{"id":10786,"date":"2020-08-05T20:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T03:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-22_1-16-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-08-05T23:20:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T06:20:27","slug":"ezekiel-22_17-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-22_17-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Useful or Useless \u2013 It\u2019s Your Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezekiel 22:17-31\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 22:17-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 22:17-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the\u00a0LORD\u00a0have poured out my wrath upon you.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-22:\u00a0 Here God has another message for Ezekiel concerning \u201cthe house of Israel\u201d, saying that the house of Israel has become dross to Him.\u00a0 What is dross?\u00a0 Dross is the impure, unwanted material which rises to the surface, scooped up and thrown away when precious metals like silver are heated in a furnace.\u00a0 God compared the house of Israel to dross, saying that because of their sin they had been impure, useless and ought to be thrown away.\u00a0 The Israelites would have resonated with this imagery, since according to scholars metallurgy was a developed science in the ancient Near East.\u00a0\u00a0 Like metals being thrown into a furnace and melted, so the Israelites would be gathered in Jerusalem while Jerusalem is under attack.\u00a0 According to some scholars, this prophecy was fulfilled during the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. when King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem and set fire to much of the city.\u00a0 It may have also found its fulfillment in 70 A.D. when Emperor Titus of the Roman Empire defeated Jerusalem, killing many Jews in the process.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0While we are precious in God\u2019s sight, whether we are ultimately useless to God or useful to Him will depend on how much we live out His Word.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0If we say we believe in Jesus, but we are not careful to live out our faith, we may be saved and going to heaven but we will severely limit how much God will use us on earth and bless us in eternity.\u00a0 But if we live out our faith, we become useful in God\u2019s hands for His purposes on earth and we gain greater blessings for eternity.\u00a0 As Paul writes, \u201cIn a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.\u00a0 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.\u201d (2 Timothy 2:20-21; see also 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).\u00a0Or as Jesus Himself says,\u00a0 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.\u201d (Matthew 5:13)<\/p>\n

By the way, Ezekiel uses the term \u201chouse of Israel\u201d over 100 times in this book.\u00a0 In verse 18 particularly, when Ezekiel uses the term \u201cthe house of Israel\u201d, he seems to be referring to all the Israelites wherever they were situated, and not necessarily only the Israelites then living in Jerusalem and Judah.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 22:23-29 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Again the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has had no rain or showers in the day of wrath.’
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says’–when the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has not spoken.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-29:\u00a0 Here Ezekiel receives from the Lord another message for \u201cthe land\u201d, which is presumably Judah.\u00a0 He points out how 5 different groups of people in the land \u2013 princes (v25), priests (v26), government officials (v27), prophets (v28) and the people generally (v29) \u2013 have done the very opposite of what they were called to do.\u00a0 Instead of protecting the people, the princes of Israel would devour and destroy them (v25).\u00a0 Instead of upholding God\u2019s commands and teaching the people to follow God, the priests would break God\u2019s laws and encourage others to do the same (v26).\u00a0 Instead of serving the people, the government officials would extort them (v27).\u00a0 Instead of confronting the people with God\u2019s truth, the prophets would whitewash the sins of the people with false visions and lying divinations (v28).\u00a0\u00a0 Instead of taking care of one another and especially the poor and needy, the people would mistreat one another, especially the poor and needy (v29).\u00a0 As a result, where God had called His people to be blessed and to be a blessing, the Lord says they together have become an unclean land that is like a city without rain on a day of wrath (v24).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s blessing on our lives depends a great deal on how we treat the people around us.<\/strong>\u00a0 Treat the people around you well and serve them as God has called us to, and you will be blessed and be a blessing.\u00a0 Mistreat the people around you and don\u2019t serve others, and you will severely limit how much blessing you give to others and receive yourself.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 30-31:\u00a0 God tells Ezekiel that He looked for a man among them who could build up the wall and stand before Him in the gap and intercede on behalf of the people.\u00a0 However, He found none and thus had no choice but to punish the people.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God looks for brave individuals who will stand in the gap on behalf of their community, city, nation, or world.\u00a0 When we pray, sacrifice and lead to help others, it\u2019s like we\u2019re building up a wall of protection for our city, community and nation.<\/strong>\u00a0 The greatest example of this is Jesus Christ, who stood in the gap on our behalf, receiving God\u2019s wrath in our stead so that we could be spared.<\/p>\n

Thank You Heavenly Father for showing us that in many ways we get to choose how much we will be blessed and used by You.\u00a0 Jesus, thank You for living out God\u2019s Word, for serving the people around You so well, and for boldly standing in the gap on others\u2019 behalf.\u00a0\u00a0 May I do the same so as to maximize\u00a0how much You will bless us and use us to be a blessing.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,
\n\u00a0
\nToday\u2019s passage is Ezekiel 22:17-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nEzekiel 22:17-22 (NIV)\u00a0
\n17\u00a0\u00a0Then the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:\u00a0
\n18\u00a0\u00a0“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.\u00a0
\n19\u00a0\u00a0Therefore this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: ‘Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into Jerusalem.\u00a0
\n20\u00a0\u00a0As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace to melt it with a fiery blast, so will I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.\u00a0
\n21\u00a0\u00a0I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.\u00a0
\n22\u00a0\u00a0As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the\u00a0LORD\u00a0have poured out my wrath upon you.'”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 17-22:\u00a0 Here God has another message for Ezekiel concerning \u201cthe house of Israel\u201d, saying that the house of Israel has become dross to Him.\u00a0 What is dross?\u00a0 Dross is the impure, unwanted material which rises to the surface, scooped up and thrown away when precious metals like silver are heated in a furnace.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10788,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10787,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10786\/revisions\/10787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}