11/07/2020 – Day 174 – Ezekiel 7-12 – (1 of ?) “Those shall have judgment without mercy who made light of mercy when it was offered them.” Matthew Henry
I recall a verse that we had not too long ago (*A) : “Seek God while there still is time” (in other words, for every present lost soul , a window of opportunity may close off while that person is still living and breathing. As “watchmen” , this is how we should approach it at all times)
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*(A) – Got it, I had to look it up as I couldn’t stand it.:
– Indeed it was recently – Isaiah 55:6. But Check this out: Zephaniah 2: 1-3! – it speaks more to judgment as a nation. Tell me we can ignore this now as “Americans”, insignificant as that is, at least relatively to “Christians” in His kingdom. In fact, we maybe too late already, God is sovereign and He knows. We will get into Zephaniah , 9th in the order of 12 minor prophets, in the later part of our year. But Zephaniah, a great grandson of Hezekiah, and therefore of royal blood. He prophesied in the days of Josiah. I think research would bear out that he was a prime mover of the reforms behind the young king Josiah, as my Halley’s Handbook points out. Don’t hold me to this: But I think he rubbed shoulders with a young Isaiah, even coming to him in the book of Isaiah.
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“If it were known that God Himself were going to speak once again to man, what eagerness and excitement there would be! For nearly nineteen hundred years He has been silent. No inspired message has been added to the Bible for nearly nineteen hundred years. How eagerly all men would listen if God would speak once more. Yet, men forget that the Bible is God’s own Word, and that it is as truly His message today as wehn it was delivered of old. The Law that was given at Sinai has lost none of its solemnity. Time cannot wear out its authority or the fact of its authorship.” (Commentary: Ezekiel 7:26)
D.L. Moody
God is amazing! Notice in this assignment how God has Ezekiel delivering some really crazy messages, when looked at from the perspective of “the world”. But, one gets a clear indication that the people in captivity are now at least giving a listen to the message from the prophet who is now in captivity with them. What if they were back in Jerusalem with the temple? Did we get the impression that they were listening to Jeremiah in that setting? As Matthew Henry points out, there seems to be quite a respect gap between the the two settings. The Good Lord is nurturing His remnant, an emerging remnant we will see in the persons (messengers) of Nehemiah and Ezra, as they return to “rebuild the walls”. We are that surviving remnant today, only through the grace of an all-loving God! How then shall we live from today?
From here, once again, if I use quotes it comes directly from my Matthew Henry Commentary on the associated verses, unless I specifically note another source:
Note – 9:3: “Ezekiel immediately observed that the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub: and what is a vision of angels if God be gone?”
Ch 9: All those who sighed and cried over all the abominations in the temple received an indentifying mark on their foreheads. God then commands that all who did not have that mark were to be killed, beginning in the temple. So, are we dualists? Do we believe that there is an “evil” god of the old testament, contrasted with a nice non-threatening baby Jesus in the manger in the new testament. At the 2nd coming, all will see a Jesus that will give immediate rise to a gnashing of teeth. See Revelation 19: 11-16: “And on his thigh a name will be written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”; not just “King of the Jews” , the sign Pilate had posted at the top of his cross.
Only God can measure hearts, but I really sense many self proclaimed christians don’t move off that manger scene. It is undeniably a nice default position in the flesh , comfortable as it is. We witness their walk so we can adjust our witness of the Good news in Yeshua (Jesus) the Christ, with the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. (Only God can save, we just have the privilege of walking alongside. This does not mean we take a position on the sideline bench!)
Verse 12:2: “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”
And my Bible footnote comments: “The essense of sin is a rebellious heart. It is not that sinners cannot see, but that they will not. This verse sums up contemporary, secular America, where eyes and ears are firmly shut against God’s truth.
Let us resolve to fight like the victors we are, solely by the grace of Yeshua the Christ: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS! The tougher it gets, the more opportunity we have to give God the glory through the suffering – Carpe Diem!
Soli Deo Gloria!