Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S12 || God Abandons Jerusalem || Ezekiel 11:22 - 12:8 || Session 12 || Bible Study
What happens when God finally decides enough is enough? In this sobering journey through Ezekiel 11-12, we witness one of the most haunting scenes in scripture: the moment God's glory abandons Jerusalem.
The vision begins with the God's Shekina glory presence departing from the temple - first from the Holy of Holies to the front of the temple building, then to the outer court, through the east gate, and finally resting on the Mount of Olives before disappearing. This progressive withdrawal symbolized the removal of God's protection before Jerusalem's destruction by Babylonian forces.
We explore how this ancient vision connects profoundly to Jesus Christ, who would later enter Jerusalem from that same Mount of Olives, effectively bringing God's glory back to the temple, only to ascend from that same mountain after His resurrection with the promise to return one day.
Ezekiel is commanded to perform a strange prophetic action - packing exile baggage in daylight, digging through his wall at night, covering his face, and departing in darkness. This bizarre behavior precisely prefigured how King Zedekiah would attempt to escape Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege, only to be captured, blinded, and taken to "Babylon, though he would not see it" - a prophecy fulfilled with chilling accuracy.
Most striking is God's response to people claiming these warnings were for the distant future: "None of my words will be delayed any longer." The repeated refrain "then you will know that I am the LORD" serves as both warning and promise - some recognize God's sovereignty through mercy, others only through judgment.
This episode challenges us to consider: are we listening to false messages of peace and prosperity while ignoring divine warnings? The glory that departed Jerusalem will once again return in Jesus Christ. Are we ready for His final return?
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Today on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going to see a trip that Ezekiel's going to go on and we're going to see where. It's not going to be a pleasant vacation, but we're also going to see God's glory abandon the city of Jerusalem. It is a very scary thing when God abandons you, when you get so far away from God that he abandons you. It's a very serious, very scary, very sobering thing. Hello and welcome.
Speaker 1:We are Reasoning Through the Bible. We do detailed verse-by-verse studies through the Word of God. If you're new to us, go to our website, reasoningthroughthebiblecom. There you can see free lesson plans on how you can teach the Bible and have helps for your small group or your church. We'd also love to hear from you. Send us a note at info at reasoningthroughthebiblecom if you have questions or comments. But today we're going to continue to reason through. We are at the last part of the 11th chapter of Ezekiel and Ezekiel is seeing a vision of the city of Jerusalem and he's got a very hard message that he's going to have to give to the Jewish people. Steve, can you start at 11.22 and read to the end of?
Speaker 2:the chapter. Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city, and the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me. We have here this message and again what he talks about in verse 22, the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels.
Speaker 1:This goes all the way back to the beginning of this particular vision. They appeared to him and there's a detailed description of this. If you missed it, go back to Ezekiel, chapter 1, and you'll see a very detailed vision of the throne of God and how God would arrive and give messages to Ezekiel. It's a very powerful message. Here we see the glory of God in the form of this throne pick up from the midst of the city. If you remember, if we had followed it since chapter 9, the glory of God was hovering over the ark, that is, in the Holy of Holies behind the veil in the temple, holies behind the veil in the temple. It picks up from there and it goes to the front of the temple building and filled that even into the inner court. Then it went out through the east gate of the temple to the gate of the city, and here it goes from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. Now the mountain which is east of the city is the Mount of Olives. Starting back again at Ezekiel, chapter 9, through this vision we've seen the glory of God steadily leave the temple, leave the outer court of the temple, leave the city of Jerusalem, and it's gone out the east gate to the Mount of Olives.
Speaker 1:One of the major themes that is threaded through the Word of God is the glory of God leaving the temple, and we know from the Gospels that it came back. It came back in the form of Jesus Christ, who is the glory of God. He started the triumphal entry from the Mount of Olives, went into the East Gate and found the city lacking and they crucified him. Then, in Acts 1, he goes back out to the Mount of Olives as the resurrected glory of God and ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. If we saw in Zechariah 14, the Lord Jesus is going to return to the same Mount of Olives and go back into the city of Jerusalem and set up the temple in the millennium.
Speaker 1:And it's a very glorious time here. It's a very sad time, very sobering time, because God is abandoning Jerusalem and he's going to send in Babylon to exercise his wrath. Let's move on to the next one. We're going to see Ezekiel's going to pack up to go on a trip and we're going to see his luggage here. So, steve, can you read in Ezekiel, chapter 12, the first seven verses.
