Title The leader is Pharaoh... (Ezekiel 19:1~14)
Wherever two or three people gather, there is bound to be a leader.
And the fate of the community depends on the leader's thoughts and how he leads the group.
Through the Bible of Ezekiel, we are examining why Israel will be destroyed by God's judgment, and we come to realize that the most influential factor among the causes of Israel's destruction is the 'spiritual corruption and corruption of the leaders'.
In today's text, God tells Ezekiel to compose and sing 'Lamentations' for the high officials (leaders) of Israel.
Today's sermon is mainly two parables. The lionness refers to the kingdom of Judah, the first young lion refers to King Jehoahaz, the 17th king of Israel, and the second young lion refers to the 19th king, King Jehoiachin. points to.
Both kings have left God, and they are the kings who wielded tyranny against the people. As a result, God's wrath was provoked, and King Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt (2 Kings 23:31-34), and King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon.
In the second parable, the 'vine planted by the water' refers to the kingdom of Judah, and one tall branch refers to King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah.
“A tall branch is pulled up in anger and thrown to the ground” (verse 12) refers to the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of King Zedekiah in Babylon, where he will be put to death.
The disastrous fall of the kingdom of Judah, which was like a lioness and planted by the waters, was because the Israelites abandoned God's Word and worshiped idols, but the greatest cause of the people's failure was their leaders.
Corruption and depravity of leaders is directly linked to the destruction of the community.
As we share these words today, I hope that it will be an opportunity to look back at our community and pray for our leaders once again.
We must pray earnestly for the head of the family, for the bosses at work, for the spiritual leaders of the church, and for the political and economic leaders of this country.
It is because the community to which I belong can be healthy only when the leader stands right.