EZEKIEL 6-7 WHEN WILL YOU KNOW HE IS THE LORD2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 6-7 When Will You Know He Is The Lord

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010. Well, this evening we're in Ezekiel chapter 6. We'll be looking at chapters 6 and 7 this evening, Lord willing. And as we look at these things, again, you know, we're looking at the messages that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel. And Ezekiel was...

A captive in the nation of Babylon. If you remember back in Jeremiah, we looked in great detail at the rebellion of the people of God, of Israel, the nation of Judah. They rebelled against God. They refused to worship Him and only Him. Instead, they included all these other gods in their lives.

And they would worship these other gods in addition to going to the temple and practicing the sacrifices and worshiping the one true God. They would worship all of these other gods and devote their attention and those things that God was deserving of, they would give to these other false gods in false worship.

And so God sent messengers like the prophet Jeremiah to the nation of Judah over and over again, over several hundred years. They continued to rebel. They continued to ignore the message that God was giving to them to repent and turn back and get right with God. And so it...

brought them to the point of total destruction, where the nation of Babylon came down and conquered the nation of Judah, conquered Jerusalem, and took the people captive into the land of Babylon. And that's where Ezekiel is. He is in the land of Babylon. He was one of those who was taken captive. But at this time, as he's writing, the final destruction of Judah has not taken place. And so,

Babylon came and conquered and took some people captive, but they allowed the nation to continue to exist. And they set up a new king and said, hey, you new king, you need to be faithful and pay your taxes and pay your tribute and be a good servant of the nation. But he rebelled and so they came and conquered again. And then a third time they set up a new king and said, okay, you be good, pay tribute, we'll allow you to exist.

and they rebelled again and it's during that time that Ezekiel is writing that Babylon is coming again to the nation of Judah for the third time. This time they're going to wipe them out completely. They're not going to allow them to exist but they're going to take all the inhabitants back to Babylon captive, at least those that survive the battle and the siege.

And so as Ezekiel is writing this, he's among the captives in Babylon. And there's false prophets there in Babylon that are telling the people, just like there was false prophets in Jeremiah's day, here the false prophets are proclaiming a message that is not of God. And the message proclaims

that they're proclaiming is that Jerusalem is going to survive the attack, that Jerusalem is going to defeat Babylon, and then they're going to come and set these captives free and take them back home. And so the false prophets were delivering a false message and telling the people that Judah is not going to be destroyed, that instead they're going to be set free and released from captivity.

Well, we know from Jeremiah that God promised that their captivity would last 70 years, that they would be in Babylon for a good length of time, and it was a result of their rebellion against God. And so God is using Ezekiel to counteract these false prophets and to declare the truth so that the people would learn and understand what God is actually doing, that they wouldn't be deceived, but that they would turn to God and repent.

Because that's really the whole goal and purpose of them being brought to Babylon. God was allowing this and bringing this upon the nation to bring them to repentance. And we'll see that this evening as well. And so we pick it up in chapter 6 with this vision or this message that God gives to Ezekiel. It says in chapter 6 verse 1,

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. And say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys. Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols, and I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. Here as we look at the first five verses of chapter 6, we understand that God is speaking very strongly right away. He

He says to Ezekiel, Ezekiel, I want you to prophesy something, and it's against the mountains of Israel. Now the mountains of the nation of Judah, the mountains of Israel, is what the cities were built upon. It was also the places that they would worship those false gods. They would go up to the high places to worship those false gods. And so the mountains were important to them. They were key and significant places within the nation.

And what God is saying, again, as he's been saying throughout Ezekiel, is that this nation is going to be destroyed, that there is going to be complete destruction. And so he tells Ezekiel to prophesy against the mountains. Again, he's getting the word out. He's making sure that people understand that Jerusalem and Judah are going to be conquered as a result of their rebellion against God.

And so he says, hear the word of the Lord. This is what God says to the hills and the ravines and the valleys. Notice what God says. He says, I, even I will bring a sword against you and I will destroy your high places.

God is declaring that they're going to be destroyed, but He's also making it very clear, pay attention to how many times God says, I will, here in these first five verses. He says, I will, several times, five different times, letting the people know, this is my doing. This is God's work. He is bringing this destruction. He is bringing this judgment.

