Month: September 2023

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The Inner Circle

Ezekiel 44 No matter whether you are a member of a church, social group, or a place, there are some people who are considered to be a part of the inner circle. These people are the ones “in the know.” They may know the news before others or have been given special status. Did you recognize that God has His “inner “circle” as well? In this chapter, God zeroes in on the Zadok priests and gives them special status. The Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, kept charge of God’s sanctuary when the other priests went astray. Because of their faithfulness, God tells Ezekiel that they alone will be His “inner circle” of trusted priests and will be able to stand before God and offer the sacrifices. The other Levites will be servants to them because they had not been faithful and had, in fact, been responsible for profaning the temple in the past, and thus, God would not be able to use their skills. They lost the privilege by their unfaithfulness.

Faithfulness has its reward, and this chapter points out that God honors those who have been faithful to Him and His ways. Are you faithful in your service to the Lord? Are you part of His “inner circle.” 

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God’s Majestic Power

Ezekiel 43 Here in Dallas, there is an Arboretum with a manmade waterfall with a ledge behind it. You can walk behind the waterfall and experience the sounds and feel the spray of water. It is magical! Imagine being Ezekiel experiencing the sounds of a mighty rushing water, like a massive waterfall, as God re-enters the Temple, and the earth radiated with His glory. As before, when Ezekiel experienced God, he fell prostrate at his feet. Is this how we respond to God’s very presence as we sit before Him in our quiet time? Do we experience His power and His presence?

God called Ezekiel, empowered, and placed him where he could witness God’s return to the Temple. Ezekiel described God’s voice as that of a “sound like that of rushing water.” Previously, Ezekiel was present when God chose to leave the temple due to the sin of men. [Ezek 10:18] Now, he is given the vision of God’s presence returning. Then God hovered as He left the Temple, but here God returns quickly and with the addition of the sound of many waters or the sound of a majestic waterfall.

When God entered your life with the power of the Holy Spirit, did you then, and do you now fall prostrate and worship Him? 

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Are we prepared?

Ezekiel 40-41 For Such a Time as This

This phrase was given to Queen Esther when she hesitated to speak to her husband, the king, about Haman’s treachery. Mordecai told her that perhaps she had been put in her position ‘for such a time as this.’ She asked her maids to fast (and we imagine, pray) for wisdom to know what to say and when to say it. In this chapter in Ezekiel, we find something similar. “The man said to me (that is Ezekiel), “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you, for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.” [Ezek 40:4]

God desires three things of us: a heart that is prepared to see with our eyes hear with our ears, and have a heart to understand what the Sovereign Lord is saying. As we begin our reading each day and as we enter His presence to pray, do we ask God for these three things so we might give attention to His Word and be able to share what the Holy Spirit reveals to us?

The challenge for today: Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding so we might be able to impart the truth of the scriptures to others. 

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The Sovereign Lord…

Ezekiel 38-39 End of the End

God has spoken, and it will come to pass that all of God’s enemies will be found in their guilt. That was then, but this is today, so how do we take a passage like this and make it relevant? Look about you, Christian, and see the enemies of our souls. They are in our midst in social media and in false teachers and preachers. Peter told his audience to be sober and alert, for the enemy of our souls is not quiet but is like a roaring lion stalking his prey. [1 Peter 5:8] A former pastor said he has a “hit list” of those who need salvation and those who profess but do not possess by their life the living Word of God.

Ezekiel is shown the enemies of His people. Like then, we have today those around our world who say they will “devise an evil plan.” [Ezek 38:10] But, God is sovereign, and His plan will supersede any that the enemy devises. Even in Ezekiel 38, it is the Sovereign Lord who speaks and reminds them He has placed His prophets in the world to proclaim His zeal and His fury to ‘make my holy name known in the midst of my people, Israel.” [Ezek 38:7] God gave Israel His prophets, but the greatest prophet came in the Living Word of God: Christ!

Be alert beloved! Be on your guard! Jesus said, stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. [Matt 26:41]

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What is on God’s Mind?

Ezekiel 35-37 Ezekiel continues to prophesy what God has told him, but these chapters are particularly confusing for us, and I wonder if it was for him.

First, God reminds Mt. Seir or the Edomites, who are Esau’s descendants, that He is angry with them for their treatment of their brethren in Judah. Thus, He has planned judgment for them and will not turn back so that they will know that “I am the Lord.” Amid this, God says He will renew Israel, so they too will know “He is the Lord.” When God exhibits His power, do I know it was Him and not me?

Secondly, God will bring new life into dead bones, which is a picture of our deadness and the new life Christ gives to us. When this happens, we too will know that “He is the Lord.” Without His power, salvation is merely a set of words, but when the Holy Spirit enters us, we come to new life and see our life with a purpose.

