Ezekiel
Chapter 14
{Note: It is recommended that you begin the study of Daniel with Ezekiel 14. Ezekiel was a prophet. He was a young man - a contemporary of Daniel. Ezekiel was taken captive 11 to 12 years before the fall of Jerusalem. Daniel went out on the first wave of captives and Ezekiel went out on the second wave. Here Ezekiel is holding his daily bible classs when the leaders come to him. They see the problems in the nation as the 5th cycle of discipline approaches.}
1~~Then
came certain of the elders/leaders of Israel unto me,
and
sat before me.
{they are sitting in Ezekiel's bible class because they heard
something wonderful was going on here}
2-3a~~And
the word/'doctrinal communication' {dabar}
of
Jehovah/God came unto me {Ezekiel}, saying, 3a~~
"Son
of man {title for a teaching prophet},
these
men have set up their idols
in
their 'right lobes'/heart/mentality.
{NOTE: very important - these leaders did not set up physical idols but spiritual idols! Spiritual idols are any thoughts or concepts that do not line up with God and His Word. These leaders operate on subjectivity. They have 'scar tissue of the soul' instead of Doctrine in their soul. So these idols would include panaceas - like 'put the poor on a permanent dole (that is a spiritual 'idol')'; 'all people are equal (never have been never will be - concept itself is faulty - (truth is 'all people should be treated equally under the legal system')'; 'tear down the military'; 'no respect for the legal system and police'; 'remove weapons from the home so someone is not hurt'; only need a weak military because we can rely on our friends (Egypt); 'no mentioning God in school - someone might be offended (and God won't be??)' - socialism, communism, revolution, over-taxation, forced 'tithing', on and on.}
3b~~And
put the 'stumbling-block of their iniquity'
before
their face.
{Note: Not having divine viewpoint in the norms and standards of their souls means they are operating on their own flawed viewpoint. That places stumbling blocks in their Way of living - and for these men - in there Way of leading the nation.}
3c~~Should I {God} be inquired of at all by them?"
{Note: These leaders overtly worshiped idols. Internally, they had nothing to do with God when times were good. They had their eyes on God's blessings and forgot the source of the blessings. Should He listen to them NOW . . . as times are getting tough?}
4``
"Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them,
'Thus
said the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
Every
man of the house of Israel that sets up
his
idols in his 'right lobe'/heart,
and
puts the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face,
and
comes to the prophet . . .
I,
Jehovah/God, will answer him that comes
according
to the multitude of his idols."
5
"That I may take the house of Israel
in
their own 'right lobe'/heart,
because
they are all estranged from Me
through
their idols."
6``
"Therefore say unto the house of Israel,
Thus
said the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
"Repent,
and turn yourselves from your idols;
and
turn away your faces from all your abominations."
7
For every one of the house of Israel,
or
of the stranger that sojourns in Israel,
who
separates himself from Me,
and
sets up his idols in his 'right lobe'/heart,
and
puts the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face,
and
comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me . . .
I
Jehovah/God will answer him by Myself."
8``
"And I will set my face against that man,
and
will make him a sign and a proverb,
and
I will cut him off from the middle of My people.
And you shall know that I am Jehovah/God."
9``
"And if the prophet be deceived when he has spoken a thing,
I
Jehovah/God have deceived that prophet,
and
I will stretch out My hand upon him,
and
will destroy him from the middle of My people Israel."
10~~"And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity.
The
punishment of the {false} prophet
shall
be even as the punishment of him who seeks unto him."
{Note: The false prophet - the liberal pastors - have great influence on the thinking of the leaders of Israel at this time - as the liberal pastors have a great influence on the United States today.}
11-13~~That
the house of Israel
may
go no more astray from Me,
neither
be polluted any more with all their transgressions;
but
that they may be My people,
and
I may be their 'Elohiym/Godhead,
said
the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah 12~~
then
the word/'doctrinal communication' {dabar}
of
Jehovah/God came again to me, saying, 13~~
Son
of man
{title for a teaching prophet},
if
a nation sins against me
by
'being unfaithful'/'trespassing grievously',
then
will I {God}
will
stretch out my hand against it
{administration of the 5th cycle of discipline},
to
cut off its food supply
{idiom: literally 'break the staff of the bread thereof' (2nd cycle -
economic recession)},
and
will send famine upon it
{3rd cycle of discipline - economic depression},
and
kill/'will cut off' both man and animal/beast.
14~~Even
if these three men,
Noah,
Daniel, and Job . . . were in it
{were living in the client nation},
they
could only deliver themselves/'their own souls'
by
their own righteousness/'spiritual lives',
said
the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah."
{Note: This very brings together three of the Greatest Believers of all time. What do they have in common? 1) they are believers; 2) they were all positive to doctrine and stuck to it to the crisis point in their life; 3) they were in the minority - of the 'thinking' of their day (divine viewpoint versus human viewpoint); 4) they all survived disasters by having 'bomb-shelters' in their souls (doctrine). Daniel is a young man at this time and Ezekiel is saying Daniel will make it also (Daniel is surrounded and supported by Noah and Job who came a long time before Daniel)!}
15-16~~"If
I cause noisome animals/beasts
to
pass through the land,
and
they spoil it, so that it be desolate,
{this is the sign of economic disaster in an agricultural society}
that
no man may pass through because of the animals 16~~
even
if these three men were in it,
as
I live, said the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
they
shall deliver neither sons nor daughters;
{they could not even deliver their own families - just themselves -
the application is, if the 5th cycle hits, only those with their OWN
ECS can survive}
only
they themselves shall be delivered,
but
the land shall be desolate."
17-18~~"Or
if I bring a sword upon that land {military invasion},
and
say, "Sword, go through the land.
So that I {God} cut off man and animal/beast from it. 18~~
Even
if these three men were in it,
as
I live, said the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
they
shall save neither sons nor daughters,
but
only they themselves shall be delivered."
19~~"Or
if I {God} send a pestilence into that land,
{means great loss of health and death through disease}
and
pour out My fury upon it in blood,
to
cut off from it man and animal/beast . . . 20~~
as
surely as I live, declares the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
even
if Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it {living in the client nation},
they
shall deliver neither son nor daughter;
they
should only deliver themselves/'their own souls'
by
means of their own righteousness/integrity/'spiritual lives'/ECS's.
{Note: So the rule is that under any of the cycles of discipline, it is your own ECS that matters. You will not be able to save even your family if they do not have ECS's of their own.}
21-23~~For
thus said the Lord/'Adonay God/Jehovah,
"How
much more when I send
my
four sore judgments upon Jerusalem,
{they are coming - 586 BC}
the
sword
{invasion of the Chaldeans},
and
the famine
{economic collapse},
and
the noisome animals/beast
{used for 'death in the streets' - violence and lawlessness},
and
the pestilence {disease} . . .
to
cut off from it man and animal/beast? 22~~
Yet,
behold, therein shall be left a remnant
that
shall be brought forth . . .
both
sons and daughters.
{when sons and daughters are building ECS's - THEY are part of
the remnant and are safe! Job could not save his children (they
had no ECS's) - but if they are part of the remnant - they will
also be saved}
Behold,
they shall come forth unto you,
and
you shall see their way and their doings.
And
you shall be comforted
concerning
the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem,
even
concerning all that I have brought upon it. 23``
And
they shall comfort you,
when
you see their Ways and their Doings.
And
you shall know that I have not done without cause
all
that I have done in it,"
said
the Lord/'Adonay . . . God/Jehovah.
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