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vision he saw them practice every kind of abomination, that is, engaging in idolatrous worship. The word “abomina tion,” when used as a noun, by the Proph ets, was a technical term for idolatry. 2. Departure of the Presence of the Lord from Jerusalem. 11:22-25. In chapters 9-11 appears the account of the departure of the shekinah of glory from the temple. The wickedness of the inhabitants of Judaea had become so very great and idolatry had engrossed the na tion to such an extent that the visible symbol of God’s presence withdrew from its place over the mercy seat to the threshold, where it lingered for a while, as if reluctant to go. From there it moved to and hovered over the eastern gate; from there it departed to the Mount of Olives, which is east of Jerusalem; and from there it finally disappeared. The fact that the glory of God stopped and hov ered over the threshold, the eastern gate, and the Mount- of Olives, symbolizes the truth that God was reluctant in giving up His people to the horrors of the bloody siege and final captivity. The fact that it finally disappeared from the nation set forth the fact that God had given them up completely to the punishment which their deeds deserved. When the glory of God again returns to Israel in the person of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah, it will come first to the Mount of Olives and then enter Jerusa lem, the city of the Great King. III. Messages of Kzekiel Concerning: 1. The Sad Condition of the Disobe dient Exiles. 24:15-24. In vs. 15-18 appears the record of God’s instructions to Ezekiel as to how he should act when his wife died. The in structions having been received one day, his wife died that evening. In accordance with the instructions the prophet, though he loved his wife dearly, did not weep; neither did he release the headtire and remove his shoes as men were accus tomed to do under similar conditions. On the other hand he went about his affairs as if he had sustained no loss; he, how ever, was permitted to express his grief with a sigh. His unnatural actions attracted the at tention of his fellow exiles, who, real izing that his strange actions had some significance for them, asked him to ex plain. Immediately he informed them that they, too, would suffer the loss of those who were near and dear to them and wbo had been left in the land when they had been taken captive. This prediction was fulfilled at the final fall of Jerusalem, when thousands fell. They were not, said Ezekiel, to mourn nor to act as those who had suffered the loss of relatives; but on the other hand would have to sup press their feelings and pine away in their sins. 2. Hearing but Failing to Obey. 33:30- 33. The exiles constantly came to the prophet’s house to hear him speak the Word of God. He spoke it evidently in such a way that they were charmed and delighted with his messages; but the Word did not profit them because their hearts were set upon gain. Thus did the people in Isaiah’s day (chapter 58). So do some people today. They attend divine services, enjoy the music, and the preach ing. They go for the respectability which
it gives them and for the entertainment which they enjoy, but the preaching prof its them nothing, because their heart is set upon their gain.
. FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTL INE
— o — July 14, 1929 Ezekiel Teaches Personal Responsibility Ezekiel 18:1-32; 33:1-20.
—Matt. 25 :is. DAPTABILITY —1 Cor. 9:22. CCOUNTABILITY—Rom. 14:12. As of the ability God giveth.—* 1 Pet. 4:11.
A b i l i t y
Golden Text: “So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). L e sso n in O u t l in e I. Responsibility of Laymen. 18 :l-32. 1. Forbidden Parable. Vs. 1-4. 2. Each Individual Responsible for his Deeds. Vs. 5-18. a. The Father. Vs. 5-9. b. The Disobedient Son. Vs. 10-13. c. The Obedient Son. Vs. 14-18. 3. God’s Answer to the Question, “Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity o f the father?’’ Vs. 19-24. 4. God’s Answer to the Charge, “The way of the Lord is not equal.’’ Vs. 25-36. II. Responsibility of the Watchman. 33 : 1-9. 1. The Watchman of a City. Vs. 1-6, 2. The Prophet of God. Vs. 7-9. III. God’s Call to Repentance and Ref ormation. 33:10-20. —o— I. Responsibility of Laymen. 18:1-32. 1. Forbidden Parable. Vs. 1-4. T T seems natural for people to try to shift the responsibility of their sins upon others. In Eden Adam tried to shift his responsibility upon Eve; she in turn heard on every hand: “The fathers have eaten' sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” This statement was but another way of saying that the individual was not responsible for his actions be cause he had inherited weakness, mental, moral, and spiritual, from his parents. It is quite likely that this doctrine received reinforcement in Israel from the fact that from its earliest history the nation was held responsible for the acts of the indi vidual. Thus in Ezekiel’s day men largely ceased to feel any individual, moral re sponsibility. Against this attempt fla grantly to shift the responsibility, Ezekiel raised his voice in protest, demanding that it, should no longer be used. 2. Each Individual Responsible for his Deeds. Vs. 5-18. In these verses the prophet shows the inconsistency of the attempt to excuse one’s sins upon the grounds of heredity! a. The Father. Vs. 5-9. In this paragraph the prophet shows that, if a man lives a moral life, abstain- tried to shift her responsibility upon the serpent. Each was responsible for his own acts. In the days of Ezekiel among the exiles in Babylon t h i s proverb was
ing from the idolatrous worship and im moral practices, being compassionate to ward the unfortunate, and walking in all of the ordinances of the Lord, “he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Je hovah.” Let no one draw from this lan guage that one today can live a moral life, be kind to the poor, and the unfor tunate, and obey the teachings of the Scriptures in a perfunctory manner and be saved. This language was spoken to those who were in covenant relationship with God by virtue of the covenant which God made with Abraham. Even though the Israelites did sustain covenant rela tionship with God upon the basis of the Abrahamic covenant, those who were saved were saved by their faith in the ef ficacy of the atonement of King Messiah as it was foreshadowed by their sac rifices. Morality does not save one today. One must accept Christ and be born again (Jno. 3 :5). b. The Disobedient Son. Vs. 10-13. Though a man be righteous and God fearing, if his son does not follow in the father’s footsteps but, on the other hand, follows an immoral, irreligious life, he is held personally responsible by the Lord— “he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.” c. The Obedient Son. Vs. 14-18. In this paragraph the prophet reverses the case assumed in the two preceding ones. Here the father is recognized as being a wicked, sinful man; but the son refuses to follow in the footsteps of his father. He sees that “the wages of sin is death,” that idols are nothing, and that he cannot afford to follow in the foot steps of his father. By his trust in God and his living the clean life he is accept able in the sight of the Lord. On the con trary, his father, who has lived an im moral, irreligious life, “behold, he shall die in his iniquity.” 3. God’s Answer to the Question, “Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?” Vs. 19-24. Those who held to this doctrine of non responsibility for personal sins, tried to soothe their conscience and to support their doctrine by asking the question quoted here. Though those to whom they put this question were not able to answer it, their failure to give satisfactory ex planation did not relieve them of personal responsibility. The prophet, however, ad dresses himself to this question in the fol lowing words: “When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the in iquity of the father, neither shall the fa ther bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness o f the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
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