The People are Doomed PT-3 (Ezek. 10:8-22)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/30/2014 8:31 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The People are Doomed PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 10:8-22

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the third and last sub-point from this second main point in Warren Wiersbe’s outline on this section of Ezekiel.

            The Glory Revealed (Ezekiel 10:8-22):  “8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9 Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone. 10 As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel. 11 When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them. 13 The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14 And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them. 18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. 20 These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.”

            If this section sounds familiar then it is because it is the same scene that Ezekiel saw at his commissioning service however there are two differences.  The first is that the living creatures were full of eyes even as the wheels were.  This speaks of the omniscience of the Lord, as He is everywhere. God is in control of all things and in order to do this He has to be everywhere, and because He is Spirit He can do this.  Things do not just happen haphazardly, but God is truly in control and because of His sovereignty He not only see all things, He controls all things:  “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11).”   The other thing that is different is that the wheels are named “the whirling wheels.” 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “One problem that this new description presents relates to the description of the faces of the cherubim in verse 14.  In 1:10, each cherub had the face of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; while in 10:14, the face of the ox is apparently replaced by the face of ‘the cherub.’  The so-called contradiction is only apparent.  From where Ezekiel was standing, he saw a different face of each of the cherubs.  ‘The cherub’ must have been the one that gave the coals of fire to the scribe-angel.  We might paraphrase it, ‘The first face I saw was of the cherub and it was an ox, since the faces I saw of the other three cherubim were of a man, a lion, and an eagle.’  Each face was indeed the face of the cherub since each of the living creatures was a cherub.”

            At this time I want to quote from Steward Briscoe on the glory of the Lord departing:  “The man with the linen suit reported back to the Lord and was promptly instructed to go in between the wheels of the chariot-throne, take some of the coals burning therin, and scatter the burning embers over the city (10:1-2).

            “The drama preceded a startling set of events.  The glory of the Lord departed from the holy place.  As we will see, the significance of this movement was that it was the beginning of the long-threatened removal of the visible evidence of God’s presence among His people.  This remova took place in stages.  First, it moved from the holy place to the outside of the temple (10:18).  This gave the people the opportunity to see more of the Lord’s presence than they had ever seen.  But it made no difference.  Then, along with the chariot-throne, the Glory moved to the mountain on the east side of Jerusalem, and stayed there as if brooding over the city.

            The is no mention of the departure of the Glory from the Mount of Olives, but much later Ezekiel saw the Glory returning from the east.  This has led some commentators to believe that the glory of the Lord was removed from sinful Jerusalem and placed in the camp of the exiles.  Others suggest that it remained on the Mount as if to remind the people that the Glory was gone from the temple and the city where it belonged, but ready to return when the people turned back to God.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This part will be a quotation from Warren Wiersbe: “Ezekiel was learning that the most important part of the nation’s life was to magnify the glory of God.  The presence of God in the sanctuary was a great privilege for the people of Israel, but it was also a great responsibility.   The glory of God cannot dwell with the sins of God’s people, so it was necessary for the glory to leave, and the sanctuary and the people to be judged.”  With this said it is important for me to realize the great responsibility for me, and all believers, is to realize that I have the Holy Spirit of God in my life to lead me and to guide me, and I must not do anything to cause the Spirit of God to not be working in my life.  “1Th 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:   1Th 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit.”

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:1-3.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “A physician.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What meat did God send to the Israelites as they journed?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/30/2014 9:18 AM

The People of Judah are Doomed PT-2 (Eze. 9:5-10:7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2014 9:46 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The People are Doomed PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 9:5-10:7

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the second part of this second main point that follows Warren Wiersbe’s outline through the book of Ezekiel in today’s SD.

            The Rebels Judged (Ezekiel 9:5-10:7):  5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6  "Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple. 7 And He said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 As they were striking the people and I alone was left, I fell on my face and cried out saying, "Alas, Lord GOD! Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?" 9 Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ’The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’ 10 “But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads." 11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case reported, saying, "I have done just as You have commanded me."

    “1 Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them. 2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, "Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city." And he entered in my sight. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. 5 Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. 6  It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," he entered and stood beside a wheel. 7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.”

            Let’s begin with a quote from Steward Briscoe:  “The Severity of God.”  “Having completed the work which impressed on Ezekiel’s consciousness the inevitability and severity of the impending judgment, the six men faded from the vision and once again, the chariot-throne of the Lord of glory took center stage.  Ezekiel again described it in considerable detail, perhaps to emphasize that he had added little new to the descriptions already given.  Nevertheless, he once more overwhelmed with the presence of God.

