Someday Your Prince Will Come (Ezekiel 43:13-46:24)

Are you one of those people who make guests remove their shoes before allowing them in?

After what I came across this week in my reading, I may soon be joining you.

Shoes track-in a smorgasbord of contaminates: E. coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, fungi, mold, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline, oil, anti-freeze, dead insects, pollen, mold spores, microscopic pests, viruses, and animal waste.

A University of Arizona study by Dr. Charles Gerba found:

• The average shoe sole harbored over 421,000 units of bacteria, with 90% of the shoes tested carrying E. coli.
• Shoes transferred bacteria from the soles to clean tile floors at a rate of 90% or higher.

You’ll be thankful to know that we have abandoned the 5 second rule in Kid’s Church.

Contamination is not just a physical problem. It is a serious spiritual problem. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “There is not one that has escaped contamination, not one who has come into the world clean…”

Let’s say God has a weekend home in Riverdale. He invites you over. You come just as you are. You knock, and when the door opens, the Lord bids you enter. But first He points upward to a sign on the doorframe: “Sandals off, clean feet.”

You refuse. In fact, you are angry. Your feet aren’t that dirty.  A lot of people have dirtier feet. Besides, you washed your feet before coming and could have only picked-up the tiniest bit of contamination.

The Lord indicates that you didn’t let Him finish. He “laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:4-5).

You cannot adequately “clean” your own feet. Your “unclean” is below the skin, embedded deep in your flesh.

“Clean” and “Unclean” are the underpinnings of our verses today. We read in Ezekiel 44:23, “And [the priests] shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”

Two characters who facilitate Millennial worship are prominent:

• The word “priest” or “priests” occurs about 16x.
• The word “prince” or its plural occurs about 17x.

We begin with the priests in Ezekiel 43:13, “These are the measurements of the altar…” The Millennial altar in Ezekiel 43 is a large, solid stone altar measuring 24’ square, 13½’ high, with four horns on its corners, an 18” rim around the top, and three steps only on the East side. The rim is a gutter to channel the blood of the sacrifice.

“Altars” are for sacrifice. There will be sacrifices in the future Millennial Temple; there will be blood.

Is that compatible with Jesus being the once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice for mankind on the Cross?

Yes. The sacrifices & offerings in the future Millennial Temple have nothing to do with salvation.

Matthew Henry wrote, “The sacrifices of the law were far from being of themselves sufficient to take away sin. They were a testimony that there was sin, and a picture of its removal, but not the real removal of it.”

During the one-thousand year Kingdom, the Earth will be inhabited by both mortals & immortals:

• The resurrected immortals in the Millennium will be 1 the raptured & resurrected Church; 2 The Old Testament Saints; 3 the Martyrs from the Great Tribulation; and 4 the Highlander – Duncan McCloud of the clan McCloud.
• All believers who survive the Great Tribulation will remain in their mortal bodies. They will be glorified later. Children born to them will be mortal. That’s the nicest way to say they will be born spiritually “unclean.”

The cloud called shekinah that inhabited the wilderness Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple will return to inhabit the Millennial Temple. It is God’s observable, revealed, physical presence on Earth.

There is a problem: The most holy God is unapproachable for a mortal human being.

During the Exodus, Israel reached Mount Sinai, where God’s holiness required separation. Even touching the mountain meant death until God provided temporary cleansing through sacrifices and offerings.

The sacrifices and offerings in the Millennium are absolutely necessary in order for mortals to have fellowship with God.

The description of the altar continues through Ezekiel 43:17. Then, in 43:18-24, because men built it, the altar itself is “unclean” until the priests follow God’s method for declaring it clean.

Look at 43:25 “Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord GOD.”

None of these rituals do anything to physically change the altar or the worshiper. They communicate the gap between the Most Holy God and fallen mankind. They teach “the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”

Priests receive and perform most of the sacrifices. A Temple priest must come from the tribe of Levi. Ezekiel 44:10-15 contrasts two priestly sons who were descendants of Levi: The sons of Aaron and the sons of Zadok.

Look at 44:10 “The Levites [the sons of Aaron] who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity… But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD.”

To be faithful, or not to be faithful; that is the question. Faithful is something you can be or become. It is a decision to seek the Lord, putting Him first, then following Him.

We love it when Jesus promotes us for faithfulness. He also demotes us. He demoted the sons of Aaron. Sin has consequences. I’m glad, however, that His demotions are merciful. The sons of Aaron had duties still to perform in the Temple.