Because God is a holy, righteous, and just God. He is bringing judgment upon the nation of Judah who has refused judgment

to be obedient to Him. Even though He's sent messengers. You know, we kind of think in our heads about God and sometimes we struggle with who God is. And sometimes we look at the Old Testament and the judgment that's pronounced. And then we look at the New Testament and we wonder how can that be the same God? How does He have this righteousness? How is He holy and just?

And then on the other side, at the same time, He's gracious and loving and merciful. How can He be all of those things all together, all at the same time? Holy, righteous and just and gracious and loving and merciful. How can He be all of those things? I think a very easy answer, one word answer for us that explains it all is patience. You know, God is patient. He is holy and righteous and just, but

But the moment that people sin or the moment that we rebel against God, He doesn't just strike us down in that moment. He's patient. He gives us time and opportunity to turn back and to get right. He sends us messengers. He sets up situations that we might have the opportunity to turn and repent. And so He is holy and just and righteous.

but he's also patient and so he gives us time in the same way he gave the nation of Judah time he gave them a great length of time and he sent the prophets to them he gave them opportunities he spoke very clearly to them of their need to repent and to turn and to get right with God

So much so that in the book of Jeremiah, it came to the point where the people said, hey, we understand, but that's too hard. We don't want to follow God because it's too difficult for us to turn away from these other gods. We want to continue our path and do the things that we want to do.

And so God is patient. He's gracious and loving and merciful because when we turn, when we repent, when we turn to Him and look to Him for salvation, He does so. He brings us mercy. He lavishes us with grace and love. He pours out wonderful blessings in us, starting with forgiveness and salvation.

But then continuing on to the fullness of his plans. And so he is holy and righteous and just. But you know, he doesn't strike us down the moment that we fall short. He gives us time to get right. But that time comes to an end.

And so God is able, through long patience, through a long time of enduring and putting up with this nation and their rebellion against Him, now He is able to bring forth judgment, to enforce the holiness and righteousness and justice of His nature and of His character, but it doesn't take away from His grace, His mercy, and His love.

And so God gives us time to repent. He's patient, not willing that any should perish. But He gives us space to come and to get right with Him and receive from Him the mercy that He desires to pour out into our lives.

But in order to receive that, we must turn. We must repent. And so God gave the nation of Judah those opportunities. And for some of you tonight, perhaps this is one of God's opportunities to you. That God is giving you opportunity. He hasn't struck you down and destroyed you yet, but He's giving you opportunity. He's patient. He's waiting for you to turn to Him and to receive the grace, the love and the mercy that He has for you.

And so I want to encourage you this evening to take advantage of this opportunity. If your life is not right with God, you need to make things right. You can't just continue on and think, well, nothing's going to happen. Everything's going to be fine and God will continue to bless me even though I'm not really being obedient to Him.

Understand, that was the mindset and the attitude of the nation of Judah. And here God says, I will bring the sword against you. I'm going to come strong against you, Judah. I'm going to bring this destruction. I'm going to conquer you. I'm going to destroy your high places.

Verse 4, he says, I will cast down your slain men before your idols. Verse 5, I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols. I will scatter your bones all around your altars. God will bring justice. He will make things right. He will bring judgment. If we persist, if we continue in rebellion against God. And so we need to take advantage of these opportunities that God gives us.

And so Ezekiel pronounces this message. God is bringing this judgment, making it very clear. This is the work, this is the hand of God who is dealing with his people who have refused to be obedient to him. Verse 6.

He says,

Here is the message continues. He goes on to describe the destruction that's going to take place and their high places are going to be laid waste. This was where they would go and they would set up their altars to false gods and they would worship these false gods. And so the altars that they set up, the high places that they established, the idols that they were worshiping, they were going to be laid waste before them.

And so God is going to be dealing with them because of their idolatry, because they would not worship the Lord their God and serve Him only. Notice also here in verse 6, He says, He gives us some insight into the purpose of this judgment that He's bringing. He says, He says,

so that your altars may be laid waste. God is saying, look, the nation is going to be destroyed today

So that the idolatrous practices will be stopped. You know, it wasn't that God was, you know, hating the people and just really wanting to inflict them with pain and make them suffer. It wasn't that He disapproved of their cities and He was saying, you know, I told you not to build a city there, so I'm going to knock it down. No, what God was saying is,

I just disapprove of the idolatry. But no matter what I do, you won't stop worshiping these false gods. And so now you've brought me to the point in your rebellion that I'm going to destroy the city so that...