            “The record reminds us that we should be as overwhelmed with a revelation of the severity of God as we are with a vision of His majesty or His mercy.  However, believers often don’t want to know about this aspect of His nature.  When they are confronted with the idea of God’s judgment, they usually react with questions rather than responding with reverent worship.”  I do like the input that Steward Briscoe gives in his commentary on Ezekiel, and one of the things that I like the best is the practical writings of how this can, and should affect our walk with the Lord.  I agree whole heartily with his statement concerning why many people do not want to look at the severity or judgment of the Lord in a way in which it brings glory to the Lord.  I remember in a Sunday school class a very gifted man was teaching us from the book of Psalms.  He had a great deal of problems with the imprecatory Psalms, the Psalms which speak of the sever judgment of the Lord.  This bothered me very much for it is a part of the Word of the Lord and therefore we have to believe it is a part of the Lord of the Word.  I have written this before, but it bears repeating, all of God’s attributes bring glory to Him, including His wrath, and His justice.

            I want to say that the quote from Steward Briscoe is more about what happens later in the book of Ezekiel and not exactly where we begin this commentary, for the six angels are the ones who are to do the sever judgment of the Lord, by killing all those who do not have the mark on their foreheads.  They begin this task at the sanctuary, which may seem like a strange place to begin, however this is where we have seen the idolatry in our previous SD’s on Ezekiel.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Often in Scripture you find God sending judgment, not because unbelievers have sinned, but because His own people have disobeyed His law!  Twice Abraham brought judgment on innocent Gentiles because he lied about his wife (Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18).  Aaron the high priest led Israel into idolatry and 3,000 people were slain (Ex. 32:1-6, 26-29).  David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband, Uriah, and his sins brought years of trouble to his family and the nation.  A crew of Gentile sailors almost drowned because of the disobedience of God’s prophet Jonah.  God’s people are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matt. 5:13-16).  If there were more salt in this world, there would be less decay, and more light would mean less darkness.  Our good works glorify the Lord, but our sins invite His discipline.  Peter warned believers in the first century that ‘judgment must begin at the house [household] of God’ (1 Peter 4:17), a warring we need to heed today as our Lord’s coming draws near.”

            These idolatress people who were worshiping the idols in the temple were breaking the law by doing this and were defiling the temple of the Lord with their idolatry, and now their dead bodies would also defile the temple, and they would become just as dead as the idols that they were worshiping.  “Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them (Psalm 115:8).”

            We see in this section of Scripture something similar to what is found in 1 Kings, as in that book we see the prophet Elijah cry out to the Lord as Ezekiel did for the remnant of the Lord, as both though that there would not be a remnant left when the Lord finished His judgment, but there was still a remnant left in both cases.  In Elijah’s case the Lord said that there were 7,000 people who had not bowed to Baal, and in Ezekiel’s case there were many whom the Lord had moved to Babylon.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that this prophecy took place in 593 BC, and the city of Jerusalem did not fall until 586 BC. 

            In conclusion to this part of this SD I want to focus in on verse one of chapter ten and the words “something like.”  As we read through the prophetic portions of Scripture we see the words “like” and “as” many times because they are not sure what exactly they are looking at.   I took the time to search the words “something like” in the book of Revelations as far as what is in the NASB.  The following verses are what I found: 

“Re 4:6  and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

Re 6:6  And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."

Re 8:8  The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,

Re 15:2  And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.

Re 19:1  After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;

Re 19:6  Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I realize that it was hard on Ezekiel to see all of those die because of their sinfulness of worshiping idols, and I suppose that it was hard on God to do this, but because of His attributes of justice and wrath He had to do it.  Also the verse in 1 Peter about the judgment of God first of all coming on His people is something that causes my heart to fear the Lord as far as what is going on in our country today.  I feel a great need in praying much for the Pastor’s or our church to make sure that they continue to be safe, and continue to preach the Word of the Lord no matter what the Lord is going to do with our country.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to keep me from sinful activity as when the temptations come that I will meditate on the Word of God.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 2:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Uzziah” (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).

Today’s Bible question:  “What was Luke’s profession?”  

Answer in our next SD.

