Introduction

The prophetic book of Ezekiel represents a lifetime of ministry to the house of Judah during their period of exile to Babylon, which started in 586 BC. Ezekiel writes according to visions he received from God.

The twelve tribes of Israel are in their Promised Land. God led them all the way from Egypt, kept them while wandering in the wilderness and destroyed their enemies to allow them to possess the land He elected for them. In 931 BC, under the reign of king Solomon, a schism is formed between the twelve tribes. Ten northern tribes revolt against the king seeking their own rulers, while Samaria is chosen as their capital. The separation will be permanent and these ten tribes will become known as The House of Israel. God’s punishment for their sin, is effected when Samaria is captured by the Assyrians. The ten tribes will fade into history after three hundred and ninety years of exile to Assyria.

The lives and times of Israel as described in the Old Testament are patterns and examples to us believers in the New Testament. To understand why the Israelites were exiled, we need to see it in the context of their entire walk with God. Only then can we draw parallels between the physical and the spiritual and between the Israelites and New Testament believers. For context, I have divided the history of Israel into three chapters.

First, we will consider their exodus from Egyptian slavery followed by the second chapter of their wilderness wanderings – a period of empowerment and growth followed by the last chapter of taking possession of the Promised Land and subsequent actions.

Liberated from slavery by Grace

The Promised Land and the city of Jerusalem existed as a home for the tribe of Judah only because God showed them grace their entire lives. Before the Israelites, Amorites and Hittites – people associated with the Southern hill country, where Jerusalem is located, ruled the land. 

The Israelites emerged from Egypt as slaves without any land to call their own. They were like an abandoned newborn child, unwashed, unsanitary and exposed to the elements. In Ezekiel 16:6-7, God speaks to the House of Judah reminding them of their desperate state in Egypt:

⁶ “When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your [newborn] blood, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you while you were there in your blood, ‘Live!’ 

⁷ I made you (Israel) multiply like plants [which grow] in the field, and you grew up and became tall and you reached the age for [wearing] fine jewellery; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare. [Ezek. 16:6-7]

In this passage God reminds Judah and us that the starting point of any relationship with Him is His grace!

The physical state of Israel in their Egyptian slavery is the spiritual state of all unredeemed sinners prior to being saved from a life of spiritual bondage to satan.

Forty year journey through the wilderness

 Then in verse 8 and 9, God speaks of a period when He covered Israel’s nakedness, swearing an oath to them and entering into covenant with them.

⁸ “Then I passed by you [again] and looked on you; behold, you were maturing and at the time for love, and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore [an oath] to you and entered into a covenant with you,” says the Lord God, “and you became Mine.” ⁹ “Then I washed you with water; yes, I [thoroughly] washed away from you the [clinging] blood and anointed you with oil.

This period I believe refers to Israel’s wilderness wanderings. If we relate this to contemporary believers, we can infer that after being adopted by God the Father, believers are commanded by Jesus to be baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The baptism serves as an outward acknowledgement of our inward change which occurred. As we go down into the water, we symbolically identify with Jesus’ death, and as we rise, we rise in the same newness of life – the resurrected life of Jesus Christ Himself. Our action identifies us as a fellow heir to Jesus. We have a home where we belong.

The believer’s baptism should be followed by the repeated and renewed indwelling of the Holy Spirit through daily obedience to the Word of God; This is the regular washing of our spirits by the Word to remain spiritually clean. The attestation of the Spirit according to the Word that is revealed to a believer for a certain situation, perfectly glorifies God and onlookers will be intrigued to seek the God who makes this change possible.

The journey of life, with all its intricacies, is designed to spiritually equip believers, teaching them to hear God’s voice (like sheep) and then to follow His voice. This ensures the believer will remain part of His spiritual flock and be in-step with the divine Shepherd.

²⁷ The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. [John 10:27; AMP]

Entrance into the Promised Land: Sharing in your spiritual inheritance:  

We then see in verse 10 to 14 of chapter 16, the third segment of Israel’s history described. It refers to a period within the Promised Land, when Israel was victorious in all their endeavours. From conquering the walls of Jericho to subduing their enemies throughout Canaan.

