Jealousy

O. T. #1866  "Jealousy"

January 22, 2021

Ezekiel 8-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

Have you been jealous? It may have been a person that we felt was our rival or a thing that someone has and we want. Did you know that God is a jealous God? Read on friend to find out more.

 

Ezekiel was sitting in his house in Babylon with the elders of Judah when the hand of the LORD God fell upon him.

Here, the word hand refers to the open hand (indicating power, means, direction).

 Did God extend His open, powerful hand to the prophet? Or was it a spiritual thing? (Guess have to wait ask him when we get to heaven.) Either physically or spiritually Ezekiel was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem, before it's destruction. Anyway, the Spirit of God lifted him up (by the hair) between earth and heaven, taking him to the door of the Temple. He saw what God had been seeing for years, what was going on in the Temple that was established for His worship alone. It was the abominable sin of idolatry that was happening there.

What 5 things took place in Ezekiel's vision at the Temple of God by the people of Judah?

1. At the northern inner gate there was a statue that provoked God to jealousy. (verse 4) It may have been the idol that King Manasseh had put inside the Temple (2 Kings 21), which was blasphemous and an abomination unto the Lord. It had been pulled out (by Josiah, but replaced later) and the people worshiped it (instead of repenting of their sin). Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3) They were to neither make images to worship nor purchase them so they could bow down to them. Yet they did, and this made God jealous.

Jealous means intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness, according to Webster's Dictionary.

The prophet Nahum wrote in his book during the time the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria because of Israel's idolatry: God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.

We know that God brought judgment upon Israel and Judah because of their unfaithfulness, worshiping idols instead of Him, the One True and Living God. He used pagan armies of Assyria and Babylon to punish them. Yet, God is merciful and loving. He would have saved Israel and Judah had they only repented of their sins. He is a righteous and just God who cannot permit evil in His universe, also.

Paul asked a good question in 1 Corinthians 10:22, Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

Are we spending enough time in worship and Bible study? Are we pleasing our God or making Him jealous because our time is spent doing other things?

LET IT GROW

God was also there in glory, but was ignored while the people worshiped the idol. (verse 4)

Sin would expel the people from their land and God from His sanctuary. (verse 6)

When we go to the church building to worship, do we/others take things with us? Do we/others sell items there? Are we/others on our phone instead of listening to the preacher proclaim God's Word? Are we singing songs that please our flesh or please God? Do we go to meet with friends and catch up on the latest or to meet with God? Do we leave the same way we had entered or is our heart changed? Is God's house a house of prayer?

It is good for us to evaluate our worship and spiritual growth.  

LET IT GO

Jesus, You alone are our Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Hope.

Lead us in the path of righteousness.

May we worship You only, and in truth.

Be merciful to us sinners for we stay from You so often.

May our praises be heard praising You.

The Glory of God

O. T. #1865 "The Glory of God"

January 21, 2021

Ezekiel 8

LET IT GLOW

Who am I? Folks, I am so unworthy to speak on the topic of God's glory today. However, we can't skip over it. I am a child of God through the blood of Jesus and pray for His guidance today.

This vision occurred to Ezekiel a year and 2 months after the first vision in 1:1. The hand of the LORD ushered the prophet into a series of visions (verse 3) stretching to the end of chapter 11. (MacArthur)

In verse 2, Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord, as in 1:26-28. Glory means splendor, honor in the Hebrew language.

Ezekiel was sitting in his own house in Babylon with the elders of Judah who sat before him. (verse 1) No doubt they were seeking a word from the Lord. (verses 1-3)  Matthew Henry says it could have occurred on the Sabbath day, as the men came to hear the word from the prophet and join with him in prayer and praise. There was no Jewish temple nor synagogue, neither priest nor altar where they were. Others say it was an extraordinary occasion when the elders visited Ezekiel to enquire of the Lord. (Isn't it ironic now that Judah was in captivity and the elders chose to seek the Lord?) Note that Ezekiel does not tell the elders about his vision until chapter 11.

The description Ezekiel gives in verse 2 is  the same as the one in 1:27. It is probable that it was the same person, the man Christ Jesus. Then there appeared to him a glorious figure comprised of fire from the waist down who gleamed of amber from the waist up. (verse 2)

Jesus showed Himself  in holiness and purity by fire, in all His splendor. He appeared to Moses in the burning bush, at the cleft of the rock, and in the Tabernacle in the wilderness. God's presence was seen by the people in the cloud by day and the fire by night during their walk in the wilderness, as well at Mount Siniai. It is usually referred to as the Shekinah, which is from the Hebrew root word for to dwell or abide since God dwelt with the people.