Speaker 2:Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day, in their sight, even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. Bring your baggage out by day, in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out at evening, in their sight, as those going into exile. Dig a little hole through the wall in their sight and go out through it. Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.
Speaker 2:I did so as I had been commanded. By day, I brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then, in the evening, I dug through the wall with my hands.
Speaker 1:I went out in the dark and carried the he has this command and this, again, very unusual activity that God has asked him to do. He acts out God's messages. But don't miss the very first verse of this chapter. It says then the word of the Lord came to me, saying and he gives out the word of God. Now this Ezekiel chapter 12, five times in this one chapter we have the word of the Lord came to me.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel is claiming to write this in first person. It came to me. He says he is Ezekiel writing this and he is claiming very directly to be giving out the very words of God. This isn't some thought, some religious thing that somebody made up. This is the very words of God. So if anybody says where does the Bible say that it's teaching the Word of God? Five times in this one chapter we're told that he's giving out the Word of God. It also is a topic break for us. Whenever he says the Word of the Lord came to me, then it is a new message. And yes, there's a theme that goes through the whole book, but there's individual messages and this is one of the ways to know where a new message starts is when the Word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel. What exactly, steve, was he asked to do. There's another one of these unusual activities. What was Ezekiel asked to do?
Speaker 2:He's being asked to act out preparation to go into exile, pack up baggage, which normally when people are taken out of their domain and taken into exile, they can really only take a very small amount of their belongings. It's not like moving a whole house to somewhere else. He's being told by God act this out, and it's very specific several times here to do this within the sight of the people. He is not only just to receive this message and word from God to tell the people, but he is to make sure that they observe him taking all of these actions of packing up baggage as if preparing for exile, and then to leave his house and go to another place. So it's another very visible object lesson that God is wanting to give to the people, as to Jerusalem's going to fall and the people that are left in Jerusalem there's going to be another wave that's going to be taken into exile Again nothing in here is just for no particular reason.
Speaker 1:God has reasons for all of this. He is to pack bags as if he's going into exile in broad daylight, carry them out into the street and set them there as if he's ready to leave. He then goes back into the house and waits till dark. He then digs a hole through the wall, picks up his belongings, covers his face so that he can't see, and then carries this off on his shoulder as if he's going into exile. This is very interesting. Again, people would be wondering what in the world is Ezekiel doing this time? And everybody's going to be watching. He would be speaking the words of God and, as we saw in previous sessions, he's already given messages that proved he was a prophet. He predicted the death of a person before the news had even got there, so people knew he was speaking the very words of God. When this actions of packing the bags and waiting till dark and then leaving and covering your face, all of these things have symbolic meanings, what is the daylight and the dark part, steve? Do we know? What would those be?
Speaker 2:symbolic of. One of the things that they're symbolic of is what's going to happen to the king that is there in Jerusalem. We find out this information in the latter parts of 2 Kings, chapter 25, but the king that is there right now is King Zedekiah, the true king, jehoiakim. He has already been taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and King Zedekiah has been put in his place. But he's not the true king, he's not from the lineage of David, and what happens we find this out in 2 Kings 25, is that Zedekiah is taken prisoner, trying to escape from Jerusalem through a breach in the wall. He's taken to Riblah, which is an encampment where Nebuchadnezzar is. They kill his sons in front of him and then they put his eyes out. So this is depicted by Ezekiel of him digging the hole to go through and then putting a blind over himself so that he can't see the land. It's a depiction of Zedekiah. What happens to him? That he's also going to be taken into exile, but he's not going to see the land of Babylon because his eyes are going to be put out.
Speaker 2:Now. We talked in last session, glenn, that the prophecies are near-term prophecies that Ezekiel is giving. At this point Some of them are still far off, but most of them are near-term, as this is going to play out in the next year or so with the people. They're going to see the king Zedekiah coming in to the exiled part and he's going to be blinded and they're going to see and talk about how did you get out? They're going to have this story of him going through the wall. All of this is a depiction of Ezekiel from God to the exiles that what he is telling him is true and accurate, as put over many, many times, so that the people will then know that I am Yahweh. This is another example of that.
