Our Daily Scripture – 11/11/24 (Monday)

SCRIPTURE:  EZEKIEL 22

JERUSALEM’S SINS (vs. 1-31)

  1. They shed blood and become defiled by the idols they made. (v. 4)
  2. They treated father and mother with contempt. (v. 7a)
  3. They oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow. (v. 7b)
  4. They despised God’s holy things and desecrate His Sabbaths. (v. 8)
  5. They dishonor their fathers’ bed and violate women during their period. (v. 10)
  6. They commit detestable offense with their neighbor’s wife, shamefully defiles daughter-in-law and violates their sister. (v. 11)
  7. They accept bribes to shed blood (v. 12a)
  8. They take usury and excessive interest and make unjust gain from their neighbors by extortion. (v. 12b)
  9. They were like a roaring lion tearing its prey, devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows. (v. 25)
  10. Their priests do violence to God’s law and profane God’s 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 Sabbath.  (v. 26)
  11. Their officials are like wolves tearing their pray, shedding blood and killing people to make unjust gain. (v. 27)
  12. Their prophets whitewash their deeds by false visions and lying divinations. (v. 28)
  13. the people practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. (v. 29)

PUNISHMENTS OF GOD:

  1.  I will despise you among the nations and scatter you through the countries. (v. 15)
  2.  I will gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you. (v. 20)
  3.  I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her. (v. 21)
  4.  As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted inside her, and you will know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you. (v. 22)
  5.  Your land will have no rain or showers in the day of wrath. (v. 23)

THOUGHTS:

FOUR IMAGES PORTRAYED IN THIS CHAPTER:

  1. The Court (vs. 12-16) – The prophet prosecute Judah’s leader and people who were guilty of breaking the law.
  2. The furnace (vs, 17-22) – Jerusalem would become like a furnace when the Babylonians came to encamp around it.
  3. The jungle (vs. 23-27) – The prophets were like lions and the princes like wolves all fighting to get what they could from the people,.  The priests were like animals who did not make a difference between what was holy and unclean.
  4. The Wall (vs. 28-31) – The prophets whitewashed the nation’s sins and covered its weakness.  God needs people to become walls to stand in the gap during the hour of danger.

The wall being spoken was not made of stones but of faithful people united in their efforts to resist evil.  Do not use religion as a whitewash by giving the appearance of loving God without living His way.  All of us needs total spiritual reconstruction.  Repair your life by applying the principles of God’s word so that you can stand “in the gap” to make a difference for God in the world.