¹⁰ I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of ^[a]porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ¹¹ I adorned you with ornaments and I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. ¹² I also put a ring in your nostril and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was [made] of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil; so you were extremely beautiful and you advanced and prospered into royalty. ¹⁴ Then your fame went out among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My majesty and splendour which I bestowed on you,” says the Lord God.

During this period, Israel faced a multitude of opposition, but by God’s grace they could move in the power of the Holy Spirit, to not only prevail, but overcome as a nation. God was faithful all along the way.

After being freed, adopted and equipped, believers too should apply their spiritual authority and power to glorify God and His kingdom. It means being obedient to God’s Word at all costs, trusting in Him to overcome temptations. This calls for mature and steadfast faith to subdue the enemy and not to compromise by keeping a backdoor of dependence in the world – dependence on your reputation, family, friends, education or your wealth.

Unfortunately, the Israelites in Canaan kept a backdoor open; they didn’t fully destroy their enemies as per God’s instruction in Deuteronomy 20:

¹⁶ Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. ¹⁷ But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, ¹⁸ so that they will not teach you to act in accordance with all the detestable practices which they have done [in worship and service] for their gods, and in this way cause you to sin against the Lord your God. [AMP]

They disobeyed God by making alliances with the enemy nations that occupied the Promised Land before them as indicated in chapter 16, verses 26 to 29:

²⁶ You also prostituted yourself with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors [by embracing their pagan rituals], and you multiplied your obscene immorality to provoke Me to anger.

²⁸ You prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you prostituted yourself with them and still were not satisfied.

²⁹ Moreover, you increased your obscene immorality with the land of tradesmen, Chaldea (Babylonia), and yet even with this you were not satisfied.”’”

Judah’s sin in more detail:

Ezekiel chapter 16 goes further to reveal how Judah sinned by perverting everything God gave them:

¹⁵ “But you trusted in and relied on your beauty and prostituted yourself [in idolatry and its debauched rituals] because of your fame, [reputation, wealth, education, health]

¹⁶ You took some of your clothes and made for yourself [decorated] high places and shrines of various colours and prostituted yourself on them

¹⁷ You also took your beautiful jewels and beautiful vessels made of My gold and My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men so that you could prostitute yourself with them;  [

¹⁸ and you took your embroidered clothing and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.

¹⁹ Also My bread which I gave you, [made from the] fine flour and oil and honey with which I fed you, you even offered it before idols [no better than cow dung] as a sweet and soothing aroma;

In spiritual terms we can correlate the perversion of the physical blessings by Judah to the Gift of the Holy Spirit being neglected by believers and going after strange and foreign gods, i.e. Material possessions or perhaps strange philosophies. In Isaiah 11:2 we find a description of the Person of the Holy Spirit, comprising of the seven spirits of God:

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord.

The Spirit of understanding and wisdom, (2 and 3)

The Israelites sought understanding only for their own selfish ambitions. Together with the understanding, they never requested from God a wise and a discerning heart to assess which knowledge was required and applicable to His will for the situation. Without receiving the revelation of God to know which direction to take, all the understanding blinded and confused them into committing sin by making wrong decisions.

The Spirit of might/strength and counsel, (4 and 5)

God’s hand of blessing was on the Israelites. He increased them as a nation, making them strong and intimidating to surrounding nations. That was one of the reasons why Pharoah started to treat the two and a half million Israelites with hostility. In their tremendous abundance, they however forgot God, not pausing to inquire His counsel. As such, they started following their own will, using their position of strength to form alliances with neighbouring nations, Egyptians, Assyrians and Babylonians [Ezek. 16:26-29]. The strength that was given to further God’s purposes was used for wilful disobedience.

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (6 and 7)

Without fear of the Lord, the Israelites became ‘familiar’ with their enemies’ customs and their despicable and heinous worship practices. Things that were once detestable to them, became acceptable and would over time even replace their religion. Without giving it a thought, they exchanged a relationship with the living God for an adulterous religion that would end them back in slavery.  

