Ezekiel 17 (résumé): Two eagles & a vine

Ezekiel 17 starts with a parable of 2 eagles and a vine which God gave to Ezekiel. "A great eagle with powerful wings (Babylon) chops the top off a cedar tree in Lebanon (King Jehoiachin) and takes it to Babylon. The eagle plants a seed "and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine". Then comes a second eagle (Egypt) and the vine turns towards it rather than Babylon. Because of this betrayal God says "All its new growth will wither". For this betrayal was not pleasing to God. Finally God says "I myself will take a shoot from the top of a cedar... and plant it on the mountain heights of Israel and it will become splendid". This messianic promise is confirmed saying: "I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it".

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You can support the work of EAB online at https://www.justgiving.com/evangelicalactionbrazil/donate  Thank you and God bless you. Liz and I have been working with EAB and its Brazilian partner ACEV, in the interior of Brazil's northeast, for 54 years and we value your prayers. 🙏

Liz went to the Ladies prayer meeting last night. There weren't many there but she is faithful and rarely misses.

Yesterday I completed the synopses of Ezekiel up to chapter 16 so that means a third of the book is done. 

Ezekiel 16 (résumé): An allegory of unfaithful Jerusalem

Ezekiel 16 is a very long and graphic chapter using the allegory of a woman to describe God's relationship with Jerusalem. Initially God finds and rescues Jerusalem as an abandoned child "for on the day you were born you were despised". God cared for her: "I made you grow like a plant of the field... I then when you were older married you and entered into a covenant relationship with you... I dressed you with fine linen and costly garments and adorned you with jewelry... you became very beautiful and rose to be a queen... but you trusted more in your beauty than you trusted in me... and you used your fame to become a prostitute... and you made gaudy high places to practice your prostitution... and you sacrificed your children to idols... and you forgot from where I had brought you... Woe to you declares the Sovereign Lord... and then you engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians... and with the Philistines and Assyrians... and then included the Babylonians... you are a brazen prostitute... you prefer strangers to me your husband... you adulterous wife... in the light of all this I will gather all your foreign lovers and expose your nakedness... they will stone you and hack you to pieces... and I will put a stop to your prostitution... for you are worse than your sister Sodom... your sins were more vile than theirs... so I will deal with you as you deserve but I will remember the covenant of your youth and will establish an everlasting covenant with you... and you will know that I am the Lord".

Ezekiel 15 (résumé): Jerusalem - a useless vine

Ezekiel 15 compares Jerusalem with a vine. A vine does not produce wood to make useful things but is only good if it produces fruit... the fruit of righteousness, obedience and commitment to God. This Jerusalem has not done. So God says: "I will set my face against them... and the fire will yet consume them... I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord".

Ezekiel 14 (résumé): Idolaters condemned

Ezekiel 14 tells of how some elders came to consult the prophet but he was not happy to help them because he perceived that they has "set up idols in their hearts... and he told them to repent... turn from their idols and detestable practices... for I will set my face against that man... then you will know that I am the Lord". God then says that he will condemn the prophet who deals with those who have idols in their heart. Then the text goes on to say that the country's judgement is inevitable and not even Noah, Daniel and Job could hinder it! So too such just men could do nothing either to stop wild beasts devouring people, the sword killing or the plague killing too... so it will be when God sends similar judgment and nothing or no-one will be able to hinder him... though there will be a remnant of survivors.

Ezekiel 13 (résumé): False prophets condemned

Ezekiel 13 contains a firm condemnation of false prophets and false prophetesses that "prophesy out of their own imagination". God says "woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing". God says "I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord... they lead my people astray saying peace when there is no peace". It's as if they build a flimsy wall and cover it with whitewash to make it look good and safe! "I will tear down the cracked wall". Then too God condemns the prophetesses who put magic charms on their wrists to ensnare the people. "By lying to my people you have killed those who shouldn't have died and spared them who should not live... I will tear off your magic charms and veils... because you disheartened the righteous with your lies... I will save the people from your hands".

Ezekiel 12 (résumé): The exile symbolized

 God's word came to Ezekiel again warning of imminent judgement on his "rebellious people". God instructed Ezekiel to pack his belongings as if preparing to go into exile so as to act out to the people what they were about to experience. Then at evening he digs through the city wall and carries out his belongings as the people watched. And Ezekiel said to them, "I am a sign to you... as I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives". It specifically points to King Zedekiah who tried to escape and was taken prisoner to Babylon. Then God tells him to eat and drink with fear and trembling to symbolize what the people would face when Jerusalem was under siege. Finally the text shows that the people are falsely optimistic thinking that God will never fulfill his threats, and God says: "None of my words will be delayed any longer. Whatever I say will be fulfilled".