Happy New Year

I am going to pause in our study of Ezkiel today a wish everyone a happy New Year.  We have the beginning of a year with nothing written on it yet.  It is up to each individual what they will write on this year each day.  Oh, I know there are forces beyond our control that will affect aspects of our lives, but they should not change who we are as followers of Christ.

First, we should reach out to God by the leadership of the Holy Spirit in everything that we do, and we should never be intimidated into doing anything less than what He calls us to do.  "The just shall live by faith," is something we find recorded several times in the Bible (Romans 1:17. Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, Habakkuk 2:4) so this is what we need to be doing, living by faith and not sight.

Next, we should be reaching out to our neighbors with the love of God.  This is true of those who are poor and downtrodden in particllar.  I don't believe we can say that we are living by faith in God and hate our neighbors. I don't believe that God sees people as worthy or unworthy of His gift of salvation based on where they were born.  The whole world ad all of creation are His and at one point, He pronounced it all good, and when mankind rebelled against Him, He sent Hid only begotten Son to die to redeem all who put their faith in Him and not just for select people from select countries.  We need to be reaching out to all with the love of God and not with hatred from a feeling of moral superiority.

Last, let's make this coming New Year one in which we live our life guided by God's love and not mankind's hatred, where we really do love our neighbor as ourselves, realizing that none of us deserve God's mercy, since we are all sinners saved by grace.  Happy New Year to all.

Ezekiel 7:20

Ezekiel 7:20 says, As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.  God was speaking about the temple now.  It had been a beautiful house of God and the people of Israel thought it would bring them protection, but they had polluted it with false gods and false teachings.  No matter how beautiful the temple was, if God had been left out of the worship that was going on there, it offered no sanctuary from the forces of the world.  We may have a beautiful church sanctuary, but if we are worshipping false gods or are not teaching and obeying God’s word, it will never be a sanctuary from the evil of the world. God said He set the temple far from them, which happened when they were in captivity.  If we start to worship false gods in our church buildings, we will be far away from God, and He may let us stay there.   

Verse twenty-one adds, And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.  God said He was going to give the temple over to strangers and that they would pollute it, which was really better than God’s chosen people polluting it.  The strangers would not understand all that the temple represented, whereas the people of Israel should have, but they had polluted it.  When the people of Israel polluted the temple with idols and false teachings, the temple was just a beautiful building, because God wasn’t there. No matter how beautiful our sanctuaries may be, if God is not the focus of our worship service when we gather in His name in word only, it is just a beautiful building,   

Verse twenty-two continues, My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.   God said He was going to turn His face away from the temple and that these strangers, who were the Chaldeans, would pollute the temple, even God’s most holy place, and that they would take everything that was used in worship to enrich themselves. They would see them as no more than any other gold and silver, and if they weren’t being used to worship and glorify God, they really weren’t any different.  Our body as followers of Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we need to do all that we can to never pollute it. 

 

Ezekiel 7:16

Ezekiel 7:16 says, But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.  Ezekiel said that those who escaped would be on the mountain mourning for their iniquity. Matthew Henry says that those who escaped would die a thousand deaths whereas those who had been killed would only die once.  They would live in solitude and never find peace of mind. If we are not following God's will in our life, then we will never have peace of mind and may at times may feel like we are all alone in the world.    

Verse seventeen adds, All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.  Not only would they be suffering from grief, but they would be physically weak as well.  We should never believe that we are strong enough to live without God’s help, because he can quickly take our strength away.  We should always look to God for our strength, and when we don’t, we will always be spiritually weak, even if we are physically strong.   

Verse eighteen continues, They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.  God said that the people of Israel instead of being clothed in fine clothes would be clothed in sackcloth, which was a sign of mourning.  God had given them a great nation where they had everything they needed, but they had turned away from Him, so now all they had left was clothes of mourning.  When we become a Christian, God gives us everything we need to live a prosperous spiritual life, but if we claim to be a Christian without truly accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will one day be sent away to everlasting mourning.   

Verse nineteen concludes, They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.  God said that their silver and gold would do them no good, but in fact would have been a stumbling block to them.  We may have all the wealth that we can imagine in the world, but it will not save us and at times may even be a stumbling block to our being saved.  

Ezekiel 7:11

 Ezekiel 7:11 says, Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their's: neither shall there be wailing for them.  God said that violence had risen up into a rod of wickedness because of the people of Israel rejecting Him.  We may not have a rod to punish us if we do not put our faith in God in this lifetime, but when God comes in judgment, He will send His rod of punishment on us.   

Verse twelve adds, The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.  Ezekiel said the day had come for the people of Isreal to be punished for their iniquity. This was to apply to all the people of Israel, or the united tribe.  None would be spared from God’s judgment.  God’s judgement is closer than it has ever been, and when it comes, none will be spared.  We will either be pronounced not guilty by putting or faith in Jesus Christ or we will be pronounced guilty if we haven’t.  

Verse thirteen continues, For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. God said that His word was true and that no one could change it.  His word would accomplish what He said it would, and it would never come back to Him void.  We can be certain that God’s word will always come to pass, and it will apply to all people, whether they believe it or not.   

Verse fourteen states, They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.  God said that the trumpet calling them to battle had sounded but that no one responded to it. Even those who might have responded didn’t have the courage to engage in battle.  When God’s trumpet sounds at the return of Jesus Christ in judgment, no one will be able to withstand His judgment.   

Verse fifteen adds, The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.  God said that no one would be spared from the coming judgment.  Those in the field would die by the sword in the field, and those who were in the city, where they thought they were safe from the sword, would die of famine. When God’s judgment comes, there will be no place for those who haven’t put their faith in Jesus Christ where it does not apply, even if we think we are somehow exempt.