Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"I will scatter you among the nations"
Text: Ezekiel 22:15
DIVINE JUDGMENT FORWARNED
Israel’s foolish pride caused them to think that they are strong. They were strong against the weak. They were strong in their pursuit of wrong doing. Would they be strong when divine judgment is meted out against the sinful nation?
“Can your heart endure,
or can your hands remain strong,
in the days when I shall deal with you?
I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it.
I will scatter you among the nations,
disperse you throughout the countries,
and remove your filthiness completely from you.
You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations;
then you shall know that I am the Lord.”
Ezekiel 22:14-16
1. Rhetorical questions raised.
a) Can their heart endure divine chastisement?
b) Can their hands remain strong when God deals with Judah sternly?
2. The Lord declared this.
a) He would deal with Israel for its many sins.
b) He would deal a strong blow against Israel
c) Can human strength endure this divine judgment?
3. God will do the following:
a) He will scatter the inhabitants of Israel.
b) He will disperse them among the nations.
c) He will remove the filthy sins from the land of Israel.
d) He will not allow the land of Israel to be further polluted.
4. The consequences.
a) Israel would experience defilement in foreign lands.
b) They would have to face laws and customs in foreign countries.
c) They would have to face great hardship:
i) As refugees.
ii) As slaves.
iii) As prisoners-of-war.
d) In such harsh circumstances they would come to know that the Lord is indeed a holy and just God!