It was no ordinary God who entered the Tabernacle; it is the Shekinah glory. Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. The LORD of Hosts, He is the King of Glory. (Ps. 24:8-10)

Later, God dwelt above the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, where He met with Moses.  (Exodus 25:22) The Tabernacle was a temporary Temple of worship that could be transported from place to place. In the Temple, only the purified high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year, on the Day of Atonement when offer the blood sacrifice for the Jews sins, sprinkling it on the Mercy Seat.

Throughout the Old Testament, having the Ark of the Covenant with the Jews was very important. It represented God's presence with the Jews.

Now this is the same Jesus that Paul (2 Cor. 12) and John (book of Revelation) saw in their visions in the New Testament. It was when they were taken into the third heaven.

As a Christian, we have God's presence with us in the form of the Holy Spirit in our soul. He speaks to us what the Father tells Him to say. Also, He convicts us of our sins. Only those who believe in Jesus, who have repented of their sins, and asked Him into their life will have the indwelling Spirit to guide us. Friend, are you one of us? 

LET IT GROW

The sights that Ezekiel saw in these visions were the abominable kinds of idolatry currently practiced in Jerusalem by those not in exile. It happened in the very Temple built for the worship of the Lord God of heaven. The visions Ezekiel saw and would see were not a mere hallucination, but was of the Lord, of which he was convinced. Jesus showed this prophet was happening and why He was departing the Temple. Ezekiel and you and me can understand it as we read through each sight next post. 

When man practices idolatry he either refuses to recognize God at all, or at best places Him alongside the many lesser gods. When man fails to give due recognition and worship to God, he then becomes a law to himself. Whatever he wishes to do he may then have a rational reason for so doing. It is for this reason that the first and greatest of commandments is Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3)  (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Friends, it is time for us to do some serious soul searching. As God to show you if there are any idols in our life, anything that we hold more important than God or spend more time with. I may not be a statue, but it can be an object that we hold dear or a person we hold so important. Who or what are we loving today? Is it God first or something else? 

Let's continue to pray for our nation. So many have turned from God and His ways for us to life holy lives.

LET IT GO

May we love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind, and with all our strength.

Then we are to love our neighbor as our self.

It's Time and It's Too Late

O. T. #1864  "It's Time and It's Too Late"

January 20,2021

Ezekiel 7-Part 3

LET IT GLOW

When it was time, it happened. When it was time, God sent His judgment upon Israel and Jerusalem. When it was time, nothing could prevent it. The entire land of Israel was ripe for judgment. As said previously, those chosen people and nation brought idols into the Temple where God's glory was in the Holy of Holies. They either worshiped only those false gods using idols of gold or silver or they worshiped both God and the idols. Either way, they broke the first and second of the Ten Commandments. God warned them over and over again, sending prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah (and others) that if they did not repent and turn to only worshiping God, then their land  would be destroyed. But their hardhearts did not turn them. Thus, God's patience ran out. In 586 BC the final destruction of the Temple happened by Nebuchadnezzar and his army. As Ezekiel wrote this chapter, this was all in view. The time had come; time was up; punishment was coming at the appointed time. (Forgive me for reviewing so much, but we do have new viewers coming and I want to get them up to date on what was going on in this chapter.)

What can we gleam from this gloom and doom? God is faithful to His Word. Whether it is concerning discipline or blessing, He will do whatever He says He will do. We read it happening when God told Abraham that he would have a son, even though he was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 when it happened. Then God used Moses to deliver the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. (Wasn't he informed of that at the burning bush.) Didn't Isaiah predict a Messiah coming? (Jesus came to earth to be that Messiah.)

Here is a verse that gives us hope. Jesus was speaking to Martha after Lazarus had been dead 4 days- John 11:25-26 says, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Folks, if we believe and trust in Jesus as our Savior, then we will live forever. What a promise! If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity? Jesus is the only way to God the Father. It is not by good works nor what family we are in, nor if we are a Jew. It is by grace through faith.

