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Righteous Suffering, Covenant
Ezekiel 21:4 “Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north”
At first when one read this, one wonders why the righteous is “cut off”? One thought is that by default, when calamity hits people, everyone suffers by default. Also, with judgement, all will be judged as well – even the righteous will be tested and judged.
Before this statement in this verse, in verse 2, YHWH actually starts this prophecy with “set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says YHWH…”. So this statement is against the land of Israel, that both righteous and wicked will be cut off.
When you look at the Hebrew word for “cut off”, it is one word Karat H3772 – kāraṯ, which almost always have to do with making/breaking/cutting a Covenant. The first time this word is used is with the Rainbow after Noah’s ark, Genesis 9:11, “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood”. The word can be seen to “cut a covenant”, like in Genesis 15:18 “On the same day YHWH made/cut a covenant with Abram“. Again in Exodus 12:19, “For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.” and Exodus 23:32, “You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods”.
What this verse is saying plainly, is that everyone will be removed from the land of Israel – which is exactly what happened, and the land was deserted and rested.
Clean and Sabbath
Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them”
Does this sound familiar at all? Where it is taught and thought today, that no one is and can be holy. There is no such thing as unclean foods. There are no more laws. And you don’t have to keep the Sabbath. Which priests today teach this?
What does YHWH say about these priests? Verse 27, “Her princes in her midst are like wolves“. Verse 28, Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH Elohim,’ when YHWH had not spoken”. What is taught today, that the laws doesn’t exist and all foods are clean, are not a new revelation or a new covenant since Yeshua came.. these were obviously lies being told for ages. Why did Yeshua feel like He had to just make it clear, Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”.
