Audio Download

Ezekiel 15:1-8 and 16:1-20  The Lord’s Useless and Faithless Bride

[Study Aired April 29, 2024]

Introduction

Chapter 15 and 16 of Ezekiel show us Jerusalem as a useless vine and a faithless bride of Christ. Until we are given eyes to see and ears to hear, we are not able to understand that this Jerusalem, referring to the physical churches of this world, of which we were part until Christ came to deliver us, is not the chosen bride of Christ. It is in the spirit that we can understand our spiritual state while we were serving in the churches of this world, which is called Babylon.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

Our reaction when we come to see the depravity of the church system of this world and the fact that we were part of it, is that of wonder, just like what happened to Apostle John when he came to see what Babylon really is.

Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 

Today, as we look at Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, we shall come to see the Lord’s concerns about our lives in Babylon which caused Him to intervene in our circumstances. It is through the unbelief of our brothers and sisters in Babylon that the Lord has called and chosen us through His mercy. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

The Lord’s People Described as Wood of Vine Tree

Eze 15:1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 15:2  Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 
Eze 15:3  Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? 
Eze 15:4  Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

In these verses, the Lord is asking whether the wood of a vine tree or its branch surpass any wood of the forest? In other words, wood from any tree is of no use for any work apart from it being used as fuel in a fire. We understand spiritual truth by the things that are made. When a tree is unable to receive its food supply from its roots, it dies and therefore becomes wood, which is used as fuel for burning. Therefore, wood represents the state in our walk with the Lord when we are spiritually dead as we are not able to understand the truth of the word of the Lord which is able to sustain us in Christ. This is affirmed by the following verses in Jeremiah:

Jer 5:11  For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. 
Jer 5:12  They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 
Jer 5:13  And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 
Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 

Here in these verses in Jeremiah, the people representing the house of Israel and Judah (the Lord’s people) have gone astray as they have done treacherously against the Lord. The reason they had gone astray, or become spiritually dead, was because they did not receive the truth of the word of the Lord but were deceived into thinking that the Lord will not judge them. As a result, the Lord’s people had become wood, and the Lord’s word is the fire that destroys the old man in these people. In this sense, wood represents our old man which serves as the fuel for our judgment. As the new man gains ascendancy within us, our old man (wood) continues to be destroyed through the fire of the word of the Lord.  

Pro 26:20  Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. 
Pro 26:21  As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 

In the previous study on Ezekiel chapter 14, the people had done treacherously against the Lord by setting up idols of their heart, which is the stumbling block of iniquity, as they came to the Lord. These sins of the idols of the heart are like fuel that set us up for the Lord’s judgment. 

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

Eze 15:5  Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? 
Eze 15:6  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 
Eze 15:7  And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. 
Eze 15:8  And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD. 

As we can see here in these verses, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are the fuel for the fire that the Lord has lighted. In other words, judgment is upon the house of the Lord. In our spiritual poverty, we were of no use to the Lord, just as the wood of a vine tree cannot be used to do any work other than to be used as fuel for burning. We deserve the Lord’s judgment because we have sinned against the Lord as our old man or flesh has dominated us in our walk with the Lord. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

The Lord Wants us to Know our Sinful State

Eze 16:1  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 16:2  Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 

A prerequisite in developing an intimate relationship with our Lord is to come to know our sins or abominations. Coming to realize our sins is the beginning of our deliverance from sin. It is when we acknowledge our sins that we can be forgiven. The word of the Lord has a lot to say about us coming to acknowledge our sins.

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 
Isa 58:2  Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. 

If we do not understand what causes us to sin, we end up going back to sin even if our sins are forgiven. As we are aware, the flesh or the old man or the beast within us is a factory that produces sin in our lives. Unless our flesh or old man is dealt with, we shall continue sinning. Thus, in the subsequent verses, the Lord is showing us, His people, the root cause for our disloyalty to Him. 

