The Proverb of the Sour Grapes

The Proverb of the Sour Grapes
Ezekiel 18:1-4

Out text begins with an eye-catching proverb that had become popular in Israel and represented popular opinion.
Even today some people hold to the false belief that this proverb represents, but God has seen fit to occupy an entire chapter refuting this false doctrine.
The end result of the chapter is that we find ourselves wholly responsible for our own sins before God and not for the sins of someone else.

Let us begin by reading just the first four verses of our text:

READ TEXT
Ezekiel 18:1 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
PRAY

The first element of our text that strikes our eye is the proverb about the sour grapes.
Have you ever eaten sour grapes?
Have you noticed the aftertaste?
This is what is referenced in the proverb, that after effect of the sourness.
The people were saying that a man might commit a certain sin, symbolized in the proverb by the sour grape, and his children would be predetermined to suffer under the guilt of that sin and even carry God's judgment for their father's sin.

It is a common belief among people even today and is called by different names - Generational Sin among those superstitious Christians who have adopted this doctrine, Generational Curse among the occultist religions from whence this doctrine came.
The result of this false teaching is manifold:
1. It produces a sense of hopelessness in the follower of God regarding real spiritual freedom.
2. It produces a sense of unfairness regarding the nature of God.
3. It produces a lack of self-responsibility among those who hold this teaching.

God debunks Israel's false doctrine in one powerful sentence:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Every man must give an account of himself before God.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Every man suffers under the guilt of his own sins alone:
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Every man is determined by his own actions to suffer the eternal penalty for his sins.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;

The first and foremost truth of this chapter is that every man must answer to God for his own sins.

This is not to say that our sins do not have an impact on those around us, including our children:
Let us take a moment to discuss this.
So often we see a man who is abusive and disrespectful to his wife in the home:
When he has a son, often that son grows into a man that treats his own wife in the same shameful manner.
When he has a daughter, she grows up to marry a man that treats her as her father treated her mother.
Why is this?
Surely we can see that this is learned behavior.
The son takes the role model of his father and follows the pattern that was set for him.
The daughter accepts in her heart that such is the role of a woman and marries an abusive man.

It is the same with other sins that seem to continue from one generation to another.
A son sees the wandering eye of his father and justifies his own lustful heart to act in the same manner.
A girl sees the idolatrous ways of her mother and learns to depend upon idols as well.

Truly our sin does impact the next generation by way of example.

Our kids are watching and learning about how the family is supposed to operate, and they will often carry the same weaknesses and strengths into their own family.

HOWEVER, we must draw a definitive line here:
The son is not guilty of his father's sins until he commits the same sin himself.
Never in the Bible are we encouraged to confess the sins of our fathers, such an injustice would cast doubt on the fairness of God.

Certainly I have inherited a sinful nature as every man has since Adam, but there is no sin that my father committed that has a generational hold on my life.
I make the decisions and the choices to sin or do right in my life and I bear full responsibility for my decisions.

There is a positive side to this doctrine as well:
The next verses in chapter 18 outline the life of a man that is just and follows the law, living by what is right in God's eyes.
He does not worship idols or commit adultery.
He is not unclean or oppressive to any.
He pays his debts and lives peaceably.
He gives to the hungry and comforts the needy.
He defrauds no one and is just in his business dealings.
Verse 9
Continues:
Ezekiel 18:9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.

It is clear that just as God judges the individual sinner for his individual actions, so He blesses the individual who lives uprightly before Him.

Now here is a question:
Does that man's righteousness cover the sins of his children?
Read on:
Ezekiel 18:10 ¶ If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,
11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

Clearly the answer is that the son is responsible for his own actions.
The son exercises individual soul liberty and decides to sin - "The soul that sinneth it shall die"

Now, what about that man's son?
Will he bear the sins of his father?
Read on:
Ezekiel 18:14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife,
16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,
17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Such is the just and fair judgment of God.
The next verse tells us that the father alone will bear the penalty of his actions.