The idolatrous practices will stop so that these high places will be no more, so that the altars will be broken down. I'm going to bring this destruction, God is saying, so that you stop worshipping these false gods. He only destroyed the city in order to stop the idolatry. And that's amazing because God loved them so much.

That He didn't just wipe them out. He didn't just squash them. He could have done that. He could have just wiped them off the face of the earth. But He couldn't because He loved them so much. And so what He's doing in bringing the judgment is He's giving them another opportunity to get right with Him.

Even in the midst of receiving the judgment of God, we have the opportunity, even when we're experiencing the consequences of our sins, we have the opportunity. It's another opportunity from God to turn and to get right with Him. And again and again and again, in these judgments here in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, we see the grace and mercy of God in giving us opportunity time and time again to turn and to get right with Him.

God loves you too much to allow you to continue in disobedience. In Hebrews chapter 12, it tells us that God disciplines those that He loves. And so He brings chastisement into our lives. He brings judgment. He brings discipline because He loves us. And it's an opportunity for us to turn and to get right. He goes on there in verse 7 and says, "...and you shall know that I am the Lord."

He says, look, all these things are going to happen and I'm going to come against you in this way and you shall know that I am the Lord. Once all of these things take place, he is saying, as these things unfold before your eyes, then you will know, it will be very clear to you that I am the Lord.

This is a predominant theme here in the book of Ezekiel and specifically in chapters 5 and 6, which we're looking at tonight. I'm sorry, 6 and 7, which we're looking at tonight. You will know that I am the Lord. God's objective in the judgment, God's objective in speaking through Ezekiel was that the people would know that He is the Lord.

As I was reading this phrase and this thought over and over again as I was preparing for this evening's service, I began to ask myself the question, and I think it's appropriate for us to ask ourselves, when will we know that He is the Lord? When will you know that He is the Lord? That He reigns on high, that He is King of kings and Lord of lords? What will it take for you to know that He is Lord?

For the nation of Judah, it was going to take complete and utter destruction. It was going to take Babylon coming and laying siege to the city, atrocious things happening during the time of that siege, many people dying, the cities finally being conquered and destroyed, and the people being taken captive to Babylon. That's incredible news.

Things that are even difficult for us to imagine the difficulties that they went through. And that's what it took. That's what was necessary for them to know that He is the Lord. What will it take for you and I to know that He is Lord? You know, it's often the case that, like Judah, it's only when we reach rock bottom that

That we finally recognize and say, okay, He is the Lord. I'll turn to Him. I'll see what He can do with my life. But it doesn't have to be that way. I think this is important for us to consider this evening as we will see this phrase over and over again. What will it take for you to know? When will you know that He is the Lord? Verse 8 says,

He says,

and they shall know that I am the Lord. I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them. Again, God says, look, I'm bringing this calamity, and I'm not saying this in vain. It's going to happen. But He gives a glimmer of hope here. He says, I'm going to leave a remnant.

With the nation of Israel, with the nation of Judah, God's promise was that there would always be a remnant. They were His people. There would be the few that were left, the few that were faithful, the few that followed God. And so God is not wiping them out completely, which He could have easily done and He did with other nations.

But he left a remnant, some who would escape the sword among the nations, some who would survive the battle and survive the siege. And he says, then those who escape will remember me, God says. And so again, his objective, what God is accomplishing through this is bringing his people together.

Back into right relationship with Him. His judgment is an effort to restore, giving them an opportunity to turn and to get right. And so in doing this, He says, they will remember Me wherever they were carried captive. And notice what He says about Himself. He says, I was crushed by their adulterous heart. It grieves the Lord when we do not give Him that proper place of lordship of our lives.

He was crushed by their adulteries. He's talking about spiritual adultery. Where instead of the Lord being number one, the Lord having full reign, the Lord being the master, being the one who has full authority, they were worshipping these other gods. He says their eyes played the harlot after their idols. They were chasing after these false gods and it grieved God. He says...

He was crushed by it. And they will be grieving over this as they remember God. As they remember, he says, they will loathe themselves for the evil that they have committed. And they're going to know, God says, that I am the Lord. Again, when will you know that he is the Lord? What's it going to take? Here we see that the remnant will remember God and they will repent and

We can see the repentance there as they loathe themselves, as they express, they show this remorse, this sorrow as they consider their evil deeds. It's what it would take for them to know that He is God. But what will it take for you to know? Let me say this. You do not know that He is Lord if you are living in disobedience.

