Archive for the ‘Ezekiel-BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for August 24th: Ezekiel 20-23

Confronting sin in people  is the job of the prophet and preacher.  We who minister the word of the Lord must faithfully declare what God has said and speak plainly to those whose souls are in danger of God’s eternal wrath.  Sin brings the wrath of God.  That wrath is an ongoing thing that is happening continually and it is also an eternal thing that will happen to all who die in their sins on the day of judgment.  (Romans 1:18-19) (Romans 2:5)  God loves each person enough to confront him before He judges him.  In fact, He has stated that He will not send His wrath without revealing his plan to the prophets.  (Amos 3:7)

In today’s reading, Ezekiel is told to confront the people of Jerusalem with all of their detestable practices.  (Ezekiel 22:1)  God declared that the sin of bloodshed was bringing doom on the city.  The people’s sin of sacrificing their children in the fire to the false idols was bringing God’s wrath!  Ezekiel pointed out mistreatment of fathers and mothers by children and mistreatment of the alien and orphan as reasons for the coming destruction.  The people had despised the holy things and desecrated the Sabbath as a day of worship and rest.  (Ezekiel 22:7-8)  Adultery, incest, and lewd sexual conduct were hastening the day of wrath and people needed to be confronted!   Excessive interest was being charged and people were extorting money from the weak and powerless with mafia-like tactics. Sure sounds like the prophet was speaking to our day in America!

God also confronted the priests who were doing violence as well.  This violence was to God’s law.  They were twisting God’s law to call evil, good and then to call good, evil.  They did not help people to discern between what was holy and what God considered profane.  They whitewashed their evil deeds by giving the people false visions and lying divinations.  They claimed the the Lord had spoken when He had said nothing of the sort!  (Ezekiel 22:26-28)  When the ministers of God are messed up and under sin and deception, the people are led further astray by their false teaching and example. God looked for one man to stand in the gap on behalf of the land so He would not have to destroy it, but found none!  (Ezekiel 22:30-31)

Why does God confront people who are in sin?  Does He enjoy seeing them squirm?  Does He want to embarrass them in a church service?  God wants all to know that He is the Lord and that what He has decreed will come to pass.  He is to be honored and obeyed by those who are His people.  When God confronts sin, He gives his people opportunity to repent and be delivered.  His love brings the confrontation to those who will humbly receive it.  Take time today and allow the Lord to speak to your heart.  Listen and repent so that the wrath may be turned away!  If you are right with the Lord, stand in the gap for someone who is lost and in need of His grace!  The rewards are eternal!

Dear Friends,

Another needed day of rest, worship, fellowship and refreshing!  I am ready for a great day of resting in Christ and allowing His peace and presence to come into clearer focus in my life.  Life is busy and I often find myself going from one meeting to another and one appointment to another without a break.  Something is always needing attention or fixing.  On the day of rest, I need fixing by enjoying the glory of His presence!

In reflecting on this past weeks reading in Ezekiel, I am impressed by Ezekiel’s visions of the glory of God.  Ezekiel saw things in heaven around the throne of God’s glory that he had trouble describing in earthly language or word pictures.  How does a finite creature describe an infinite being?  The glory of God was life-changing for Ezekiel.  He was encouraged and motivated to speak God’s message and obey even difficult assignments that would be uncomfortable and even dangerous.

The saddest part of this past week’s reading was the part where God’s glory reluctantly left the Temple and city that God loved.  God tried over and over to make a place for His glory in the midst of His people.  They refused to honor Him and worship Him in Spirit and truth.  He withdrew His glory to show them what darkness was in them.  It was truly a dark time in the history of God’s people.

I am thankful that God’s glory now resides in His church among His people.  He has filled His church with His glory.  The day of Pentecost brought a rushing wind and tongues of fire bringing glory back to His living stones in the New Temple.  We are now being transformed by the glory of God living in our midst personally and corporately.  We have new revelations of that glory daily as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit fills us with power to share His glory with others!  Sunday morning worship explodes with God’s glory descending into the midst of His worshiping church!  Would that we do everything we can to welcome the God of glory today!  We never want to see Him take His glory and depart!  In His Love and Glory,  Pastor John

Scripture reading for August 22nd: Ezekiel 16-19

How many of you are reading this just to find out what was “x-rated” in the Bible?  Ezekiel 16 should contain an “x-rated” warning for graphic and explicit sexual content and violence.  God knows how to use the street language of the day to get the attention of the people.  If you really want the street language in today’s vernacular, you should read this passage in the Message Bible by Eugene Peterson.  I read it to my adult Bible class and many were blushing!

