Participants: Kelly Mowrer
Series Code: HWAL
Program Code: HWAL000674
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00:13 Hello and welcome to His Words Are Life
00:16 I'm Kelly Mowrer and today we'll be reading together in the book 00:19 of Ezekiel, but let's pray before we start. 00:21 Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much for a time to come apart 00:26 and hear you speak to each one of us through the words of your 00:30 prophet Ezekiel. Please send your Holy Spirit to show us more 00:34 of yourself in these words today. We love you so much 00:37 and thank you for loving us. Amen 00:39 When we were last together Ezekiel was describing how 00:45 Israel was like this newborn baby lying abandoned in a field 00:49 covered with blood and God came and looked at that baby and 00:53 pronounced life. He said, live. And that's the way we are. 00:56 God comes to each of us and pronounces that we will live. 01:01 And if we follow him we will live in joy and in his love and 01:05 peace and perfection. Israel strayed and we're going to 01:09 continue to read about their rebellion against God and find 01:13 the lessons that he has for us in our lives today in ways that 01:17 we may be turning still from the giver of life. We reading 01:21 in Ezekiel 16 and beginning with verse 57. 01:26 And this is the King James Version. 01:27 Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of 01:31 thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are 01:35 round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which 01:39 despise thee round about. Thou hast born thy lewdness and thine 01:43 abominations, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord God; 01:48 I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast 01:53 despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I 01:57 will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, 02:01 and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then 02:05 thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt 02:09 receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give 02:12 them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I 02:16 will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I 02:20 am the Lord: that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, 02:25 and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when 02:29 I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith 02:34 the Lord God. Continuing in Ezekiel chapter 17 02:38 and this is the King James Version. 02:39 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, son of man, put 02:44 forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of 02:47 Israel; and say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with 02:52 great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers 02:58 colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the 03:02 cedar: he cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried 03:07 it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. 03:12 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a 03:16 fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a 03:20 willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low 03:24 stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots 03:28 thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth 03:32 branches, and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great 03:36 eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine 03:39 did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches 03:43 toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her 03:47 plantation. It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that 03:50 it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, 03:54 that it might be a goodly vine. Say thou, Thus saith the Lord 03:59 God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, 04:03 and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither 04:07 in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many 04:11 people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. Yea, behold, 04:16 being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, 04:20 when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows 04:24 where it grew. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying 04:28 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things 04:33 mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to 04:36 Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes 04:40 thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; and hath taken of 04:44 the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath 04:46 taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the 04:50 land: that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift 04:54 itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. 04:58 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into 05:01 Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall 05:06 he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he 05:10 break the covenant, and be delivered? As I live, saith the 05:14 Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that 05:18 made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he 05:22 brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 05:26 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company 05:30 make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building 05:35 forts, to cut off many persons: seeing he despised the oath by 05:39 breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath 05:44 done all these things, he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith 05:49 the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, 05:54 and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will 05:59 I recompense upon his own head. And I will spread my net upon 06:03 him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him 06:08 to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that 06:12 he hath trespassed against me. And all his fugitives with all 06:17 his bands shall fall by the sword and they that remain 06:21 shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that 06:25 I the Lord have spoken it. 06:26 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of 06:30 the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will 06:34 crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and 06:38 will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the 06:42 mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall 06:45 bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: 06:50 and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the 06:54 shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. 06:56 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have 07:02 brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried 07:07 up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the 07:13 Lord have spoken and have done it. 07:16 Continuing to read in Ezekiel chapter 18 07:20 and this is the King James Version. 07:23 The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, what mean ye, 07:28 that ye use this proverb concerning the land of 07:31 Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the 07:36 children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord 07:39 God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in 07:44 Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, 07:49 so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it 07:54 shall die. But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and 08:00 right, and hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath 08:04 lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither 08:07 hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to 08:11 a menstruous woman, and hath not oppressed any, but hath 08:14 restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by 08:18 violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered 08:23 the naked with a garment; He that hath not given forth upon 08:27 usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn 08:32 his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between 08:36 man and man, hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my 08:42 judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, 08:47 saith the Lord God. If he beget a son that is a robber, 08:52 a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of 08:57 these things, and that doeth not any of those duties, but even 09:00 hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, 09:04 hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, 09:07 hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to 09:10 the idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth 09:14 upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he 09:18 shall not live; he hath done all these abominations; he shall 09:24 surely die; his blood shall be upon him. Now, lo, if he beget 09:29 a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath 09:35 done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, that hath 09:39 not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes 09:43 to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his 09:46 neighbor's wife, neither hath oppressed any, hath not 09:50 withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but 09:53 hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the 09:57 naked with a garment, that hath taken off his hand from the poor 10:00 that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my 10:05 judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for 10:10 the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. As for his 10:14 father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother 10:18 by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, 10:22 lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. Yet say ye, Why? 10:29 doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the 10:33 son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept 10:38 all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. 10:42 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the 10:49 iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the 10:52 iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous 10:55 shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall 10:59 be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that 11:05 he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which 11:09 is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 11:14 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not 11:19 be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done 11:24 he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked 11:28 should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return 11:32 from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away 11:36 from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth 11:39 according to all the abominations that the 11:41 wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he 11:46 hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass 11:50 that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in 11:54 them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not 12:00 equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? 12:06 are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away 12:11 from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth 12:15 in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 12:19 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his 12:22 wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which 12:25 is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he 12:30 considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions 12:34 that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 12:38 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not 12:44 equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your 12:49 ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, 12:54 every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and 12:59 turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity 13:03 shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your 13:07 transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new 13:12 heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 13:16 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith 13:20 the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. 13:25 Continuing with Ezekiel chapter 19. 13:30 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of 13:35 Israel, and say, what is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down 13:39 among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. 13:43 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, 13:47 and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. 13:51 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and 13:55 they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. Now when 13:59 she way that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she 14:02 took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And he 14:05 went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, 14:09 and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. And he knew 14:12 their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the 14:16 land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise 14:19 of his roaring. Then the nations set against him on every side 14:23 from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken 14:27 in their pit. And they put him in ward in chains, and brought 14:31 him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his 14:35 voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. |
Revised 2014-12-17