Scripture Text: Ezekiel 15:1-17:24
Memory Verse: “”Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.” Ezekiel 16:60
Introduction:
Why do bad things happen to nice people in this life? Jerusalem’s siege and destruction was a horrible deathtrap to its inhabitants. Were these people drastically different than us? Some people are forced to suffer pain and sorrow more than others. It seems unfair, and its purpose often eludes us as we end up asking, “Why?”
God uses trials and even calamities for a twofold purpose: both to purify and to destroy. One of the hardest tasks the prophets had was to make the people understand that God’s judgment did not need to be the end of life. God’s desire was to purify and reclaim His own. Judgment came primarily to cleanse and restore.
Yet, the absolute holiness of God demands an appropriate response. He hopes that all men will repent, turning back to Him with their whole hearts when they have failed. All of mankind, both ancient and modern, are spiritual failures. We all need the Savior to wash us and cleanse us from our sin. But what does God do if time after time the judgments fall upon those who are too stubborn to truly repent? Will He patiently endure sinfulness forever? No. There are times when the only answer is to render total destruction. Righteousness demands it. God would not be the Holy One He is without enforcing an end to sinfulness.
As is often the case, however, men look angrily toward heaven and shake their fists to the clouds as though God is somehow unjust and hateful. He is pictured by many as nothing more than a sadistic “Punisher,” just ready and waiting for us to fail so He can smack us over the heads with harsh judgment. What we fail to account for is our own failure. We plod along, focusing our indignation upon God, forgetting that our failures are the real issue. We are so unwilling to account for our sins, using any excuse we can find to justify them, while God is cast in a hateful, negative light. It is time for all of us to rethink our positions on what is right and just. God is not the problem.
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- Compare the parable of the useless vine wood in Ezekiel 15:1-8 with Jesus’ parable of salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16. What is essential for us to learn from these teachings?
- List the tremendous benefits from Ezekiel 16:1-14 that the people of Jerusalem had experienced because of God’s great love.
- What did the people of Jerusalem do with the precious gifts the Lord gave them? (Ezekiel 16:15-34) Why does it seem much easier in times of prosperity to forget about God?
- God had destroyed both Sodom and the northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria) for their abominations. How did the sins of Judah compare to their sins? (Ezekiel 16:46-52)
- God promised restoration for Judah, but the covenant of their “youth” would be changed. How would it be different? (Ezekiel 16:60; Jeremiah 36:32-44; Hebrews 9:11-15)
- Envision the riddle of the two eagles and the first two shoots. (Ezekiel 17:1-21) Why was it significant that God spoke to the exiled people in this form?
- Explain the meaning of the “third shoot.” (Ezekiel 17:22-23)
- Identify the “high tree,” the “low tree,” the “green tree,” and the “dry tree,” in Ezekiel 17:24.