In this chapter God explains how He saw the nation of Israel and how they were given life by Him.  They had been born in sin and were covered with iniquity but God had mercy on them.  God Himself had given the command “Live” and they received life!  (Ezekiel 16:6-7)  They grew up to become His beautiful bride and He clothed them in fine linen clothes and gave them fine jewelry.  They were given ear rings and nose rings and even a crown for their head.  They were to be a bride of royalty!  (Ezekiel 16:10-14)  In fact they became His queen  and their fame spread among the nations!

Then a strange thing happened.  God’s Queen decided to become a prostitute.  God stated that she had become proud and trusted in her beauty and fame!  She went up to the high places and  spread her beautiful garments and offered sexual favors to all who passed by.  She took some of her expensive jewelry and made cheap idols and engaged in prostitution with them!  Sex with an idol can’t be too fulfilling!  (Ezekiel 16:15-18)  She worshiped her idols by offering the food God provided to them in idolatrous worship!  She even offered her sons and daughters to the idols by sacrificing them in the fires!  What a strange and twisted mind this beautiful woman had!

On top of all that, instead of being paid by her lovers, she paid them to come to her!  It was a strange kind of prostitution!  (Ezekiel 16:32-34)  She had paid for favors from the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and even the Philistines!  All of this behavior was going to bring God’s wrath and the curse of sin upon His people!  (Ezekiel 16:37-40)  She would reap the fruit of her illicit activities by being handed over to her lovers.  Those lovers would strip her and leave  her naked and bare and bring destruction on the land and houses.  God’s hope was to turn His Queen back to Him again.

As we think about this story, we can listen and be warned ourselves.  Many in the church today are compromising their devotion to Christ and His holy word.  They are justifying their illicit sexual idolatry and claiming to belong to Christ.  They throw their children into the fire by using abortion to satisfy their need to be able to choose not to be responsible for an unwanted child from their immorality.  They claim God’s favor and blessing when they are really under His wrath because they have never truly repented. (Romans 1:18-20)  Maybe it’s time for another reading of this x-rated prophetic warning!

Scripture reading for August 21st: Ezekiel 12-15

“Because they have led My people astray, saying “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. . . .I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 13:10-11a, 14.

God hates lies and will judge false prophets!  In this section of Ezekiel, God gives him a message for the prophets of Israel who are leading the people astray with the peace, safety, and prosperity lie.  These prophets were telling the people what they wanted to hear.  This was allowing the people to go on in idolatry and sin and brought God’s wrath upon the nation.

God likened these lying prophets to painters who whitewashed flimsy walls that were poorly constructed.  The walls looked clean and white, but they were very unstable.  God was going to expose the poor foundation by sending a storm upon the nation that would topple the white-washed walls and bring them down on those who painted them and those who built on a poor foundation.  The crashing walls would destroy those who did such shoddy work and those who tried to make their work just look good.

Lots of people do things for show, even in God’s House.  Preachers can put on a show too.  They can whitewash people’s walls just to get a crowd.  They can tell them how God wants them rich and blessed and all they have to do is to give some money to the preacher and God guarantees that they will get a hundred times more back.  They can tell people that God is love and won’t send anyone to hell.  They just have to belong to their church or send their money in and God will overlook all their sins.  Others whitewash the truth about the need for repentance from sin and faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.  They offer alternatives that don’t require faith or talking about the cross and the blood!  They try to make them feel good and get them in and out without any arousal of conviction.   Whitewash is being spread around today on the walls of people who have not repented!  These walls are going to crash down when judgment falls! The day of Christ’s return will reveal the foundations!

Today check your foundation.  Are you firmly anchored on the Rock of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Have you repented of your sins and idolatry and found grace through the blood of Jesus?  Are you hungry for biblical truth and sitting under preaching that gives the whole counsel of God, not just the cream and sugar?   A day is fast approaching when the foundations will be laid bare!

