Showing posts with label Ezekiel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezekiel. Show all posts

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Day 62 Reading the Bible in 90 Days


Bible Food Daily Reading Day 62
Good morning, here we go again reading the word of God; and we are on day 62. Today we will begin in Ezekiel chapter 36.


This chapter begins with the Lord telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the children of Israel that although the heathen and Idumea have taken them from their land and made them a prey; the Lord is still for Israel. In the end, the Lord still plans on restoring this nation and having them back in their own land in righteousness (verse 1-10).


The Lord is going to multiply this nation and treat the children of Israel better than they were done by Him, in their beginning. Israel was treated very well in their beginnings; I can only imagine how it will be in the latter days?
God had to be extremely harsh on the people because the profaned His Holy name among the nations. God gave Jacob His name, Israel, and they wore it carelessly. When a man marries a wife or has kids and they have his name, they can't go out acting any kind of way.


President Obama's daughters and wife cannot be all loud mouthy and misbehaving anywhere they go; because the people will say, "did you see the Obama's… they were loud, crazy, throwing fits, stealing, cheating, and doing what ever. Barack must be dead or he doesn't care. If they can act like that in the highest office, we can do that too and more."


Now you have President Barack Obama's name tarnished because of his foolish wife and daughters. This is what happened with the children of Israel. They are wearing God's name Israel and behaved ridiculously, profaning the name; and they had to be punished to be corrected. And when they do correct themselves the nations will be happy to be around them. Just like women smile and are happy to say they are dating a Rockefeller, or a Kennedy; they will be smiling when they say they are dating an Israelite.


So the Lord makes it clear that He is not recovering Israel because He feels bad for them or because the nations treated them so ill. He is solely doing this for His Holy name. For the sake of His Holy name is He recovering His people (verse 23).


Then the Lord will bring the children of Israel back to their land and sprinkle them with clean water. That is the clean water Word of God. With this every child of Israel will be satisfied and taken cared of by their God.


Ezekiel chapter 37


This is a popular chapter about Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones the Lord showed him. The Lord showed Ezekiel a valley full of bones and they were very dry, meaning these bones had been dead for a while. The Lord asked Ezekiel if these bones can live.


Ezekiel is probably thinking, "You're the immortal one, you know, not me." Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to these bones and tell them to hear the word of God. If the bones heard the word of God, then they would get breath from God, ligaments, skin, and flesh and they will live. For the Lord to ask this, these bones must not be physically dead; but spiritually dead.


So when Ezekiel did as he was commanded and got some small results; the bones came together to form a full skeleton. Before there were arms lying here, ribs there, legs, etc. But after he spoke to them, the full skeleton form came together. Then the ligaments and flesh and skin covered the bones, but still no breath.


This means they were still dead. After all his prophesying, the people get excited and appear to come back to life, but they still do their own ways. Love the Lord with their mouth, but their ways are still far from him; thus they are still spiritually dead.


With this, the Lord then commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the winds, the four winds, to come and blow breath on these bones so that they can live. People think this is a ceiling fan; it is not. After the wind blew on these bones, breath came into them, and they lived standing up to be a great army. These bones are the entire house of Israel (verse 11).


The Lord is opening their graves and will soon bring them back to their land. What graves are these? These are the graves of the spiritually dead. The Lord had Ezekiel bind 3 sticks together to make one. One stick was the house of Joseph (Ephraim his firstborn who's the birthright is), the house of Judah (where the kingship will be), and the house of Israel (ten tribes). They will all be one tribe, have one nation, one king, and one God, the Lord God of Israel.


King David will be king over the entire nation. Jesus will be king of kings, however David will be king over the nation Israel, this means he will have been resurrected from the dead physically. Everyone will know that the Lord set Israel apart when they see His sanctuary there forever in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 38


In chapter 38, Ezekiel is sent to speak against Gog and Magog. Magog is certainly a son of Japheth, who is the progenitor of the Gentiles. We do not know who Gog and Magog are as of yet; but we will read the scriptures and allow it to tell us who they are.


Verse three tells us that God is against them, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Meshech is a Hebrew translation of Moscow (Scofield Reference Bible's claim that "Meshech" is a Hebrew form of Moscow, and that "Tubal" represents the Siberian capital Tobols).


