Repeatedly through Ezekiel, and HIStory, the Lord warns, judgement is coming, justice will be served. All will know I AM the Lord.
This last section of Ezekiel 11 is the conclusion of a
vision that started in chapter 8. The vision exposes why judgement must come.
It started with the image of jealousy by the
front gate—like having a fat little statue of buddha by the front door. Or more
like having an affair and keeping a picture of the person on the nightstand by your
side of the bed. (Good way to wake up dead.)
To God, idolatry is like adultery.
Next thing in the vision Zeke saw inside the temple
walls crawled, with every kind of unclean creepy crawly creature they
worshipped.
Outside the women wept for Tammuz, a false fertility
god, whose worship involved sinful sexual rituals.
Then, he saw twenty-five priests, who should’ve been
examples of holiness, but instead turned their backs to the Lord, faced east
and bowed to the sun.
That was the last straw.
The Lord called for an angelic delta force. A half
dozen warriors appeared carrying battleaxes. One had an inkhorn to seal the
righteous, the others followed to slay the wicked.
Then the presence of the Lord departed from the temple
to the East Gate.
From there the Lord showed Ezekiel twenty-five princes
who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel. (Corrupt political
leaders).
Note:
First
the Lord exposed the corruption of the religious, the worshippers, those
supposed to be righteous. Then, He exposed corrupt politicians.
As goes the Church, so goes the nation (government).
1
Peter 4:17
Judgement must begin at the house of God.
More
important than calling on our congressman is calling on our God for preachers
to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
God told Ezekiel these crooked politicians claim to be
the elite, the meat, the muscle, the might of the city. Ezekiel 11:3.
“Therefore, prophecy against them,
prophecy O son of man.” Ez. 11:4.
Then, Ezekiel 11:5-12, the Lord told Zeke to speak and
tell them, they are not the elite, the meat, the muscle the might, of the city.
Their thoughts and words and deeds have been seen and
the blood of the slain cries out against them.
They will be drawn out of the city, slain by the sword, and on the wrong side of the border, find out that I AM THE LORD. Ezekiel 11:10-12.
Ezekiel
11:13
Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah
died...
Ezekiel’s prophecy, in the vision, showed immediate manifestation.
Revealing, it won’t be long before fulfilled. (592-586
BC = 6 yrs.).
Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and
said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of
Israel?”
I fell on my face and cried... I
know it’s a vision, and serious subject matter, but whenever I read that I see
one of my grandkids collapse to the floor in the middle of the store because...
“No, you can’t have that—thingamawhatever.”
Recap:
God told Zeke to prophecy the bad guys are gonna die.
Zeke prophesied.
Pelatiah died.
Zeke cried.
On the floor.
With a loud voice!
Oh God! Are You gonna destroy the whole
nation?
Oh, for Pete’s sake Zeke. Get up. Big baby.
When God’s Word comes to pass, we ought not be
surprised, but nod our head and say, yep, exactly as He said. When God answers
prayer, we ought not be surprised but nod and say, yep, God answers prayer.
But we’ll cut Ezekiel some slack. For one reason, this
was a vision, he may not have reacted that way in real life. Plus, he was still
a beginner in the office of Prophet.
Plus, we’re no better.
Somebody needs to do something about Iran. Ain’t
right. Slaughtering civilians. Threatening U.S. Funding terrorists. What’re we
waiting for? Trump must be chicken. We need to take’em out. Dear God please
help.
Then, we strike.
A week later, what’s takin’ so long?!?!
THEN, the price of gas goes up a penny.
Oh God! You’re gonna destroy the whole
nation!
Oh, for Pete’s sake. Grow up.
The love and patience of God is amazing.
That He chooses to work with us, is overwhelmingly
mind boggling.
It’d be soooo much easier for Him if He just did it
Himself.
But, for whatever reason, He chooses to work with and
through His creation.
Amos
3:7
Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret
to His servants the prophets.
John Wesley said, "God will do nothing on earth
except in answer to believing prayer." (John Wesley, not Scripture, not
doctrine, but generally true).
God is sovereign and can do whatever He wants.
However, He willingly chooses to work in and through me and you.
Count how many times you see “pray” in this Scripture:
James
5:13-18
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone
cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone
among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And
the prayer of faith will save
the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he
will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses
to one another, and pray for one another,
that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a
nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did
not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And
he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Seven, a number of completion.
That passage pretty much sums it up.
Just think. Elijah, powerful prophet and prayer
warrior... a man with a nature like ours.
Let that sink into your soul.
Prayer in the hands of Love is the most
powerful force on earth.
Philippians
4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made
known to God; 7 and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.
A few days ago, in our Prayer Meeting, we were
remembering recently answered prayers, as per Psalm 103, forget not all His
benefits.
JJ was addicted and missing, his life was
crumbling. We prayed. He’s home, excelling at work and on fire for Jesus.
Deb, Pat, Larry, battling cancer. We prayed. Today
they’re cancer free!
Specific prayer for our Church family: Ever increasing
hunger and wisdom for His Word. Ministers rising in our midst. Soul winners,
disciple makers.
Suddenly while we were still speaking, the Lord
interrupted with the sound of an abundance of rain.
We laughed and remembered a week or so ago we prayed
for rain at the start of our service. A few hours later we were smiling,
listening to the sound of an abundance of rain. From that day to this it has
continued to fall, again, and again. The Lord reminding us the drought we were
in is broken.
Remember. We not only prayed for physical rain, but for an outpouring of His Spirit. The harvest in plentiful, the laborers few, therefore, go and be soul winners and disciple makers. Luke 10:2-3, Matthew 9:37-38, John 4:35.
Mark
11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe
that you receive them, and you will have them.
If the answer isn’t what you expect, ask the Lord for
wisdom. He will give it. James 1:5-6.