Here is another scenario. You might someday demote yourself by taking a stand for the Word of God and thereby losing your position in the world. Daniel & his three friends went as far as they could in obedience to King Nebuchadnezzar. When he demanded that they join with, literally, everyone else and bow to his statue, they drew a line & took their stand.

I will grant you that your boss is like the wicked king, and that everyday you are thrown into some horrible fiery furnace. My counsel: Congratulations!

The priest drinks no wine while on duty. He may be called upon to judge disputes when not busy with sacrificial duties. He is married, but only to a virgin Israelite or a priest’s widow. He avoids defilement from the dead except for close family, purifying himself before returning to service.

Once the altar is consecrated, it’s time. At dawn, the priest will dress in pure linen garments, hair neatly trimmed, ready to serve in God’s presence. Entering the sanctuary, he offers fat and blood on the altar. Before leaving the inner court, he changes into ordinary clothes so the holiness of his garments isn’t carried outside. He receives no monetary remuneration, only the holy portions God provides to sustain him. The priest returns for evening sacrifices, ending the day in prayer before the altar (44:15-31).

In Ezekiel 45:4 we learn the priests live in this district. “It shall be a holy section of the land, belonging to the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the LORD; it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the Sanctuary.”

A thread you might want to pull regarding the sacrifices and offerings is the fact that they are not the same as those in Solomon’s Temple. For one, The Day of Atonement and Feast of Weeks are not mentioned by Ezekiel.

Look at 45:21-24 and its description of Passover:

• 45:21 The Prince will oversee the seven-day Passover beginning on the 14th of Nisan, encompassing Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits.
• On day one, he will offer a bull for himself and the people as a sin offering (45:22).
• Each day, he will provide seven bulls, seven goats, and a male goat for sin, plus a grain offering of one bushel with twelve pints of oil, a bull, and a ram (45:23–24).

What’s missing? There is no lamb. How can you celebrate Passover without the Passover lamb. Maybe because the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world is ruling & reigning. At any rate, you cannot get upset about animal sacrifices in the Millennium without actually checking them out.

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Before we talk about the Prince, let’s get a takeaway from the priests.

Following the LORD’s prescribed way of offering & sacrifice in the Millennium will not be hard. The sacrifices of bulls, rams, lambs, and goats; fine flour mixed with oil & frankincense. All will be abundant on the utopian Earth. The priests will do the bulk of the sacrificial work – slaughtering, sprinkling blood, burning offerings, and maintaining the altar.

Is the Christian life hard or easy? The answer depends on who is living it at the time:

• Are you living it in the energy of your flesh?
• Or is God living it by the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit?

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In Ezekiel’s Millennial vision, God re-establishes right worship and righteous leadership:

• The priests maintain right worship.
• The Prince maintains righteous leadership.

Who is this Prince?

We see him in Ezekiel 44:1-4 “Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”

Let’s notice who is not the Prince:

1. The Lord was talking to Ezekiel about the Prince. The Lord is therefore not the Prince.
2. The “LORD God of Israel” is not the Prince.

The Prince is the resurrected King David. King over Israel, yet subordinate to Jesus, who is the universal King of kings, making it fitting to call David both King and Prince.

Ezekiel 34:23-24 is pretty clear. “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them – My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them.”

Ezekiel 46 describes worship regulations for the Millennial Temple. The prince enters the east gate on Sabbaths and New Moons, leading the people in worship. Offerings are prescribed for the prince and the people, including burnt, grain, and fellowship offerings. Rules are given for the prince’s inheritance to his sons, ensuring land remains in his family.

Wait; How can this be resurrected David if he can have sons? He doesn’t “have” sons while in the Millennium because he already has sons. David fathered 19 children during his lifetime.

At least two of his sons were saved & would be resurrected with their dad at the 2^nd Coming. Who were they?

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Popeye the Sailor Man.

Raise your hand if you know who I’m talking about. In short cartoons from the 1930s through the 1950s, Popeye would face a problem or villain (often Bluto), do reasonably well for a bit, start getting clobbered or tied up, and only then, when he was on the verge of defeat, pull out his can of spinach. Once swallowed, he would experience instant super strength, quick victory, “and a jaunty closing tune.”

