April 23, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Judges 12:1-14:20; Luke 11:37-54

Weekly Memory Verse: Ezekiel 2:4-5

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Ezekiel 9 (NASB95)
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.” 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]

In the previous chapter, God expressed His disgust and anger over the way that His people had departed from the worship, but mostly that they simply did not even acknowledge Him as God.  The people had replaced God with other gods and justified their move by saying that they didn't see God moving in their land.  In essence, they considered God to be dead.

I wondered as I considered that chapter further if the people had simply adopted the customs of the people of the land.  In other words, they started playing the games of the people of the land by blending with them on the gods of the land.  Most of the gods of the land that were discussed were gods that had to do with everyday life.  It would be like if they had bad weather, they might say that the god of the weather was irritated today, at first it might have been a joke, but as the generations progressed, the joke became reality. 

Take that a step further so that we can understand it today.  Let's consider Santa Clause, the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, and ghouls and goblins from Halloween.  These are all harmless fables, or are they?  As the generations persist, the holidays that we have designated for God are mostly replaced now by these symbols, and God is placed on the back burner.  There are a few people who grieve over these symbols, but most entertain them and buy into the idea of playing the game with their children. 

It is innocent play, but it has dangerous potential to it.  The dangerous potential is becoming obvious today in our society.  Most kids don't even know the true Christmas Story, or even understand the reality of the true story behind Easter.  They don't understand the dangers of playing with demons as associated with Halloween and the tooth fairy.  Consider for a moment the great industry that we have today that entertains the ideas of demons, horror novels and horror movies.  Not only do they entertain the idea, they glorify the idea and make it appealing to people through the media.  Consider also that most people know more about the current horror flick than they do about the stories of the Bible!  Old Saint Nick is a prime example of this as well, he has replaced Jesus at the Christmas story. 

Take that one step further, and look at the trends in our current society.  I am reluctant to mention the way that people are flocking after the demon, and glorification of Satan through trendy cults like Wiccan.  Look it up if you don't believe me just do a yahoo search, but beware, it will scare you silly.  Now pick out any kid or young adult and ask them about any of the stories of the Bible.  You will be astonished at the lack of knowledge.  Most young people don't even see the need for church in their lives, they would rather spend their weekends enjoying the money they made during the week, or spend it working to make more. 

Have you ever wondered why people embrace the cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormon's, excuse me, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".  It is because the people of our land recognize that there is something broke, and Satan has offered a fix for the problem.  In his sick way of deceiving the world he has offered a solution to the problem that he has inspired.  One of the key teachings of the Jehovah Witnesses is that the holidays are pagan holidays.  The Mormons take the position that Jesus was a prophet and a good man, He is not looked upon as being God. 

None of us determined that we would walk away from the Lord or that we would abandon teaching our kids about Him.  It just happened because we embraced the fables of our land and failed as parents to emphasize the importance of God in our children’s lives.  I'd be willing to bet that the same thing happened in Israel.  I don't believe that Israel dumped the Lord overnight, it took several hundred years for the effects to take place.  In the case of Ezekiel, we're probably talking about two hundred or so years after the Exodus.  News Flash!  It's been two hundred years since our fathers built the mighty nation of the United States on the principles based on the Bible.  The Bible was the standard for that day.  Now we are trying to throw the Bible out of our land.  Enough of the editorial, these were a few things that were nagging at the back of my mind after I completed yesterday's study, on with today's study.

God was fed up with Israel's following after other gods, and determined that He would not listen to their shouts for mercy.  Ezekiel also pleaded with God in this chapter, and his pleading was of no use, the scribe marked the faithful and the rest were killed.  Take a look at the criteria for being marked by the scribe, the only ones who were marked were the ones "who sigh and groan over all the abominations".  God did not even expect this remnant to remain holy and pure, all He was looking for was the evidence of a conscience that convicted these people that there was an error.  According to the text God was not looking for people who clung to holiness or who followed the law, He was only looking for people that showed an emotion which indicated that they knew something was wrong. 

