Rev. David Holwick ZB
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 19, 2012
Ezekiel 24:15-27
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I. Things you shouldn't do at funerals.
A. At least he wasn't picking up women.
The New Zealand funeral home director began to notice something
fishy.
A man was attending funerals they were conducting at churches
-- up to four times a week.
He was appropriately dressed and always polite and paid his
respects to the mourners like everyone else.
But the director was pretty sure the man didn't know any of
those who had died.
So the director took a photo of the man and passed it around
to other funeral homes.
They had seen him too.
Then they figured out what he was doing.
At each funeral, the man would pick up the food that was put
out for the mourners.
Little sandwiches, potato salad, that kind of thing.
Then he would take out Tupperware containers, put the food in,
and leave.
He stopped coming after a staff member took the man aside and
told him he could still come to funerals but he wouldn't
be allowed to take food home with him.
It's a good thing he is far away from New Jersey - if he ever
got a taste of Goldy's applesauce we would never get rid
of him. #36245
B. Ezekiel broke all the funeral rules.
1) His society was far more ritualistic and formal than ours.
a) There were funeral rules for what you wore, how you
acted, and what you ate.
b) Ezekiel was a priest so the expectations were even higher.
2) Ezekiel did none of these things.
a) Even in America we would have raised our eyebrows.
b) But, as usual, there was a message in his madness.
C. There are things worse than death.
1) Critical events may come to us for a reason.
2) They teach us that only one thing in life is certain.
II. The personal become prophetic.
A. The chapter opens with an ominous note.
1) Ezekiel is told the siege of Jerusalem has begun. 24:2
a) Up till now it has under the thumb of Babylon.
b) The Jews tried to make a deal with Egypt, so the
Babylonians decided to take them out.
c) It took them many months to accomplish it.
2) The siege is not just a consequence of power politics.
a) It is a divine judgment because of their conduct. 24:14
b) There will be no pity or relenting.
B. Ezekiel's family will become an object lesson.
1) God tells him that his wife will die. 24:16
a) Ezekiel really cares for her - she is the delight of
his eyes. (Not every spouse feels this way.)
b) It sounds as if God will do it himself.
1> This bothers many people, and it should.
2> But the consistent message of the Bible is that God
gives life, and he can take it away.
A> Job had a similar experience with his children.
c) God often put unusual demands on the prophets.
1> Jeremiah was told not to marry.
2> Hosea was told to marry a promiscuous woman.
3> Ezekiel gets to marry a good woman, but then she is
taken away from him by death.
2) God makes it even more difficult for Ezekiel.
a) He is to act as if nothing happened.
b) He is not allowed to weep, or wear funeral clothes or
have a bereavement meal. 24:17
c) Any grief must be kept to himself - quiet groaning only.
3) She died within 24 hours. 24:18
a) It is hard to tell if Ezekiel gave a normal spiritual
talk to the people and kept the news to himself,
or if he announced his wife's impending death.
1> I think he kept it to himself.
2> What a terrible day it must have been for him.
b) After her death, he acted like nothing happened.
1> In any society this would be considered scandalous.
2> From his consistently weird behavior in the past,
the people would know there was a message in this.
A> They would be correct. 24:19
III. The bigger meaning. 24:21
A. God will be destroying the Jerusalem temple.
1) Not just wrecking it, but desecrating it.
a) Everything sacred about it would be erased.
2) The Jews delight in it as Ezekiel did his wife. 24:21
a) As long as they had the temple, they felt safe.
b) They knew God was with them.
1> In reality, God's presence had already left it.
2> Their religion was phony and empty.
3) The spiritual destruction will be accompanied by physical
destruction of human life.
B. They are not allowed to mourn. 24:22
1) People have two views on this.
a) One view says the people should not mourn because
it is their own fault.
1> Their sins caused it. 24:23
2> They have been warned, so there should be no
surprise at the calamity.
b) Another view says they won't be able to mourn because
the tragedy is so huge.
1> Human emotions will seem inadequate.
2) Ezekiel is their sign. 24:24
a) He showed them how not to grieve.
b) After the temple is gone, he will speak again. 24:27
1> This probably means speaking in a normal way
rather than just giving prophetic announcements.
2> It is interesting that from this point on, Ezekiel
offers the Jews hope rather than condemnation.
IV. When the bottom drops out of life, what do you do?
A. Our national experience is very different.
1) We've never had a temple or official religion.
2) But with the way our society is going, many Christians
wonder if everything the church stands for will be
under attack.
B. We do have our personal catastrophes.
1) Call from a young relative this week - do you have to stay
with your husband for the sake of the kids?
a) He has cheated on her repeatedly.
b) He says he doesn't love her anymore.
c) But she has three little kids...
2) Someone else I met has lost her husband through cancer.
a) She can't accept the reality of it.
b) They had done everything together and now he is gone
forever.
3) Others are facing eviction and don't know where they'll go.
4) Even if your life is smooth right now, some day a terrible
thing will happen to you.
a) Everything you have always believed will be called
into question.
b) How will you respond? Which way will you go?
C. What God is trying to tell you.
1) Most people want to know if there is a bigger purpose
to their suffering.
2) The Jews had prophets to tell them the reason.
3) We have the same thing, in a general way -- the Bible.
a) It tells us to search our hearts to sin if there is
any sin, any rebellion in us.
b) But the Bible also says some troubles are not a
punishment.
1> The divine purpose may be to make you more grounded.
V. Some things are more important than our personal fulfillment.
A. You have to decide what your real foundation is.
1) For some, it is an object like material possessions, or
your nation, or a temple.
a) These things are very powerful.
b) They can also crumble into sand.
B. The most important thing is knowing that God is God. 24:24
1) He is a Sovereign Lord - that means he is in charge of
everything, from beginning to end.
a) He gives to you, and he may take from you.
b) Believers are not immune to loss.
God doesn't promise you'll never experience fire or
flood.
Instead, here is what Isaiah 43:2 says:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze."
2) He's the only one you can trust for eternity.
a) Do you have a personal relationship with him in Christ?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#36245 “The Grim Eater,” by Tom Fitzsimons, March 6, 2010.
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/3769924/funeral-crasher-foiled>
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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