Friday, June 19, 2009

Day 61 Reading the Bible in 90 Days

Good morning; we have embarked on day 61 and we are in Ezekiel chapter 24 to begin. Here the Lord is giving Ezekiel a parable to tell the house of Israel. He was told to get a pot, put the bones of a flock in there all the pieces and boil it till it seethe out. This is what the Lord is going to do to the bloody children of Israel who rebelled against Him.


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.

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.

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:


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 27


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.


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.


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.

Ezekiel 29


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.

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 33


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.

Ezekiel 34


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.

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

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Bible Food Daily Reading on Day 60


Good morning, we're marching right into day sixty and we will have good readings today beginning in Ezekiel chapter 13


1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;


Here goes Ezekiel talking to the prophets that speak out of their own heart and not the Word of the Lord. I thought Jeremiah beat up preachers and prophets up pretty bad, Jeremiah will lay on them a bit as well.


Many prophets (preachers or pastors) in our modern day have taken it upon themselves to add onto the word of God, not learn the word correctly, thus they cannot teach it correctly, or you have some that straight up lie to their congregation. These people make people believe a lie, that everything is peaceful, but there is not peace. I mean how long have we been praying for peace in Jerusalem. If a preacher would get up and tell the real reason then perhaps there could be peace.


Instead, prophets have seduced God's people and built an outrageous wall full of lies.

15Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; The wall will come tumbling down; the Lord will knock it down all the lies that started and different ministers that continue to daub it so that it stays up. Like the Christmas thing; that is a lie that founders of it are long dead; but some how some group of people have kept the lie going. And even though it is a lie; and the general population know clearly that it is a lie, they have found a way to make the people who tell the truth of it look ridiculous and slanderous.

Ezekiel 14


1Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
2And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
3Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?


You have some elder approach Ezekiel and they come humbly as if they want to hear the word of God; but in their minds they still have their idols and sun worship. So do you think the Lord going to answer them knowing they will walk out and still deal with that's in their mind?


If you do that and come mockingly to ask a true servant of the Lord questions, the Lord says He will answer you Himself. That does not sound to good for them.


Ezekiel received more words from the Lord, saying when someone sins against Him they are responsible for their sin and no one can deliver them. 14Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD. Even if these great men were in the city, they could only save themselves. This let's us know that our pastors cannot save us. We have to curtain our behavior and read on our own as well to deliver ourselves. In life you can probably say, "my lawyer or agent is handling that," but you cannot say, "oh my pastor is handling my salvation for me." That will not work with the Lord. Noah, Daniel, and Job can only deliver themselves, not their children and not any others. So we can only do like them; and deliver ourselves.

Ezekiel 15 6Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Just as a man gives trees to fuel a fire, the Lord gives the citizens of Jerusalem for fuel to His fire because of their sin.


8And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 16 1Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, 3And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.


The Lord told Ezekiel to teach the people so that they know their sins. If they do not know their sins, how can they stop? If they don't stop how can they live? The Lord begins telling the story of the children of Israel and how they have up into being. They were born in the land of Canaan to the parents of the people living there, the Amorite and the Hittite. No nation pitied them nor loved them. Remember when Israel came out of Egypt; nations would not allow them to cut through their country nor sell water for them to drink. They had not pity.


The Lord saw them and loved them, spread His skirt over them, covering their nakedness, and entered into a marriage covenant with them and they became His. He clean them up with His laws, statues, and commandments, and anointed them. He gave them good clothing and excellent jewelry (knowledge of Him and His ways), so that Israel was the best looking woman, I mean nation out there (verse 8-12).


But like most people, even most angels, Israel got caught up in their own beauty and began to play the harlot. Every pagan god that came by, Israel gave it up; and have done wickedly in all manner of dealing. You take someone off the streets and give them everything only for them to be playing you for nothing behind your back. If you've ever had this happen; then you know how the Lord feels about His people.


Israel played the whore with the Egyptians, with the Assyrians, and a host of others and made the Lord ask, how weak are your minds oh house of Israel? 30How weak is thine heart, saith the LORD GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;


You have woman who is persuaded by every man who smiles at her, you start to say, how gullible and weak are you to think for a few pieces of jewelry or a few dollars that this man is going to take care of you. That is how a whorish woman or man thinks; and that is how Israel is thinking. "This religion looks good; look at how they have the snake as their symbol, let's go there." This is simple-mindedness and how can the Lord even deal with that? That type of person is questionable to live forever and be around anyone yet alone the Lord.


And it happens in everyday life, a woman gives herself to a man; and the next day he is out of there. She goes in thinking the next guy will be there for her and boom after he gets what he wants; he departs. This is what the Lord is saying about Israel; they went into these other nations gods and they did not take care of them at all.


44Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite. Wow; this is just beautiful how this chapter is laid out. Israel indeed became just like the Canaanite nations in their sins; thus they were just like their mother and father.


48As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
51Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.


Sodom and Gomorrah, and Samaria (the 10 tribes) have not committed sins at the level of Judah; this is why Judah's punishment was so grave. They had to ability to learn from the nations before them. This is why our punishment in the latter days will be gravest; because we are reading and learning about all history; thus we should know better.


In the end; Israel will know the Lord and will be ashamed at their past.

Ezekiel 17


The Lord has Ezekiel put forth a riddle to the house of Israel. We have two great eagles that were setting up shop or establishing their nest and resting place but it was set up in a bad place. The wind can easily knock it down. When Israel sinned against God and were taken out; they tried to hide in Egypt; but there was not the place to build their nest. The Lord still knocked them down. The Lord will have no pity on one who breaks His covenant, no matter where you are or where you hide.

