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The Bible Breakdown
Ezekiel 20: God Never Gives Up On Us
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, ezekiel, chapter 20, and today's title is God Never Gives Up on Us God, never Give Up on Us. Today's going to be one of those chapters that is going to continue this downward spiral of the history of rebellion, but at the same time, there's still these points and moments where God is like I mean, it's so bad, but I still love you, and there's something about that that just brings me joy, because if he does it for them, he's going to do it for us too. We're going to all that in just a moment. But if you want to open up your Bible to Ezekiel, chapter 20, while you're doing that, if you're new around here, make sure you like share, subscribe to YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you're leaving us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. They're doing an amazing job over there and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you remember, we'll kind of bring everybody up to speed again.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel is one of the prophets who was prophesying, but doing so from Babylon. He's already been exiled and the nation of Judah is still there. Jerusalem is being destroyed. All these bad things are happening, and from the place of exile, ezekiel is writing to the people in exile and to the people back in Israel, and he's got bad news. He's telling them about the destruction, but at the same time, he's not sugarcoating it. He's saying there's a reason why we are here. All these bad things have happened and the bad things are going to get worse, but at the same time, he's still talking about God's promise of renewal. And so I know we've got all these negative chapters and I've got bad news for you there's more negative chapters coming, and I got bad news for you there's more negative chapters coming. But sometimes we have to see how far we have fallen before we understand how powerful the grace of God is. And so that's what I want to encourage you with is this is the last of what's considered the major prophets. You know Ezekiel, jeremiah, isaiah. The rest of them are called minor prophets, and not minor, as in less important, it's just their writings are a lot smaller, and I don't want us to get discouraged because he's painting the picture of how bad it is, so that when God brings them back and he's going to do that, and we've already read through Ezra and Nehemiah. These times it is amazing to see how far God brings them back from. So let's read this and, even though it's difficult, we're reading it through the eyes of knowing that God brings them back from this.
Speaker 1:So, if you're ready, ezekiel, chapter 20, verse one says this oh and, by the way, real quick, if you're listening to this on the podcast, this is not going to mean anything to you, but if you're watching this on YouTube, you're going to see that there's all these different lines and different things. I'm kind of beginning to show you a little bit of how I mark up my Bible. So if you look underlining numbers, dates, proper nouns, things like that I highlight certain things and times. Here you see capital L-O-R-D, I have Y-H-W-H that is an abbreviation for Yahweh and then you can see how, king, I've got a crown over it. Just kind of looking at that. It can give you an idea of how you stay engaged when you read through this. It's just letting you know what's going on. Someone didn't come in here when I went looking and doodle all over this. There's a method to my madness, okay, and you can watch the Bible Breakdown Extra to see how I go about doing this. Okay, all right back to it. Ezekiel 20, verse 1 says this On August 14th, on the seventh year of King Jehoiakim's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the Lord.
Speaker 1:They sat down in front of me waiting for this reply. Then this message came to me from the Lord, son of man, which also means like hey, buddy, tell the leaders of Israel this is what the sovereign Lord says. How dare you come ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord. I will tell you nothing. Son of man, buddy, bring charges against them and condemn them. Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were. Give them this message from the sovereign Lord.
Speaker 1:When I chose Israel, when I revealed myself to descendants of Jacob in Egypt, when I chose Israel, when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt, I took a solemn oath that I, the Lord, would be their God. I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to the land I had discovered and explored for them a good land, a land of flowing with milk and honey, and the best of all the lands everywhere. Then I said to them Each of you, get rid of your vile images that you are so obsessed with. Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt, for I am the Lord, your God. But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they were obsessed with or forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt, but I didn't do it. I acted to protect the honor of my name. I would not allow the shame to be brought on my name among the surrounding nations who saw me reveal myself by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.
Speaker 1:So I brought them out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. There, I gave them my decrees and regulations so they could find life by keeping them. By the way. Pause, notice. He says I gave them my decrees and regulations so they could find life by keeping them. By the way. Pause, notice. He says I gave them my decrees and my regulations. Why? So that they could find life. Why does God give us the rules and the things he tells us to do? He's not trying to hurt us. He's trying to help us find life. But here we go, verse 12. So I gave them my Sabbath day of rest as a sign between me and them. It was to remind them that I am the Lord, their God, who set them apart as holy. In other words, he said. I told them you got to take a day off. Why? Because you're mine. I mean, that's good enough for me. Party right, verse 13.
Speaker 1:But the people of Israel rebelled against me. They refused to obey my decrees and they're in the wilderness. They would not obey my regulations, even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So I returned, or I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness.
Speaker 1:But again, I held back in order to protect the honor of my name before the nations who had seen my power in bringing Egypt or Israel out of Egypt. But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth. For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my decrees and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols. Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols. Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness. Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents' footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.
Speaker 1:I am the Lord, your God. I told them Follow my decrees and pay attention to my regulations and keep my Sabbath holy days, for they are assigned to remind you that I am the Lord, your God. But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my decrees and follow my regulations, even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So again, I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment because I wanted to protect the honor of my name before the nations that had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.
Speaker 1:But I took a solemn oath in the wilderness. I swore I would scatter them among all the nations because they did not obey my regulations. Scatter them among all the nations because they did not obey my regulations. They scorned my decrees and violated my Sabbath days, bringing a longing for their idols of their ancestors. I gave them over to their worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods, that I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am God.