LET IT GROW

It's time and it's too late. When it was time for the Babylonian army to attack and destroy Jerusalem and it's inhabitants, it happened. It was the proper time, the prefixed time, and the purposed time. It was a time of reckoning with the wicked and rebellious people. Their secret sins came to light. God saw and sees all. He looks into the hearts of people.

Why did God do all this destruction and killings? After all, He is a loving God isn't He? We hear that so much, and it is true. However, the land was full of bloody crimes-Idolatry, blasphemy, witchcraft, Sodomy, and the like. The bloody crimes had to be paid for with bloody judgments. Sin is paid for with blood, like they did in the Old Testament with animal sacrificial blood. (And so it is today-Jesus paid the price for our sins.) Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, as John the Baptist proclaimed when he saw Jesus?

They sought peace and the vision of the prophet, but it was too late. (verse 26) The calamity caused them to do this. But it was too late.

The fire of judgment must now do its refining work of separating the dross from the silver and gold. The end result is that the rebels will be cut off and the righteous remnant will be purified. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Dear one, as long as you have breath, it is never too late for you to come repenting to Jesus. He awaits with open, loving arms of grace and mercy. Although, once you pass from life into death, it is too late. Then comes the judgment. I pray that it is not too late for you.

LET IT GO

How can we ever say enough thanks to Jesus for taking my nails on the cross, my beatings and sufferings?

Death could not hold You, the grave could not keep You.

Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, living forever. Oh glorious day!

My Savior, Jesus is mine!!

Wealth and Things

O. T. #1863  "Wealth and Things"

January 19, 2021

Ezekiel 7-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

Something interesting that I found in verses 10-14. It is the word multitude (crowd), which appears 4 times. As I looked it up in the Greek and Hebrew, it meant the same thing. It appeared numerous times in the gospels (Matthew-John). Jesus spoke to multitudes/crowds of thousands throughout His ministry. The interesting thing is that He taught them in parables (a fictious narrative, of common life conveying a moral). He used common situations and things to teach them a moral lesson. Doesn't a story with a specific meaning seem to stick with us longer than just points in a sermon? The prodigal son returning, the sower of seed on different ground, the lost coin, the man who built many barns for his abundance, the kingdom of heaven just to name a few. Such great lessons for life-God accepts us back when we have strayed away from  Him; the sowing of the gospel falls on various hearts; seek Jesus diligently; share our wealth with those in need, for we can't take it with us.

I hope you will study the New Testament while we continue in the Old Testament. It reassures us that Jesus is in control even when situations seem bleak.  He taught us so much and imparted wisdom for us for life.

LET IT GROW

 Well, getting back to our key verses (10-14), God's Word speaks of the multitudes, crowds:

• When the time came for the Babylonian army to wipe out the crowds of Jews in Jerusalem (their day of judgment), none of the proud and wicked people would survive. (verse 11)
• All their wealth and prestige would be swept away. Buyers, sellers, and merchants would be gone. (verse 12)
• The vision of God's anger touched the whole multitude in Jerusalem. (verse 13)
• The army of the Jews would not go into battle for they would not listen to the trumpet call. God's fury was upon the disobedient Jews.  (verse 14)

What can we learn from this?

Their wealth could not help the people when God's judgment came. Pride in their buildings was going to be brought down as they were destroyed. Judah trusted in its prosperity and possessions instead of in God. The wicked and proud will finally get what they deserve. A day of judgment will come as it did for the people of Judah. God is waiting for sinners to repent. (2 Peter 3:9) When we trust in jobs, economy, political system, or military might for our security, we put God in the back seat.

The people of Judah spent their money to make idols and purchase them. Money has a strange power to lead people into sin. Paul said the love of money was the root of all evil (1Timothy 6:10). Isn't it ironic that we can use the gift that comes from God, wealth, to buy things that separate us from Him. Isn't it a tragic when we use money to seek satisfaction for ourselves and so little time seeking God, the true source of satisfaction? Then we spend our time maintaining those things instead of seeking God.

Even the houses, sacred places, and Temple (because they put idols inside) were destroyed when the Babylonians came. Their pride was crushed when evil came. If we are going through a humiliating experience, God may be using that to weed out our pride in our life. Maybe you know someone going through this. Pray that they would turn to God.

Is our hope in eternal life with Jesus instead of things we have done or provided here?

Is Jesus first place in our heart? What good is things when our soul is lacking Jesus?

LET IT GO

Keep us loving You, Jesus, more than things.