Speaker 1:What's interesting, Steve, is the prophecy was you're going to go to Babylon but not see it. And I'm sure there was some skeptic out there saying, well, that's impossible. If you're going to Babylon, then you'd see it. Well, not with Zedekiah. They put his sons in front of him, killed them, poked out his eyes and then took him to Babylon. So he did indeed go, but he didn't see it.
Speaker 1:The Word of God was literally fulfilled. The other part of this prediction was also literally fulfilled in the sense that, remember, he was to take his bags out suddenly one day, set them in the street and then wait till nightfall, dig through the wall at dusk and then walk away during the night. This was literally fulfilled in Jeremiah 39.4 and 52.7, when they ended up digging through the walls, trying to escape the Babylonian siege and being taken away into captivity. All of this was a very clear prophecy of what was going to happen with the Babylonian captivity around the city of Jerusalem, with the Babylonian captivity around the city of Jerusalem. God gives very clear messages to people so that we don't have to guess what he's trying to say. Now, Steve, can we take that into our day? Has God given us a very clear message that applies to us. Hopefully we won't have a Babylonian army laying siege to us, but there's been other messages that are equally clear, is there not?
Speaker 2:Plenty of them.
Speaker 2:Jesus left them to us the Sermon on the Mount of those chapters in Matthew, his dealings with the rulers, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the healings that he gave and the messages behind the parables, and also the prophecies that were given by him of his Olivet Discourse in the upper room, then the aftermath of his apostles and the letters they wrote Peter, james, paul.
Speaker 2:All of these things had been given to us as to help us to be able to live our lives today, a Christian life of being in Christ, as Paul likes to put it. And there are still yet future things that are going to happen. By knowing that these prophecies that he's given to Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Daniel, as contemporaries at this time, and other prophets, zachariah, haggai, and on and on, when they come true, then we can know that the future ones that are still out there, they're going to come true too, and we shouldn't be foolish enough to say foolish enough to say, oh, it's been centuries since Jesus has left and I don't think he's going to come back anytime soon. Yeah, I don't really think that some of these prophecies that they say are in the future are going to happen. It's a very foolish thing to do that because they are going to happen. God is true and accurate in his word happened. God is true and accurate in his word.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel's prophecy. He's acting out this prediction and again they came literally true. But what he's trying to do is to give a message to the people to be ready, because this is going to happen. He says there's going to be a time when, suddenly, one day, you have to pack your bags and dig out through the wall to escape, and it's going to be at night and it's going to be very dark. So he gave a clear prediction with this. What does the New Testament tell us to be ready for? Well, it tells us to be ready for the Lord's return, does it not? We are to be ready for the Lord's return because he could come back at any time, and we are to be about the Lord's return, does it not? We are to be ready for the Lord's return because he could come back at any time, and we are to be about the Lord's business.
Speaker 1:Things are going to be very radically different when he comes back. The people in those days were saying look, it's always been like this. Jerusalem hasn't been conquered. The army came once or twice now and they didn't conquer Jerusalem. So we're okay, and it's always been like this, so it always will be like this. And Ezekiel's message really God's message through Ezekiel is that? No, no, it's going to be quite different. It's going to be very different, steve. Is it going to be different when Jesus comes back or is it going to be the same? You know, the New Testament talks about oh, people are going to scoff at the idea of Jesus coming back, but are we sure that he'll come back? And how different is it going to be.
Speaker 2:We can be assured that he's going to come back, because the angels that were standing there with the apostles as he ascended from the Mount of Olives they said why are you gawking like you are? Just as you've seen Jesus ascend, in the same way. He's going to come again someday. We are to be ready for him for any type of an imminent return, and it's going to be a glorious day, part of it whenever he comes back on the second time, going to be back in judgment and he's going to be judging the nations as far as what they have done with Israel. And he's going to come back and protect Israel and set up his kingdom a long-awaited kingdom that is spoken of so many times in all of his different prophets to set it up where he will rule from Jerusalem.
Speaker 2:We went through that in very specific detail when we went through Zechariah and it's going to be true and accurate. Whenever the kingdom is set up, he's going to rule from Jerusalem All the nations, not just the nation of Israel. And guess what, glenn, we're going to be helping rule with him as well, as we're told as being believers in Christ, there's going to be rewards that we're going to have. One of those rewards is we're going to help rule the other nations along with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:The next section, starting in Ezekiel 12, 8, he says In the morning, the word of the Lord came to me, saying so. This is another one of these sections where he introduces a new message. The word of the Lord came to me. Therefore, we have the next message that God gives through the prophet Ezekiel, son of man. Has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you what are you doing? Say to them, thus, says the Lord God.
