DEAD MEAT

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.”

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and He told me to say: “This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.”

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it. You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you. You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed My decrees or kept My laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”

Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?”

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’”

Ezekiel 11:1-15

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever heard the expression “dead meat”?

Essentially, it means that someone will be punished severely for something they have done or might do.

Why do I bring it up?

Because the expression applies to today’s scripture passage as well as a literal interpretation of the words “dead meat”. Read these verses again to see how each instance is used:

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city. They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.”

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and He told me to say: “This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.”

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it. You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you. You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed My decrees or kept My laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”

Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?”

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’”  Ezekiel 11:1-15

First off, we find the Spirit lifting Ezekiel up and taking him to the “gate of the house of the Lord that faces east.” There, the prophet saw “twenty-five men” at the “entrance of the gate”. Among them were “Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah,” who were identified as “leaders of the people.” As Ezekiel looked at the men, the Lord spoke to him and stated that the men were ones who were “plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.” In fact, they were so arrogant in believing they were safe in their sins that they believed their city, Jerusalem, was a pot and they were the meat in it.

In other words, a metal pot would be virtually impenetrable and so as the meat in the pot, the leaders thought they were untouchable.

God decided to use His messenger to tell them otherwise and gave Ezekiel the following prophecy to declare:

“This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.”

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it. You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you. You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, for you have not followed My decrees or kept My laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”

Note here that the only meat that was safe in the pot of Jerusalem was the mass quantity of dead bodies the leaders saw killed and the only reason they were safe was that they were already dead. As for the leaders, they were dead meat (going back to the expression) as they were going to be driven out of the pot (Jerusalem) and delivered into the hands of foreigners (the Babylonians) who would inflict punishment upon them, serving as God’s instrument of judgment at the borders of Israel.

Why was this going to happen to the leaders in Jerusalem?

Because they rejected God, choosing to conform to the standards of other nations around them instead of following His decrees or laws.

As I studied these verses in preparation for today’s devotion, I couldn’t help but think there are a lot of world leaders today who think they are the meat in their own respective pots when in God’s eyes they are only “dead meat” for the way they govern in wickedness and disobedience to Him and His will for the way they lead. That’s why this scripture passage counts and any nation who wants to avoid a repeat of the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent judgment upon its people had better heed the words of God and get onboard.

If they don’t, they might find themselves driven out of their pot (fill in the name of their nation) and delivered into the hands of those who God selects to carry out His judgment.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com