His Own Name’s Sake:

A Liturgical message of Ezekiel chapter 2o…

Wherein we will be looking at the 10th day of the 5th month in considering the inquiry of the elders of Judah at the mouth of the prophet and the Reformed message of the mercy and Grace of God in choosing to spare and save a remnant “for his own name’s sake”. The message of Ezekiel parallels many biblical truths written throughout Scripture that teach us the Glory of YHWH God, the justice of the standards of the Law, our failure in recognizing sin of our own power, and the merciful transformation of the mind the LORD works “for His own name sake” in bring a sinner to repentance with His outstretched arm and furious pleadings with our heart mind and soul as are brought under the rod of the great shepherd, unto the knowledge of the bond of  the covenant of Jesus Christ.

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Delivered on 5-15-2022 / grego. 9-11-2022

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Compiled by JS LOWTHER
renewedcovenantministry.com
servant@renewedcovenantministry.com

(Liturgical message from Ezekiel 20)

Jer 52:12  Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
Jer 52:13  And burned the house of the LORD, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:

His Own Name Sake

Eze_20:1  And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
Eze 20:2  Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
Eze 20:3  Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
Eze 20:4  Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
Eze 20:5  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
Eze 20:6  In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
Eze 20:7  Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Eze 20:8  But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
Eze 20:9  But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
Eze 20:10  Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
Eze 20:11  And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
Eze 20:12  Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
Eze 20:13  But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Eze 20:14  But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
Eze 20:15  Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
Eze 20:16  Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
Eze 20:17  Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
Eze 20:18  But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
Eze 20:19  I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
Eze 20:20  And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
Eze 20:21  Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
Eze 20:22  Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
Eze 20:23  I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
Eze 20:24  Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
Eze 20:25  Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
Eze 20:26  And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Eze 20:27  Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
Eze 20:28  For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
Eze 20:29  Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
Eze 20:30  Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
Eze 20:31  For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
Eze 20:32  And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
Eze 20:33  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
Eze 20:34  And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
Eze 20:35  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
Eze 20:36  Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 20:37  And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
Eze 20:38  And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 20:39  As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
Eze 20:40  For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
Eze 20:41  I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
Eze 20:42  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
Eze 20:43  And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
Eze 20:44  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

This last week has two significant events that took place on the same date according to a biblical reckoning of time, that first was what I read you from Jer_52:12-13, that of the burning of the temple and the palaces of the rich and mighty in Jerusalem, thus this was a memorable date to these Elders, these leaders of the people in judgment of the people of Judah, now carried away captive towards Babylon.

If you recall that which we covered the Sabbath after the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, in Ezk_1:1, we know that Ezekiel was among the captives by the river of Chebar, and so Ezekiel’s ministry is among the captives, these therfore are among the captives of that great calamity recorded in 2 Kings 25, Jer 52 and all the other places we have recently read to direct our thoughts in studying the word of God.

So these Elders, are the Bishops or Overseers of the captives, this means they were Judges of civil matters in the days before the captivity but now they are relegated by captivity to be familial and religious leads. No more was the Law of God delivered by Moses in Exo_18:21, that these men as Elders of the people were “provided out of all the people as able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:  and no longer was Deu_1:13-18, operational on a national level that s that of the elders of the 10, 50, 100, 100s were ”  wise men of understanding, known among the tribes were rulers over the tribes’, no now these elders these presbyters are captives and ruled by the laws of the king of Babylon.

Sure we can say that these men, very much like family & church elders these men had sway among the people, some honor was left to them but this honor was based now on the honor and faithfulness of the people they are part of, but to say the elders here have anything near the rule they had in Judah and Jerusalem is simply not so.
So that is who comes to Ezekiel the prophet 5 days ago according to a biblical reckoning of time.

And what did we hear the LORD God say to these Elders my the Prophet Ezekiel?

Eze_20:3  Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
Eze 20:4  Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

And it is at this place where Ezekiel under the inspiration of the holy Spirit begins to lay the sin of Israel, the whole nation of Israel all 12 tribes taken from Egypt historically before the face of these men who are the elders and are to be the rulers and judges of the families with in their tribes.

And what does he say?

Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

Here is how the ABP LXX translated this section:

As I live, I shall not be answering you, says LORD.
Eze_20:4  Shall I punish them with punishment, O son of man? [Testify to them of the lawless deeds of their fathers]!

So God goes through the lawlessness of Israel and very much lays before them the tenor of the 1st -5th commandments:

Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

God says, delivered you from bondage, I spied you out a land flowing with milk and honey, I gave you it…

Eze_20:8  But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt…
Eze 20:9  But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
Eze 20:10  Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
Eze 20:11  And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
Eze 20:12  Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
Eze 20:13  But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Eze 20:14  But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out…

I wrought for my name’s sake

This becomes the theme of this part of Ezekiel, this is the testimony this is the answer to the inquiry of the elders who have come to the prophet.

