Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
After last week's mulitple-verses-in-one-chapter post...we have only five verses left in the entire book of Ezekiel that mention 'desert'. I will admit that they are rather varied in topic...but there's only five, so I think we can look at them all today.
The first one is basically a geographical reference...a border...but, wow...
"And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak -- places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah -- wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the LORD." (Ez. 6:13-14)
You can look up in verse 11 to see that the 'they' in this passage is 'the house of Israel'. This is coming judgment for idolatry. They would die in the places they worshiped the idols; whole land would be desolate.
The next verse is Ez. 19:13, but it is in the last stanza of a lament (19:1) and needs a fair amount of text for context:
" 'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water. Its branches were strong, fit for a ruler's scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches. But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel, it was stripped of its fruit; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them. Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land. Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler's scepter.' This is a lament and is to be used as a lament." (Ez. 19: 10-14).
Allegorical language; Israel was the mother, the vine in the vineyard, shriveled by the east wind (Babylon?) . The line of David dwindled. Not failed utterly...but dwindled into a barely-surviving thread, transplanted to a place where they would not thrive. With the possible exception of a period of about 80 years after the Maccabean revolt (there is some disagreement among scholars on this), there was not an independent, self-determining Israel in existence again until 1948. The genealogies were preserved enough to know that Jesus was descended from David...but then the records fail. Israel has no princes and no kings...they have a prime minister. No strong branch can hold a scepter.
The verse in chapter 23 is in the middle of an allegorical discussion of Israel and Judah as Oholah and her sister Oholibah. It's...not pretty...
"You sat on an elegant couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed the incense and oil that belonged to me. The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; Sabeans were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the arms of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said about the one worn out with adultery, 'Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.' And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah." (Ez. 23:41-44)
Sabeans and men from the rabble...no covenant and no honor. And the items that were to be used in worship of the God of Abraham...were used to adorn 'the woman and her sister', enticing the pagans around them into relationships that pulled them away from the covenant with the LORD. Chapter 23 goes on to describe the consequences of such behavior, summing up: "You will suffer the penalty for your lewdness and bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD." (vs. 49). Notice...there were three things they were under judgment for doing...worshiping other gods (idolatry): being in illegitimate relationships with people who were not following or serving God; and taking what was holy to God and using it for their own pleasure.
Take a minute and reflect on that.
The next passage is a prophecy against another nation...in this case, Egypt (29:2)
"I will leave you in the desert, you and all the fish of your streams. You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air. Then all who live in Egypt will know that I am the LORD." (Ez. 29:5-6a)
The prophecy/ lament for Egypt goes on through chapter 32...4 whole chapters. Egypt had failed to help Israel (29: 6b-7) and they had, in their pride, claimed the Nile as their property and their own creation (29:3, 9b). They behaved as if they were their own ultimate authority.
Again...take a minute and reflect on that.
But...we end on a positive note. The final mention of 'desert' in Ezekiel is in chapter 34:
"I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety and no one will make them afraid." (Ez. 34:22 - 28).
And there's nothing to add to that except... AMEN.
With this...we've finished the Major Prophets as 'desert' does not appear in the book of Daniel. I'm going to take a break from the desert for the holidays...we'll dig into the Minor Prophets in January.
Merry Christmas!!!
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