Discipline us when we get our priorities messed up.

Thank You for being a forgiving and loving Father.

Like the prodigal son, we need our father.

Discipline

O. T. #1862 "Discipline"

January 18, 2021

Ezekiel 7

LET IT GLOW

Here is Ezekiel's second sermon. He is speaking as an eyewitness. In a sense he was as he saw visions and the Holy Spirit knew the future, giving him words to say. Many of the exiles would not accept the doom of Jerusalem that was ahead of them.

God would not allow His children to spread their disease of pride and idolatry to those around them. We read in verses 9 and 10 how God deals with His disobedient children as a loving parent does with a rod of discipline.(He is perfect in all of His ways.)

 I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth. (verse 9)

God smites His rebellious children in order for them to return to His holy ways and correct their ways. Otherwise we are headed for tragedy. When we hold onto bitterness, our life starts to unravel. Everything goes wrong, We may descend into confusion and chaotic ways. Our relationships may sour and we think everyone is against us. We will loose. He won't allow bitterness to continue. He comes to us in love, mercy, and great compassion. If we reject His offers, God will apply the rod of discipline to us, smiting us to bring us to repentance. (This may not apply to us, but we may know others in this position.)     [Resource: Knowing God By Name, by David Wilkerson]

Jehovah Makkeh means the God who smites in the Hebrew language.

Recompense refers to give, apply, bestow, bring, without fail, pay. It is found in verses 3,4,8, and 9.

Things had really gotten bad in Judah and Jerusalem. Before the siege of the Babylonians, there was bloodshed, plague, famine, fear, anxiety, and lack of security. Following the siege, the captives had no peace, no ministry of prophets, priest, and elders, and mourning by both king and people. What a mess.

We know that whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap. Judah even set up alters to their false gods in the Temple of God. There they did immoral things. They defiles the holy place. It must have been nauseating to God. A holy God could not allow such things to continue.

Also, Judah had become so prideful in their wealth and in their buying idols of gold and silver. God is patient with sinners. His discipline is used to bring us to the truth that He is the only true living God to be loved and worshiped.

LET IT GROW

2 Peter 3:9 says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Such mercy! What we decide about God now will determine our fate for eternity. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through Him. Have you come to Jesus? Is He your Savior and LORD?

It is good news for us when God takes us to the woodshed. When He disciplines us, that means we are one of His children and He loves us so much that He does not want us to continue going astray.

LET IT GO

Thank You Father for Your patience with us, for Your everlasting love.

Keep us in Your will, honoring You, King Jesus.

Anyone Brokenhearted Today?

O. T. #1861  "Anyone Brokenhearted Today?"

January 15, 2021

Ezekiel 6-Part 2

LET IT GLOW

The masses of people were rejected, but grace and mercy were given to a godly remnant in the nation. There never has been, nor ever will be, a complete end to Israel. (MacArthur)

May I include that there will never be an end to the believer in Jesus Christ. When Jesus forgives our sins and comes into our heart making us one of His, it is forever. And when our body dies, our soul leaves this world to go into another one, heaven, where our Savior reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords. Now that is what I call mercy-not getting what we deserve, hell. Are you one of His, dear one?

Now, here is a question for you. Do you know that God has had a broken heart? That is how I take verse 9 when He says, ...I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from Me...

Did you notice that the word broken has been used 3 times in this chapter? It appears in verses 4, 6, and 9. Here, in the Hebrew, broken means to burst; break (down, off, in piece); crush; hurt; tear.

To me, the important thing for us to notice is that God was broken, crushed, hurt, torn. Have we ever stopped to think that we can break the heart of God? I haven't. What caused this? The people turned to images and idols to worship instead of to their God. It was their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that longed for their idols that broke God's heart. So in His fury, God broke their hearts by sending the Babylonian army to surround Jerusalem's wall, resulting in famine and disease, as well as eventually killing many. (Some Jews scattered to other nations.) However, He had a remnant that repented of their sins and turned to God.

LET IT GROW

After reading this, I wonder if your heart has been broken or is now broken in pieces? It can be caused by so many things-divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, a friend's betrayal, loss of health, this crazy pandemic.

There is good news, my friend. Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted. He read Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.

While on this earth, Jesus fulfilled this scripture, for He said so in verse 21. Are you poor in spirit? Is your heart broken? Are you being held captive by someone or something? Have you been spiritually blind? Have you been bruised by the treatment or words of others? Jesus can heal and deliver you, for He said so.

