In the filthiness of Israel He has purged them; and through this captivity He will continue to purge filthiness from them and He will not go back on it, neither will He spare or repent until Israel has been fully purged of their filthiness.
The Lord sometimes can be real harsh as He put a hard one on Ezekiel:
16Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
17Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
God told Ezekiel that He would take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke (quickly); Ezekiel was commanded not to mourn or weep. He was told to make no mourning for the dead; just continue to teach and reprove the children of Israel. So Ezekiel went out in the mourning and spoke to the people, and in the evening, the desire of his eyes, his wife, died. And he did as the Lord commanded; he didn't cry, weep, or mourn for his wife.
The Lord was making Ezekiel a sign to the people that when their loved ones die they should not mourn; but should carry on as Ezekiel did concerning his wife.
We remember Aaron had to do this for his kids who God consumed. The work of the Lord comes before family; and when you are a minister or a servant of God with good understanding; you can really understand this. People of the world may look at you crazy; but you will truly know what you're doing.
4With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
The Lord sometimes can be real harsh as He put a hard one on Ezekiel:
16Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
17Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
God told Ezekiel that He would take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke (quickly); Ezekiel was commanded not to mourn or weep. He was told to make no mourning for the dead; just continue to teach and reprove the children of Israel. So Ezekiel went out in the mourning and spoke to the people, and in the evening, the desire of his eyes, his wife, died. And he did as the Lord commanded; he didn't cry, weep, or mourn for his wife.
The Lord was making Ezekiel a sign to the people that when their loved ones die they should not mourn; but should carry on as Ezekiel did concerning his wife.
We remember Aaron had to do this for his kids who God consumed. The work of the Lord comes before family; and when you are a minister or a servant of God with good understanding; you can really understand this. People of the world may look at you crazy; but you will truly know what you're doing.
Ezekiel 25 1The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;
Because the Ammonites laughed and scouffed at the captivity of the children of Israel; the Lord will have the people of the east (Russia, China, India) come in and dwell with them and take over their possessions.
8Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
Through the Ammonites the Lord is going to give Moab and Seir the same difficulty the Ammonites will receive.
14And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.
Edom revenged himself on Israel and for that the Lord really did not like. He plans to cut off man and beast from Edom; making their land desolate and guess what? The children of Israel will the Lord take vengeance on against Edom and they will do so according to the anger of the Lord; so it will be fierce. We also know that the time of all these prophesies are when the Lord returns because the children of Israel will be in captivity until that time with no power; so how can they do anything until then?
The Philistines got caught up in take revenge against the Lord's people and they also have a furious rebuke coming from the Lord. This is why Solomon wrote that it is not good to rejoice when the Lord takes down your enemies.
When Israel went down; many nations celebrated and popped champagne. All of these neighboring nations have created a debt for themselves with the Lord. Tyrus will be punished and their land desolate as it will be consumed by many nations.
7For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. The Lord will bring Nebuchadrezzar on them as He did on the children of Israel.
Ezekiel is taking up a lamentation against Tyrus; because they were so rich and beautiful; but the Lord has taken them down. They were right off the Mediterranean sea; so they were in prime position to trade with other nations and did. They were given the best things by other nations.
Edom revenged himself on Israel and for that the Lord really did not like. He plans to cut off man and beast from Edom; making their land desolate and guess what? The children of Israel will the Lord take vengeance on against Edom and they will do so according to the anger of the Lord; so it will be fierce. We also know that the time of all these prophesies are when the Lord returns because the children of Israel will be in captivity until that time with no power; so how can they do anything until then?
The Philistines got caught up in take revenge against the Lord's people and they also have a furious rebuke coming from the Lord. This is why Solomon wrote that it is not good to rejoice when the Lord takes down your enemies.
Ezekiel 26 1And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
7For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people. The Lord will bring Nebuchadrezzar on them as He did on the children of Israel.
Ezekiel 27
13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
Here we have slavery and slave trades going on by these nations with Tyrus; you have Javan, Tubal, and Meshech. These are Gentile nations trading men, vessels, and brass in a common market. Slave trading was rather popular then as it still is now in the 'black market'.
Ezekiel 28 2Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:4With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Now at times when a nation is thriving; and God is not their keeper, someone else is. In the case of Tyrus, we are about to see who their prince and ruler is. The prince of Tyrus said He is God, and he sits in the seat of God in the middle of the peoples; but God let's him know he is only a man. Some men become so powerful that they believe for a moment they are God.
