Today's Reading:

Ezekiel 13
Ezekiel 14
Ezekiel 15
Ezekiel 16

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​Jerusalem acted like a prostitute. She took every gift God gave her and used it to chase other lovers. She became worse than her “sisters”, Sodom and Samaria. The shame was real. The judgment was deserved. Yet even there, in the filth, was the gift of grace.

God would still one day restore her (Jerusalem), although they would bear the shame for their sins. Not because she earned it. But because He remembered the covenant He made when she was young. He promised a new covenant that would never end. He would make atonement for her Himself.

The arrogant sister (Jerusalem) who thought she was better than the others was given her sisters as daughters. This was not a reward, but a gift that would make her remember where she came from and her shame. Grace does not erase what happened in the past; it rewrites it for the future.

They broke the covenant, and now He makes it everlasting. That new covenant came in the form of Jesus. The One who took the shame, bore the judgment, and made the way for every unfaithful heart to come back home.  Shame is real. Judgment is deserved. God’s grace is the gift.

Why does God call out Jerusalem, a prostitute, for acting worse than her sisters, yet still promise to keep the covenant He made when she was young? He made atonement Himself, took care of her shame Himself, and give her a never ending covenant- all through the One (Jesus) who carried the shame for her?

The four faces of cherubim are four different tribes, with four different strengths, and representing four different gospels. Yet in the vision, all four faces belong to the same living creatures that carry God’s throne. None of them is left out. None is more important. Together they form the living chariot of the Holy One. That is grace.

God does not ask us to become someone else’s face before He will include us. He takes the bold ones and the quiet servants, the thinkers and the far-seers, and puts them into the same story. The same glory sits overall four.

In Ezekiel’s day the people had turned their backs on that glory. But the chariot was still there, full of eyes, still moving by the Spirit’s direction, still able to carry the presence of God wherever He wanted to go. The same God who rode above those four faces later came Himself, with one face. The face of a man, so that every tribe, every strength, and every weakness could be brought closer to Him.

​Why does the Holy One place four different faces on the same living creatures that carry His throne(lion and ox, man and eagle) and then come wearing only the face of a man, so that every tribe and every strength might finally be brought near?

The false prophets who mislead the people with made-up visions and lies, telling the people what they wanted to hear and promising peace, were condemned by God. God told the prophet Ezekiel to confront them because they were not following God’s Spirit. Like jackals digging in the rubble, they were not helping to repair the broken walls (spiritually and morally). The false prophets kept saying, “Thus says the Lord,” hoping God would somehow back them up later, like a prayer, and make everything work out. God would send a storm to destroy the whitewashed walls. The false comfort they gave was worse than no comfort at all.

There were also women who used magic charms (witch crafters) who “hunted souls,” claiming control over people’s lives. This showed that both men and women were involved in false prophecy. They were discouraging the righteous that God had not condemned and kept the wicked feeling safe with reassurance. They misled people on both sides.

Elders came to see Ezekiel, most likely for a vision or oracle. But God knows they have set up idols in their hearts. The elders look religious yet are still attached to other gods. The One true God does not answer to the double life if you follow idols of another god. He will listen only if you turn to Him.

God listed four judgments: famine, wild beasts, sword, and plague. He declared that even if Noah, Daniel, or Job were living in the city, their own righteousness could not save their families. Noah was righteous in a corrupt world. Daniel was known for his integrity. Job suffered yet remained faithful. Remember when Abram tried to bargain with God in Genesis 18, asking if ten righteous could spare the whole city of Sodom? InEzekiel14:14, it said the sin of Judah was so bad that even the amazing righteousness of those three men could only save themselves, not their sons or daughters, or the land. If any of those four judgments was so severe that the three righteous could only save themselves, how much more of a disaster would it be when all four judgments would come at once on Jerusalem? A remnant would survive by being taken into exile to Babylon,and it would prove that God’s judgment was justified.

​Chapter 15 was a parable of wood from a vine. Is the vine wood any better than regular wood? No. It was useless for anything other than burning because it is soft, crooked, and weak. The people of Jerusalem were treated the same way. Even if they would come out of the fire of the early Babylon attacks, they would just be consumed by another fire. The vines that were usually fruitful were worthless (here God ignored the fruit and only looked at the vine). Since Jerusalem (the vine) had stopped producing fruit, God said the only remaining “use” for the vine was for firewood. God had sustained the vine, so He had every right to judge its failures.

​Chapter 16 was a graphic story of an abandoned baby girl born to a Canaanite, which represented Jerusalem/Israel. She was a filthy baby that no one wanted. God rescued her, raised her, married her, and loved her. Then she turned into an extreme prostitute, chasing after every nation and every idol. This was deliberate, and harsh images to show how far His people had fallen. She had only survived and was alive because of Him. He had spread the corner of his garment over her. That was a formal act of claiming and protection (like in Ruth 3:9). The covenant blessing was pictured as marriage. He washed her, anointed her, dressed her in fine clothes, jewels, and a crown. He fed her the best food. She was beautiful and raised to a royal status. All of this was His pure gift.

This was Israel’s history. From the Exodus, to the Sinai covenant, through the glory of David and Solomon. God took a nobody and turned her into a queen. Then she took the beauty from God and prostituted herself to other nations and idols, giving them the beautiful gifts He provided (food, gold, clothes). Those gifts were turned into idols. She gave away the gifts from Him, of food, gold, and clothes, and turned them into idols, including phallic images used in fertility rites. His gifts funded her unfaithfulness. She “slept with” the idols through her worship. Worst of all, she took the sons and daughters born to God and sacrificed them, making them “pass through the fire” to Molech. She forgot where she herself had come from. She chased after the other nations at the street corner in alliances with gods, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, never satisfied. The kicker: normal prostitutes get paid, but she paid her lovers to come to her.

God called her (Israel) a harlot. He said He would expose her nakedness, strip her, stone her, run her through the sword getting hacked to pieces, and burn her house. This mirrored the ancient penalties for adultery and was the actual fate of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

​Jerusalem was compared to her “sisters,” Samaria and Sodom, but she was worse than them. She made Samaria look righteous by being much worse. Sodom’s sins were included in Matthew 11:23-24, not just the violence from Genesis 19. Amazingly, God promised He would restore all three: Jerusalem, Sodom, and Samaria. But Jerusalem would carry the shame for being a comfort to them, because she made them look good by being worse.

Today's Discussion question:

Why does God call out Jerusalem, a prostitute, for acting worse than her sisters, yet still promise to keep the covenant He made when she was young? He made atonement Himself, took care of her shame Himself, and gave her a never-ending covenant- all through the One (Jesus) who carried the shame for her?

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