Gary Gleans

The justice of God is a reality every man must recognize.  Israel is in the midst of being judged and so they are questioning the justice of God.  Ezekiel defends God’s justice in a very clear and logical way.  Today there is great debate over God’s justice because of confusion over God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.  Somehow people convince themselves that God’s sovereignty over the world eliminates human responsibility and therefore throws into question the justice of God.  One thing must be clearly understood: God would be completely just in sending every single person on the planet to hell for all of eternity.  The fact that anyone is saved and reconciled to God is pure grace and mercy. THE PRINCIPLE OF RESPONSIBILITY: Israel was complaining that they were suffering for the sins of their fathers but not their own sin.  Ezekiel makes it very clear that God judges every man for his own merits and actions.  The sinful man will be ju...

God tells Ezekiel to speak a parable to the people about two Eagles, a twig and a vine.  The parable is of one eagle that takes a twig from the top of the tree and places it on the mountain and then takes a seed from a vine and places it in fertile ground next to a stream.  It seems obvious that the seed will sprout and grow while the twig has very little chance of survival.  However, things are not always as they seem.  A vine may grow in fertile ground and bear fruit but it is also fragile enough that it can be pulled up by the roots and destroyed.  Ezekiel then turns the parable around and illustrates God as an Eagle who controls the destinies of twigs and seeds according to His will.  There are things that seem logical to us but God’s ways are not always as we expect them to be especially when we are living in sin. THE FOOLISHNESS OF SIN: The first illustration of the twigs from the top of the tree is that of the king of Babylon taking the king and...

History is an important discipline for every person to study so they do not end up repeating the errors of the past.  Ezekiel gives an overview of Israel’s history from God’s perspective as well as a look to the future that God has planned for this nation.  God is gracious and patient but He is also jealous and just.  God’s graciousness must never be taken for granted and we must never presume that His mercy outweighs His holiness.  God’s love and grace should encourage us to love and obey Him instead of making us feel confident in our sinful state.  As we look at the history of Israel it is vital that we examine our own lives to see how we have responded to God’s mercy.  GOD’S PAST PROVISION: Ezekiel pictures Israel as a lost and rejected child who was born to pagan parents.  She is pictured as a baby that was not washed, swaddled or even have its umbilical cord cut.  As she grew up she is pictured as a young woman who had no clothes and was...

We all want to feel useful and like to think that we are an important part of something.  Uselessness is one of the worst feelings that any of us can ever have.  The children of Israel were chosen by God for the special purpose of blessing all the families of the Earth.  God chose them and separated them for that special purpose.  However, because of their rebellion and sin God looks upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and simply calls them useless.  When men refuse to trust and obey God they fail to glorify God and fulfill the purpose for which they have been created.  The only way we can truly be useful is by living for and promoting the glory of God. JERUSALEM WAS USELESS BEFORE JUDGMENT: The inhabitants of Jerusalem are compared to a vine in the woods.  The vine can wrap around trees and prevent their growth just as Israel had become a stumbling block to the nations.  The wood of the vine cannot be used to make furniture of build a house or...

Men are responsible before God for their sin.  There are consequences for sin that men must eventually pay.  God is patient and long-suffering but we must never think that God’s patience is and an indication of His indifference.  God will hold man to an account of His sin and there will be judgment.  The only way to escape this judgment is through personal righteousness or through repentance and restored faith in the Word of God.  Many men think they can carry on a relationship with God as if nothing has happened even though they continue to live in sin.  Others believe that they will escape from God’s judgment because they have a godly ancestry.  This is delusional thinking.  God judges every man according to his own righteousness and personal repentance.  We cannot hide behind the righteousness of others or hope that God will simply ignore our idolatry. GOD WILL NOT REVEAL HIMSELF TO THE UNREPENTANT: The elders of the people who had be...

The Word of God is a sacred trust.  To teach the Word of God or speak in such a way as to be revealing the Word of God is a high and holy calling that is never to be taken lightly.  There is a very big difference between speaking God’s word and speaking my own desires.  We all like to be liked so when we speak there is always a temptation to tell the people what they want to hear instead of what God has revealed.  This is a temptation that must be avoided at all costs.  Ezekiel condemns the prophets and prophetesses of his day for using their position to deceive the people instead of telling the people the truth of God’s Word.  We must learn to take the job of teaching God’s Word very seriously because all who do this will face a harsher judgment. THE JUDGMENT OF THE PROPHETS: The prophets were deceiving the people of Israel with false messages of hope as if they were coming from God.  Ezekiel and Jeremiah were warning the people of God’s coming j...

Ezekiel is living in Babylon and is proclaiming the Word of the Lord to the people who are already in exile.  The false teachers were claiming that the nation of Israel would soon be restored and returned to the land.  Ezekiel is called to tell the truth that even those who in the land will be taken away.  Even though the people had already experienced captivity, they had still not understood the gravity of their sin and the Lord’s determination to punish them in hopes that they would repent.  As long as they kept believing that they were fine and going to be restored soon, they would not realize their sinfulness and they would not turn back to the Lord.  Ezekiel’s ministry was to try to wake the people up.  We all like to try to minimize the gravity of our own sin but that it not the path of God or the way to repentance. THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM WILL BE MOVING: Ezekiel is called to pack his bags and carry them out in the full view of all the people tha...