Speaker 1:Therefore, so he said, because of all of that, here's what's coming next. Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the sovereign Lord your ancestors continue to blaspheme and betray me. For when I brought them to the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices on every hill and under every green tree. They saw, they roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and their incense and poured out their liquid offerings on them. I said to them what is this high place where you are going? This kind of pagan shrine called Bama, which means high place ever since? Therefore, so, because they did this, give the people of Israel this message from the sovereign Lord. Do you plan to pollute yourselves as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images? For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices. You continue to pollute yourselves with idols to this day.
Speaker 1:Should I allow you to ask for a message from me, o people of Israel, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing. You say we want to be like all the other nations around us who serve the idols of wood and stone, but what you have in mind will never happen. As surely as I live, says the Lord, I will rule over you with an iron fist and great anger and awesome power. And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm and I will bring you back from the lands where you were scattered. I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will judge you face to face. I will judge you there, just as I did your ancestors in the wilderness. After bringing them out of Egypt, says the Lord of hosts, I will examine you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant. I will purge you out of all who rebel, revolt against me. I will bring them out of the countries where you are in exile, but they will never enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Speaker 1:As for you, o people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says Go right ahead and worship your idols. Sooner or later you will obey me and stop bringing shame on my holy name by worshiping idols For my holy mountain, the great mountain of Israel, says the sovereign Lord. The people of Israel will someday worship me and I will accept them. There. I will require that you bring me all your offerings and choice gifts and sacrifices, and when I bring you home from exile, you will be like a pleasing sacrifice to me. I will display my holiness through you as all the nations watch. Then, when I have brought you home to the land I promised with a solemn oath to give to your ancestors, you will know that I am the Lord and you will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and you will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done. And you will know that I, the Lord, the people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of the wickedness I, the sovereign Lord, have honored. Then this message came to me from the Lord terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything, from south to north, and everyone in the world will see that I, the Lord, set this fire and it will not be put out. Then I said O, sovereign Lord, they are saying to me he only talks in riddles Sounded pretty straightforward to me.
Speaker 1:It sounds like he's mad. And as we look at this, one of the things that we can see is we see this cycle of rebellion that God is constantly showing, that they are in over and over and over again. And if we look at it in one way, we can look at this and go man, these jokers. They don't ever seem to learn. They just keep on frustrating God's goodness, and that cycle of rebellion just keeps on going. And that's true, that's true. But we've got to be careful, though, because isn't that just us, don't? We struggle to just appreciate God's goodness and not go back on it over and over again? We can look at it like that, or we can also see that every single time, god never gives up on them. Every time he comes back around again and again.
Speaker 1:How many times did we just read that he said I was done, I was fed up, I was going to judge them, and then, right after that, it always says but, but I didn't, but I wanted to honor what I had promised them. I want to honor my name. And I told them I was going to be. I was going to be with them, and the other nations saw it, and so I decided not to Over and over and over again. And even then, when he says and listen, I'm about to punch y'all in the mouth, this is going to be bad, bad, bad, bad. But even then, part of their judgment was going to be but when I bring you back again and when I restore you, you're going to be so mad at how you treated me. I mean, that's not a bad deal. So my thing for you is hope, and that is this If you find yourself going through seasons when you are man, you are, as we used to say, on fire for God and everything is going great.
Speaker 1:And then you go through a season of dullness, a season when you just wish you were closer to God than what you are, and then you go through your back close again to God, and back and forth, back and forth. If you find yourself doing that, you're in good company. That was God's complaint with the nation of Israel. Now, here's the difference between you and the nation of Israel when you find yourself going through that darker season. What you don't need to do is you don't need to fall into sin, fall into idol worship, putting anything above God in your life. That is what kept going wrong with the nation of Israel. They kept finding themselves turning away from God and turning toward idols.
Speaker 1:When you find yourself going through a difficult or dry season, is it possible that sometimes God will get quiet, not because he's mad at you, but so that you'll lean in? There's actually this very handy little device that they teach public speakers. One of the things they teach them to do is that if you get quieter when you speak like, let's say, you go into a room and it's really loud, you know everything's kind of raucous and no one's really paying attention. If you start speaking but you continue speaking and you continue speaking softly that actually what happens is is, even if people don't want to hear all of what you have to say, they want to hear some of what you have to say, and so it actually gets quieter, so they can listen in to hear what you're saying and it actually works, and I think God does that sometimes.
Speaker 1:I think that sometimes we'll go through seasons where he'll get quiet, not because he's trying to draw away from you. But he'll get quiet. So you'll lean in a little bit more, so you can get a little closer. So when you find yourself going through this cycle, instead of the cycle getting to the place where you begin to sin, instead of that, turn in into God and watch what will happen. And if you find yourself falling into sin, remember God will never give up on us.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you are with us in every way. God, you are for us in every way. I'm thankful today, god, that we serve you and that you never give up. You're always with us, you're always close and I pray for maybe somebody who's listening or watching this right now and if they find themselves going through a quiet season, help them to realize, god, that you don't get quiet because you forsake us. I think sometimes you get quiet, so we'll lean in. So I pray we'll lean into you. Today. We'll listen more closely and hear what you have to say. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, and what God's word says in Ezekiel, chapter 34, verse 14, I will put my spirit in you and you will live again. I love you, hope you have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow for Ezekiel, chapter 24.
