128 - The Scum of the Earth

Homemade Noodle Soup

When my wife boils chicken meat to make her delicious homemade chicken noodle soup scum develops on the water.  She takes a spoon and very assiduously removes the scum before she uses the liquid to make the soup.

In this chapter, Ezekiel boils a pot of meat and likens the scum that develops, on the water, to the Israelites.  Jehovah says, I have purged you and you were not purged, I tried to remove the scum but you would not let me, so you shall not be purged from your defilement any more till I have satisfied my fury upon thee. Ezekiel 24:13.

Jehovah says I am giving up trying to clean you.  The destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews from Israel was the only recourse left to abate the Lord's anger.  They had broken the laws; worshipped other gods; sacrificed their children on religious alters.  The problem was that they knew that all these things were wrong and deserved punishment. 

Americans are also following paths which Jehovah hates and dare we hope that punishment will not come?  Jehovah is not unfair so that He would punish some and not others.  Usually, it is not just the murderers, the drug dealers and others in that category that are destroyed - it is the whole nation.

Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke.  Ezekiel, your beautiful, loving wife is going to die with a stroke.  You shall not mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Groan but be silent; make no mourning for the dead; the things which a bereaved person needs to do to release the emotions he is not allowed to do. 

As normal tie your turban on you, and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your lips, (do not wear a veil). 

So I spoke to the people in the morning.  Since he was a priest this was his job.  And in the evening my wife died, and I did in the morning (the next morning) as I was commanded. 24:16-18.

So that morning when I spoke to the congregation they said to me, Will you not tell us what these things, your callous attitude about your wife's death and your lack of mourning, mean to us, that you do so?   Why are you acting as you are; why aren't you mourning?  

I answered them, ... So says the Lord Jehovah: behold, I will defile My sanctuary, the glory of your strength, the desire of your eyes, Just as I lost my wife who was the desire of my eyes so you will lose the Lord's sanctuary, the glory of your strength.  And your sons and your daughters whom you have left shall fall by the sword.  

Then you shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of men (the food that is shared at a funeral).   And your turbans shall be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You must be dressed and ready to march to your captive home.  You shall not mourn nor weep; but you shall pine away for your iniquities and mourn to one another.   While you are being forced to move along by your captors you will have time to mourn for your murdered children and the husbands you lost in battle.

Note that it is no longer Ezekiel, but suddenly it is the Lord that is speaking to the Israelites.  So Ezekiel is a sign to you (your example to follow). According to all that he has done, you shall do. And when this comes, you shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah.  24:19-24 

When this comes, as it is foretold, when Jerusalem, which is this day besieged, is quite destroyed and laid waste, which now you cannot believe will ever be, then you shall know that I am the Lord God, who have given you this fair warning of it. Then you will remember that Ezekiel was to you a sign.” Note, Those who regard not the threatenings of the word when they are preached will be made to remember them when they are executed. Matthew Henry

After this Ezekiel turns most of his attention from Israel to the surrounding nations.  All of Israel's neighbours will be punished and most of them will be virtually destroyed. 

After this, most of the content of the Book of Ezekiel is not about punishment of the people but rather about restoration.  Here when Jehovah speaks he says to the land, not to the people: But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall put out your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel (it will again be the land of milk and honey); for they have drawn near to come. After all these centuries the Jews will be coming home by the thousands.

For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it (including the so-called ten lost tribes). And the cities shall have people, and the wastes shall be built. Perhaps the reference is to the waste that will happen at the Battle of Armagganon in Northern Israel.  

And I will multiply men and beast on you, and they shall increase and be fruitful. And I will make you dwell as before, and I will do better to you than at your beginnings. And you shall know that I am Jehovah. 36:8-11.

A great restoration in Israel's future is promised and we will continue with this thought in the next post.