There is much hope here in these verses that I want to point out to you this morning:
Have you had a father whose sinfulness has cast a pall and a shadow across your childhood?
You are not destined to follow in his steps and you are not guilty of his sins.
Have you had a mother whose sinfulness has caused nothing but pain in your life?
You are not guilty of her sins.

This was a shock to the people of Israel who had so bought into the traditional false doctrine of generational sin and generational guilt that they had stepped away from the one-on-one personal responsibility that keeps a man or a woman righteous before their God.
Ezekiel 18:19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Now we get to an even more bright and hopeful passage.

What if I have found myself following the pattern of sinfulness set by my father?
What if I have modeled the same weaknesses and poor judgment that my mother laid out before me?
What then?
Am I now destined to follow these proclivities?

Look to the following verses for hope:
Ezekiel 18:21 ¶ But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

Praise the Lord!
Did you hear that?
If I confess my sin now, repent of my ways and follow the Lord, my iniquities will be remembered no more.
He will never even mention them to me!

This wonderful doctrine is consistent throughout Scripture.
It is not just an Old Testament promise to a limited group.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

How could God be so merciful?
Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

God is much more desirous that you repent than that you suffer the penalty of your sins.
2Peter 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
1Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Know this, that your past righteousness will not keep you from judgment any more than your past sin will keep you from grace.
Ezekiel 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

This warning does not indicate that a saved person can lose their salvation, but that we are all under God's government and will answer for our actions.
Do not think, as some have stated, that your righteous living builds up credits against which you can draw in times of sinfulness.
Righteous living is a requirement not a freewill deposit we make in the bank of Heaven.
The only righteousness that has built up any real value in the bank of heaven is that of Jesus Christ.
He made a deposit there that covers the sins of the whole world for those who will accept it as payment for their sin.

That said, we must understand that He still rules from His throne and chastises the errant and rewards the obedient.

One more time now let us drive this truth home again:
Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

Our God is ready now to accept your repentance.
You need never repent for your father's sins - that Freudian philosophy is not from the pages of scripture nor anywhere affirmed by this book.
You are encouraged to take responsibility for your own actions and revel in the freedom to make the right choices now, for you do have that freedom.

God will judge us for our own actions in this world and reward us for our own actions in the next.
Ezekiel 18:30 ¶ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

There is one more aspect at which we have only hinted in this sermon:
Your own righteousness could never cover your previously committed sin, and you could never be absolutely perfect from this point on.
You will falter and fall.
There must be a more perfect righteousness that gains us a position in heaven.
This is where Jesus comes in.
When your righteousness was not good enough, He offered his own for you to wear.
Will you accept it today as your only way to have a relationship with God?

Then and only then will you be freed to live a live of purity and holiness before Him.

A Riddle and a Parable

A Riddle and a Parable
Ezekiel 17

Our text is an intriguing passage of Scripture that is full of symbols with a powerful lesson and a ray of hope at the end.
God uses a unique combination of riddles and parable to convey His plan of redemption to His people.
Early in the passage we see God giving Ezekiel the mandate to put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.

I particularly like riddles and fancy myself good at unraveling them usually.
The whole Idea of a riddle is to obscure the truth.
The end result is we study to find the truth until we see it in a unique light.

One example is the following riddle:
What is so delicate that when you say its name it is broken?
The answer of course is "silence."
Notice how the obscuring of the point puts the answer in a whole new light.

A Parable is different from a riddle, in that, instead of obscuring the truth to make a point, a parable uses a commonly known fact to illustrate a truth.
A parable actually sheds light on the truth with the same end result as the riddle, it puts it in a whole new light.

Our text this morning utilizes both tools to make some important points.

Let us read verses 1-10 to get started.
Ezekiel 17:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

PRAY

So, there was a great cedar tree that reached into the sky.
It stood tall and proud until a great eagle came on the scene.
The long winged eagle tore off the very crown of the cedar tree and carried it into a foreign land.
Then that same long winged eagle planted a seed from the land in a fertile place with some water.
The seed grew and spread low along the ground as a vine is wont to do.
The vine turned its branches up toward the eagle in tribute and even bent its roots dependently toward the eagle.
Then another eagle shows up on the scene in verse 7.
This second eagle is great but with no indication of the first eagle's length of wing.
The low vine then bent it branches and roots toward the second eagle.
This second eagle planted the same vine again and set it in a place that it might grow and prosper.
God, however, is not pleased.
He insists in the last two verse of our text that the vine would not prosper, but would wither away and be plucked up by the roots.