11/29/2014 10:59 AM

              

                       

The People are Doomed PT-1 (Eze. 9:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/28/2014 8:27 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The People are Doomed PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 9:1-10:22

            Message of the verses:  This is the second main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary from the third chapter from the commentary he has written on Ezekiel.  We will look at the first of three sub-titles under this second main point in today’s SD.

            We have not too long ago studied the books of Jeremiah and also Lamentations and we learned that Jeremiah was eye wittiness to what the Lord was doing in Jerusalem as He destroyed that city along with the temple of the Lord.  What Ezekiel is writing in chapters ten and eleven is what Jeremiah saw, and just as it broke the heart of Jeremiah as evidenced in Lamentations, it also breaks the heart of Ezekiel who gave this message to the exiles.

            The Remnant Spared (Ezekiel 9:1-4):  “1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand." 2  Behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. 4  The LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."”

            As I read these verses I cannot help but believe that the Lord, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, along with those angels who had to deliver the judgment of God were saddened to do this.  With that said we move to look at some of the most interesting things that are found in these four verses. 

            We see Ezekiel in his vision is still in the temple of God, and he is near the place where the sacrifices are given.  The sacrifices were consumed by the fire which represents God’s judgment, and the blood that is shed from these sacrifices represents God’s grace. 

            We see six men, which are most probably angels in this scene of Ezekiel’s vision, and we learned in our study of Daniel that there are angels who guard nations, so it would not be hard to believe that these six angels were the guardian angels over the city of Jerusalem.  There is a seventh person, the One with the linen clothes which represent a priest, and who is going to write down the names of the people who will receive the mark showing that they are children of the Lord.  Most commentators believe that this is an appearance of the Second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ.  We learn from the book of Revelations that the believers in Tribulation period will receive a mark of God on their foreheads, and we as believers today are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God.  In his commentary on Ezekiel, Steward Briscoe states that his belief is that this sign was in the shape of a cross, and I have to say that this makes perfect sense to me for the cross of Jesus Christ is where the salvation of those who are marked by the Lord was paid for. 

            We also see in this section the Shekinah glory of the Lord, which according to Ezekiel 8:2, 4 was in the “chariot throne.”  I now want to quote from Wiersbe’s commentary and also from an endnote that he wrote.  It’s interesting that the glory of God should be associated with the judgment of a polluted city, but it is for His glory that God judges sin.”  Now from the endnote:  “Before ushering in the great day of His wrath, God showed John the Holy of Holies in heaven and the ark of the covenant (Rev. 11:15-19).  One reason the world resists the idea of divine judgment is because they divorce it from the holiness of God and the glory of God.  God was ‘enthroned’ on the mercy seat (1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; Pss. 80:1; 99:1 (NIV).  His throne is a holy throne.”  Now back to his commentary:  “It is also for His glory that God graciously saves those who put their trust in Him (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).  The Jewish people who had God’s glory dwelling among them didn’t seek to glorify Him by obeying His will, so He received glory by punishing their sins.”  This is a difficult thing to believe because many people only believe that God is love, which He surely is, but God is also a God of wrath, and a God who is just among His attributes.  All of God’s attributes bring glory to Him, and although we read that it does not make the Lord happy to judge those who are disobedient to Him He must do this because of His attributes. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I read through these difficult verses, I can be comforted by the fact that God always has a remnant, and I am thankful that I am a part of that remnant.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me victory over temptations I face.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith like ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Eden” (Genesis 2:8).

Today’s Bible question:  “What king of Judah was punished with leprosy?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/28/2014 9:27 AM

The verdict is in Judgement is certain: (Ezekiel 8:17-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/27/2014 9:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Temple is Defiled PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 8:17-18

            Message of the verses:  We come to the last two verses in the eight chapter of Ezekiel, a chapter in which we read about how the leaders in Judah have been defiling the temple with the worship of their idols.

            The Divine Judgment is Announced (Ezekiel 8:17-18):  “17 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."”

            At the beginning of his commentary on these last two verses in chapter eight Warren Wiersbe reviews what Ezekiel had been shown by the Lord:  “Ezekiel has seen only a part of the evidence that the people in Jerusalem had abandoned themselves to idolatry.  He had seen an idol in the temple, defiling its very precincts and yet begin worshiped by people who also claimed to worship the Lord, as though Jehovah were one God among many, not the Lord of lords.  Then he saw the leaders secretly worshiping false gods in the temple.  After that, everything was out in the open: the women weeping for Tammuz, and the priests/elders bowing down to the sun.  In God’s sight, these things were abominable and disable and they provoked Him to anger.  Except for the faithful remnant, the Jewish people no longer feared God or cared about pleasing Him.”