After the rejection of the Holy Spirit, the severity of Judah’s sins dramatically escalated:

²⁰ “Moreover, you took your sons and your daughters whom you had borne to Me, and you destroyed them as sacrifices [to your man-made gods]. Were your gross immoralities so small a matter?

²¹ You slaughtered My children and offered them up to [worthless] idols, forcing them to pass through the [hideousness of the] fire.

¹⁰ Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you. [Ezek. 5:10]

And finally, even worse than committing these atrocities in secret at pagan worship rituals, the people of the Lord, formally institutionalised all these practices in sight of the Lord God – a public display of arrogance. See verses 23 and 24:

²³ “Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God), ²⁴ that you built yourself an ^[a]altar for prostitution and made yourself a high place [for ritual prostitution] in every square [of Jerusalem].

Judah had fallen so far that God appears ‘shocked’ to find them bribing the pagan nations with gifts, inviting them to participate in their hideous immoralities. See verse 33 and 34 below. 

³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you (the prostitute) give your gifts to all your lovers, bribing the pagan nations to come to you [as allies] from every direction for your obscene immoralities.

³⁴ And you are different from other [unfaithful] women in your promiscuity, in that no one follows you to lure you into prostitution, and because you give money and no money is given you; in this way you are different.”

A similar thing happens when believers backslide into old sinful ways. Often their guilt compels them to embrace sin even more than before. They think, ‘Well, I have already failed God and myself; I might as well go all the way and be the worst version of me. See verse 51 below:

⁵¹ Furthermore, Samaria (Ten tribes of Israel) did not commit half of your sins, but you have greatly increased your repulsive acts more than they. So you have made your [wicked] sisters [Samaria and Sodom] appear righteous and justified by [comparison to] all the disgusting things which you have done.

Judah’s sin was so severe that it made Israel (The ten tribes) and Sodom (which was destroyed) appear righteous and justified by comparison.

The sins of specific groups are pointed out by the Lord

The first group 

⁷ Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard; and when I looked, behold, [there was] a hole in the wall.

⁹ And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked, repulsive acts that they are committing here.” ¹⁰ So I entered and looked, and saw every kind of creeping things and beasts and loathsome things, and all the idols of the house of Israel, carved all around on the wall. ¹¹ Standing before these [images] were seventy elders of the house of Israel, each man with his censer in his hand and a thick and fragrant cloud of incense was rising [as they prayed to these gods]. [Ez. 8:11] ¹² Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his [secret] room of carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has abandoned the land.’” [Ez. 8:12]

According to Numbers 11:16, seventy elders were selected from among the tribes of Israel to assist Moses with his duties in the wilderness. The reference to these seventy men probably refers to leaders of the nation, i.e. political leaders in a sense. These leadership roles are very likely to have continued down the lines of Israel’s history to the days prior to the exile.

The second group

Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the Lord’s house, which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate there were twenty-five men; ² Then the Spirit said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise evil and give wicked advice in this city, [Ez. 11:1-2]

³ who say, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? This city is [secure just like] the pot and we are the meat [in it].’ [Ez. 11:3]

The mention here of the eastern gate, which serves as the entrance to the Tabernacle of Moses, had five pillars according to Exodus 27:36-37:

³⁶ “You shall make a screen [to provide a covering] for the doorway of the tent…

 ³⁷ You shall make five pillars (support poles) of acacia wood to support the hanging curtain and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five [base] sockets of bronze for them.

The number twenty-five mentioned in Ezekiel 11:1 doesn’t immediately call to mind any significance, however we can relate them perhaps to the five pillars as being a multitude of five. For relevance, we read in the New Testament in Ephesians 4 the meaning of these five pillars.

¹¹ And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], ¹² [and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church]; [Ep. 4:11-12; AMP]

In my mind it would appear as though God places some blame on the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers of the Christian Churches. Men and women who have been anointed to equip young believers and due to their sins have led them astray.

