Ezekiel 5
Remember in Chapter 4, God had Ezekiel draw the town out on paper and lay siege against it to show the people they would be destroyed. He then had Ezekiel put an iron skillet between himself and the town to show he was not going to look upon the town. He then had Ezekiel lay on his side representing the sins of Israel and Judah.
The razor is the sword of the enemy which God is going to use to humiliate His people because of their disobedience. Shaving to the prophet was humiliating. Under Levitical law, priests were not allowed to “cut the corners” of their beard (no goatees, no chinstrap, no mutton chops, no neckbeard, no ducktail, etc.). Ezekiel was not only a prophet, but he was also a priest. This means that for him to shave his beard, this was a clear sign to everyone that something was wrong. Something was very wrong. They were about to be humiliated militarily by the Babylonians.
The 3 groups of hair (VS 2-4)…
1. 1/3 people are killed in battle
2. 1/3 perish by famine
3. 1/3 scattered among the gentiles
4. THE SMALL NUMBER THAT ARE IN THE PROPHET’S SKIRT ARE THOSE WHO ARE PRESERVED (Verse 3)
This was all done to show that the people in Jerusalem were acting more wickedly than the surrounding nations, despite their greater privileges and blessings from God.
IT WOULD BE PRETTY BAD FOR GOD TO SAY THAT THE HEATHENS ARE ACTING BETTER THAN THE CHOSEN. Kind of like if the non-churched have better morals than the churched. It was bad enough that God even said He was against His own people.
There is not much in the way of ‘Gospel’ in chapter 5, but the one thing that we need to remember and focus on, is that GOD WILL LEAVE A REMNANT.
REMNANT—what is left after a catastrophe; that which remains of an original body or substance.
THE BIBLE MENTIONS A REMNANT OF PEOPLE MULTIPLE TIMES…
1) Survivors of any catastrophe (Noah and The Flood; Lot survived Sodom).
2) A group of non-Israelite survivors ("the remnant of Edom," Amos 9:12).
3) Israelite survivors of the Assyrian invasion in 721-718 BC .
4) Jewish survivors of the Babylonian invasion in 585 BC .
5) The remnant of Jews who returned to Judah from Babylon.
6) The remainder of physical Israelites and Jews after the Great Tribulation.
7) The remnant of converted sons of God in the last days.
Romans 9:27 (AMP)--And Isaiah calls out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is only the remnant [a small believing minority] that will be saved [from God’s judgment];
The remnant are a people of unshakable integrity. Zephaniah 3:13--"The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid."
Matthew 7:13-14-- 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE REMNANT
What is the doctrine of the Remnant? It is simply this; that in our blind, fallen, sinful world of mankind, at any given time, the vast overwhelming majority is lost. And by lost, I do not mean they have missed their way or come short of the mark or are less that they wanted to be or fail to fulfill their dreams. By lost I mean, alienated from God and an enemy to Him, without pardon, without life, without hope. What does the doctrine of the Remnant mean? “Remnant,’ means a small fragment, a surviving trace. It means that some-thing yet remains when the larger body is somewhere else. The Romans 9:27 text deals with Israel, but it sets forth clearly the doctrine as applying to the entire human race as well as the Church. This was true among the nations before Abraham; it was true of Israel after Abraham; and it is true of the Church since Pentecost. I am alarmed because it has been true since Pentecost that such a vast number of people who call themselves Christians-the overwhelming majority-are nominal, and only a remnant is saved (acalltotheremnant.com).
Isaiah 1:9-- “Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah”
Let’s take the church that we have right here. Using Ezekiel as an example. Let’s separate the church into thirds. One third of you have died from famine. One third of you has died from battle. One third of you are going to be scattered. Now, we will take some of the scattered (we can use the OT tithe as a reference point) and we will call these folks ‘THE REMNANT.”
If we go back to Zephaniah 3:13--"The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid.", we remember that the remnant are those who have UNSHAKEABLE INTEGRITY.