If you puzzle on these words for a while you will most likely recognize the Cedar is representative of Israel and the eagles represent certain foreign nations that play major parts in the story of Israel's history.
The obvious ends about there, and the rest takes some study to figure out.
However, like most riddles, this one has the answers just a little further down the page.

READ 11-21

Ezekiel 17:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

The interpretation and meaning of the riddle is as follows:
The cedar of Lebanon is indeed representative of Jerusalem of Israel with King Jehoiakim at its very top.
The first eagle with the widespread wings is none other than Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who came and took King Jehoiakim from his perch at the top of Israel's ruling city.
He took King Jehoiakim back to Babylon and held him there.
This same Nebuchadnezzar then set up Jehoiakim's brother, Zedekiah, in his place, truly of the seed of Israel, and planted him in Judah to rule in his brother's stead.
The agreement was that Israel would grow and prosper for the benefit of Babylon.
It would never grow tall as before but would remain a low and spreading but fruitful vine to serve the whim and fancy of a foreign king.
Zedekiah knew this was not how Israel should be run and certainly not all that Israel could be.
However, he did not lead Israel in a joint prayer of repentance to God.
Instead, he sought out a neighboring heathen nation to deliver him from the oppression of Babylon.
The second eagle with less reach but much power is Egypt.
Zedekiah sent ambassadors to Egypt to seek deliverance from Babylon.
The end result was that Israel ended up the same low-growing vine that simply traded oppressors.
Instead of Babylon, Israel was serving Egypt.

Here is where we can begin to make a powerful application to our lives.

At times, we, like Israel, allow ourselves to come into bondage of one kind or another.
It may be a substance.
It may be a thought pattern.
It may be bitterness or some negative attitude.
Whatever it is, we are serving it instead of God.
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Like Israel, we should call upon God for deliverance and repent of our sins that got us into the mess in the first place.
Instead, we often trade one sin for another:
We seek for deliverance in all the wrong places,
> depending on some worldly view of substance abuse - perhaps that it is an illness instead of an enslaving sin,

> seeking to justify instead of discipline our thought patterns,
> refusing to forgive because your flesh tells you are justified in your bitterness or bad attitude.
> perhaps even just seeking worldly counsel when what you need is godly counsel that will really cure and heal the pain and hurt inside.

Just as Israel sought deliverance from Egypt when he should have repented and sought deliverance from God, we often find ourselves seeking for deliverance in all the wrong places and end up trading one sin for another.

The end result is that we end up uprooted and unstable, with no real connections within the church and no real stability or healing in out lives.

God's solution to Israel's problem is found in the last three verses of the chapter.

Eze 17:22 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

The last three verses are clearly Messianic.
God is saying that He would take from the highest bloodline - that of David, a branch that would be planted prominently.
The result of this tall tree that would be planted is that every nation will find solace there.

Jesus was indeed cut from the line of David and planted our great deliverer.

Have you been wandering from one false deliverer to another?
Why don't you come to the one Saviour of Mankind under Whose branches you will finally find rest and comfort.

Like a Father

Like A Father

Psalm 103:6-18

Today is Father's Day.
Someone said a father is a man who has pictures in his wallet where his money used to be.

On this Father's Day we are reminded of the great privilege it is to be a father and the great responsibilities that are incumbent upon those of us who have children.
I usually take the opportunity on Father's Day to challenge fathers to be better in that position.

The world has so polluted the concept of the family and specifically the role of a father, that many men are confused about how to be a proper father.
Some today have even succumbed to the intimidation of the world system and have pulled out of the lives of their children.
Some today have allowed the frustration of their own insecurities to push them into an abusive role in their children's lives.