The Popeye Strategy sounds exactly like the approach believers take when it comes to God the Holy Spirit. Like Popeye without spinach, we often try to face life’s battles in our own strength. We end up beaten down because we are fighting spiritual forces with natural weapons.

We finally cry out for help. But God never intended His in-dwelling Holy Spirit to be our last resort. He is our constant supply.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t just give us a burst of strength in crisis, He indwells us to empower daily obedience, worship, and courage to take our stand. The difference between defeat and victory isn’t us “toughing it out,” but God’s Spirit within us, enabling us to live the life Ezekiel envisioned for God’s people.

R.A. Torrey: “Just stop and think what it means to have the inmost life of that infinite and eternal Being whom we call God, dwelling in a personal way in you. How solemn and how awful and yet unspeakably glorious life becomes when we realize this.”

There Will Be Blood (Ezekiel 40:1-43:12)

Have you ever told someone you love, “I need my space?”

It means you want time and distance away from the relationship, both physically and emotionally. It sounds reasonable enough. But what if we consider that advice with regard to our relationship with Jesus? Can you imagine Him saying to you, “Gene, I need My space?”

From Eden to Eternity, from Genesis to Revelation, the Lord wants you in His space.

Let’s call His space “sacred space.” It is anywhere that God has made a way for a sinner to enjoy fellowship with Him.

Eden was the first sacred space where humans walked with God. When they disobeyed God, they lost that fellowship. God immediately began working to restore it.

The penalty for Adam and Eve’s sin was death. God’s remedy was to become a man and substitute Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for all who believe. He draws all people to the Cross, the Savior of all – especially those who believe.

This incredible incarnation would take a while. After Eden you see a string of sacrificial altars that were sacred meeting spaces.

Something extraordinary followed. God led Israel out of Egypt and gave Moses plans for a portable Tabernacle. It was a Tent of Meeting between God and man. When it was set up, the cloud representing the glory of the Lord filled it.

Almost 500yrs later, Solomon’s magnificent Temple replaced the portable Tabernacle. At its dedication the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord, making it impossible for the priests to enter.^[1]

Around 400 years later something exceedingly awful happened. On account of Israel’s centuries of unrepentant insubordination, idolatry, and immorality, Ezekiel watched as “the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the Temple” (10:18).

Ezekiel omits much Temple history:

1. Since 70AD, the Jews have been without a Temple, dispersed all over the Earth.
2. The next Temple they build will be the Tribulation Temple. They’re ready to build it right now. The glory of the Lord will not be in that Temple. It is the place where the antichrist declares deity and demands everyone worship him.
3. We are discussing the Millennial Temple.
4. After the thousand years God will create new Heavens and a new Earth where we will dwell with him for eternity. An angel told the apostle John, “There will be no Temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its Temple.”^[2]

The Tabernacle, the OG Temple, and the Millennial Temple were & will be the Houses of the Holy on Earth.

Ezk 40:1  In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very same day the hand of the LORD was upon me; and He took me there.

Ezk 40:2  In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city.

Ezk 40:3  He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.

Ezk 40:4  And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.

We call these ‘plans’ because the Temple has not been built. Ezekiel sees the completed Temple. This is a case of the prophetic perfect: A future reality described as already complete.

We could veer off here & discuss ourselves! When the Bible promises God has begun a good work in you,^[3] the Lord is letting you know that He sees you as you will be in the future. You will be perfect.

The bronze man is most likely an angel. His super-power is accurate measuring. I’m going to summarize the Temple one section at a time.

Ezekiel 40:5-16 Describes the East Gate, sometimes called the Golden Gate. It is prominent throughout this description:

• Ezekiel recorded the glory of the Lord leaving the Temple and the city through the East Gate.
• When the Messiah returns to Jerusalem, He is expected to enter the city through the East Gate.

Ezekiel 40:17-19 describes the outer court of the Temple. 

Ezekiel 40:20-23 describes the northern gateway of the outer court.

Ezekiel 40:24-27 describes the south gate.

Ezekiel 40:28-43 describes the inner court.

Listen carefully: Inside the inner court, Ezekiel sees chambers and tables used for preparing animal sacrifices. In 40:41, “Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side, by the side of the gateway, eight tables on which they slaughtered the sacrifices.

But wait… Isn’t Jesus’ death on the Cross the once-for-all sacrifice for sin? It is, but there most definitely will be animal sacrifices in the Millennium.