Now the Lord is going to put hooks in their jaw and lead them forth to a battle with a great army of men from different countries allied with them, the Gog and Magog, and tells them to be prepared (v4-7). In the last days they will come into the land, "that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel..."


Gog and Magog will be brought to Jerusalem, the place where the people will be brought back out of all the nations they were in and the people will dwell safely when they return. The people are the children of Israel, so that let's us know that the land that Gog is coming against to fight with this great company of people is Jerusalem (v8).


They are going to come down on the land like a storm, with a great number of people. Now Gog is known to do this on two separate occasions and many ministers and prophecy teachers have confusion on this. This is because this chapter is speaking of the latter days as in the day of rest, when the Lord Jesus is on the earth ruling for a thousand years, the reason why I can say this is because of verse ten through twelve. Gog is going t think an evil thought to come down on the land (Jerusalem) not walled (no army defense) and to a people who dwell safely and are at rest. The Jewish people today are not dwelling safely and are certainly not at rest.


Furthermore, the children of Israel are not back in the land all together, because then David and Jesus would be there are we read earlier, so Gog cannot come against Israel as presented in this chapter because it would go against everything that we've read in the Bible thus far. Thus this is speaking of in the last days of Jesus 1,000 year reign on the earth.


Gog and Magog and many nations with them will come up on a peace Israel and think to take the land, and the Lord in great fury will take all of them down one final time (just before the 7th day ends), and all people will know God when He will set Himself apart in all eyes.

Ezekiel 39


So the Lord is against Gog and Magog at this time, previously He will use Gog and Magog to take down Babylon the great, but then the Lord will get them back as well. He will leave only a sixth part of them and will knock their weapons out of their hands and they will fall in the mountains of Israel and destroy them. Birds and vultures will eat their dead bodies.


So many of Gog will fall at this time that the Lord calls the place, The valley of Hamongog. Seven months will the children of Israel bury and cleanse the valley and burn all the weapons of Gog. The Lord also told the birds and beast to come and eat and drink blood. With this great defeat over Gog will the children of Israel and all nations know that God put His people into captivity to punish them for their iniquity but has always wanted them in the land to dwell peacefully. All people will know this for sure with no conflict and no problem.

Ezekiel 40


In the 25th year of Ezekiel's captivity God brought him out to show him something very important. Ezekiel saw an angel whose appearance was like the appearance of brass and the angel had tools and a measuring reed in his hand and told Ezekiel to write all that he is told and all that he sees and tell it to the children of Israel (v1-5).

We see a whole lot of building and measuring but we don't know what they are building until we get down to verse 45 and see a chamber that faces the south being for the priests, who are the keepers of the charge of the house. So now we know this is the construction of the fourth temple, the actual temple that will be standing for a thousand years during the reign of King Jesus.


This temple will be made by immortals, resurrected and or changed men and women who are appointed by God to build the temple. If you put it side by side the sanctuary's that Moses and Solomon built in their time; you will see great similarities.

Ezekiel 41


Here we are still getting more descriptions of the temple and how it will look and be constructed. If you remember Solomon's temple, he had the cherub angels in there next to a palm tree, cherub, palm tree all aligned in the temple wall. We have the same thing here. Solomon's temple was a prototype of this temple. The cherubs will be fixed with only two faces, although we know they actually have four in reality, the face of a man facing one palm tree, and the face of a lion facing the other (v18-20).

Ezekiel 42


Then Ezekiel was brought into the utter court, towards the north and shown more of this great big elaborate temple. So far there are three stories of space; so it is a great big house of God.


The angel told Ezekiel that the north and south chambers that are for the priest are a separate place and are holy chambers because they will be approaching the Lord there and there will they eat the most holy things sacrificed unto the Lord (verse 13).

Ezekiel 43


After this the angel brought Ezekiel to the gate that faces the east. And Ezekiel saw the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, with a voice that was like the sound of many waters. The earth shined with His glory. He was coming from the east because the wilderness where the children of Israel were is east of Jerusalem. So He will come right over after He has processed the people.


And the glory of the Lord filled this temple, the house of the Lord we have been reading about. That let's us know that the Lord will be in this His temple live and direct, in person, dwelling on the earth in Jerusalem.