God continuously says, time and again as he works through the commandments of God and weaves them into this testimony laid before these elders face,
“…the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. …

Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake…

YHWH God said:

Eze_20:23  I scattered them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
Eze 20:24  Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
Eze 20:25  Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
Eze 20:26  And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

Do you see what God just said?

God said, I blessed you as people, I delivered you, I saved you for my own name, I forgave you of idolatry and sin, idol worship, Sabbath breaking, the 4thcommandment, and I forgave for my name sake, I gave you judgments, laws, and statutes “which if a man do, he shall even live in them”… but they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them
And then do you see what happens
“…their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

Eze_20:25  Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live”.
One of the most common mistakes in Christianity today is that men say the Judgments and Laws of God were not good and are not good, but it is lawlessness or sin in breaking these things that has brought the cures of God described here apon the people of God, Israel. Because they despised the law of God, God says I Gave you Laws that were not Good and to you my law became judgments, logical reasoning, though processes that to Israel “thy should not live”.

But listing to what God gives them in place of His holy Just and Good law

Eze 20:26  And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.

The apple doesn’t fall to far from the tree that made it.

America like Israel of old, like our fathers have forsaken God, his laws, his statutes and a way of thought that engenders life, and rather we have chosen a way of death.
God says here, taking account for the punishment, ” I polluted them in their own gifts”.
What gifts?
The babies they burnt in the fires to the idols they served by selfish desire and despisal of God’s word.

“…they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate”
And yet God says, I did all this to the End, or for the purpose “that you might know that I am the LORD.”

Oh the blessing of the Law of God that he gave us judgment and standards to live in.
Oh the curse of the Law of God that He promises us when we do not live by them.

Let the Apostle Paul explain:

Rom_7:10  And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Israel’s elders of the captivity are standing before the prophet to inquire of the LORD, and Ezekiel responds with a message of God’s glory, his Lord ship and him working with Israel saving Israel, punishing Israel, for His name sake! The message is repentance, that is a changing of the mind, by considering the iniquity and sin the lawlessness of your fathers and your selves a message beyond repentance to one of reconciliation by that same LORD YHWH the maker of heaven and earth, he Eternal, infinite an Almighty God, that God punished the Fathers who willfully would not repent who loved their idolatry, sabbath breaking foolish thinking or lack of sound judgment against the standards of God’s Holy Just and good law and preferred to live in “a law that was not good.” And yet the law all are forced to live in and under is the same law, the only law of God and the only question every heart, mind and soul has to contemplate:

Rom_7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

This is the question these elders have to consider… do they actually believe the LORD is God? that he works all things after the council of his own will for his own name sake? And can they accept that
“in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” and therefore “I consent unto the law that it is good.”

That God is Good and I am no good thing without His name sake? his salvation, his deliverance from the bondage of sin, a mind that wars against the things of God?

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

and this is exactly the message of Ezekiel as God repeats these men the initial statement :

Eze_20:31  ….shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.

And listen to the furious language of Lordship YHWH speaks of repentance:

Eze 20:32  And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
Eze 20:33  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
Eze 20:34  And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
Eze 20:35  And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
Eze 20:36  Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 20:37  And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
Eze 20:38  And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me…

And by what means will the LORD God bring all this about? with a Change begun in an acknowledgment of our own wickedness as described to the elders of Israel by the Prophet and then the mind changed response of thanks giving.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And here is the answer given by Paul, the eternal answer found in Jesus Christ, the thanks of God made in the renovation of the mind by the power of the holy Spirit:
states to us plainly as to how the mind shall not be as it was but it will be renewed, no longer conformed to the world:

Rom_12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This is the furious or mighty working of God vanquishing sin from the life,
the mighty hand with the stretched out arm with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
plead with you face to face.  how bond of the covenant as accomplished
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And here is the response of the Changes soul, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” .

But why can it not be a simple changing of the mind to live a better life by the law? by the standards of God? Why is it not so that way that good works can save us with out the renovating work of Grace given by God in this furious and mighty way of him making bare his holy arm?

Gal 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continuity not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Gal_3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Gal_3:12    And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Without Christ’s and the Holy Spirit of God the law can only be our curse, with out the promise of the Spirit and faith, a life in the mental judgments and logical exercises of the law always lead to condemnation by the holy, just and good standards it demands, such a view of the law can only lead to empty religiosity and dead works, those which will eventually lead right back to our fathers idols, like America today back to taking the gift of God we have in our children and justifying our selves by their deaths to our own religious fires of death.

Let me read it to you another way in retrospect, looking back at the life we all if we are Christians have walked away from, regardless of the depth of that depravity:

Col_3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Rom_6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.