            I have read people’s different ideas about what it means in verse 17 when we read “they are putting the twig to their nose.”  Whatever this means it was not something that was lifting up the Lord.  John MacArthur writes “The meaning is uncertain, but it seems to have been some act of contempt toward God.  The Gr. OT translation rendered it, ‘they are as mockers.’”

            The problem that these people had is the very problem that is happening in our nation, and for that matter around the whole world, and that problem is that people have lost their fear of the Lord.  I have mentioned time and time again that evolution is the problem that causes people not to fear the Lord for when one believes in evolution they do not have to believe in God, for if God did not create the world then people do not have an obligation to worship and fear Him.  Evolution is a religion in and of itself, and it is a false religion, a religion in which God is not in, and here lies the problem. 

            Now Ezekiel has seen all of the evidence that God has shown to him and not the verdict has come in and it is not good for those who live in Judah at this time for the verdict is guilty and judgment is a sure thing to happen right away.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Heb 10:31 “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  This makes me so glad that Jesus paid it all, and all to Him I owe.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Since today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA I have to say that the thing that I am most thankful for is the salvation that God has called me to through my Lord Jesus Christ.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 2:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 5:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “In which garden did God place man?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/27/2014 10:19 AM

             

The Temple is Defiled PT-2B (Ezekiel 8:7-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2014 8:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The Temple is Defiled PT-2B

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 8:7-16

            Message of the verses:  We will look at the second part of the second sub-point from the main point listed above in the “Focus” part of this SD.

            The Idolatry of the People was Exposed PT-2 (Ezekiel 8:7-18):  “7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8  He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here." 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11  Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ’The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’"

    13 And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing." 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these." 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them."”

            Just a thought before we begin to write about what is in these verses, and that is I was just wondering as I looked at these verses what was the Lord thinking while all of these things were going on that He was showing Ezekiel.  As I look at the attributes of God I realize that He is a God of wrath, and His wrath was about to be seen as these verses indicate, but as I look back at all of the things that God had done for the nation of Israel and then look at these awful things that they were doing which were totally against what He had taught them I have to believe that this surely saddened the heart of God, and many times I don’t think about how this kind of things affected God.  When God was pouring out His wrath on His One and only Son as He hung on the cross I realize that He knew that this was done for every person who would ever be saved, and yet it had to bring heartache to God to do this, to see His Son take on all of the sins of the world, to become sin for us so that we can have His righteousness, I still believe that this was so very difficult for God to do this.  Now when I sin, and the Word says that we all sin “8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us (1 John 1:8-10).”  This too has to break the heart of God to see me sin, for after all He has done everything for me, and even put His Holy Spirit in me to aid me in living a life that is pleasing to Him, and yet I still sin as all believers do.  My point in all of this is that I am looking at, or at least trying to look at what God is actually feeling when He saw and then showed to Ezekiel all of the abominations that were going on in Jerusalem during this period before He destroyed the temple and the city through the Babylonians.

            As we look at verse seven we can understand why Steward Briscoe entitled his chapter in his commentary “The Hole in the Wall.”   What Ezekiel sees on the other side of the wall after he breaks through is more of the abominations that God is showing him.  In this case it was a secret chamber and there were seventy elders who were burning incense to various idols, who images were painted on the wall.  Let us look at a couple of verses from Exodus and also Numbers that speak of how what Ezekiel saw was suppose to happen:  “9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself Exodus (24:9-10).”  No we will look at several verses from Numbers 11:16 and following:  “16 The LORD therefore said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 “Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.”  Again we see the number seventy in this passage, now I know that seven is the number of perfection, and I would believe that this was why the Lord used seventy men and because Satan is a copycat trying to be like God he used seventy men whom Ezekiel was looking and copying some of the things that are found in these verse we have looked at.  Paul writes about “creeping things” in Romans chapter one::  “18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:18-25).”  This is what these men were doing, and it indicates how far they fell.  The reason they were in this room is because they did not believe the Lord saw them there, so they forgot about the fact that God is omnipresence. 