Speaker 1:This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are in it. Say I am assigned to you, as I have done so. It will be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.
Speaker 1:The prince, who is among them, will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. I will also spread my net over him and he will be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, in the land of the Chaldeans. Yet he will not see it, though. He will die there. I will scatter into every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will draw out a sword after them. So they will know that I am the Lord when I scatter them amongst the nations and spread them among the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence. That they may tell all the abominations among the nations where they go and may know that I am the Lord.
Speaker 1:God warns Ezekiel that the people are going to ask him what he is doing and Ezekiel's actions are a sign to Israel that God is taking them into exile in a foreign land. In verse 12, even the wealthy have to go into captivity. Their wealth and position is not going to protect them. Steve, will the wealthy and powerful be protected from the wrath of God when it comes in the Great Tribulation?
Speaker 2:No, they won't, and it's clear that God is not a respecter of any man. The way to escape that wrath is to become a believer in Jesus Christ, that he is the anointed one, the Messiah, and, through his death, burial and resurrection, believe in him and trust on him. That is the way to be able to escape the wrath. It doesn't matter from what area of the social class that you come from, how much money you have, any of that. Scripture says come to the Lord as you are and believe in Him and trust in Him, and we will receive rewards on the other side of this world whenever we get into that kingdom. So no, you're not going to be able to claim how rich you are or how much wealth that you have in order to enter into the kingdom. It's very clear. Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. It's Jesus Christ. Believe on him and trust on him.
Speaker 1:And again, like we discussed earlier, in verse 13, he says he's going to bring him to Babylon, in the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, though. He dies there, and that's because the Babylonians blinded him before he got there. It was literally fulfilled. And he says in verses 14 to 16, god's going to scatter them amongst the nations, but he's always going to preserve a remnant so that they can go and tell the story. God always preserves a remnant, but he also always brings justice. We cannot hide behind the fact that we are in the church and therefore go live like the devil. We will face consequences. Yes, he has a remnant, but we cannot abuse his grace. Steve, can you start at verse 17 and go through 25? We'll see the next message.
Speaker 2:Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son of man, eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. Then say to the people of the land Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the land of Israel they will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it. The inhabited cities will be laid waste and the land will be desolation. So you will know that I am the Lord. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying the days are long and every vision fails? Therefore, say to them Thus says the Lord God, I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel, but tell them the days draw near, as well as the fulfillment of every vision, for there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.
Speaker 1:We see this again more very clear, very severe predictions by God through the prophet Ezekiel. He tells us at the end of verse 19 why he is doing this. So, steve, what reason does God give at the end of verse 19 for destroying the?
Speaker 2:land he says there at the end of 19, it's because of the violence of all who have lived in it. This is another indication of what they were doing. They're stubborn and obstinate people. They weren't following his ordinances and statutes. The leadership in the temple area had a secret area where they had idol worship. They were worshiping the sun, turning their back on God. Now we have another indication of what was happening. There was great violence that was in the land. So these are very robust people, Glenn, from the standpoint of how robust they are in their disobedience of God. From the standpoint of how robust they are in their disobedience of God, it's well-rounded. It seems like they're covering every bit of the bases associated with what can you do in order to offend God. It seems like they're taking every aspect of their lives to do it.
Speaker 1:He says in here it's the violence. Is this particular reason and the other reason you mentioned also, steve, where he had earlier called it adultery, when they brought in these idols and these statues here at the end of verse 19, it's because their land will be stripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who lived in it. I think of our day. We live in cities where there's a lot of violence. We live in a day where there's a lot of violence, and back then they had violence too. The crime in our cities isn't new. It's been happening since the ancient days, but here God knows about it. Now he's going to do something about it. The ancient Israelites didn't get away with violence and crime, and neither will we. There will come a day when we pay a great price for allowing all of the violence in our cities.
Speaker 1:God predicts desolation and destruction of the people of Israel, and that's happened. That land was indeed desolate whenever God would judge upon it. Whenever the Jewish people were there and in obedience, the land itself would be blessed and it would be very fruitful and productive. When they disobeyed, god sent them out of the land and it turned into a wasteland. God will not be mocked. He will hold justice.