If you continue a sinful lifestyle, if you continue in rebellion against God, if you continue to disobey God, of course we all sin and we all fall short. That's what the scripture says. Every one of us, we fall short of God's standards. We sin, we mess up. But there's a difference between messing up, stumbling into sin, falling short because of our sinful nature, and choosing to live and continue in a sinful practice.

And if you are choosing to continue in a sinful practice, if you're choosing to continue to disobey God, you do not know that He is Lord. That's where the nation of Judah was. They continued. They persisted. They heard messages like we hear all the time. Messages that tell us, hey, we need to repent. We need to get right. We need to make sure God is first and foremost in our hearts and lives. And they said, ah, I think I'm okay. And they continued on.

Much like we often do when we're in rebellion against God. And so it brought them to this point that God had to bring this destruction upon them to give them this last opportunity to open their eyes, to repent and to know that He is God. If you continue to live in disobedience, you don't know that He is God. You don't know that He is Lord. You might say the words,

You might think, well, intellectually, I understand that He is Lord. But the way that you're living your life demonstrates that you don't really believe that you will be held accountable. You don't really believe that you will stand before Him. You don't really believe that it matters whether or not you walk in obedience to God. And you demonstrate that by the way that you live. Listen, if you're living that way, again, look at what God says, it crushed Him. If you're living in disobedience,

It's not so much that God is so upset and He's angry at you, but He's crushed. He's crushed when we don't give Him that rightful place. He's crushed when we don't allow Him to be the Lord of our lives. It grieves Him. It brings Him great sorrow because He purchased us at great cost. He sent His only begotten Son to die upon the cross for us.

And so as we spit in the face of Jesus and live in disobedience, oh, it grieves God. What will it take for you and I to know that He is Lord for us to finally fully surrender and submit to Him? Verse 11, Thus says the Lord God, Pound your fists and stamp your feet and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine and by pestilence.

Verse 2.

Verse 13, Then you shall know that I am the Lord. When they're slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols.

So I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate. Yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Dibla and all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Again, we see that God is making the point. When all of these things take place, when all of these things happen, when this destruction comes upon them, then they will know, but not until then.

Because they are, well, they're hardened. Their hearts are hardened by their sin. They're deceived by their disobedience. And this is what it's going to take for them to know that He is God. And so he calls Ezekiel to pound his fist. Listen up, guys. This is what's going to happen. And it's only after these things take place that you will know that He is the Lord. He says, stomp your feet. Get their attention, Ezekiel.

Wake them up. This is what it's going to take. God is accomplishing. He's doing these things. Those who are far away, they're going to die. Those who are near, they're going to die. Those who are holed up in the city thinking the walls will protect them, they're going to die. There's going to be massive destruction. They're not going to escape this attack. They're not going to escape this judgment. God says it's going to happen. It's going to come upon them and then they will know that I am the Lord.

When will you know that He is the Lord? You know you cannot escape. You cannot outrun God.

If you're continuing in disobedience, if you have that area of your life that you just continue to practice and you think, well, it's just not that big of a deal and I'm not hurting anybody else and all those other lies that we tell ourselves. If you continue in that, listen, you cannot escape. You're saying, yeah, yeah, God, that's nice. You know, you say those things, but you know, I don't think you're really going to do it or look, I make up for it by being good in these areas and I read my Bible today. And so, you know, it's not that bad. And we, we,

We say all these things, we're basically trying to outrun God. We're saying, you can't catch me, I outsmarted you. Yeah, yeah, I can still sin and I can still be a Christian. I can still live this way and I can still be blessed by you. I got you God, I can outsmart you, I can outrun you. I'm not going to experience the consequences and the judgment for rebelling against you.

God says, look, nobody's going to escape. No matter how far you run. Hey, if you're near, if you're far, if you're holed up in some city, you're going to experience the judgment that God will bring forth if you continue to rebel and disobey Him. He says they're going to fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. There's no escape. And we'll continue to see that in chapter 7 as well.

Chapter 7, verse 1 says, Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, An end, the end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now the end has come upon you, and I will send my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations.

My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Again, God says, this is what it's going to take for you to know that I am the Lord. He says to Ezekiel, continue to speak, Ezekiel. Here's the message for the land of Israel. The end has come. This is it. This is it. This is final. This is the end.

