In what ways does Ezekiel 5:6 connect to Deuteronomy's warnings against disobedience? Setting the Stage • Deuteronomy lays down the covenant: blessings for obedience, severe consequences for rebellion (Deuteronomy 28–30). • Ezekiel, centuries later, addresses Jerusalem in exile, showing that the warnings Moses gave have arrived in full force. • Ezekiel 5:6: “But she has rebelled against My ordinances with more wickedness than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries around her. For they have rejected My laws and have not walked in My ways.” Ezekiel 5:6—The Charge • “Rebelled” and “more wickedness” stress not just sin but intensified, deliberate defiance. • “Rejected My laws” shows covenant breach, not mere ignorance. • Comparison “more than the nations” highlights that the people who had God’s Law have fallen beneath even pagan standards. Key Warnings in Deuteronomy • Deuteronomy 28:15 – “But if you do not obey the LORD your God… all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” • Deuteronomy 28:45 – “All these curses will come upon you… because you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.” • Deuteronomy 28:52–57 – Siege, famine, and desperate conditions foretold. • Deuteronomy 28:64 – Scattering “among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.” • Deuteronomy 29:25–27 – Nations will ask why the land is ruined; answer: “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD…” (cf. Ezekiel 5:14–15). • Deuteronomy 31:17 – “My anger will burn against them in that day… many disasters and calamities will come upon them.” Point-by-Point Connections • Same Root Cause – Deut: “did not obey… rejected the covenant.” – Ezek: “rebelled… rejected My laws.” • Heightened Accountability – Deuteronomy 4:7–8 acknowledges Israel’s unique privilege of God’s nearness and statutes; disobedience therefore carries greater weight. – Ezekiel 5:6 says Israel’s sin is worse than that of surrounding nations because they sinned against greater light. • Identical Consequences – Sword, famine, plague: Deuteronomy 28:21-26; Ezekiel 5:12. – Siege and cannibalism: Deuteronomy 28:52-57; Ezekiel 5:10. – Scattering and reproach: Deuteronomy 28:64-67; Ezekiel 5:14-15. • Public Testimony to the Nations – Deuteronomy 29:24-26 predicts nations will ask, “Why has the LORD done this?” – Ezekiel 5:15: Jerusalem becomes “a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations.” • Covenant Continuity – Deut warns before the people ever enter the land. – Ezek shows the same covenant standards still enforceable generations later; God’s Word stands unchanged. Takeaway for Today The echo between Deuteronomy and Ezekiel proves the consistency of God’s covenant dealings: privilege brings responsibility, disobedience invites discipline exactly as foretold. The accuracy of Deuteronomy’s warnings, fulfilled in Ezekiel’s day, underscores the certainty of every promise and warning God has given. |
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