            Now we will look at the women at the gate who were worshiping “Tammuz” as seen in verses 8:13-14.  Steward Briscoe writes “Tammuz, a pagan god of nature, had been imported to make up what was presumably lacking in Jehovah.  A large part of the worship of Tammuz, which was closely related to ideas of vegetation and fertility, was mourning that he had died and become the god of the underworld.  His followers plated gardens where they wept for and worshiped him.  Isaiah may have alluded to this when he referred to the people’s futile gardening efforts (Isa. 17:10-11). 

            Now we will look at the next abomination that Ezekiel saw from verses 15-16 which was “that of twenty-five men at the door of the temple, between the porch (entry) and the brazen altar, openly bowing down to the sun.”  (Dr. Wiersbe)  What these men were doing, which was worshiping the sun, they were doing it in the open and what they were doing was worshiping the creation instead of worshiping the One who created.  “1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3  "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4  "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5  "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6  but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:1-6).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry (Colossians 3:5).”  Idolatry begins in the mind before it extends to the body, for the body only does what the mind wants it to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on the things on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).”

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Two” (Luke 5:7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/26/2014 9:54 AM

 

           

The Temple Defiled PT-2 (Ezekiel 8:3-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/25/2014 9:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Temple is Defiled PT2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:   Ezekiel 8:3-16

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the second of three sub-points under this first main point in Warren Wiersbe’s outline from his third chapter of his commentary on the book of Ezekiel.

            The Idolatry of the People was Exposed (Ezekiel 8:3-16):  “3 He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain. 5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north." So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations."

    “7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, "Son of man, now dig through the wall." So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, "Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here." 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ’The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’"

    “13 And He said to me, "Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing." 14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these." 16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.”

            It is the belief of Warren Wiersbe, and I surely agree with him, that Ezekiel remained in his house and saw what was going on in Jerusalem.  One wonders what the elders thought as Ezekiel began to see the vision we are going to read and study about.  The first thing he saw was what he describes as “the image of jealously.”  I want to point out that the first place that Ezekiel landed in this vision was at the north gate.  Steward Briscoe states that this was the place where the king would go in and out of the temple, he states this gate is called the “altar gate” “and was adjacent to the King’s palace and was particularly important because it was used by the king.”

            He writes the following about jealously:  “Our understanding of jealousy is such that we sometimes have trouble thinking of God stooping to such an unworthy, immature attitude.  But God had shown that He was a jealous God in the law that He had given through Moses to the people.  It was not that God was immature and threatened by opposition, but that anything that contradicted Him was error and anything erroneous was detrimental to His people.  He could not take a ‘broad view’ of error any more than He could have a tolerant attitude toward iniquity.  To do either would be to jeopardize His own integrity and ultimately confounded and confuse the people even more.”

            The question arises from what Ezekiel saw are we, in our worship doing something that is against what the Lord has taught us in His Word?  Do we worship or put things before the Lord in our worship of Him?  I suppose that we all can say that we do put things before our worship of the Lord.  Remember that worship is 24/7/365.  Briscoe writes “Yet perhaps we are not far enough removed from our own situation to be able to see that there may be areas in our worship where we expect the Lord to share His place with the things that contradict His very being and nature.”  The bad thing about this “image of jealousy” is that it was right there as one walks into the temple of the Lord. 

            Now this, what Ezekiel was seeing, did not happen overnight, it happened a little bit at a time.  I remember a story of a small boxer who was in the U.S. navy and he needed a man to spare with him.  He asked this much larger man to spare with him and this large man thought that he could handle this job without a problem so he began to spare with him.  At first the blows from the small boxer had little effect, but as the sparring went on they began to have great effect on him and he began to weaken and eventually had to stop.  Satan used this same strategy on the people of Judah and he also uses this same strategy on all of God’s people and if we are not careful we will be worshiping idols just like the people of Judah did.  John writes “15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abides for ever (1 John 2:15-17).”  Eve fell this same way in the garden.  Now as Ezekiel sees this the Lord tells him that he will see worse things in this vision, and he surely will.  This statement is told to Ezekiel a number of times in this chapter.

            As we read about what Ezekiel saw in this vision it is as if God was showing it to him so when He destroys this temple and the city that Ezekiel sees the reason that he will do this.  These sinful things that Ezekiel sees show him why the Lord will remove His glory from the temple, and Dr. Wiersbe writes “Without the presence of God, the temple was just another building.  It was the blasphemous sins of the religious leaders that drove God away from His holy house, and Ezekiel was about to see how wicked these leaders really were.  This statement reminds me of the statement that Steward Briscoe wrote earlier in his commentary on Ezekiel:  “Could one say that God prefers to be unrepresented rather than misrepresented?”  For a while, at least, God was going to be unrepresented in Jerusalem.