The first step in getting a handle on this is to remember that animal sacrifices were never for salvation. People in every dispensation are saved exactly the same way: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ ”

One commentator wrote, “Animal sacrifices and Christ’s sacrifice were functionally different and therefore compatible.” Another wrote, “The function of sacrifices in the future will have nothing to do with eternal salvation.”

What is their function? They restore fellowship with God and the people of God when it is broken by sin.

The Great Tribulation ends with the Second Coming of Jesus. One of His first actions will be to separate survivors into two camps: The sheep & the goats.

• The goats “will go away into everlasting punishment.”^[4]
• The sheep are the saved mortals we call Tribulation Saints. They “inherit the kingdom prepared for [them] from the foundation of the world.”^[5]
• All the believing mortal Tribulation survivors will be in the Millennium. All their children born, for one-thousand years, will posses a sin nature.
• Also in the Millennium will be the Church, having been resurrected or raptured prior to the Great Tribulation.
• Also in the Millennium will be resurrected OT saints.
• And, of course, a vast number of other supernatural beings & creatures.

In that list, who will have a continual problem having fellowship with God & others?

That’s right; the mortals with their sin nature. See if this makes sense to you. Mortals will need to be saved. We will urge them to trust Jesus (whom they can see). When a human believes, it is accounted to them as righteousness. They receive the in-dwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

But something is still amiss. They remain in a perishing body of flesh with a propensity to sin. Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary saves them – but they’re going to need something to restore fellowship with God until their eventual resurrection.^[6]

The mortals in the millennium will be like we are today. Saved by grace through faith, in-dwelt by God the Holy Spirit, but still prone to sin.

Why do we, today, get a pass on blood sacrifices?

We are uniquely the church. We are a mystery throughout all the Old Testament, only revealed after the leadership of the nation of Israel rejected Jesus. We are the bride of Christ. The church is described as being in Christ Jesus. If we have a break in fellowship on account of sin, the Bible tells us to confess our sin directly to Him because “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”^[7]

We “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.”^[8]

Let’s make a direct comparison between priests. The apostle Peter twice calls the Church a “priesthood” of believers.^[9]

Touching or being near a dead body, on purpose or in ignorance, renders a mortal priest ceremonially unclean.^[10] He  cannot serve in the Temple or enjoy fellowship with God or the people of God. The remedy was to wait 7 days, perform a ritual washing, and offer a sin offering the day he returned to the Temple. He would then be declared clean.

By contrast, We are resurrected and in our perfect glorified bodies in the Millennium. We cannot be rendered unholy. We are holy just as God is holy.

I see no difficulty with a mortal individual having to make a sacrifice in order to have sacred space restored.

The Millennial sacrificial system should be expected: It is necessary to provide sacred space for mortals. To put it another way – It would be weird for there not to be sacrifices.

Ezekiel 40:43-47 highlight God’s assignment of specific priestly chambers in the inner court.

Ezekiel 40:48-49 Describe a vestibule.

Ezekiel 41:1-26 describes the inner structure of the future Temple, focusing on the sanctuary and the Most Holy Place. The main hall and inner sanctuary, which is 20 cubits square, is reserved for God’s presence.

The inner sanctuary, or Most Holy Place, is described with great care. No furniture is mentioned, because the focus is on God’s presence in it.

Ezekiel 42:1-20 The man measures the 500-cubit-square Temple complex, walled off to separate the holy from the common.

A Messianic Jewish website describes the Temple: “The size of the structure to be built during the Millennium almost defies imagination. It will tower above the skyline of the city in the rising sun, golden in splendor, glistening in beauty. At dawn or sunset, noon or night, the Temple will be the focal point of Jerusalem. It will be the place where God dwells among His people. It will be the largest and most magnificent structure ever erected, and it will all be for the glory of God.”

The Millennial Temple will be approximately one mile square. That’s almost 28mil sq.ft. By way of comparison, the Pentagon grounds, and Central Park, are approximately that size.

Massive geological changes make room for it. Zechariah says the Mount of Olives will split, valleys will rise or fall, and Jerusalem will be elevated and reshaped.^[11]

Now we come to it. Ezekiel gives us in words what he saw in wonder.

Ezk 43:1  Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east.

Ezk 43:2  And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the Earth shone with His glory.

Ezk 43:3  It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw – like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face.

Ezk 43:4  And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east.