Eze 16:3  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
Eze 16:4  And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 
Eze 16:5  None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.   

In verse 3, the Lord saying that the inhabitants of Jerusalem could trace their lineage to the Amorite and the Hittite is to let us know that, as His elect (Jerusalem), we are not different from the people of the world in the sense that we are all made of the same flesh. Our navel not being cut and not being washed with water or salted or swaddled in verse 4 all affirms the fact that we were just like people of the world who are dominated by the flesh (navel not cut), not given to know the word of the Lord (washed with water), nor tried and tested (not salted), and did not know the love of the Lord (not swaddled). In verse 5, we are made to know more of our spiritual state at the beginning of our lives. Not being pitied by anyone as none showed compassion to us is another way of saying that we did not see the compassion of the Lord concerning us. As a result, we were like those cast out in the open field and hated by everybody. The open field represents the world, and therefore being cast in the open field means that we conform to the standards of this world.  

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

The Work of the Lord in our Lives

Eze 16:6  And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. 
Eze 16:7  I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. 
Eze 16:8  Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

The time that the Lord comes to visit us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness is called here in verse 8 as the time of love. That is the time that the Lord came and passed by us and saw us polluted by our own blood, as shown in verse 6. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Our own blood signifies our life in the flesh. Therefore being polluted by our own blood means being dominated by the flesh as we obey the desires of the flesh. It is in this deplorable state that the Lord came to us and announced to us that we shall live!! That means He will surely destroy the flesh so we can live victoriously in Him.

Lev 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

In verse 7, the Lord has promised to multiply us as the bud of the field and that we shall increase and wax great. That is another way of saying that our new man will increase and grow stronger and stronger as our old man decreases. Coming into excellent ornaments means being given to know the truth of the word of the Lord. Our breasts being fashioned signifies that we are able to feed each other through the word of the Lord by what every joint supplies. Our hair growing also shows that we are submitting to the authority of Christ as we represent the bride of Christ whose head must be covered. 

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

1Co 11:4  Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 
1Co 11:5  But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
1Co 11:6  For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
1Co 11:7  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 

Our nakedness in verses 7 and 8 represents our sinful state when we are dominated by the flesh. As we can remember, when Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord, that was when they realized that they were naked and tried to cover their nakedness with their own man-made righteousness. Verse 8 shows us that when the Lord came to us at the time of love, we were found naked, and therefore He spread His skirt over us to cover our nakedness. That is to say that when the Lord came to us with His brightness, He covered our nakedness with His garment of righteousness. This covering of our nakedness is a process which involves the judgment of our old man, resulting in us learning righteousness.

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 
Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 
Gen 3:11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Eze 16:9  Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 
Eze 16:10  I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. 

These verses recount what the Lord has taken us through to become His sons and daughters. In verse 9, washing us with water means being cleansed by the fire of the word of the Lord. As indicated earlier, blood symbolizes our lives of the flesh. Thus, washing away our blood means the destruction of the life of the old man in our lives. In the scriptures, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. This implies that anointing us with oil signifies being given the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of the word of the Lord.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 
Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

In verse 10, being clothed with broidered work has significance. According to Strong’s Dictionary, broidered work means needlework of diverse colors. If we can remember, Jacob clothed His beloved son Joseph with a coat of many colors. This implies that being clothed with broidered work signifies that we are the beloved of the Lord who are called and chosen from among our brothers and sisters in Babylon.

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

The Badger (probably antelope) in verse 10 represents Christ, and it is through His sacrificial death that we are found in Him as our covering. As we have shown earlier, being girded with fine linen means being given the ability to walk in righteousness.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

One of our coverings mentioned in verse 10 is that of silk. Silk is a natural fiber produced by silkworms. Therefore, it is not the work of man. Our covering with silk by the Lord means that our righteousness is not man-made. It is the work of the Lord. 

Pro 31:21  She (the bride of Christ) is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 
Pro 31:22  She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 

Eze 16:11  I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. 
Eze 16:12  And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. 

