Ezekiel 17:1-24 – The Eagles Have Landed
May 21, 2019
The eagle represents two ancient nations in our text, first Babylon, then Egypt. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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The eagle represents two ancient nations in our text, first Babylon, then Egypt. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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The first thirty-four verses of chapter sixteen described the Jews in Judah and especially Jerusalem as an adulterous wife to God and a harlot to the surrounding Gentile nations. Godʼs judgment upon her is the subject of the rest of the chapter. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Chapter sixteen is the longest chapter in Ezekiel. By itself it is longer than six of the Minor Prophets. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel, in chapter fifteen, is going to talk about Israel as Godʼs vine. Itʼs the first of three illustrations over the next three chapters that show Jerusalem and the Temple will not be spared from judgment. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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It seems that the Jews of the sixth century held to a hero mentality. Daniel had been carried away into Babylon. By the time of our text he was twenty-five years old. Heʼd already distinguished himself as a righteous man. Though some of his greatest accomplishments were still ahead of him, he was a bona fide hero. Perhaps God would use Daniel in Babylon to deliver the Jews in Jerusalem from further destruction. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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In our text “some of the elders of Israel” came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. It sounds good until you read that their hearts were not right with God. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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We encounter a group of women who are false prophetesses. While Israel was plagued with false prophets who spoke openly and publicly, a network of false prophetesses was at work behind the scenes in private. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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The exiles in Babylon were encouraged they would soon be free to return to Israel. The people should have felt the foulness of their words. The false prophets and prophetesses spoke not a word against Israelʼs idolatry. It was foul of them to overlook sin, to ignore Godʼs moral law, and tell the people what they wanted to hear. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel was quite the actor there on the banks of the river Chebar in Babylon. He had just finished a one-man, one-day engagement during which he dug a hole through the wall of his house and portrayed a man trying to escape for his life during a violent siege by an invading army. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel was ministering to the exiles in Babylon. The Jews still held out false hope they would soon return to Jerusalem. Ezekiel was called upon to act-out another drama before them. He acted the part of an evacuee. It was to represent to them what would befall Zedekiah. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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God promised His people that He would one day “put a new spirit within them.” They would have “a heart of flesh.” Itʼs the new birth being promised. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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We’re going to see the princes of Jerusalem describe themselves as “meat” in a cooking “caldron.” It sounds bad, and it is – but they thought otherwise. How could they think being in the caldron was something good? (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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It takes nothing away from the deity or majesty of God to say He was reluctant. In fact, it magnifies His longsuffering and grace and mercy. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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In chapter nine of Ezekiel God was leaving His building. His glory was departing from the holy of holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel is taken on a kind of damage survey. In a vision he finds himself at the Temple in Jerusalem. In his case the damage to be surveyed was still in progress. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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“Make a chain.” With that directive from God Ezekiel would pursue the forging of a chain by which he would shackle himself. He would act-out before God’s people what awaited the residents of Jerusalem. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel refers to a “rod” in verses ten and eleven. After literally hundreds of years of warnings it was time for God to spank His backslidden people. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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A family trip to the mountains is a common and wholesome occurrence here in the shadow of the beautiful Sierra range. It was common in sixth century Israel, too, but not wholesome. It was in the mountains, in the wilderness, that the Jews went to worship the gods of the Canaanites. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Ezekiel went through acts one, two, and three. From somewhere he produced a sword. With it he proceeded to shave his hair and beard. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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Beginning with chapter four and continuing through chapter twenty-four Ezekiel prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem. Four symbolic acts in chapters four and five serve as visual lessons. (Pastor Gene Pensiero)
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