            We will continue looking at these verses in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul writes in one of his letters to the Corinthians that the things that are written in the OT are for our benefit so that we will not repeat things like we are reading about now.  I am no better than the people of Judah who worshipped idols, if I chose to worship idols in a different form. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give us a safe trip to see a doctor, and that he will be able to help the situation that needs to be helped.

Memory verses for the week: 2 Peter 1:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Apostles” (Luke 6:13).

Today’s Bible question:  “How many boats full of fish did Peter and the fisherman catch?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/25/2014 10:28 AM

             

           

The Temple is Defiled PT-1 (Ezek. 8:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/24/2014 10:09 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Temple is Defiled PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 8:1-2

            Message of the verses:  We begin looking at a series of chapters from the book of Ezekiel, chapters 8-11 and in his commentary on Ezekiel Warren Wiersbe entitles this chapter “The Glory Has Departed.”  Steward Briscoe’s commentary also begins a new chapter on these verses and he entitles it “The Hole in the Wall.”  We have been following the outline from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary but have also addressed some of the things that Steward Briscoe had said.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following at the end of his beginning commentary for this section of Ezekiel:  “Recorded in these chapters is a remarkable vision that God gave Ezekiel, which he shared with the elders of the people of Israel (Ezek. 11:25).  It wasn’t an easy message to preach because it dealt with three great tragedies in the life of the Jewish nation:  the temple was defiled (8:1-18), the people were doomed (9:1-10:22), and the leaders were deceived (11:1-25).  The truths he shared in this message were opposite to what the false prophets were declaring both in Jerusalem and in Babylon.  In their blind overconfidence, the false prophets and the officials who followed them all claimed that God would never permit His holy temple to fall into the hands of pagan Gentiles, but they proved to be wrong.” 

            Chapter eight happens around 14 months after Ezekiel’s last messages that we just finished studying.  We note from Ezekiel chapter eight that the hand of the Lord lifted him up by his hair, and so Ezekiel had to have time to grow his hair back that he had cut off to give earlier messages to the people.  We also notice that the Jewish people had formed some kind of little government while they were in exile so there was some order there for them.  These new elders would come and visit Ezekiel and were doing so at the beginning of this chapter, but Ezekiel would be gone in an instant after they arrived.  Commentators are not sure if this was a vision in which Ezekiel had disappeared or if he remained there in body, but was seeing a vision in his mind.  Either way it was the Lord who was showing Ezekiel what he was seeing.

            The Glory of God was Revealed (Ezekiel 8:1-2):  “1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal.”

            We have mentioned the glory of the Lord in different Spiritual Diaries before, but it is good to go over it in this SD.  We know that while in the garden, before sin entered the world that Adam and Eve had seen the glory of the Lord, but once sin entered the world they hid from the Lord.  Moses saw the glory of the Lord and even begged the Lord to show him His glory while on the Mountain.  When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness the glory of the Lord filled it and remained there until it left as seen in 1 Samuel 4:19-22.  When Solomon built the temple and preached that wonderful sermon to the people of Israel the glory of the Lord filled the temple “10  It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11  so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD (1 Kings 8:10-11).”  Ezekiel would see the glory of the Lord leave the temple, and I believe that the next time that the glory of the Lord would enter the rebuilt temple would be when the Lord Jesus Christ entered the temple.  The people of God need to see the glory of the Lord as Moses longed to see while leading the people of God in the wilderness.  Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord as seen in the first chapters of his book, and now he will see the glory of the Lord again in chapter eight, for we believe that this was the preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, something He did from time to time in the OT.  Ezekiel needed this encouragement as he was doing the ministry that God had given him to do.  Daniel saw similar things from the Lord and fainted and was sick for many days after seeing the glory of the Lord.  The apostle John, as he recorded seeing the Lord in the book of Revelations also fell down and had to be lifted up after seeing the resurrected Lord.  As human beings we are not fully capable in seeing the Lord in all of His glory, and even seeing a part of it people become faint. 

            God’s people had sinned and therefore God punished them by having the Babylonians attack them and take a part of them to Babylon.  This was a difficult time for them, but the Lord was not done with them and He would use people like Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah to show them that He was not done with them. 

