Scripture Text: Ezekiel 12:1-14:23
Memory Verse: “‘For I am the Lord. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 12:25
Introduction:
The cohesive message of the last lesson, covering Ezekiel 8-11, could be summarized as: “Nothing escapes God’s notice.” He sees all, He hears all, and He knows all. Due to the abominations and idolatry, God would abandon Judah, leaving it to the whim of the Babylonian army. This was the message Ezekiel brought to the exiles.
Shouldn’t the message have a profound impact? Wouldn’t we expect a change in the hearts and minds of the people? But instead, we find the exiled ones are also rebellious. They stubbornly resist the message of God through Ezekiel.
In the Scriptures we focus on in this lesson, we find the people’s rebellion openly exposed for the folly it is. Ezekiel prophesies against four false aspects of their lives:
- Their false confidence (Ezekiel 12:1-28)
- Their false prophecy (Ezekiel 13:1-23)
- Their false piety (Ezekiel 14:1-11)
- Their false hope (Ezekiel 14:12-23)
These were the errors that brought Judah to ruin. The people could trust in illusions if they wanted. They believed that judgment would never come—that He somehow had removed Himself and couldn’t see their behavior, or that in some bizarre stretch of the imagination, that He was indifferent about it. Through the use of more “action sermons,” Ezekiel visually portrays God’s warning. What was the result of these messages? Repentance? Heartrending sorrow? No! The hearts of the survivors in Babylon were as hard and stubborn toward Ezekiel, as those still in Jerusalem were toward Jeremiah.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- What was Ezekiel teaching by his “sermon in a knapsack?” (Ezekiel 12:1-16)
- What was Ezekiel trying to teach by his meager meal eaten with shaking and trembling? (Ezekiel 12:17-28)
- Why does the prophet compare Judah’s false prophets to spoiling “foxes” and “untempered” (whitewashed) mortar? (Ezekiel 13:1-16)
- Why were the false prophetesses of Jerusalem engaging in witchcraft and sorcery, and what would happen to them? (Ezekiel 13:17-23)
- What does it mean to have “idols set up in the heart?” (Ezekiel 14:1-5) Is it really any different than bowing to physical idols of wood or stone?
- Explain the difference between individual and corporate rebellion. Does God condemn a whole group for their collective behavior, or does He deal with each soul individually? (Ezekiel 14:6-11)
- What kind of false hopes are dashed by Ezekiel’s message in Ezekiel 14:12-21? Will God be considered just or unjust in His dealings with Judah? (Ezekiel 14:22-23)