There is going to be complete destruction. The end has come upon you. God says, you've run out. You've run out of time. I'm not going to just continue to allow you to rebel against me any longer. The end is here. Now I'm going to deal with your sin. I'm going to deal with your rebellion.

And so he says, I'm going to judge you. But notice he says, according to your ways. God is fair. He's not unjust. He doesn't judge them disproportionate to their rebellion. Sometimes we look at the judgment of God and it's just really hard for us to comprehend and imagine. How could God judge in this way? How could he bring this type of destruction? But he doesn't judge people.

disproportionate to the rebellion. He judges accordingly. In fact, even in his judgment, we've seen over and over again, his judgments are even merciful and not fully what is deserved. And so he says, look, I'm judging you according to your ways. And notice he says, I will repay you. I will repay you, he says.

according to your ways, he says, I will repay you. And then again in verse 4, he says, look, I'm not going to pity you. I'm not going to spare you. I'm going to repay your ways. This is a repayment. As we see in the book of Romans, the wages of sin is death. What is earned, what is deserved by sin is death. And so God says, I'm going to

Pay you your wages. I'm going to pay you according to what you've done. I'm going to give you the wages that you've earned. And that is judgment. That is destruction. God repays for the rebellion, for the sin, for the disobedience. A payment must be made. And you know the beautiful thing for those who...

Hold fast to Jesus Christ and receive the free gift of salvation and walk with Him. Here's the beautiful thing. All of the judgment that's due to you for your sin and rebellion and consequences

There is a payment that must be made, but that payment has been made. He has already repaid. Hey, if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you love God and you're walking in relationship with Him, that payment has been paid. He has repaid already. Jesus Christ received the payment for us. He received the judgment according to our ways. The judgment He received was not according to His ways.

He was blameless. He was perfect. He was sinless. The judgment He received was according to our ways. He received the payment that was due, that should have been given to us, the destruction, the judgment that we deserved, was received by Jesus Christ as He died upon the cross for us. Amazing, beautiful, how good our God is. And so again, we see He's just, He's holy, He's righteous, but He's also gracious and loving and merciful.

And so it's the opportunity for us to come to Him and repent and get right with Him because He wants what's best for us. And He doesn't want to. He doesn't desire to pay us according to our ways. But He will if it's necessary. And so He tells them here, Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I'm going to bring you this judgment. It's what you deserve so that you have the opportunity to know that I am the Lord.

What will it take for you? When will you know that He is Lord? When will you finally surrender and turn over your life to Him and let Him have full reign? When will you know that He is the Lord? Verse 5, Thus says the Lord God, A disaster, a singular disaster, behold, it has come. An end has come, the end has come, it has dawned for you, behold, it has come.

Doom has come to you. You will dwell in the land. The time has come. A day of trouble is near and not of rejoicing in the mountains. Now upon you I will soon pour out my fury and spend my anger upon you. I will judge you according to your ways and I will repay you for all your abominations.

Again, God pretty much repeats Himself here. The end has come. Here is the end. Doom has come to them.

It's going to be great destruction. In fact, he calls it a disaster there in verse 5. I think of Pastor Sisko every time I read verse 5 here because it says a disaster, a singular disaster. He used to make so much fun of us back when he had a Verizon cell phone and we were all on singular and then we'd get a dropped call and he'd call us back and say, a disaster, a singular disaster has come to you. But now he's on AT&T and so he's in the same mess with the rest of us.

But there's a disaster, destruction. This great, terrible thing is coming upon the nation because of their rebellion against God. Doom has come upon them. And again, God's saying, I'm judging you. I'm pouring out my fury according to your ways, according to what you've done for all your abominations. And

God, you know, hasn't lost track. He hasn't, you know, said, oh, well, I forgot about that one. Maybe I'll judge them for that one later. No, he says, look, I'm going to take all of those abominations, those ways that you're disobeying, those ways that you're rebelling against me, I'm going to deal with all of them in this destruction. I'm going to deal with all of them in this judgment. So again, he says, I'm not going to spare you. My eye is not going to have pity. I'm going to repay you according to your ways.

And then you will know that I am the Lord. What will it take in your life? And I've been in those places in my life where, you know, God, He brought judgment and I'm so glad that He did. Now I wish that it wouldn't have taken, you know, the consequences and the reaping of what I had sown for me to turn and to really let God have full reign in my life.