Ezekiel 44:11 (NASB95)
¹¹ “Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. ^[2]

The word used for "executioners" in verse one may be better translated as guards, or even as servants, a NASB footnote indicates that it coulde be translated as "you who punish".  I think the general idea here is that the guards were not designed to destroy Israel, but were forced into that role by the need of the situation.  They carried a deadly weapon, and according to chapter 44 they were the ones designated to kill animals for sacrifice.

I find the scribe to be interesting, he carried a writing kit to mark the believers.  This same thing will happen again during the great tribulation when God marks the head of the believers to designate who belongs to Him and who doesn't.  It wasn't a new concept at that point either, God marked the Jews during the ten plagues on Egypt so that the plagues would not affect them. 

John 6:27 (NASB95)
²⁷ “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”

2 Corinthians 1:22 (NASB95)
²² who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Ephesians 4:30 (NASB95)
³⁰ Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

2 Timothy 2:19 (NASB95)
¹⁹ Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”

Revelation 7:2-3 (NASB95)
² And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 14:1 (NASB95)
¹ Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.

Revelation 20:4 (NASB95)
⁴ Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ^[3]

God started marking His remnant in the Old Testament and will continue until His return, up to the point where we stand judgment before Him.  At that time, one glorious thing will happen; those who have the mark on their forehead will be completely forgiven. 

God killed the people of Israel because of their unfaithfulness.  God didn't just kill the remnant of Israel, He deserted Israel as well.  The question regarding this is when did it happen?  Remember this is a vision that spoke about how God viewed the people, and told of the judgment that was soon coming their way. We know from history that God brought this judgment on Israel during the captivities that ushered in the Babylonian and Assyrian captivities.  It goes further than that though.  The judgment extends into the great tribulation where God will mark the foreheads of the believers and all of heaven will pause for a moment before the intense judgment falls on the rest of the world.  God is the only one who really knows who the remnant of Israel is, who belongs to the ten missing tribes, and who are believers that God has marked. 

2 Chronicles 36:17-19 (NASB95)
¹⁷ Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. ¹⁸ All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. ¹⁹ Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

1 Peter 4:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ^[4]

The judgment began in the house of God and went out to the people.  This is significant because if we are not willing to clean the houses of those in authority in our churches, what makes us think that we will clean the houses of the people in the churches.  I have talked with a lot of people over the years, and one thing that keeps coming up is the ministers who are not walking with the Lord.  It is a do as I say, and not as I do type of teaching.  I wonder as we follow this type of leadership as to the outcome of the church.  It will be just like the nation of Israel, judgment will start with the leadership and filter through the congregation.  How many churches have split because of sin that exists in the realm of leadership?  I realize that God was drawing a picture of the coming judgment on Israel, but I also believe that He was describing what was going to happen when church leaders turned away from Him.

There isn't any difference, our idols are not as obvious as they were in those days.  Yet our idols still exist in our lives.  God will not share room with false idols, and the result of continued entertainment of them will lead us to a point where our communication with God will fail.  There is no wonder that we have churches that are full of hum-drum Christians who attend church out of compulsion, rather than out of passion.  I wonder what will happen to the next generation.  I hope that as we study and learn the word of God, that we will become beacons of light to the rest of the church and that we can inspire others to draw near to the throne of Grace.  I hope that we can also turn the heads of others in our churches so that they are inspired to dig out the hidden doors that lead to the closeted sins so that they can be removed.  It is time that we have a godly sorrow for the way that our churches have turned from God.  It is time that we demand holiness in our churches, that we turn the trend from compromise to that of commitment.  The real question that faces us is how do we wake up the dead?  Praise God for that, we don't have to, all we have to do is to live the word and place it in our lives.  The direct result of that is that we will be beacons of light which will penetrate into the dark rooms and the hidden closets of our fellow believers.

One last note, there were six guards and one scribe.  The number seven is significant in this because this is generally the number of completion, perfection, and generally indicates that God has placed His stamp of approval on it. 

I preached enough today, sorry about that.  I couldn't help but notice the parallels between our churches dabbling in sin and the way that God judged Israel for the very same thing.  If you have further comments to add be sure to write in. 

Father, as we observe our churches today, enable us to be beacons of light to show the problems before they affect the body.

In Him,

Joe Turner.