Look at what God said about him; he is wiser than Daniel (the prophet), and no secret can be hid from him. Are we still talking about a man here? By his wisdom and understanding has he got rich and it has caused him to lift up his heart against God.
So God will have him killed; and when he is being killed (we are talking about the physical man ruling Tyrus), God asks him will he tell the men who are killing him that he is God? Because we know that God cannot be killed.
But we are going to read about the being that put the king of Tyrus up to thinking he is so big and bad.
12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
He seals up the sum of wisdom and perfect in beauty, and he was in the garden of Eden, God's garden. Who was in the Eden? Adam, Even, the Lord, and the serpent. The serpent was Satan the devil who deceived Even and has been deceiving the entire world.
Satan has wealth as the top stones of the earth are his covering, he speaks very well and smooth, he was an anointed cherub (he was the top angel in God's kingdom), and he was perfect in his ways until sin was found in him. When you are receiving riches and blessings and you are not serving God or serving Him correctly, then you are receiving your riches and material blessings from another source.
17Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
The Lord has thrown Satan out already; and in the day of Judgment, and in the lake of fire; the Lord will have him before kings of the earth; the same men Satan despised.
The Lord has something for Zidon in taking them down for their iniquity as well. Every nation out there has something to look upon and repay until the Lord redeems the children of Israel.
25Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
He gave the land to His servant Jacob; He did not give it to Ishmael nor to Esau; but to Jacob and that is who will receive it in the end. All these nations that the Lord is taking vengeance on will know that the God of Israel is the Lord.
1In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: We see that the prophets prophesied against a lot of nations. Here is Pharaoh's prophesy against all that he did.
8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
Egypt was done like Israel; scattered into different countries in captivity and after 40 years they will be brought back to their land and will not have rule or high influence over the nations any longer. Egypt has always been a power among the nations; but the Lord will diminish this when they return to their land.
26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
He gave the land to His servant Jacob; He did not give it to Ishmael nor to Esau; but to Jacob and that is who will receive it in the end. All these nations that the Lord is taking vengeance on will know that the God of Israel is the Lord.
Ezekiel 29
2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: We see that the prophets prophesied against a lot of nations. Here is Pharaoh's prophesy against all that he did.
8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
Egypt was done like Israel; scattered into different countries in captivity and after 40 years they will be brought back to their land and will not have rule or high influence over the nations any longer. Egypt has always been a power among the nations; but the Lord will diminish this when they return to their land.
Ezekiel 30 3For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. The day of the Lord is near, this is normally speaking of His return, however this chapter is speaking of Nebuchadnezzar and his taking down of Egypt.
11He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. We read in Jeremiah when the children of Israel did not listen to Jeremiah and went into Egypt to hide and Nebuchadnezzar came there knocked off the Egyptians, killed many people and took the remainder with him to Babylon. We read about it in Jeremiah's day. And the Lord will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries; just like He did Israel.
In Ezekiel chapter 31 we are still reading about prophesies against the Pharaoh king of Egypt how the will be abased after having a high and lifted up spirit. The Lord is in the business of humbling those who lift themselves up; that is why it is best to be lifted up by the Lord.
Ezekiel chapter 32
More sayings against the Pharaoh. I'm not sure if Pharaoh himself was receiving the letters from Ezekiel; but you have to say to yourself as a ruler, if a prophet or man keeps writing against you; you would think to pay attention; but not all people are the same. A guy sitting on the bench can see the game better than the man playing in the game.
10Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.
11For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
People will be amazed when the Lord takes down the king of Egypt with the king of Babylon. A company of nations went down in their graves along with Egypt, and this was to comfort Pharaoh to some degree. A lot of nations saw destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
Ezekiel is learning what a watchman is. The watchman is the preacher or pastor and he is to read God's word and when there is something coming on the land, he is to blow the trumpet, let the people know about it so they can take warning. If they hear the warning and do nothing about it, their blood will be on themselves (verse 1-4).
6But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
7So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
But if the watchman or the pastor sees the bad times coming on the people and he does not blow the trumpet to warn them; the people will still die, but the Lord will require their deaths at the hands of the watchman. For instance, if you attend a church and the pastor does not warn you about God's dietary laws and the Lord returns and catches you eating pork, catfish, or lobster, He will kill you but He will require your blood at the hand of your pastor. Pastor's have a tough job; they must study so God can equip them with the knowledge they need to pass on to the people.
It's like a weather man seeing a violent storm coming and he says nothing about it. When Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005; they receive much warning and many left the city. Imagine if the weather people did not say anything, can you imagine how many people would have died? The same goes for the watchmen of God; they must warn the people from God.