            Warren Wiersbe writes the following as he concludes this first sub-section:  “God’s servants may think that their greatest need is to see new visions and hear new voices, but the Lord doesn’t always work that way.  Instead, He often meets the need by giving us a fresh experience of the original call.  The Lord reminded His servant that He was still on the throne and that His providential care for him and his people had never ceased.  What more did Ezekiel need to know?”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I need to be satisfied with the ministry that the Lord has given to me, that of writing my Spiritual Diaries and put them onto my blogs.  I have been given a fresh look at this and continue to pray that God will use these to bring glory to His Son.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray and believe that the Lord will use the ministry that He has given to me.

Memory verses for the week: 2 Peter 1:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as our, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Because it was that he killed and Egyptian” (Exodus 2:11-15).

Today’s Bible question:  “What were the disciples also called?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/24/2014 10:53 AM     

Ezekiel's 2nd Spoken Message PT-3 (Ezekiel 7:22-27)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/23/2014 7:56 AM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Ezekiel’s 2^nd Spoken Message PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 7:22-27

            Message of the verses:  We will be looking at the last sub-section from the seventh chapter of Ezekiel in Today’s SD.

            The Disruption from the Disaster (Ezekiel 7:22-27):  “22 ’I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it. 23’make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 ’Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. 25 ’When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 26 ’Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 ’The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.’"”

            I have highlighted “My secret Place” and I believe that this is speaking of the temple, and perhaps the Holy of Holies which was in the temple, and God says that He will allow robbers to enter it and profane it.  This happened when it was torn down by the Babylonians.  I have also highlighted “full of bloody crimes,” and Ezekiel is speaking of all the crimes that the people committed including the sacrificing of innocent babies on the heathen altars.  A couple of days ago I was listening to a question and answer series from John MacArthur, where those in the church he pastors ask him questions and he answers them.  A lady wanted to know if it was all right for her to go to a doctor who does abortions for her prenatal care.  I won’t get into all of his answer, but he did speak of why God would someday judge America in his opinion, and one of the reasons is because of all of the abortions that have happened legally in this country since (I believe), 1973.  We have become a bloody nation and just as the blood of Able cries out so does the blood of all those innocent babies cry out.  The last count I have heard was in excess of 50 million babies have been killed through our unlawful law of allowing abortion.

            In verse twenty-four Ezekiel says that God will bring the worst of nations to conquer His people, and they will live in the houses of His people because of their sin.  Verse twenty-six speaks of the people seeking peace, but God will not give them His peace because of their sins.  Verse twenty-six speaks of the anguish that the people will be going through and they will look for a vision from a prophet, but the prophets will have none, and the one who did have one, Jeremiah, they did not listen to for they thought that God would never destroy His temple or stop the line of David from ruling in Jerusalem.  In verse twenty-seven we read about the judgment that God will put upon them and Ezekiel says “by their judgments I will judge them.”  A few days ago I was reading an older SD from over three years ago and a quote from Warren Wiersbe was in it and it went something like this “The worst thing that God can do in order to judge His people is allow them to have their own way.”  This seems to be the case as seen in verse twenty-seven.

            Warren Wiersbe concludes this sub-section with these words from Psalm 33:10-11 “10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.”

            The following is a quote from Steward Briscoe from his commentary on this section of Scripture.  “Details of the ‘end’ that the people were to anticipate in the very near future showed that moral, financial, and social disintegration was inevitable (7:10-27).  All they had held dear would fall apart.  The things they had trusted would fold up and disappear.  The things in which they had taken delight would become unpleasant and irrelevant, and the things that hand filled their thinking and captivated their attention would be shown to be useless in their hour of real trouble.  The end was about to arrive and when the Lord finally chose to act, nobody and nothing could stand it one moment longer.

            “These words were a salutary warning for those who in Israel’s history had presumed on God’s mercy.  It is an equally salutary note for those who today assume that disaster could never befall those who rebel and resist God as thoroughly and relentlessly as those to whom Ezekiel spoke.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the quote from Steward Briscoe, and the quote that I tried to remember from Warren Wiersbe, and look at what John MacArthur said about abortion, then look at our country it makes me tremble.  Revival is the only thing that can prolong the destruction of our country, and how do we know that God will grant one.  My hope and my prayer is that God will have mercy on our land.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to do the things that I know are right, and to live my life in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:1-2.

1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:  2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Psalm 23.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Why did Moses flee from Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/23/2014 8:38 AM