Because of these tendencies within families and particularly in modern fathers, children are growing up without the proper idea of authority, and more importantly, without the proper understanding of God.
You see, a child's view of God is almost always influenced by the father figure in their lives.
> If a child grows up with a father who never punished them when they were wrong and just tried to be a "buddy," they get the idea that God doesn't so much mind impurity in their lives and is willing to put up with their sin.
> If a child grows up without a father in his or her life, they generally have a view of God that is that of a disinterested God with more important things to do than care for them.
> If a child grows up with a father that breaks his promises to them or to mom, they tend to have trouble trusting God.
> If a child grows up with an abusive father, they usually assume that God hates them and is out to get them.

Of course, none of these views of God is correct, for God is the perfect father and does not have the weaknesses and failings of an earthly father.
Our text gives us a unique and powerful glimpse of that perfect father and teaches us how we can be better fathers by following His example.
More importantly, our text gives us a correct view of God, our Heavenly Father.

Let us open our Bible and learn of Him this morning:

READ TEXT

Psalm 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

PRAY

The verse that caught my attention this week is Verse 13
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

We have, over the past few months read and studied from the book of Ezekiel.
There we have seen an aspect of God's character that is true and powerful.
We have seen that the God of the Bible is a Holy and a Righteous God, Whose judgments against sinfulness are severe.
This is, however, not the whole picture of God as painted across the pages of Scripture.

It is not contradictory of God's character to see other facets of His personality, it is complimentary and tells us all that God wants us to know about Him.

I would like to point out from verse 13 that our God is the perfect father.
I want to drive that point home firmly this morning by walking with you through this passage and nailing down each unique characteristic of God presented here.

Let us begin in Verse 6

1.) God our Father is concerned with righteousness and justice. (V6)

2.) God our Father has revealed His rules to man. (V7)

3.) God our Father is full of mercy and grace. (V8)

4.) God our Father is not always angry. (V9)

5.) God our Father has withheld deserved judgment from us. (V10)

6.) God our Father shows mercy to those that fear him. (V11)

7.) God our Father has offered to separate our sins from us. (V12)

8.) God our Father is full of compassion toward those who fear Him. (V13)

9.) God our Father knows our frailty. (V14-16)

10.) God our Father blesses those who obey His commandments. (V17,18)

These attributes of God our Father remind us how we can be better fathers to our children.

They also remind us that we have, in Him, the greatest Father of all.
He is not like any human father.
He is perfect.

This passage is also a reminder of how a person can have such a wonderful Father.
Like any father-child relationship, we must be born into His family.

Have you been born into the family of God?
Is He your perfect Father?

His Faithful Bride

His Faithful Bride
Ezekiel 16

Last week we were in Ezekiel 15, where God likened Israel to a Vine to show the kind of relationship that He wants to have with His people.
We saw the cross reference in John 15 that presented in a bit more positive light, the same truths and some practical instruction for having a fruitful relationship with God.

Today we are in the longest chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy and one that causes the reader to cringe again and again while reading through it.

The 16th chapter of Ezekiel is one a few chapters in scripture that I could not read in its entirety in mixed company.
Its truths are powerful and poignant for every Christian, but its pithiness is clearly not designed for public reading.
We can and should, however, summarize the main lessons of this, the longest chapter of Ezekiel and take God's challenge to heart.
The shocking presentation of the truths in Chapter 16 is meant to cause the reader to grimace in disgust at the sinfulness of Israel in Ezekiel's time.
It is also important that we apply these truths to our own lives and grimace in disgust at our own sinfulness and allow Him to bring us back to Him again.

Let us read the first few verses by way of introduction to the passage and then we will read a few verses throughout the chapter to grasp the gist of God's complaint against Israel and against us when we are unfaithful to Him.

READ TEXT
Eze 16:1 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6 ¶ And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

PRAY

The passage we have read tells us about the beginning of Israel's relationship with God.
It is an unusual love story that mirrors that of God's relationship with us.
Israel is shown here as unlovely from the beginning.
> Born of questionable lineage
> Unclean and rejected
> Destined for death
> BUT GOD saw her and had mercy and gave her life.

