Ezekiel Ch.19 & 20 Study
I.
Ezekiel Ch.19: Analogies of lion and vine
A.
vs.1-9: Lion analogy
1.
Who is the lioness?
a.
Mother of the king
b.
Judah
or dynasty
2.
Why describe her as the lioness?
Devouring, cruel, mean
3.
Why the kings of Israel are being described as
lions?
They are like lions which killed
men and made the land desolate. They did unjust things harming men and other
neighboring countries. God used other nations to punish Judah.
4.
Who is the 1st lion?
Jehoahaz
(2Ki 25:31-34; 2Chron 36:2-4)
5.
Who is the 2nd lion?
Jehoiachin
(2Ki 23:35-37; 2Chron 36:5-6)
6.
What is the difference between 1st
lion and 2nd lion?
Comparison:
a.
The 1st one went to Egypt and 2nd one to Babylon
b.
The 2nd one is more oppressive than
the 1st one.
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1st lion
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2nd lion
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1.
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He learned to catch prey (v.3)
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He learned to catch prey (v.6)
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2.
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And he devoured men. (v.3)
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He devoured men (v.6)
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3.
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He knew their desolate places,
And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the
noise of his roaring (v.7)
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4.
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They brought him with chains to
the land of Egypt (v.4).
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They put him in a cage with
chains, And brought him to the king of Babylon
(v.9)
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7.
Applications:
How do we teach our children?
B.
vs. 10-14: Vine analogy
1.
Who is the vine?
The mother which represents the Judah
collectively speaking
2.
What does it means ‘Planted by the waters’?
a.
Waters represent peoples (Rev 17:15)
b.
It is the glory of all the lands (Eze 20:15) – another word, the best land
3.
What does it mean ‘fruitful and full of
branches?
The chosen people multiplied in
the land of Canaan
4.
What does it mean ‘strong branches for scepters
of rulers’?
There were strong and good kings
and their kingdoms were great.
5.
Who are the thick branches?
Other nations
6.
What does it mean ‘towered in stature above the
thick branches’?
The chosen people’s kingdom was
greater than other nations.
7.
She was plucked up and rejected by God for God
was angry with her.
8.
What does ‘east wind’ represent?
Army of Babylon
9.
Where is ‘in wilderness’?
Babylon, a land filled with idols, apart from
God’s promised land.
10.
What is the meaning of v.14?
vs.14 may
refer to the incident in Jer 40-43 that the remnants
in Judah was destroyed after
the city Jerusalem
was destroyed.
11.
Why the vine was suddenly plucked up?
a.
In Is 30:9-14, God promised that their
destruction would come upon them suddenly because they would not hear and obey
the word of the Lord, for they relied on their own wisdom and strength.
b.
What made God to reject His people?
II.
Ezekiel Ch.20: God’s refusal to be inquired,
God’s salvation & punishments for the people
A. vs.1-31: God would not let Israel elder to
inquire of Him
1.
vs.1-4:
Incident of certain elders inquiring God
2.
vs.5-9:
Unfaithfulness in Egypt
a.
Abominations
b.
Would
not cast away the idols
3.
vs.10-17:
The 1st generation’s unfaithfulness in wilderness
a.
Did not
walk according to the laws
b.
Did not
keep the Sabbath
c.
Went
after idols
4.
vs.18-26:
Then the 2nd generation’s unfaithfulness in wilderness
a.
Did not
walk according to the laws and not carefully keep the laws
b.
Did not
keep the Sabbath
c.
Went
after idols
d.
They
caused all their firstborn to pass through
5.
vs.27-29:
Chosen people’s unfaithfulness in the Promised Land
Their offered sacrifices and drink offering in the high places
6.
vs.30-31:
They are like their forefathers and why God would not let the elders to inquire
Him
a.
The
people would not stop to worship idols, so God would not be their God and would
not inquired by them.
b.
Similar
to Eze Ch.14, that these people have idols in their
hearts continuously, so God would not be inquired by them.
c.
What can
we learn from this passage?
(a) God will not answer someone who always go astray from Him. What is the purpose to inquire, if we do
not do what He said.
(b) God wants us to really put God first and
continue in this principle. Our faithfulness is often like a mist, it only
lasts for a while. How can we be always faithful to God?
(c) People keep breaking Sabbath. What shall we
do?
B. vs. 32-44: God’s salvation and exaltation
1.
God would not let Israelites becoming like
Gentiles serving idols, for His name sake (v.32)
2.
God will again show them salvation
a.
Bring them into wilderness (Gentiles’ lands) and
judge them for their evils (v.35-36)
b.
Bring them out from the peoples and gather them
together in the promised land (v.34)
c.
Bring them into care (Jer
33:12-13) and into the bond of the covenant (v.37)
d.
Purge the rebels among them, for the rebels
shall depart from the foreign land along with the chosen people, but the rebels
will not inherit the Promised Land (vs.38)
e.
Accept their offerings (vs. 40-41)
f.
What can we learn from above: God’s punishment
to God’s salvation?
3.
God will be exalted among the peoples
a.
God will be hallowed among the Gentiles (vs. 41)
b.
The chosen people shall know the Lord when they
receive the Promised Land (vs.42)
c.
The chosen people shall detest their evil doings
(vs.43)
d.
God is magnified among the chosen people through
God’s mercy and truth (vs. 44)
C. vs. 45-49: Prophecy against South
1.
What
does ‘South’ represent?
The kingdom
of Judah
2.
Who is
the ‘forest land’?
People are like trees. Collectively
speaking, they are like a forest.
3.
What do
green trees and dry trees represent?
The young are like green and the
old are like dry. God would not spare the young and the old.
4.
What
does ‘fire’ in this passage represent?
Lord’s anger and destruction (Jer 4:4)
5.
What does it mean ‘I, the LORD, have kindled it;
it shall not be quenched.’?
It means ‘God will send destruction and will not hold back from
destruction, and the destruction shall be complete, and people’s intercession will not help (Jer
4:4).
6.
What is
the response of the people? What do they mean?
They did not think it is the word of God, but some kinds of man made
parable which is hard to understand and require thinking.
7.
What
can we apply in our lives from this section?
