42 lines
2 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
2 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 11:1–12"
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date = "2023-03-26"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel11.1-12)
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Now Ezekiel is taken to the east gate of the temple, where another twenty-five
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men have gathered outside it. Don't confuse these twenty-five with the
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twenty-five priests worshipping the sun inside the temple court (who were
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supposed to be killed by the six destroying angels in chapter 9). Also don't
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confuse Jaazaniah the son of Azzur here with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan from
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chapter 8. These men are described as "princes of the people" (_v. 1_) so they
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are the political leaders who rose up in Jerusalem after the first deportation.
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(This was the exile that Ezekiel himself and Daniel were part of.)
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The Spirit of the Lord describes these men to Ezekiel as wicked counselors and
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arrogant in their position. They described Jerusalem as a cauldron and
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themselves as the meat in it. That is, the city has walls of irons and they are
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the best parts of what is in it. Since Nebuchadnezzar had deported most of the
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royal family, the military leaders, and the craftsmen, maybe these men
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considered those groups to be the offal and bones of a butchered animal while
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they were the parts that were valuable.
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As an aside, the Lord declares He knows their thoughts, which is not a fact
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that should be missed. When theologians talk about God's omniscience, they
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really do mean He knows _everything_. Repent of even your wicked thoughts that
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you never tell anyone.
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The Lord indicts these wicked counselors by pointing out the people who have
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been slain in the streets of the city because of their leadership. He says that
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those are the real meat of the cauldron, and because of them He will bring
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these puffed-up leaders out of the cauldron to be judged at the border of
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Israel with the sword that they have feared. They had not followed in the
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statuse of the Lord but instead did wickedness according to the ways of the
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nations around them.
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* * *
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No one can escape Your justice except through the gracious work of Jesus paying
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the penalty for our unrighteousness.
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