Monday, April 27, 2015

The Birds Receive a Sacrifice (Ezek. 39:17-20)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2015 7:41 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:    The Call to the Feast

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezekiel 39:17-20

            Message of the verses:  “17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ’Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 “So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 “You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.”

            This is not the most pleasant thing to talk or write about, but it is a part of God’s Word so we have to look at it and learn from it.  God is speaking through Ezekiel to tell the birds that are the carrion-eating type of birds that they are going to a feast and He even goes so far to tell them that He is the one making this sacrifice for them.  We know from our past studies that many people will die and it will take the Jews seven months to cleanse the land of the corpses, but these birds will come and eat those corpses and leave the bones for them to be buried so that the land will be cleansed.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The invitation to a feast is a frequent biblical image for the judgment of God and His victory over His enemies.  Isaiah uses it for God’s victory over Edom (Isa. 34:6), Jeremiah for God’s victory over Egypt (Jer. 46:10), and Zephaniah for the Lord’s dealing with Judah (Zeph. 1:7-8).”  I knew that there was another one that I have recently read and it is from Revelation 19:17-21 “17  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”  These verses sound very similar to the ones in Ezekiel, and perhaps that is why some Bible commentators place this judgment at the end of the tribulation period.  Dr. Wiersbe concludes “So humiliating is this defeat of God and his allies that the Lord refers to their officers as rams, lambs, goats, and bullocks!  They arrogantly entered Israel as proud soldiers but would be buried like slaughtered animals.  Such is the fleeting greatness of man.”

            This section has always remedied me of Pharaoh and how proud that he was before that Lord used ten plagues to defeat Egypt in order for His name to be made great because of the victory and that is what will happen in this judgment too as the Lord’s name will be lifted up because of the defeat of Gog and all the nations that came with him to go into Israel, which they thought would be easy, but were in the end like Pharaoh were humbled.  Pride was the first sin ever committed and pride is something that needs to be avoided at all costs.  4/27/2015 8:01 PM

 

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