13When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
18When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
This is a reiteration of an earlier chapter in Ezekiel; but it reminds us that if we are righteous stay at it; because the moment you turn from it none of your righteousness will be remembered. And if you are sinful; turn from it and do right and none of your sins will be remembered. Pretty fair right?
21And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. You see when Ezekiel is saying "it came to pass in the 12th year," he is speaking of the 12th year of the captivity of Jehoaichin, who was taken out in 597 BC. Ezekiel is doing his prophesying in Babylon; and a man who escaped out of Jerusalem came and told him 12 years later that the city, Jerusalem, has been destroyed!
The Lord tells Ezekiel to tell the people and ask them, did they think they would be able to commit all those sins, all those whoredoms and still remain in the land? As the Lord lives; they will be scattered and evil treated in the nations they wind up in.
30Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
31And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
Now while in captivity, the children of Israel would come up to men like Ezekiel that knew the word of the Lord and give him audience. However, the Lord let Ezekiel know that they only came up to hear the words and not do them because they show much love with their mouth, but their minds are far from God; they live in covetousness. People are like that today; husband tell his wife all day that he loves her; and she smiles every time and blushes and feels good. Then the husband leaves to work, is having affairs with 3 different women, barely paying the rent at home; but he tells his wife he loves her every moment.
But then you have the man who never tells his wife he loves her; but he buys all her needs and wants for her, has no extra marital affairs, enjoys all his moments with her; but seldom says he loves her. Women, which would you rather have? The Lord would rather have an Israel that seldom say they love the Lord; but they keep all His commandments than one who mentions the Lord in every sentence; but does not keep one word of the Lord.
The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel again against the pastors of Israel. The Lord warns against the pastors who feed themselves and not the congregation. They do not heal the diseased; they haven't brought those back that have wondered or were driven away; but have with cruelty ruled over them. Israel was scattered into captivity because they did not have a truth telling pastor over them. The children of Israel have wandered trying to find the Lord and no pastor out there will seek them (verse 1-7).
9Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
This is Ezekiel's warning from God to all pastors and ministry leaders. Take care of the people God puts in front of you. Just like a man is required to teach and nurture his kids; a minister of God is suppose to teach and nurture his congregation.
Like a shepherd seeks his flock, the Lord is going to get all His flock that are scattered in the nations, and He will get them in a cloudy and dark day, like when He returns. And will bring them back to their own land and feed them the good pasture, which is the good Word (verse 12-14).
23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
Look at when the Lord will bring His children back to their land and give them good shepherds; it will be after the first resurrection because king David will be among the shepherds that the Lord will have over His people. And we are sure this will be during the 1,000 years of peace on the earth, the actual Sabbath day, because as it was written in Isaiah, the Lord is going to make a peace covenant between beast and man. You can actually sleep out in the woods and wilderness and not worry about any harm.
More prophesy against the children of Esau; that the Lord is not pleased with them at all. Why is God continuously against the people of Edom?
5Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
9I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Because they have had a continuous hate for their brother Jacob, the Lord will not stop from letting violence chase them no matter where they go. There is always someone going against the children of Esau until ultimately they are all cut off in the day of the Lord.
The children of Esau have taken over all that belonged to the children of Jacob or Israel. This verse is rather interesting in what the children of Esau have attempted to take over during the years of the captivity of Israel.
10Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
Esau has said they will have these two nations and two countries will be there's to possess and have. What two nations? Samaria and Judah, which comprises the entire land of Israel. Two nations of people dwell there in our day, and we know from reading and understanding that the children of Israel will not return to their land until the Lord is back and returns them.
The two nations dwelling on the land are the Jewish people and the Arabs. One of these people, I believe and know are the children of Esau, who are attempting to take over the two nations of Samaria and Judah.
14Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
15As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Because of this the Lord says when the entire earth rejoices (at His coming) He will make Esau desolate. As they rejoiced at the the plight of Israel, the Lord God of Heaven will rejoice at their plight, and Idumea, the Greek word for Edom, will know that Jesus is Lord.
This will conclude our reading for today; I thank you for joining me and I hope to see you tomorrow.
--
11For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.