For verification of this, Ezekiel even heard the Lord say to him in the vision, that the place of His throne and the place of the soles of His feet, where He will dwell in the middle of the children of Israel for ever is right there in this temple, which is in Jerusalem (v6-7). One thing we see in the reconstruction of the temple and the reinstitution of the priest, is that Levi is back to minister unto the Lord, and animal sacrifice is put back on the table; at that time.

Ezekiel chapter 44


Ezekiel was told to take good notes, mark well, jot down everything you need about this house and tell it to the children of Israel. Now we are reading it; it is in the bible so it is important enough to take notice on and learn the rules now of how to deal with this future house we hope to have a lot to do with at that time; being that the Lord will be there.


The Lord further spoke to Ezekiel and told him to tell the house of Israel to stop with their abominations especially when it comes to this temple. In times past they brought strangers (non physical children of Israel) into the temple, strangers who were uncircumcised in the mind and in the flesh, polluting it.


The children of Israel did not keep charge of the Lord's things. So the Lord let's it be known that when this new temple is up and running, NO STRANGER, that is uncircumcised in the flesh or in their mind will step foot into the Lord's sanctuary. Because many non Israelites will live in Jerusalem among the children of Israel as it was when they left out of Egypt, a mixed multitude; but non that are uncircumcised will come near the temple.


If they cannot do it then in the future; then do you not think it is time now to get circumcised in the mind and in the flesh. Men should be circumcised both in the flesh and mind and women should be circumcised in the mind and they should make sure their sons are circumcised at birth on the eighth day.


Many old rules that are called to be "done away with" are making their way back into the picture here in this prophetic vision of Ezekiel. Things like priest should not shave their heads, nor grow locks to long. They should not drink wine while in the inner court; they should not take wives who are widows or divorced; but should have only virgins who are physical children of Israel or a widow who was married to a priest before.


These priest will teach God's people the difference between the holy and profane, the clean and unclean. In Jesus kingdom, His priest will teach you that a pig and rabbit are unclean, and that a deer and grasshopper is okay to eat. They will teach the laws, judgments, statues, and keep holy the Lord's Sabbaths.

Ezekiel 45


Here are more regulations concerning the house of the Lord.

Here is the dividing of the land to the children of Israel; the Lord makes it clear to the princes of Israel; stop the violence and the stealing, use good judgment and execute justice. The Lord is not having all that violence in His city and in His sanctuary. Leave it at the door people or you will be left there, and the door is the wilderness where He purged out the rebels (v8-9).


We are still observing and keeping the Lord's passover and the feast of Unleavened bread for seven days. Also in the seventh month on the fifteenth day keep that feast as well. We read them earlier in the book of Leviticus chapter 23. We might as well start now and get to practicing because this will all be reconstituted in the day of the Lord.

Ezekiel 46


The Lord says the gate of the inner court facing the east that He came through should be shut for the six working days but on the Sabbath it will be opened and on the new moon or beginning of the month (v1). The six working days we have no access to the Lord; but on that seventh day we can approach Him and even see Him.


It says the people will be able to worship at the gates before the Lord on the Sabbaths and new moons. Sabbaths AND new moons; it does not say that every new moon is a Sabbath (v3)!

Ezekiel 47


Again the angel brought Ezekiel to the door of the house and he saw water run out from under the house in all directions, east, north, south. The water was at the ankles, then rose to the knees, then to the waist, and then they were too high where one had to swim in it (v1-5).


The waters were issued out to heal. All living things that this water runs over will be healed.

And the river on each side will grow trees that are good for meat, the leaves on these trees will not fade away and the fruit on it will never be consumed, every month it's fruit will be new and the leaf is also for medicine. Pharmaceutical companies will be wiped out of business with this one. This is exciting stuff we are reading here.


Lastly, Israel is to divide the land according to their tribes; also they are to give inheritance to the strangers that live among them. If a German or South African wants to live with the tribe of Gad, the Gadites have to give the stranger inheritance in the land.


This concludes our reading on the Sabbath day; I had to post it today because a storm the previous night knocked out my Internet service. Grace and peace; and I will see you for our 63rd day.


--
Peace & Grace


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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.

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Peace & Grace