Ezekiel 25:1

Ezekiel 25:1 says. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,  

Verse two adds, Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;  God now told Ezekiel that he was to prophesy to the Ammonites, and it wasn’t going to be a good prophecy.  As followers of Christ, when we are witnessing to the lost people of the world, what they are doing will always bring them trouble spiritually until they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  It doesn't matter how their actions might be viewed by the world, but only how they are viewed by God.  Ezekiel was a captive in Babylon at time and had been for many years, so he wasn't familiar with what was happening in Judah.  

Verse three continues, And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;  God’s word to the Ammonites concerned how they had treated His sanctuary, or temple, by profaning it and how they had treated Isreal when it was desolate, and Judah when the people were carried away captive, or all of those who were supposed to be His people and their land in other words.  Just because those things and those people who are God’s people may not be following Him as they should, this doesn't mean that those who deny Him are free to do whatever they want to do to His people or the land that is His.   

Verse four concludes, Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.  God told Ezekiel to tell the Ammonites that they were going to be defeated and that men from the east would take their land and their possessions.  One thing we as Christians can be sure of is that one day all those who stand against God, no matter how powerful they may be for a while, will suffer total defeat when Jesus Christ returns in judgment.  

Verse five states, And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  God said that He, and not just those who defeated them, was going to make Rabbah a stable for camels and their land a feeding place for flocks.  The Ammonites had oppressed God’s people and defiled His land, and now they were going to be oppressed and their land was going to be defiled.  Even though this was to be done by another nation, God wanted Ezekiel to tell them that He was the One Who caused this and then they would know that He is God.  One day, God is going to lay all the world desolate because of the unrepentant people who think they are more powerful than Him, and when this happens, they will know that He is God. 

Verse six adds, For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;  God said this was going to happen because they had celebrated defeating and mistreating His people and His holy land.  People today may celebrate defeating God’s people physically for a time, but one day, God is going to send His judgment on them. 

Verse seven continues, Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.  God said they needed to understand that He was the One Who was bringing about their destruction and removing their nation from the world, and when this happened, too late they would know that He is God.  When Jesus Christ returns in victory, all those who have not put their faith in Him will suffer everlasting defeat and they will be forever removed from His kingdom and remembered no more. 

Ezekiel 24:24

Ezekiel 24:24 says, Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God. God said that Ezekiel was to do everything as He had told him to do, and this would be a sign so that people would know that He was God.  The people of Jerusalem thought that they would never fall, but when they did, they would look back on how Ezekiel had reacted after his wife died as a sign of what was to happen to them, and when they did, they would know that God was indeed God.  We aren’t given many signs today, but because of what Jesus did on the cross when He died for all our sins, we can know that God is indeed God.  

Verse twenty=five adds, Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,  God said that there was coming a day soon when everything that they valued would be taken away from the people in Jerusalem.  Everything they had looked at for strength and joy, the things they lusted for and set their minds to attain, and even their children would be taken from them.  It is my understanding that God also told Ezekiel that this would not be true for him, since his eye and heart was set on worshipping God.  All those who have valued the things of the world more than they valued having a covenant relationship with God will one day lose everything they have, but if we are in a covenant relationship with God by having put our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, this will not be true for us.   

Verse twenty-six continues, That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?  God said that there would come a day when Ezekiel would once again prophesy to the people of Jerusalem.  From now until the time those who escaped returned, Ezekiel would be prophesying against the neighboring nations, but in chapter thirty-three he would once again prophesy to the people of Israel.  We should be more concerned with proclaiming the gospel to the lost world than to Christians, but if Christians turn away from God’s truth, then we need to call them back to obedience to Him. 

Verse twenty-seven concludes, In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.  God said when those who returned from captivity came to Ezekiel, he would once again be free to prophesy to them.  When they did return, they would then know without a doubt that God is God.  If we have been around Christians all our life and have never accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, then we will be captive to sin.  If we one day return to Him by accepting His gift of salvation, we will then know that He alone is God. 

Ezekiel 24:20

Ezekiel 24:20 says, Then I answered them, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  Ezekiel answered the question of why he wasn’t mourning the death of his wife as people expected him to do by saying that he was being obedient to God’s word that had come to Him.  If we as follower of Christ are doing what God instructs us to do and people wonder why we are doing whatever it is, our answer should always be that we are being obedient to God.   

Verse twenty-one adds, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.  God said His sanctuary would be profaned and the strength of the nation which came from Him would be gone because the house of Israel had followed the desires of their eyes instead of following His commandments.  This was signified by the death of Ezekiel’s wife, a beloved wife, not because she or he was disobedient to God, but to show the people of Israel that if God did not keep her from death when Ezekiel and she were faithful to Him, that He was not going to keep the nation of Israel from dying as a nation since they were not obedient to Him.  They were also going to see their sons and daughters be killed.  I don't believe that God caused Ezekiel’s wife to die just to use her as an example to the people, but that He did not intervene even when Ezekiel prayed for her to be healed.  Some things that seem terrible to us today may be used by God to make Himself known better through whatever the tragedy may be.  

Verse twenty-two continues, And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.  Ezekiel said that when the defeat of Israel came, they would do as he had done and not cover their lips and not eat the bread of men.  Matthew Henry says that they would be afraid to mourn for their dead because their conquerors might see this as disloyalty to them.  If we die without accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, even if people mourn our death, it will not save us. 

Verse twenty-three concludes, And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.  God said that life would go on for those who were spared by their enemies, and even though they would mourn the loss of loved ones, this still would not cause them to repent and turn to Him.  Though lost people may mourn the loss of a loved one today, it seldom causes them to turn to God in repentance, but they often murmur against God.