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HIS chapter does end in a parable
(Ezekiel 20:47). But, the rest of this chapter is plain history & plain
prophecy. It is a record of the spiritual cycles in the history of the nation
of Israel, concluding with a statement about their final cycle.
Basically, God rehearsed to
Ezekiel how generous He had been to the Jews throughout the generations. He had
done many kind things for them, yet repeatedly, they had squandered their
opportunities. They had angered God, mostly through idolatry. They had retained
His name, but they had joined it to every imaginable pollution. If you read
Ezekiel 20:9, 14, 17 & 22, you will get a clear vision of the conclusion to
every single spiritual cycle that the Jews went through. In every case, they
made God angry. But, again and again, God decided to be merciful, and to do a
work of grace among His people, by sparing them ''for His name's sake." Not that every Jewish citizen had his
sentence commuted. Israel had suffered through many rough judgments. Yet, there
was always a remnant that survived. They didn't deserve to survive, but they
made it anyway. And mind you, they survived because of who God is... not
because of who they were. He preserved some of them each time just because
that's the kind of God He is.
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