But in those times when I, well, I just was not submitted to God. Oh, I believed in Jesus and I came to church and I prayed and I read my Bible. But there was areas of my life that I just didn't surrender to God. And I didn't want Him to have control of. And I didn't want to turn from those ways. I wanted to continue on. That's the way the nation of Judah was. And so there was, well, many days of disaster and destruction as a result.

And it was only at that time, it was only then that I finally knew that He is the Lord and I turned over those areas of my life. This evening, God is bringing us this message. He has us here this evening so that you can have this opportunity. You don't have to get to that point. You don't have to go that far.

What's it going to take for you to know that He is the Lord? It can just be the Word of God here being delivered. And you knowing what's going on in your heart and knowing what God is speaking to you, you have the opportunity right now to turn and to let go and to surrender to God completely. And you know our minds and our flesh lies to us and tells us, no, you can't. It's just too hard. It's too difficult.

If it's not telling us that it's too hard or difficult, it tells us, you know, we're going to die. It's going to be the death of us if we surrender that area, if we turn over that thing. It's going to destroy our lives and ruin us if we, you know, fully submit to God. Or...

The flesh, our minds will lie to us and say, oh, no, no, no, it's okay. It's not that big of a deal. It's just a little area of your life. And so, you know, it's not, you're not killing anybody. And, well, hopefully you're not. But, you know, it's just a little thing. It's not really a big deal. God understands and He knows that you're just dust. And so, you don't really have to worry. Jerry's not talking to you. Our flesh lies to us and deceives us. Listen. Listen.

If you're continuing in a practice, in something that you know is wrong, this message is for you. This opportunity is for you to surrender, to submit, to repent, to turn from that, to give it to God, to recognize that He is Lord. Because if you continue to live in disobedience, if you continue to walk in those things, you don't know that He is the Lord. But you have the opportunity right now, tonight, this evening,

To know that He is the Lord. To give Him that rightful place in your life. To turn and to get right with Him. So that He doesn't have to bring this disaster, this judgment, this discipline. I often quote it, but you know, it's so appropriate. My dad used to tell me, you can discipline yourself or I can discipline you. You get to choose. If you discipline yourself and you do what's right and you obey...

then you're good. But if you disobey and you choose to do the things that you know you're not supposed to do, my dad said, I'll discipline you. I'll take care of it. You can discipline yourself or I can discipline you. In the same way, what's it going to take? God can discipline you. He can bring the discipline and the chastisement and open your eyes and then, oh, He is the Lord. I should have listened. Or He can take the opportunity as He speaks to you in times like this.

And hear Him and obey and respond and turn and get right with Him. Verse 10. Behold the day. Behold, it has come. Doom has gone out. The rod has blossomed. Pride has budded. Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness.

Verse 2.

Notice this, the end of verse 13. No one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. God says, behold, pay attention, open your eyes. The day has come. This is it, guys. Here's the judgment. Here's what we've been talking about. Here's what I've been telling you for the past 200 years. The day is upon you.

Violence has risen up. Judgment is here and no one is going to escape. None of the multitude is going to be unaffected by this judgment. None of the multitude, none of the nation is going to escape the consequences of the rebellion against God. The time is now, he says.

He says, look, don't let the buyer rejoice or the seller mourn. Now, in those days, the practice of the nation of Israel was that when you would sell your property, you would have the right to buy it back.

because you would sell it because you were short on money, you ran out of money and so the property was actually your inheritance. And so when you had to sell it, it was something to mourn over. You kind of brought yourself, bankrupt yourself and so you had to sell your property in order to survive. And so he says, look, don't mourn over the loss of that property, the seller of the property.

And the buyer, hey, don't rejoice. Oh, look at this great deal I got, man. Joe was in a bad spot, so I got it for half off. Don't rejoice, buyer, he says. Don't mourn, seller, because it doesn't matter. The land's being taken away from you. You're taken out of this land. He says, look, even if you survive, you're not going to be able to return to it because, again, the seller would have the option of, within a certain period of time, coming and buying back the property.

He says, even if you survive the battle, you're not going to go back there because you're going to be in Babylon, captive. The whole multitude is going to be affected. Again, he's making it clear. No one is going to escape this judgment. He says there at the end of verse 13, no one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. I think that's a verse for us to really take to heart. That's a message for us to really consider.