Both excerpts have a principle: God is sovereign over life and death. His power vindicates the enemy’s lies and restores us to new life. 

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More on the topic of destiny

Ezek 28-31 Destiny

Throughout history, there have risen many leaders who boasted of their prowess and their accomplishments. King Solomon warns that those who self-exalt will be humbled, and as it was written, so it came to be. Nebuchadnezzar boasted of the city Babylon as the work of his hands and spent the next 7 yrs. living as a wild animal. God was gracious to bring his kingdom back, and he wrote of that experience that we can read in the book of Daniel. But two other leaders will not be so fortunate. The King of Tyre will be overthrown, as will Pharaoh of Egypt. In both scenarios, Ezekiel is to remind them that what He has said, He will do for He is the “Lord who rules over all,” repeatedly over and over in Malachi.

Why has God recorded all of these stories for us? He wants us to know that the circumstances of life are brief, and He alone is God both now and eternally. He raises up and puts down leaders, and He is gracious to the humble and destroys the self-exalted. He alone is God, and He alone is to be praised.

James wrote: Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. [James 4:10] God looks at the heart, not what we have accomplished. 

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“It isn’t fair!”

Ezekiel 24-28 and beyond. “It’s not fair.”

The elders sat around Ezekiel, wondering what was going on and why they were in Babylon. While they are pining away, they are saying it isn’t fair that we are in Babylon while our enemies walk free and clear of their sins, How often do we say the same: Why me? Why not them? So, in this time, God graciously shows them that although they sinned and are now in exile for that sin, there will come a time when all of the wrongs will be made right. God will reveal Himself to these enemies one last time so they may know He is Lord of all and has spoken in order that they might repent and be saved.

How often are we, like Thomas or the Jews of Jesus’ day, looking for signs? Jesus told the Pharisees that the only sign He would give them was His resurrection. Over and over, He had revealed His power through miracles, but they closed their hearts, eyes, and ears. The exiles are just like them. God sent prophet after prophet to warn them, but they rejected them, and now they are here in Babylon, asking why.

God is so patient and long-suffering. Do I ask why instead of seeking Him and seeking to do good? Do I listen to the Word rather than obeying the Word?

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God looks…

Ezekiel 22 Standing in the Gap

As the prophet of God, Ezekiel uses great illustrations to grab our attention and help the exiles understand their problem before a holy God. One is this statement: Eze 22:30: “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.” Before then and even now, God looks, and He observes. He notes those who are faithful and those who are faithless. He needs just one man, one woman, to stand for Him. They must be strong, individualistic, honest, and faithful to God in all ways. God uses Ezekiel to tell the errant elders that God looked for one of them, but He found not one. 

When God looks down from heaven now does He see those who exhibit those qualities? Does He see that in me? Am I faithful and true to His Word? Do I stand ready to defend God before a lost and dying world? 

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Oaths and the Stubborn Heart

Ezekiel 20 Oaths

Three times God says he raised his hand in an oath to complete an action. We take an oath before a judge and jury to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. God is saying that to these disobedient rebel elders as they come to Ezekiel to hear from God. He is so angry that he says he is in a rage! A rage is an uncontrollable anger, and that is how God is towards these He has chosen to carry His name to the nations. He no longer will listen to them. Have you ever experienced that kind of rage? I did once, and it was destructive and disheartening to me. Did it get my attention? It sure did. But these elders are so hardened to the voice of God and His rage that Ezekiel must have been, as we say, flummoxed. There is only one way back to a right relationship with God, and it begins with repentance, but they are not yet ready to take that step. You can hear the heart of God saying; Return to Me, seek Me, and live but alas, they are not ready. What will it take? It will take 70 more years, and even then, they will wallow in their sin.

Why are we so stubborn? Why are we so unrepentant? Jeremiah said it perfectly: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. [Jer 17:9] Only God can change that; we must be ready to yield to His call. The overwhelming patience of God is mind-boggling. Are we ready to yield to Him?

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Choices and Destiny 

Ezekiel 19 Yes, you are free to make choices, but you are not free from those consequences. As noted, the rich man in Luke 16:19-31 will live through eternity with the choice he made here on earth. He can’t blame God, for God has provided all the evidence one needs to accept or reject Him. The apostle Paul wrote: “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.” [Rom 1:20] 

Richard Dawkins is in the news again as he seeks to undermine the beliefs of Christians and those seeking. Yet, one day, he may find himself as the rich man with no avenue of redemption. Yet, on the other side is the author Sarah Young of “Jesus Calling,” who is now seeing Jesus face to face as she passed away today. 

Choose ye this day whom you will serve. Wisdom is found in hearing from God about your destiny. 

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