is God. President Obama said that we are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. For the first time, a president has denied the primacy of Christianity in America. The Supreme Court had declared (1892) that this IS a Christian nation.
Abortion: You can NOT kill 55 million children in the womb, where they are supposed to be protected. Blood pollutes a nation. So the message goes out and we strive to change the laws. We make no apologies.
Marriage:Matthew 19-One man, One woman. So we stand for it, and we vote for it. We let our voice be heard.
Our voice is to be heard. Find the holes in the wall and build them up
‘But we are Christians, we are not supposed to be involved with it.’
Then why on earth does God talk about the princes, and the prophets, and the priests?Don’t prophesy peace and say ‘Oh God won’t judge us’. Don’t just plaster over them so that the enemy can touch it with their hand and it will crumble and they will walk through that hole.
We need to intercede
We have dethroned God, put ourselves on the throne. You are living in a nationthat has shelved God, and now wants to wipe Him right off the shelf.
It begins with you getting rid of your own idols, your lewdness, with you being refined as silver and letting go of the dross, so that when people see you they see Jesus. When they hear you, they hear the Word of God. When they are mean and ugly, they experience the love of God, as you love your enemies and are perfect even as your God in Heaven is perfect. They cannot fight that.
Now may we go forth holding forth the Word of Life in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.