Scripture reading for August 20th: Ezekiel 7-11

“In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came upon me there.  I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.  From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.  He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head.  The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem. . .” Ezekiel 8:1-3

Ezekiel had a “hair-raising” experience with a fire-glowing angel.  He was taken about 800 miles away to the north entrance of the temple.  There he saw an image or idol that provoked jealousy–the jealousy of God!  The glory of God appeared to him there as well, just as he had experienced earlier when the Lord had called him to be his spokesman! (Ezekiel 1:27-28)  Ezekiel was called by the angel or very possibly a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (theophany) to dig into the wall of the temple.  As he dug through the wall he saw a doorway and was told to go in and look.  There he saw many “wicked and detestable” things that had provoked God to jealousy and wrath.  The seventy elders of Israel were worshiping idols right in the temple!

Ezekiel was told that the elders did not believe that God saw them and that he had forsaken Israel.  He was also shown a group of women who were worshiping Tammuz, a fertility goddess.  He was shown another group of men worshiping the sun.  God had had enough of their unfaithfulness and unbelief and the time of judgment had come.  As the elders had believed in their hearts, so they received.  Ezekiel saw the glory of God go up from above the cherubim where it had been and move to the threshold of the temple.  (Ezekiel 9:3)  The Lord instructed the angel with a writing kit to go through the city and mark all who grieved over the sins of the temple and city.  Then all others were to be killed without pity!

Ezekiel saw the Lord order an angel to take burning coals from between the wheels beneath the cherubim and scatter them over the city.  Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and they moved to the east gate of the Temple and stopped there.  (Ezekiel 10:18-19)  God was moving out and judgment had been scattered over the city. It was a sad scene and Ezekiel cried out to the Lord for mercy!  (Ezekiel 11:13)  He was given a word of hope that God would send his people away, but would be a sanctuary for those who trusted Him  in the countries where they were scattered.  He would bring them back again to their land and it would be cleansed from the idols.

The last vision of God’s glory was when the cherubim escorted the glory of God to the Mt. of Olives on the East of the city.  God slowly withdrew His glory from an idolatrous people who would not listen or repent!  Check out your heart today and invite the God of Glory to fill you with His presence and light!

Scripture reading for August 19th: Ezekiel 1-6s

When a priest turned 30, he began his full time ministry.  Ezekiel had just turned 30 years of age and he was a priest.  He had been taken into captivity and was in Babylon with a group of exiles which included Daniel and his friends.  They evidently met by the Kebar River to have their Sabbath observances and feast days and while they were meeting, God by His grace opened the heavens and gave Ezekiel a vision of God that changed his life and gave him direction and focus.  He was called by God to go to his people and give them God’s word.  He was warned by the Lord that God’s people were rebellious, obstinate and stubborn.  (Ezekiel 2:1-4)  His responsibility was to give them the word of God.

The vision that Ezekiel saw of the throne of God was spectacular.  It began with a windstorm coming from the north with a towering thundercloud and flashing lightning and fire in the center.  As it got closer, Ezekiel could see four living creatures.  (Ezekiel 1:4-9)  These creatures had the form of a man but they had four faces and feet like a calf and four wings with hands underneath.  They glowed like bronze and the faces were that of an eagle, ox, lion and man.  Below on the ground, there was a wheel that sparkled and had another intersecting wheel.  These wheels were full of eyes on the rim and enabled the creatures to move in all directions as the Spirit moved  them.  When these creatures with the wheels moved, there was a sound like that of roaring waters, like the voice of God.

As Ezekiel looked he noticed a glowing throne of sapphire above the creatures and on the throne was a figure like that of a man.  He was glowing with fire and brilliant light surrounded Him.  This light looked like a rainbow and glowed with radiance!  (Ezekiel 1:26-28)   This figure had the “likeness of the Glory of God”!  When Ezekiel saw it he evidently fell to the ground in awe, for the Lord later stood him up to talk with him. He was overcome by the likeness of God’s glory!

No man has seen God and lived.  The Scripture states that sinful man would die if he could see the full radiance of His Glory.  God grants some men grace to see a glimpse of His glory.  Remember Moses was hidden by God in the cleft of the rock and was allowed to see His backside.  (Exodus 33:18-20)  Now God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show mankind the Glory of God.  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)  The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to have the Glory of God revealed to us by the Spirit.  We are being transformed by that grace gift with ever increasing glory!  (2nd Corinthians 3:18)  When Jesus Christ appears and the trumpet blows, we will be instantly transformed into a glorious body, like His glorious body! (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18)  We now carry the “likeness of the Glory of God”!  Think about that and rejoice!