Ezekiel 16:1-2
1 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
The Lord tells Ezekiel, “I want them to know how serious their sin is.” This is a far cry from what we are seeing in modern day Christianity isn’t it? There is tremendous value in causing people to know their sin, it leads them to repentance and a right relationship with God. If a person doesn’t know their sin, they will never come to a place of repentance.
Ezekiel 16:15
15 “But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it.
People always get themselves into trouble when they trust in their own beauty, a very dangerous place to go. I spent a lot of years, in my younger days, even as a new Christian, trusting in my own beauty, my own puffed up self image of myself. It led to a lot of heartache.
Ezekiel 16:22
And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, struggling in your blood.
Don’t think for a moment, that if you are not watchful, you can forget the One who rescued you from the dead. I have seen it happen with people who were once on fire in this church. I have watched them give way to the lures of the world and ended up entrapped. We mustn’t forget those days we were struggling in our own sin. It leads us to great gratitude that we have been rescued.
Ezekiel 17:13-15
And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, 14 that the kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?
How many of you have had promises made to you that were broken? It is a very painful thing isn’t it? It is something that hurts deeply. The Lord takes promises to be a very serious thing. We can expect that when we fail to keep our promises, especially when they are made to God, that there will be consequences.
Ezekiel 17:22
22 Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.
Beginning here in vs 22 to the remaining of this chapter, we have a prophecy that speaks of Jesus Christ.
James 3:5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
How true this verse is. The tongue, so little, and yet can be so incredibly destructive. We must take to heart what it says here and guard our tongues, all of words with great care.
James 3:8
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
But God can! I had the filthiest mouth imaginable before I came to faith in Christ. In fact, when I wasn’t sure about the whole ‘God’ thing, I asked the Lord to prove He was true by taking away my foul mouth. In an instant my mouth was cleansed and I have never looked back. Only God could do such a thing…that is the truth!
James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Everyone must choose which wisdom he will embrace. It will either be the wisdom of the world (of the enemy) or of God. When we wisely choose the Lord, we experience the ‘good fruits’ from that. More succulent than words can describe.
Reading the Word 