The Bible says, that we too are sinful from our birth.
Ps 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Ro 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

So the parallel is clear, like Israel, we were unlovely and rejected, destined for death and destruction, lying in our own filthiness BUT GOD saw us and had mercy on us.

In verse 8 a culturally significant turn of phrase is used.
Eze 16:8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine

When a man was to marry a woman he would offer his hand to her in marriage by taking his outer robe and covering her with it.
This is the spreading of his skirt over her.
It implied that She was to be cared for as if she was a part of his own body and flesh - indeed such is the responsibility of a husband for his wife.

The spreading of His skirt over Israel is a beautiful picture of how God promised, covenanted, to care for Israel as a bride.
She was unclean and lowly but God would wash her and anointed her with privilege.
Eze 16:9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

She was poor and unclothed, BUT GOD covered her with the finest apparel.
Eze 16:10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

She was destitute and starving, BUT GOD lavished her with the finest jewelry and fed her with the finest foods and she did prosper into a wonderful kingdom.
Eze 16:11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

She became known as beautiful among the heathen and gained a reputation for loveliness.
Eze 16:14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

So the parallel with our relationship with God continues.
We were as unlovely a bride as Israel here, and God saw us and loved us, choosing us to be his bride.
He adorned us with garments of his own righteousness and lavished jewelry of blessings upon us.
He washed us from our sins and made us worthy of Him.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

It was not by our own loveliness that we became His bride, He had mercy upon us.
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

We too will be crowned by our husband:
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

We have seen how all of Israel's loveliness as a bride of God was due to His love for her.
So our own loveliness is due to Christ's love for us.
He has made us into what we are, and all we have we owe to Him.
He is our faithful husband and we, His faithful bride to be.

Here is where the chapter takes a turn for the worse, for Israel did not stay pure and holy as the bride of God.
Once again, Israel's mistakes and abominations only mirror our own as we too have been unfaithful to our faithful husband, Jesus Christ.
Eze 16:15 ¶ But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

The list of God's complaints against His bride takes up the major portion of the chapter.
It is as crude and distasteful as Israel's sin's against her faithful and perfect husband.
Let us highlight just a few and notice that, once again, Israel was no more unfaithful than we have been to Jesus since He saved us and clothed us in his robes of righteousness.
Verse 15 shows that pride was the beginning of Israel's fall and is often the beginning of our own decline away from God.
Pr 16:18 ¶ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Verses 16 through 30 reveal a nation enamored with the trapping of this world.
She wants to have everything that everyone else has and forgets the value of what God has given her.
She squanders her beauty and her blessings for cheap thrills and her purity for the pleasures of sin.
She becomes trapped in a snare of sin that is self perpetuating.
In Verse 31, we find she is not profiting from her wickedness, she is paying for it and paying a high price.
Eze 16:31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;
32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

So we, when we leave our true love for God and dabble in the sins of the flesh and in the attractions of the world, we end up paying to be defiled.
It was never our intention to be this way.
We thought we could profit from the deal with sin but we always end up paying so much more and getting nothing but filthiness in return.

There is a sad entry in verse 36 that shows when we sin it is not at our own expense alone - our children pay the price as well.
Eze 16:36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

The language is crude by so is our sin when we leave the side of our Faithful Husband, Jesus, and dabble in the things of this world.

Verses 37-40 show that even the world becomes disgusted with God's bride when she is so full of uncleanness.
So you will find that the world will use you up and cast you aside.
Verse 41 finds Israel at the rock bottom.
Used up and filthy, cast aside and hated by the world with which she flirted.

Have you ever wondered how God feels toward us when we drift away from Him and play the harlot with the world?
When we have squandered all that made us lovely and when the world has thrown us aside, used and rejected?

This is where the defiled person is usually convinced that God is more angry than ever, but verse 42 shows us different.
Eze 16:42 So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

The next several verse show that Israel was to pay a high price indeed for her sin, but it is the consequences of her sin that God allows to come upon her, it is not a rain of judgment from Him.