Ezk 43:5  The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

I find it hard to define the glory of God. David Guzik calls it “the radiant outshining of His character and presence.” It is the visible, tangible representation of God –  the shekinah. It is found in many OT passages, described as “a cloud.” In the NT, the cloud is visible at key moments in the life of Jesus:

• The cloud was present at the transfiguration of Jesus.^[12]
• The cloud received Jesus into Heaven at His ascension.^[13]
• The cloud will display the glory of Jesus Christ when He returns in triumph to Earth.^[14]

Footnote: Jesus will not be able to enter the Temple immediately. It won’t have been built yet.

Before our next comments, let’s review the Doctrine of the Trinity. Here is a summary used by Dallas Theological Seminary:

“We believe that God is the all‑powerful Creator and Sustainer of all things visible and invisible, who eternally exists in three Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and obedience.”

When Jesus comes through the East Gate, the cloud of glory accompanies Him (or He accompanies the cloud!). The cloud goes into the Temple, filling it with glory. The cloud represents God the Father.

Here are two reasons why this is probable:

1. The glory of the LORD will dwell in the inner court during the Millennium. It’s hard to imagine Jesus spending 1000 years in a small cubicle
2. In verse 7 the LORD says, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne.” In the meticulous plans for the Temple, there is no mention of a throne!God the Father dwells in the Temple, as He had before, while Jesus rules from a throne set up elsewhere.

Ezk 43:6  Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me.

Ezk 43:7  And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places.

Ezk 43:8  When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger.

Ezk 43:9  Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.

Ezk 43:10  “Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern.

Ezk 43:11  And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them.

Ezk 43:12  This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

This is a conditional promise. God will dwell with them forever so long as they “put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me.” Sadly, they won’t. We read in chapter 20 of the Revelation:

Rev 20:7  Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison

Rev 20:8  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

Rev 20:9  They went up on the breadth of the Earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them.

Rev 20:10  The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

There’s one more Temple: God the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer in the Church, making us individually and corporately the Temple of God.

God’s emphasis throughout the Bible & its stories is relationship. Rather than being deterministic, He is loving, responsive, and deeply engaged with His creation.

Personal exhortation: Choose a Systematic Theology that is by far more relational than deterministic.

If we are comparing ourselves to the previous Temples, we should be more portable than stationary.

Are you ready to be led by God in the wilderness of the world?

Russia! Russia! Russia? (Ezekiel 38-39)

Some are calling it “the drone war.”

From drones that fit in the palm of your hand to those weighing more than 1000 pounds, Ukraine has built and acquired a diverse fleet of remotely piloted aircraft.

Russia has countered old skool. The Wall Street Journal posted an article titled, Russia Trots Out It’s Newest Weapon in Ukraine: Horses

Drones have a difficult time identifying cavalry, and they do well in difficult terrain.

Ezekiel 38-39 is the account of an End Times invasion of Israel by a confederation of nations on horseback.

• This is not a parable inviting us to discover its deeper spiritual meaning.
• Neither is it a failed attempt by Ezekiel to describe future technology because of his limited vocabulary.

Ezekiel saw horses because the enemies of God and Israel will attack on horseback.

Horses are the least of the controversies we will encounter. The participating nations, and the timing, are also undecided. According to Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, “These chapters constitute some of the most difficult (if not the most difficult) prophecies in the entire Bible to interpret with confidence. We cannot be dogmatic and commentaries that are dogmatic are not honestly interpreting these passages.”

No use keeping us in the dark. I will un-dogmatically point out things that seem to very strongly indicate that this conflict belongs at the very end of the Millennial Kingdom, before the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Ezk 38:1  Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 38:2  “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Ezk 38:3  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

Ezk 38:4  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.

Ezk 38:5  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

Ezk 38:6  Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops – many people are with you.

“Gog” is likely a title, e.g., Pharaoh or Czar. After the dust of discussion settles, we are left with the following best identification of these nations:

• Magog was the region north of Israel, at that time the home of a people called Scythians.
• Rosh, Meshech & Tubal are regions of Turkey.
• Persia is the ancient name for Iran.
• Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer & [Goober] Togarmah are   regions in North Africa.

Wait… Aren’t “Rosh,” “Meshech,” & “Tubal,” respectively, Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk? We can only say, “Maybe.” Their identification with Russia and its cities relies mainly on pronunciation:

• “Rosh” sounds like Russia, but the name didn’t exist until the 11th century AD, making the connection unlikely.
• The same is true of “Meshech” and “Tubal.”