Being decked with ornaments is another way of saying that we have been given eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. In addition to being decked with ornaments, the Lord has also put bracelets upon our hands and a chain on our necks. The first time the word ‘bracelet’ is used in the Bible was when the servant Abraham sent to find a wife for his son Isaac put two bracelets on Rebekah’s hand after she had given water to the servant’s camels. The bracelets being two therefore served as a witness that Rebekah shall be married to Isaac. What this implies is that the Lord putting a bracelet on our hands is to assure us that we shall be the bride of Christ at the marriage feast. This assurance comes through His words as we are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. Thus, the bracelet can be regarded as the truth of the word of the Lord. 

Gen 24:22  And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; 
Gen 24:23  And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

The chain the Lord puts on our necks marks us out for rulership with the Lord. The first time a chain was put on the neck of someone in the bible was when Pharaoh took Joseph out of prison and made Him a ruler of Egypt.

Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43  And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

The jewel that the Lord puts on our forehead and the earrings in our ears in verse 12 signifies being given understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. 

Pro 20:15  There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Exo 35:22 And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.

The beautiful crown upon our heads is an assurance of our rulership in the fullness of time.

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. 
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 

Being decked with gold and silver means being given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Our raiment being of fine linen, silk and broidered work implies that our righteousness is not man-made. It is because the Lord has favored us as being the beloved of the Lord. Eating fine flour, honey and oil means being given to understand the truth of His words and walking in this truth. Being beautiful and prospering into a kingdom signifies that the kingdom of heaven has become well established within us, and in the eyes of the Lord, we are beautiful to behold. 

Psa 48:1  A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, 
Psa 48:2  beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. 

Psa 50:2  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Our renown going forth among the heathen means our light shining forth before men to the glory of the Lord. 

Mat 5:16  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

How we Ended up Playing the Harlot

Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. 
Eze 16:16  And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 
Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

These verses show us how after all that the Lord has done in our lives, we ended up playing the harlot. Our backsliding life started when we trusted in our beauty and therefore played the harlot. In Ezekiel 28:17 we are given more information regarding trusting in our beauty.

Eze 28:17  Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.

Here we are shown that our beauty made us proud, leading us to corrupt the wisdom the Lord has given to us. This wisdom is the truth of the Lord’s words, which we corrupt with man’s wisdom and tradition, which is a marketable commodity acceptable by many who are perishing. This is affirmed in verse 17 where we took the beautiful jewels of the Lord’s gold and silver and made ourselves images of men. The Lord’s gold and silver refer to the truth of the Lord’s words which we exchange for man’s wisdom and tradition (images of men), thus, playing the whore. As we are aware, a whore wants to please every man she meets. In a bid to become accepted by everybody or become renown, we play the harlot. Jesus demonstrated to us what it means to take the Lord’s gold and silver and make images of men as follows:

Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 
Mar 7:10  For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 
Mar 7:11  But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
Mar 7:12  And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 
Mar 7:13  Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

In verse 16, we are told that we took our own garments and made ourselves colorful shrines. Our own garments here represent our man-made righteousness. Thus, we used our own righteousness to create another Jesus whom we worship. 

Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Eze 16:18  And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. 
Eze 16:19  My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD. 
Eze 16:20  Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
Eze 16:21  That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

In these verses, the Lord is saying that all the resources He has given to us to become His beloved sons and daughters, we have used to serve another Jesus. As a result, we have slain the Lord’s children by making them pass through the fire. That is to say that we have caused the Lord’s children to become spiritually dead by sacrificing them to another Jesus.

Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

Here in this study, we have seen how we start so well in the Lord and then turn for the worse as we become enchanted with another Jesus. The following verses are to remind us to remain focused on the price of His higher calling:

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 
Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 
Heb 6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

May the Lord continue to show mercy to us as we see the day approaching. Amen!!