Speaker 1:And in verse 22, the false prophets had predicted that the days of Jerusalem would be long and its destruction would be very far off, or any predictions would fail. The people were listening to the wrong teachers. God says he's going to stop the false teaching. We today have false teachers. But people were crying out why don't you just stop this false teacher? And God says, okay, I will. I'm going to send in this horrible pagan nation and we're going to stop those false teachers. God stopped the false prophets by sending in a country, babylon, that was very much worse than the false prophets were. God will not be marked, but all these prophets had predictions that were false. God's prophets had predictions that came true within the lifetime of the prophets. That's how we know that they are speaking for God. God is in control, his nation is in control and he moves the nations around as he sees fit. He will not allow evil forever. He will deal with it. He is patient, but he will deal with it.
Speaker 1:The next verses, 26 through 28, say this Furthermore, the word of the Lord came to me saying Son of man, behold the house of Israel is saying the vision that he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies of times far off. Therefore, say to them Thus says the Lord God, none of my words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed, declares the Lord. So the people here were saying these false teachers were saying oh, ezekiel's words, they may happen, but it's going to be a long time in the future that it happens. And God is saying no, the destruction of Jerusalem will happen soon, steve. What else can we learn from those verses?
Speaker 2:We can learn that we need to be able to discern whether or not the teachers are telling us the truth or not. In this case, as you mentioned, these were prophets that God had sent over and over again and they had ignored the ones God had sent and they were following the false prophets that were giving them hope and telling them that, oh yeah, all these visions that Ezekiel is talking about, they haven't come to fruition yet. Therefore, they're not going to come to fruition. Well, they end up coming and God says they're going to come true, so that you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
Speaker 2:I find that very interesting, glenn, that people want to just look at God as being a loving God and a protective God and a sanctuary. God said that earlier in the verses that even though he was spreading the people out into various countries and nations, he was still going to be a sanctuary for them. But there's still discipline. That's going to happen and God is going to discipline the people. And I find it interesting that, not just here but in the later verses that we're going to go through next and other chapters, that he says, through this discipline, they are going to know that I am the Lord. So I don't know about you, glenn, but I don't want to be on the side that's going to be finding out that God is a Lord through his wrath. I want to be on the side that says I know who the Lord God is and I don't want to have to go through that wrath.
Speaker 1:We need to make sure we're clear here on that, in the sense that I also don't want to be facing God's wrath. Just because God is patient doesn't mean that he will allow sin forever. He will deal with it and he will deal with people that are rebellious towards His Word. We have here to wrap up this chapter. People had claimed oh, the vision he sees is for many years from now, and his message was no, this is going to happen soon. Now we have to be very clear about that and what he's applying to.
Speaker 1:We've pointed out that God has different prophecies. Whenever he introduces a new one, the word of the Lord came to me. There's many of them in this book. We've already seen that judgments where he's going to send the Babylonian army in and take them captive into Babylon, but he's also going to come a day when he brings them back. Well, obviously those two are opposing. They're not going to happen immediately. At the same time, what he's speaking here they're not going to happen immediately at the same time.
Speaker 1:What he's speaking here, things that are going to happen soon, is the destruction of Jerusalem. That's what's going to happen soon. The prophecy of regathering them was still future, and there's other prophecies later in the book, again in chapter 36, where he says that I'm going to gather you back and change your heart, and the message of the valley of the dry bones all those were future to the time he gave them. This particular prophecy he's talking about here is the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, steve, this is again a lot of hard language here, but I think it's quite needed. Our churches don't deal enough in the wrath of God, and it's very sobering he says several times then you will know that I am the Lord. So I think it's true then, and it's true today. Whenever God does judge people, that's when we know who's really in control.
Speaker 2:Here in verse, 28, he says who's really in control here? In verse 28, he says none of my words will be delayed any longer. The time has come. The only way left is for them to be exiled. There's going to come a time whenever Jesus Christ is coming back Glenn, we don't know when it is, but God, the Father, does, and his word is not going to be delayed anymore. So we need to make sure that we're on the right side whenever he returns.
Speaker 1:That brings us to the end of Ezekiel, chapter 12, and the end of today's session. But be back with us again next time as we continue to reason through the book of Ezekiel.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