No one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. Do you need strength? Do you ever wonder, man, how come I'm so weak? He says, no one will strengthen himself who lives in iniquity. Now, sometimes we reverse this in our minds. We excuse ourselves and we say, no, I live in iniquity because I'm so weak.

But no, the reality is, you're weak because you live in iniquity. You live in iniquity, not because you're weak, but because that's your choice. If you don't believe me, later this evening, maybe during the time of worship in just a few moments, read Romans chapter 6, 7, and 8.

And understand that in Christ we've been set free. We don't have to continue those practices that we were once bound to. We're not slaves to sin any longer. We don't continue to live in sin because we're weak. We continue to live in sin because that's our choice. Because we refuse to turn to God and submit to Him and surrender to Him. We're weak because

Because we live in iniquity. Because we continue in sin. Because we continue to rebel against God. You will not strengthen yourself if you live in iniquity. And you know what? That's important because there's heavy times ahead. You know, we deal with difficult days. We deal with the financial crisis. We deal with family crises. We deal with job losses and changes and all kinds of difficulties all the time. We need strength.

We deal with spiritual warfare. We're dealing with a nation that is turning away from God. We're dealing with terrorists that want to destroy our nation. We're dealing with false gods. We're dealing with the plans and plot of the enemy to destroy us. There's a great battle out there. We need strength. But we will not strengthen ourselves if we live in iniquity. We must turn. We must repent.

We must get that out of our lives and turn and get right with God. Verse 14, They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, but no one goes to battle, for my wrath is on all their multitude. The sword is outside and the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and whoever is in the city, famine and pestilence will devour him.

Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity. Every hand will be feeble, and every knee will be as weak as water. They will also be girded with sackcloth. Horror will cover them. Shame will be on every face, baldness on all their heads. Here God describes the aftermath.

Them blowing the trumpet. Hey, there's a battle. Everyone come. But nobody comes. No one's ready. No one's prepared. Because they will not strengthen themselves who live in iniquity. He describes the method of judgment. Sword, famine, and pestilence. We've seen these three things repeated already up to this point in Ezekiel. This is the judgment that God is bringing.

The sword, famine, and pestilence. The sword, the nation of Babylon. Famine, because they're camping around the city of Jerusalem, starving them out. Pestilence, because there's all kinds of disease that comes. Well, when you are trapped in one location, dead bodies are there rotting, there's just waste everywhere. In those desperate times, there's pestilence, there's disease.

And so these three things, sword, famine, and pestilence, are going to be used by the Lord to bring this judgment. He says, those who survive. Now, again, He's not wiping them out completely, although the majority of them will die. There will be those who are left, the remnant, the few who survive. But they are going to be not rejoicing, not excited, not saying, look how strong we are. They're going to be mourning like doves. They're just going to be sobbing continually.

And what are they mourning over? He says, each for his iniquity there in verse 16. See, again, it's going to take this drastic measure for them to finally repent and mourn over their sin and weep over their rebellion. What's it going to take for you? What's it going to take for me to mourn over sin, to really sorrow? You know, godly sorrow produces repentance, Paul tells us.

To not just mourn and sorrow, you know, when we get caught, or not just mourn and sorrow that we continue to live that way, but to mourn and sorrow in such a way that it brings repentance. That we turn and say, I'm not going to live this way any longer. Lord, help me to turn from this. Lord, I surrender and I submit it to you. At this time, they're going to mourn over their each, he says, for his iniquity. For his own iniquity, for his own personal rebellion against God.

Each one is going to mourn. They're going to recognize and finally see their sin for what it is. He says their hands are going to be feeble, their knees going to be weak. Why? Because no one will straighten himself who lives in iniquity. Verse 19 says,

They will throw their silver into the streets and their gold will be like refuse. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them. In the day of the wrath of the Lord, they will not satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. As for the beauty of His ornaments, He set it in majesty, but they made from it the images of their abominations, their detestable things. Therefore, I have made it like refuse to them.

I will give it as plunder into the hands of strangers and to the wicked of the earth as spoil and they shall defile it. I will turn my face from them and they will defile my secret place for robbers shall enter it and defile it.

Here we see that, again, the aftermath or the result of this judgment is that those things that were once precious, those things that were once valuable, now are defiled. Now they're worthless. They're cast aside. It says they'll throw their silver into the streets and their gold will be like refuse. They're going to despise these things.