People will be amazed when the Lord takes down the king of Egypt with the king of Babylon. A company of nations went down in their graves along with Egypt, and this was to comfort Pharaoh to some degree. A lot of nations saw destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
Ezekiel 33
6But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
7So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
But if the watchman or the pastor sees the bad times coming on the people and he does not blow the trumpet to warn them; the people will still die, but the Lord will require their deaths at the hands of the watchman. For instance, if you attend a church and the pastor does not warn you about God's dietary laws and the Lord returns and catches you eating pork, catfish, or lobster, He will kill you but He will require your blood at the hand of your pastor. Pastor's have a tough job; they must study so God can equip them with the knowledge they need to pass on to the people.
It's like a weather man seeing a violent storm coming and he says nothing about it. When Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005; they receive much warning and many left the city. Imagine if the weather people did not say anything, can you imagine how many people would have died? The same goes for the watchmen of God; they must warn the people from God.
13When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
18When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
This is a reiteration of an earlier chapter in Ezekiel; but it reminds us that if we are righteous stay at it; because the moment you turn from it none of your righteousness will be remembered. And if you are sinful; turn from it and do right and none of your sins will be remembered. Pretty fair right?
21And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten. You see when Ezekiel is saying "it came to pass in the 12th year," he is speaking of the 12th year of the captivity of Jehoaichin, who was taken out in 597 BC. Ezekiel is doing his prophesying in Babylon; and a man who escaped out of Jerusalem came and told him 12 years later that the city, Jerusalem, has been destroyed!
The Lord tells Ezekiel to tell the people and ask them, did they think they would be able to commit all those sins, all those whoredoms and still remain in the land? As the Lord lives; they will be scattered and evil treated in the nations they wind up in.
30Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
31And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
Now while in captivity, the children of Israel would come up to men like Ezekiel that knew the word of the Lord and give him audience. However, the Lord let Ezekiel know that they only came up to hear the words and not do them because they show much love with their mouth, but their minds are far from God; they live in covetousness. People are like that today; husband tell his wife all day that he loves her; and she smiles every time and blushes and feels good. Then the husband leaves to work, is having affairs with 3 different women, barely paying the rent at home; but he tells his wife he loves her every moment.
But then you have the man who never tells his wife he loves her; but he buys all her needs and wants for her, has no extra marital affairs, enjoys all his moments with her; but seldom says he loves her. Women, which would you rather have? The Lord would rather have an Israel that seldom say they love the Lord; but they keep all His commandments than one who mentions the Lord in every sentence; but does not keep one word of the Lord.
Ezekiel 34
9Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
This is Ezekiel's warning from God to all pastors and ministry leaders. Take care of the people God puts in front of you. Just like a man is required to teach and nurture his kids; a minister of God is suppose to teach and nurture his congregation.
Like a shepherd seeks his flock, the Lord is going to get all His flock that are scattered in the nations, and He will get them in a cloudy and dark day, like when He returns. And will bring them back to their own land and feed them the good pasture, which is the good Word (verse 12-14).
23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
Look at when the Lord will bring His children back to their land and give them good shepherds; it will be after the first resurrection because king David will be among the shepherds that the Lord will have over His people. And we are sure this will be during the 1,000 years of peace on the earth, the actual Sabbath day, because as it was written in Isaiah, the Lord is going to make a peace covenant between beast and man. You can actually sleep out in the woods and wilderness and not worry about any harm.
Ezekiel 35 3And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.More prophesy against the children of Esau; that the Lord is not pleased with them at all. Why is God continuously against the people of Edom?
5Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.
9I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Because they have had a continuous hate for their brother Jacob, the Lord will not stop from letting violence chase them no matter where they go. There is always someone going against the children of Esau until ultimately they are all cut off in the day of the Lord.
The children of Esau have taken over all that belonged to the children of Jacob or Israel. This verse is rather interesting in what the children of Esau have attempted to take over during the years of the captivity of Israel.
10Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
Esau has said they will have these two nations and two countries will be there's to possess and have. What two nations? Samaria and Judah, which comprises the entire land of Israel. Two nations of people dwell there in our day, and we know from reading and understanding that the children of Israel will not return to their land until the Lord is back and returns them.
The two nations dwelling on the land are the Jewish people and the Arabs. One of these people, I believe and know are the children of Esau, who are attempting to take over the two nations of Samaria and Judah.
14Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
15As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Because of this the Lord says when the entire earth rejoices (at His coming) He will make Esau desolate. As they rejoiced at the the plight of Israel, the Lord God of Heaven will rejoice at their plight, and Idumea, the Greek word for Edom, will know that Jesus is Lord.
This will conclude our reading for today; I thank you for joining me and I hope to see you tomorrow.
--
Peace & Grace
No comments:
Post a Comment