Ezekiel 18 1The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

2What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
There was a time and still is in many areas of the world that people say their parents have sinned so the children are cursed. The Lord is getting rid of the ability to use that saying. If you have a righteous dad and a wicked son; the son will die. If you have a wicked dad and a righteous son, the dad will die. There is no dying for the sins of another.


20The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
32For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.


If you were sinning your entire life and decided like the thief on the cross to repent the last day, your sins will be forgiven. Likewise, if you were righteous all your life and turned to sin in your end of days, your righteousness will not be remembered. Some people do not think this is fair; but those same people are not fair. The Lord takes no pleasure at all in death. It actually grieves Him; all were created to live; but if they want death; then they have to deal with their consequences.


Ezekiel chapter 19 is a metaphorical lamentation of the rise and fall of Israel as a nation.

Ezekiel 20


1And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
2Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
3Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.


This is one of my favorite chapters in the chapters in the entire bible. The elders came to Ezekiel again and asked him to inquire of the Lord; and the Lord let it be known He will not be inquired by hypocrites.


This is where parents get lecturing their kids from; as I see God about to lecture the elders of Israel. First He tells Ezekiel to let these men know about the sins of their fathers because maybe they do not know thus they cannot correct themselves.


The Lord goes on to show them when He brought them out of Egypt, they began to rebel right away. They would not listen and the Lord became angry, ready to consume them.


12Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.


However, He did not consume them because they wore His name, Israel, so He continued to work with them. He brought them into the wilderness, gave them statues and commandments to live by, and also gave them His Sabbaths to be a sign between the Lord and His people, that they would know that it is the Lord that sanctifies them. But they rebelled and polluted His Sabbaths greatly; and the Lord came again to consume them in a moment.


The Lord proceeded to bring the children of Israel into the land; but they continued to pollute the Sabbaths and went after idols; so He destroyed the adults and began to work with the children telling them to walk in His ways and to keep His Sabbaths Holy as a sign between the Lord and His people. Still they rebelled!


The Lord would not destroy or consume them because they wore His name; so He decided to scatter them among the nations and held off doing this for a long while but finally had to because they would not execute His judgments, hated His statutes, and polluted His Sabbaths. The Lord got to a point that if they just kept the Sabbaths' He would have allowed them to stay in the land.
So Ezekiel was told to tell the house of Israel that they are polluted in the same manner their fathers were; and they think they can come and inquire of the Lord? As the Lord lives, which is forever, He will not be inquired of by people like that! You must come with a clean heart.


32And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
33As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:


For the children of Israel today, if you think that you will be like the other nations and serve wood and stone, and Christmas, and things that are vain; you will not according to Ezekiel, who has it according to the Lord. The Lord will surely rule over the house of Israel with fury poured out and with an outstretched arm. The captivity will with them straight, then the great tribulation; if that doesn't work, the Lord Himself will come and perform it.
Look at what the Lord will do; and this is future here:


34And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
36Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
37And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:


He will gather the children of Israel out of the countries they are in, bring them to the wilderness of the people and plead with them face-to-face; as He did with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt. There He will cause them to pass under His rod of obedience and baptize them into His covenant. All rebels will be rooted out and killed just as He did to the fathers when they had men rebelling against Moses.


38And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.


Rebels who still do not believe or want to call on the name of Jesus will not enter into the land. It will be a sad day when the children of Israel are ready to be redeemed by their God and King; and they don't believe and are killed in the wilderness. That will be a shame.


When He has removed the rebels; then the rest will go into the land and dwell with the Lord for a thousand years. The Word of the Lord is going to burn through the entire land of the south and north.

Ezekiel 21


The Word of the Lord will burn through the land, even the land of Israel. He has a glittering sword that is the Word of the Lord that will slice through men, even the men of Israel.


25And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
26Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.


For their sin and abominations; the Lord is ready to remove the diadem and their crown and overturn, overturn, overturn their kings, and Israel will not have a king until whose right it is, the Lord will give it. Those three overturns; are the last three kings of Israel (Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Mattaniah whose name was changed to Zedekiah). There will be no king nor kingdom in Judah until the Lord returns.


Ezekiel chapter 22


The Lord list the abominations of Israel in this chapter and they are many. He has to continue to remind them and the the entire world so that someone sees this and begins to correct the behavior of the people.


26Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.


Priest tell lies and violate His law, they don't make a different of that that is clean or unclean, they ignore the Sabbaths, and the Lord is just about hated by everyone as He said in the Psalms. Look at it; you can eat a pig just as you eat a cow, just pray over it; there is no difference between the clean and unclean. The Sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of the 7th day as written, eyes are hid from the Sabbaths.

It is lie, cheat, and steal all in a days work.

Ezekiel 23


Here we have another nicely put story on the tale of Israel; this time in the form of two sisters. The whored in their youth in Egypt, their names Aholah the older sister (Samaria or ten tribes) and Aholibah (Judah).


11And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms.


They both took on lovers they should not have taken and Aholah was taken by Assyria. However, Aholibah saw this and did more whoring than her sister Aholah.


17And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them.


Because of this Aholibah; will have much harsher punishment than her older sister Aholah because she should have learned from her mistakes and done better; but instead she has done much worse.


This is a lesson to us; read and know better so that you can do better.


37That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
38Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.


Israel has committed adultery with their idols and have profane the Lord's Sabbaths. I'm starting to see that the first four commandments are pretty important as they are reminded and put in the face of Israel and the world in nearly every chapter.


This concludes our reading on this day; I pray we have received understanding in what we have read in the name of Jesus. Amen

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Peace & Grace

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