Silver and gold which they once treasured, which they once hoarded, which they once based their lives upon. On the day of the wrath of the Lord, they're going to realize it's not going to be able to deliver them. It won't satisfy their souls. Why? Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. Those things which were so precious and valuable to them that they held to and said, no, we're going to hold to these things instead of obeying God. Those same things that they thought were so important to them

became their stumbling blocks. Those are the things that kept them from a right relationship with God. What keeps us from a right relationship with God? What is it that we hold on to so dearly that we say, no, I can't get right with God. I can't let this go. I can't. This is so important. This is so valuable. This is so precious to me. Those things that we hold on to that keep us from God, God will bring it to the point where that is refuse. Refuse.

Those things are despised and defiled. This is even the beauty of His ornaments. The things, the beautiful things that God created, they made from it their images of abomination. They turned those things into abomination, detestable things. And it becomes like refuse finally to them. God says it becomes plunder for the strangers, those who conquer them. And even, we see the extent of the damage here in verse 22, says,

He says that they will defile my secret place, for robbers shall enter it and defile it. The holy of holies, God's place where God met with his people, where his presence dwelt, is now going to be defiled. The most holy, the most precious, the most sacred, the most special thing of the nation of Judah was just going to become worthless, refuse, defiled. Verse 23 says,

Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood and the city is full of violence. Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses. I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled.

Destruction comes. They will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, and according to what they deserve. I will judge them.

Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Again, God is bringing this judgment upon them. Because of their rebellion against Him, because of their crimes, the city is full of violence. There's been a great rebellion against God by this people. A great hardening of their hearts. Refusing to listen to Him. And this judgment is being brought upon them.

so that they will know that He is the Lord. Again, even in His judgment, He's giving the opportunity to repent, to turn and to get right with God. Now the judgment here is pretty devastating. He says in verse 24, I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, the worst of the worst, the worst of the foreign lands, the worst of those who worship false gods, the Babylonians.

They're going to be God's instruments of judgment. Now, in Habakkuk, the prophet was talking with God and saying, Lord, look at the rebellion that's going on here. Look at the people's sin and how they just disregard your word. Aren't you going to do something about this, God? And God replies to Habakkuk, yes, I'm going to do something. I'm going to bring the Chaldeans. I'm going to bring the Babylonians. And Habakkuk says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. They're worse than us. How can you bring them to judge us?

And then God goes on to explain that, well, they'll also be judged, but before they're judged, they're going to be God's instrument of judgment upon the nation of Judah. The worst of the Gentiles, the Babylonians, are going to come. God will use whatever resources He wants to, He chooses. They don't have to be more holy than us to bring His judgment upon us. Destruction comes, God says. Disaster will come upon disaster.

You can see, you can have great clarity here. This is a terrible place to be. This is not where God wanted them to be. This is not what He wanted to do. He sent prophet after prophet to remind them, to call them, to say, Hey, turn and get right with me. Let go of those things. In the same way this evening, He says the same thing. Turn and get right with me. What will it take for you to know that He is Lord?

For you to realize He truly is God. We will be accountable for the lives that we live and the ways that we lived. The things that we did. The lifestyle we chose. The actions we took. We're accountable for those things. What's it going to take for you and I to know that He is Lord and to stop living in disobedience and to turn those areas over to Him to allow Him to have full authority

and full reign in our hearts. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, as they lead us in this first song, let's take this time to let Him be the Lord of our life, to invite God to be our Master. If there's any area in your life that you know is not right, that you know is not of God, let's take this time to surrender it to Him.

Let's take this time to submit to God, to humble ourselves before God. You know, when you humble yourself and submit to God, you find and you receive from Him grace and mercy. But when you harden your heart and you persist in disobedience, you find and receive from God His righteous judgment. Which would you prefer?

To receive from God His grace and His mercy as you turn and repent and get right with Him. Or to receive from Him His righteous judgment so that you will finally know that He is the Lord. We have the opportunity right now. So let's take this time, just between you and the Lord. Let's call upon Him. If there's areas that you know are wrong, get them right. Surrender them. Let them go. Repent. Turn forever, completely.

Let's allow God to search our hearts, to show us those things that He wants us to let go of. And let's respond and let Him be the Lord of our lives. Let's worship the Lord together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.