I BELIEVE THERE ARE 3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REMNANT CHURCH WILL HAVE…
1. They are watchful. Remember how God told Ezekiel twice that he was to be a watchman for his people. The remnant will be those who are paying attention to what is going on. They won’t fall prey to what the world claims to be good when God’s Word declares it to be bad and immoral.
One of the things that we talked about on Thursday night at our Bible Study, had to do with the unintentional misquoting of scriptures or misuse of scriptures. While they may seem harmless to a Christian, they can lead those who don’t know astray. And remember, their blood could be on our hands if we don’t warn them and lead them the wrong way.
• “Judge Not” - Matthew 7:1
• “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you” - Jeremiah 29:11-13
• “Where two or three are gathered” - Matthew 18:20
• “Ask for anything in My name” - John 14:13-14
• “All things work together for good” - Romans 8:28
• “No more than you can handle” - 1 Corinthians 10:13
2. They are workers.
Workers are overcomers. Workers don’t give in when the going gets rough. Workers don’t let things slide by. The may not be perfect, but they are excellent. They give it their all and don’t hold back.
a. They will work to revive and keep alive the fire inside of them. They won’t allow the embers to burn out. They will continue to fuel their fire, even if it means burning everything they have of sentimental value to keep the fire going.
If a person is lost in the wilderness and only has a few personal items that are near and dear to him, he would be best served to burn those family pictures, letters, whatever it takes to keep his fire going for warmth, food, light, whatever he needs. The same goes with our fire for God. Anything and everything goes in order to keep our fire lit. IT IS A FIRE SALE!
b. They will remember where The Lord has brought them from and what He has done for them. It is not about resting on past glory, it is about remembering what was once there and knowing it can still be there. It is about remembering what it was like to walk in the POWER OF GOD and what He did and how He used you.
c. They will resolve to keep their fire going and keep the memory alive of God. They won’t allow the revival of the dead embers to replace the fire that is still going. They will work to keep it all going strong.
d. They will repent of their wicked ways. God will not be mocked and will not accept an offering from those who (1) don’t give with a cheerful heart (2) continue to live in total rejection of the COMPLETE fullness of the Gospel of Christ. When I say COMPLETE, I mean by not skipping over one part because it does not align with how we feel or what we want. It may not ‘feel good’ but that’s ok. (Thank goodness for GRACE). We have to experience a change of mind, a change of heart, a change of action.
AW Tozer “God cannot do our repenting for us. In our efforts to magnify grace we have so preached the truth as to convey the impression that repentance is a work of God. This is a grave mistake, and one which is taking a frightening toll among Christians everywhere. God has commanded all men to repent. (Acts 17:30) It is a work which only they can do. It is morally impossible for one person to repent for another. Even Christ could not do this. He could die for us, but He cannot do our repenting for us.”
AW Tozer also said “God in His mercy may “incline” us to repent and by His inworking Spirit assist us to repent; but before we can be saved we must of our own free will repent toward God and believe in Jesus Christ. This the Bible plainly teaches; this experience abundantly supports. Repentance involves moral reformation. The wrong practices are on man’s part, and only man can correct them. Lying, for instance, is an act of man, and one for which he must accept full responsibility. When he repents he will quit lying. God will not quit for him; he will quit for himself.”
3. They are waiters. They wait for God. They wait expectantly for God. Of the 10 virgins who had the lampstand in Matthew 25, 5 took oil and 5 did not. They waited for the bridegroom. When the bridegroom came, the 5 that had no oil lost out. The oil was symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
Waiting on The Lord means being full of the Holy Spirit and being ready for when He calls.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)-- but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
CONCLUSION
How many feel they are lacking in their watchfulness? How many feel they are not working as hard as they should? How many feel they are getting tired of waiting on The Lord?
*With all the information that is available for consumption, some of my sermons may be influenced by what i have read or heard. Anything that is posted is available to be used by all. The Lord gives abundantly and may you be blessed!