The third group

¹⁶ So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun. [Ez. 8:16]

When you get to the porch of the entrance to the Tabernacle, you have by this time already passed the bronze Altar and the bronze basin. To understand who these 25 individuals are, we need to understand the significance of each of these furniture items – the Bronze Altar and Bronze basin. Without going into too much detail, the Altar represents Jesus Christ sacrificed on the cross, redeeming believers from spiritual death. The basin represents the continuous washing of our hearts by God’s Word; The ongoing sanctification. In other words, men and women who stand on the porch are normal believers who have rejected the water and the blood, obstructing the entrance, keeping non-believers from gaining access to God. These Individuals have personally experienced God in a One-on-one relationship.

Judah’s Exile – Spiritual Judgement

Was the exile of the house of Judah to Babylon justified? The Lord answers this question throughout the book of Ezekiel:

⁵⁹ Yes, thus says the Lord God, “I will also deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. 

³ Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you and will judge you in accordance with your ways and I will bring [retribution for] all your abominations upon you. [Ez. 7:3]

I will repay you in accordance with your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; [Ez. 7:9]

I will deal with them in accordance with their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. [Ez. 7:27]

¹⁰ But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but I will bring their [wicked] conduct upon their [own] heads.” [Ez. 9:10]

Did any men and women of Judah escape the judgment?

The Bible refers to a remnant of Judah that did survive the exile to Babylon. They were the ones who remained obedient to the Lord during their period of oppression.

Those who carry the mark on their foreheads made by the man clothed with linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side. Put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh [in distress] and grieve over all the repulsive acts which are being committed in it. [Ez. 9:4-5]

The End Result of Disobedience: A Human Void

Terrible things befell God’s own people because they ignored His voice. Even more scary than being exiled to a spiritual foreign land, unable to return without God’s intervention, was the fact that Ezekiel 6:6 speaks of the people’s works being blotted out. Whether men care to admit it or not, every individual wishes to make his or her mark in history; All have a desire to leave a lasting legacy – it’s in our spiritual DNA.

To put this in perspective, let’s recap how Israel (10 tribes) and Judah (2 tribes) faired in their life journey:

ISRAEL started with a 430 year exile in Egypt, but ended with 390 year exile in Assyria and fading into history thereafter.

Three hundred and ninety years for Israel in Assyria [722BC – 332BC]

JUDAH on the other hand, started with 430 year exile in Egypt, and ended with 40 years exile in Babylon. Forty years for Judah in Babylon [586 BC – 546 BC]

This is significant progress but not at all impressive. What matters was that through Judah, the Son of man would manifest in history in the Person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Through Jesus the house of Judah would forever prevail.

Could exile have been avoided?

According to 1 Corinthians 10:13, God will always provide assistance way out.

¹³ No temptation [regardless of its source] has overtaken or enticed you that is not common to human experience [nor is any temptation unusual or beyond human resistance]; but God is faithful [to His word—He is compassionate and trustworthy], and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability [to resist], but along with the temptation He [has in the past and is now and] will [always] provide the way out as well, so that you will be able to endure it [without yielding, and will overcome temptation with joy]. [1 Cor. 10:13; AMP]

The single recourse God expected from Israel, was repentance:

²² And in all your repulsive acts and prostitutions (idolatrous immoralities) you did not [pause to] remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, squirming in your [newborn] blood.

The surprise source of all these sins?

One would expect the source of Judah’s sins to come from inter-racial or inter-cultural  influences, but the culprit is much simpler:

¹⁹ They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will be [discarded] like something unclean; their silver and their gold shall not be able to save them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. These [things] cannot satisfy their soul nor fill their stomachs, for they have become their stumbling block and source of sin. [Ezek. 7:19; AMP]

We see here materialism being pointed out by God as the root of evil. This is confirmed by the words of Jesus in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 6:10:

¹⁰ For the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically] is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves [through and through] with many sorrows. [AMP]

Therefore, abide in the Word of God which have the power and authority to strengthen us to speak and act like Jesus Christ. Only by becoming more Christ-like, will believers  be able to stand against the pressures of this world, but more than that – remain grounded in their faith and free from God’s righteous judgments.