So we must realize that when we find ourselves at the bottom of that pit which we have ourselves digged, we have many a price to pay, but God is ready to have us back.

Some of those consequences are listed in the next verses:
Eze 16:51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
Our testimony is gone, sinners use us to excuse their own sin.

These verses remind us of how far we have gone and how it has impacted the world around us.

The darkness of Israel's downward spiral into unfaithfulness and sin is broken by God's mercy in Verse 60
If we had an honest show of hands this morning to see who has been unfaithful to God since being chosen to be His bride, every hand would go up.
Do you realize that not once has He been unfaithful to us?
Eze 16:60 ¶ Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:
63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

Through it all, God has remained faithful.
We have a powerful promise in the book of I John.
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He is faithful!

How faithful have you been as his bride?
Let us determine now that we will be a faithful bride.
We will not give ourselves to every passer by for we belong to Jesus.

If you find yourself this morning cast aside by the world, know this, if you have never been born into His family, He is ready to take you in and clothe you and cleanse you today.

If you have just drifted away from His side and you have defiled your life with the sin of the flesh and the world, know this, you are no more unlovely than the day He saved you, and He made a promise on that day to be faithful.
Won't you just come back to Him?

The Vine At Its Best

The Vine at its Best
Ezekiel 15:1-8

Our text is another vision from the prophet Ezekiel.
God has used some vivid imagry to illustrate the truths and the lessons that He had for the people of Israel.
Today we will look at a short chapter in Ezekiel that gives us yet another picture to illustrate the consequences of having an unfruitful relationship with God.
The picture that we are given here is that of a vine that has ceased to bear fruit.
Since the chapter is a short one I want to take the opportunity this morning to contrast the vine at its worst with a New Testament passage that shows the vine at its best.
Let us read our text:
Ezekiel 15:1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

PRAY

Our text, like many before it from Ezekiel is a negative one.
However, it need not have a negative impact on us this morning.
ILL - cliff sign with person falling is a negative warning with a positive impact as it keeps people away from the edge and enjoying their life.

So this negative warning to Israel, a warning of judgement to the unfruitful vine should serve as a warning to us and keep us from becoming unfruitful and spiritually useless.

The Lord historically used four different botanical illustrations to picture the Nation of Israel.
1.) The Olive Tree - picturing the covenant relationship that God had with Israel
2.) The Fig Tree - picturing the nation of Israel as a people in the world, the Jews
3.) The Bramble Bush - picturing the cuttoff nation that has rejected its God and is of no service to the world around it.
4.) The Vine - picturing the spiritual relationship that God has with his people and the results of that fruitful relationship.

In our text this morning, it is the Vine, the symbol of God's spiritually relationship with His people that we see used and this helps us to interpret the deeper meaning of the passage.

The clear imperative to the nation of Israel and to us this morning is this:
Every person must bear fruit.
Let us look to our text for some clear motivation to obey this command and then we will look at a parallell passage in the New Testament that tells us how we can bear fruit.

Every person must bear fruit because:
1.) We were created for this purpose alone. v2-5
2.) We will bring judgment into our lives if we do not bear fruit. v6-8
3.) We will have fullness of Joy if we are bearing fruit for Him. John 15:11

Now we will transistion to John chapter 15 and see the great parallell passage and one in a more positive light.
Joh 15:1 ¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 ¶ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

So we have been given ample motivation to bear fruit we only need to know how.
Every person must bear fruit by:

Abiding in the vine.
This is the overall instruction and has its own several steps toward completion.
1.) By being grafted into the vine. Verse 1
No one is born naturally into the vine, we must be grafted in by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Saviour.
2.) By abiding in His Word. Verse 7
This is where our nourishment comes.
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
If you are not in the Word daily you are shriveling up for lack of nourishment.
3.) By obeying His commandments Verse 10-12
The one commandment that He reminds us of that is especially important for fruit bearing is the commandment to love each other.
Nothing will rob you of your fruit faster than a lack of love for your fellow brother and sister in Christ.

What kind of vine will you be?
Will you be the vine at its worst portrayed in Ezekiel 15 or the Vine at its best portrayed in John 15?