{"id":10882,"date":"2020-08-09T20:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-23_32-49-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-08-09T18:04:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T01:04:36","slug":"ezekiel-24_1-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ezekiel-24_1-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercy Before Wrath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ezekiel 24:1-14\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 According to scholars, \u201cin the ninth year\u201d refers to the ninth year of King Zedekiah\u2019s reign as King of Judah (and also the ninth year after Zedekiah\u2019s predecessor King Jehoiachin of Judah was exiled to Babylon – see Ezekiel 1:2 and Jeremiah 39:1).\u00a0 \u00a0According to scholars, the exact date being described in verse 1 is January 15, 558 B.C, the day when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon\u00a0besieged Jerusalem.\u00a0 By this time Ezekiel had been warning the Israelites for over 4 years that Jerusalem would fall to Babylon (see Ezekiel 1:2), though many had refused to believe.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:3-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces–the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘For this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! Empty it piece by piece without casting lots for them.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 3-6:\u00a0 Previously the Israelites in Jerusalem boasted that Jerusalem was a cooking pot and, like meat in that pot, they were safely kept inside it and free from harm (see Ezekiel 11:3-4).\u00a0 Using their own picture against them, the Lord tells Ezekiel to cook choice pieces of meat inside a pot and to pick them all out piece by piece.\u00a0 This was to illustrate that those Israelites who boasted are now going to be picked off one by one and removed from the safe pot called Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 \u00a0Unlike anything or anyone else, God is our one and only everlasting refuge and hiding place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:7-8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘For the blood she shed is in her midst: She poured it on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground, where the dust would cover it.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To stir up wrath and take revenge I put her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 7-8:\u00a0 The Lord points out that the Israelites in Jerusalem had mercilessly and shamelessly shed innocent blood, and thus their own blood would be mercilessly shed (v7-8).<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:9-14 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the wood high.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So heap on the wood and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows so its impurities may be melted and its deposit burned away.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“‘I the\u00a0LORD\u00a0have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign\u00a0LORD.'”
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 9-14:\u00a0 Having cooked the meat well, Ezekiel is commanded by God to kindle a large fire and set the empty pot on the fire until its impurities and deposits disappear (v10-11).\u00a0 \u00a0This was to illustrate how God had done everything He could to mercifully cleanse the Israelites in Jerusalem of their sins (v13), yet they persisted in their sin.\u00a0 Since the Israelites in Jerusalem did not respond to God’s mercy, God says that He is now resorting to His wrath.\u00a0 As He says in verse 13, \u201cBecause I tried to cleanse you but you not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided\u201d.\u00a0 Thus God announces that \u201cthe time has come\u201d (v14) for Him to release His wrath and to judge Jerusalem without hesitation or pity.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God prefers to deal with us on the basis of mercy rather than on the basis of wrath<\/strong>.\u00a0 God only resorts to wrath when we fail to respond to His mercy.\u00a0 We see this here in God\u2019s treatment of the Israelites in Jerusalem.\u00a0 We see this over and over again in the Old Testament.\u00a0 We also see this in God\u2019s treatment of us.<\/p>\n

For in response to our sin, God could have chosen to act wrathfully from the outset.\u00a0\u00a0Instead God chose to reach out to us in mercy by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0Now He waits for every person to respond to His mercy expressed at the cross.\u00a0\u00a0Only when we reject His mercy does God resort to showing us His wrath.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that You love mercy and prefer to deal with us in mercy rather than in wrath.\u00a0 Thank You for showing us the greatest mercy the world has ever seen when You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die in our place for our transgressions.\u00a0 I pray that every person in our city would respond to Your mercy before it’s too late.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>For You alone are our one true refuge and hiding place.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to me:
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 According to scholars, \u201cin the ninth year\u201d refers to the ninth year of King Zedekiah\u2019s reign as King of Judah (and also the ninth year after Zedekiah\u2019s predecessor King Jehoiachin of Judah was exiled to Babylon – see Ezekiel 1:2 and Jeremiah 39:1).\u00a0 \u00a0According to scholars, the exact date being described in verse 1 is January 15, 558 B.C, the day when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon\u00a0besieged Jerusalem.\u00a0 By this time Ezekiel had been warning the Israelites for over 4 years that Jerusalem would fall to Babylon (see Ezekiel 1:2), though many had refused to believe.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel 24:3-6 (NIV)\u00a0
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Tell this rebellious house a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces–the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones;
\n5\u00a0\u00a0take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it.
\n6\u00a0\u00a0“‘For this is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: “‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now encrusted, whose deposit will not go away! Empty it piece by piece without casting lots for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10882","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\/10882","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=10882"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10883,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10882\/revisions\/10883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}