LET IT GO

Through it all my eyes are on You, Jesus, as Your eyes remain on me.

Give us resurrected hearts, healed hearts, love that seeps in and covers us.

Forgive us when we break Your heart as we disobey or turn away from You.

Renew our love today.

*Please pray for the McGee family. I mentioned the passing of our friend Rick, well his brother passed away the next day. Now a week later, his wife's mother passed away, too. We can't go visit them for one more week, for they are in quarantine.

There is a Remnant

Praying for our nation today. Today's lesson was written but not posted. (Jan. 13)

 

O. T. #1859 "There is a Remnant"

January 14, 2021

Ezekiel 5-Part 3

... and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (6:7, 10, 13, 14)

LET IT GLOW

 Our key verse/phrase is used by Ezekiel some 65 times in his book of prophesies. It shows that the essential reason for judgment on Judah is the violation of the character of God. The motive for all obedience to God's law is the fact that He is the Lord God. (MacArthur)

In the Hebrew language, LORD (Yhoah, pronounced yeh-ho-vaw') means Jehovah, a Jewish national name of God; Self-Existent or Eternal.

God wants us to know who He is and have a relationship with Him. Isn't that amazing?

Know means discern; understand; have respect; be sure; comprehend; declare.

That the Creator (El Eyon) reaches down and bids us to come to Him; that a Holy God, the King (Melch), who is royalty in heaven-Jesus, loves us; our Risen Savior (Yasha) and Majestic Redeemer (Gaal) would be with us offering grace and mercy, is astounding! Do I hear an amen?

Friend, do you understand who the LORD is? Do we comprehend that He has sovereign and absolute control over all things? Are you sure that He is LORD of your life and holds our eternal life in His hands? Is He your LORD of lords and King of kings today? That is who He is. He alone deserves our worship and praise. He is way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper; that is who He is. Even when we don't feel Him working, He is; He never stops working, this light in the darkness.

Their calamity was coming to Jerusalem (sword, famine, pestilence). However, it was by those means that Israel came to know that God is the LORD and not the many false gods they had so obviously been serving in futility.

LET IT GROW

I recall seeing Grandma's quilt top that Mom had tucked away. My sister took it, since she knew our grandmother and I didn't. (She died 2 months before I was born.) How precious it is. Well, as we read through this long book of the Bible, of the gloom and doom ahead of God's chosen people, keep in mind that He had a remnant preserved that would worship only Him.

The purpose of all God's punishment was not to take revenge, but to impress upon the people the truth that the Lord is the only true and living God. People in Ezekiel's day were worshiping human-made idols and calling them gods. Today money, sex, and power have become idols from many. Punishment will come upon all who put other things ahead of God. It is easy to forget that the Lord alone is God, the supreme authority and the only source of eternal love and life. Remember that God may use the difficulties of your life to teach you that He alone is God.  (Life Application Study Bible)

All along, the prophets have been telling Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem; Isaiah used the word 15 times, Jeremiah some 19 times, and Ezekiel used it 6 times.

What is a remnant?  God would have a remnant, which refers to preserve; left behind; rest; reserve; even though so many would be killed by Assyria and Babylon, would die from disease and famine, God still loved His beloved people.

This small group of people would be preserved only after they had learned some hard lessons. Sometimes God has to break a person in order to bring them to true repentance.

The people needed new attitudes, but they wouldn't change until God broke their hearts with humiliation, pain, suffering, and defeat. Does your heart long for God enough to change those areas displeasing Him? Or will God have to break your heart? (Life Application Study Bible)

That remnant escaped the sword and was scattered through the countries. (verse 8)  They were allowed to return to Jerusalem by Cyrus king of Persia after 70 years passed. We read about it in Nehemiah. Esther helped preserve her Jewish people.

Matthew Henry said, "Where God designs grace to repent He allows space to repent. They were monuments of mercy. What God said was made good, and made to work for good, and to answer a good intention. One way or other God will make sinners to know and own that He is the Lord, either by their repentance or by their ruin."

So trouble one, keep in mind that God works all thing for our good and His glory.

LET IT GO

Thank You Father for preserving Your people throughout time.

Glory to You for being gracious and merciful, loving and forgiving to us sinners.

Bless those who are going through hard times today with Your Spirit and strength.