Or just fall on the floor and cry with a loud voice.
It worked for Zeke.
Notice the compassion in the following words. It’s
like the Lord got down on the floor with Zeke to speak, calmly, encouragingly.
14 Again the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of
man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen,
and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of
Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from
the Lord; this land has been given to us as a
possession.’
The Good Shepherd, protects, provides for, talks to, cares
for, abides with, His own.
The Lord explains to Zeke (and us), simply, clearly,
that those left-behinders, are not the remnant of
Israel.
They only, arrogantly, temporarily, think they are.
Not all inhabitants of positions of power are rightful
residents of that position. They fill a void the rightful owners failed to
fill.
They devise iniquity and give wicked counsel. They
soak the soil with the blood of the slain.
They are of those who applaud slaughtering babies,
mutilating children and rejecting God’s Divine Design for marriage. They think
they are God’s chosen. They worship the altar of replacement theology, and
pervert God’s Word to fit their sinful lifestyle, lust and pleasure.
Dear son of man, perhaps the captives were taken (carried
away, caught up, raptured) for both justice and judgement to occur concurrently,
for discipline, and deliverance from the wrath which is to come on those left
behind.
16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the
Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles,
and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I
shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where
they have gone.” ’
What an amazing turn of events.
The exiles were not exiled from God.
Up until now they all thought God only resided in the temple
in Jerusalem. But now He lets them know, I went into exile with you.
Just ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when they
went into the fiery furnace, I was right there with them.
Just ask Daniel, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, was
right there with him in the Lion’s Den.
And dear Zeke and every captive, every exile, everyone
who’s ever felt like you were on the outside looking in. You can know for sure
and certain, I AM is right there with you. In that hospital bed, that prison
cell, that lonely room staring at that empty chair where the one you miss and
love so much, used to be.
He
is near the brokenhearted, delivers the crushed in spirit. Ps. 34:18.
He
will never leave you nor forsake you. Dt. 31:6, Heb. 13:5
From this very verse birthed the concept of synagogues,
which means, Church in the Clubhouse. Just kidding. Kind of. It means, house
of gathering.
The Lord says to them, and us: No matter where you’re
scattered, if you gather in My name, I AM there.
Jesus confirms this Divine promise in:
Matthew
18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in My
name, I am there in the midst of them.”
17 Therefore
say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the
peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been
scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’
About a half-dozen years after this vision, Babylon’s
third siege (586 BC) would destroy Jerusalem and the wicked, and just as prophesied,
the sealed would be saved.
About 47 years later king Cyrus of Persia (Iran) conquered
Babylon and set the captive Jews free and assisted their return to Jerusalem.
The prophetic reflection today is the Jews returning
the favor. After 47 years of captivity, the Persians are being set free. Leading
the charge is Cyrus #47, Trump.
18 And they
will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all
its abominations from there.
When the Jews returned to Israel, the nation never
again returned to the detestable abominations of idol worship.
Okay, hang on, we’re going to do some major time
travel.
Next, we see the prophecy not only reflects
today but projects into our future.
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will
put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart
out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that
they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments
and do them; and they shall be My people, and I
will be their God.
We’re still waiting for this to happen.
It will, at the end of the Tribulation. When Jesus
appears and descends upon the Mount of Olives.
Israel will recognize Him as the One they pierced,
their Messiah. They will mourn Him as one would mourn the loss of a firstborn.
Then, all Israel will be saved.
Zechariah
12:10
Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a
spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have
pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and grieve
bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
John
19:37
And again another Scripture says, “They shall look
on Him whom they pierced.”
Revelation
1:7
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him,
even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Romans
11:26
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is
written:
“The
Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob
21 But as for those whose hearts
follow the desire for their detestable things and their
abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own
heads,” says the Lord God.
New Testament counterpart:
Galatians
6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he
also reap.
Justice is rising.
Judgement is coming.
Two sides of same coin.
Justice for one. Judgement for the other.
22 So the
cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory
of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the
glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and
stood on the mountain, which is on the east side
of the city.
Mount of Olives.
The mount on the east side of Jerusalem is the Mount
of Olives.
The Mount of Olives seems to be His favorite launching
and landing pad.
From there the Lord
ascended to His heavenly Home, only to return about 600 years later. Not riding
His Cherubim Chariot, but a donkey, on a day prophesied 483 years in advance; 173,880
days to be exact. Daniel 9:25.
That prophecy was so
remarkable, that day so amazing, that around the world we still remember and
celebrate that Palm Sunday.
7 days from that day, Jesus had already gone through
death, burial and resurrection.
Then, for 40 days He showed Himself alive with undeniable
proofs to hundreds of eyewitnesses.
Then, on the 47th day, from the Mount of
Olives, He ascended into heaven while His disciples watched—probably with their
mouths hanging open.
But that’s not all. A couple of angels appeared and said
something like this: “What are you guys doing, standing here, staring into the
sky with your mouths open wide? This same Jesus you saw go into heaven, will
come again in like manner.” Acts 1:11.
Jesus has one more scheduled landing on the Mount of
Olives. This may be the last one, because this time, He’s going to bring the
house down.
Zechariah
14:4
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.
24 Then the
Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God
into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went
up from me. 25 So I spoke to those in captivity of all
the things the Lord had shown me.
The mission continues for Zeke and for us, to speak, all
the things the Lord has shown us.
Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, thank You that no matter where
we are, we can be in a little Sanctuary with You. Thank You for planting Your
Word in our souls just now. Thank You like the rain, it won’t return void but will
prosper and grow to the saving of souls. Help us, like Zeke, to speak all the
things You show us. So that of all those You’ve given us, none will be lost.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
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11:13-25
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Ezekiel 11:13-25
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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