It’s our own Russia! Russia! Russia! hoax.

About this point in our study it might be that some of you are thinking, “This is really interesting, but I came here today for inspiration, not information. I need to hear from the Lord that He will bear the burdens I cast upon Him, that are crushing me.

Let’s pause and have a devotional moment involving hooks, Satan, and Job.

God will put “hooks” in the jaws of the invaders. That means they will be headed somewhere else, but the Lord draws them to Israel. Their foiled attack will reveal His glory to the world.

In the Book of Job, Satan had been going somewhere, “going to and fro on the earth, and… walking back and forth on it” (1:7). He was drawn to Heaven by the LORD on “a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD” (1:6).

The LORD pointed-out Job. Satan challenged the LORD, claiming Job was faithful only because God blessed him. God allowed Satan to test Job. He passed the test. Something similar happened in chapter two. Again, he passed. “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (1:22).

God ‘hooked’ Satan. He brought the devil into a fight, saying, “Consider my servant, Job.”

• In one corner, wearing white-as-snow trunks, was a mere man, but one who believed God and was thereby justified to stand in God’s presence.
• In the other corner, wearing blood-red trunks, was the most beautiful of angels, musical in his movements.

When the bell rang the devil landed blow-after-blow. In the end, Job was still standing. He won a unanimous decision.

As for Satan, his accusations, his malevolence, his lies, his murders were, and remain, on full display. He’s a psychopath with no compassion – only pride.

Let’s say you have a situation at work. You are genuinely being mistreated, passed over, ridiculed. Our first reaction is that these things are strange and unfair. Of course they are! That’s the point. Jesus is permitting them so He can say to creatures in Heaven & on Earth, “Consider my servant, Gene.”

The LORD directly addresses the invaders:

Ezk 38:7  “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.

Ezk 38:8  After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

If we weren’t in Ezekiel, and I asked you to identify when it could be said of Israel, “after many days,” “in the latter years,” when Jews have been “brought back” to their land, which had “long been desolate,” “all of them” “dwell[ing] safely” – I’m pretty confident you’d say it was in the Millennium. Especially when the next set of verses portrays them as even more relaxed and at peace.

Ezk 38:9  You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

Ezk 38:10  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:

Ezk 38:11  You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’

Ezk 38:12  to take plunder and to take [spoil], to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.

Israel is depicted as living a carefree, back-to-the-land agrarian life in absolute safety. This is more than confidence in the Iron Dome.

Ezk 38:13  Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take [spoil], to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’

Some claim Tarshish is Britain and the “young lions” its colonies, inserting the U.S. into prophecy. This reflects a geo-political bias that assumes the U.S. and Russia must feature in the End Times.

Ezk 38:14  “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day when My people Israel [Note this] dwell safely, will you not know it?

Ezk 38:15  Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. [Note: Countries also come from the west & east]

Ezk 38:16  You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”

Ezk 38:17  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?

Ezk 38:18  “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face.

Ezk 38:19  For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,

Ezk 38:20  so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’

These are global effects that seem era-ending. While this maybe could be shoehorned in to the end of the Tribulation, the end of the Millennium fits better.

Ezk 38:21  I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.

Ezk 38:22  And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Ezk 38:23  Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” ’

Ezekiel’s final chapters are chronological. Chapters 36-37 show Israel as she will be at the end of the Tribulation – restored and indwelt by the Spirit. It makes sense that 38-39 occur after the Second Coming, during the Millennium – just before chapters 40-48 describe it.

Ezk 39:1  “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal;

Ezk 39:2  and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

Ezk 39:3  Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.

“Bows” and “arrows” are ridiculed by critics. Their mention, however, may be the most important information in the text for determining the “when.”

Ezk 39:4  You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Ezk 39:5  You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 39:6  “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 39:7  So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezk 39:8  Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord GOD. “This is the day of which I have spoken.

Ezk 39:9  “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years.

Ezk 39:10  They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord GOD.

How do you “burn” bunker busters? We have tomahawk missiles – not tomahawks!

• Isaiah speaks of mankind beating their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks (2:4). Weapons will not be necessary in the Millennium. There will be no WMD’s!
• The prophet Joel, however, describes a time when men will beat their plowshares into swords,  and their pruning hooks into spears (3:10).

Gog & company will have to make weapons out of farm equipment.

Ezk 39:11  It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.

Ezk 39:12  For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.

Ezk 39:13  Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 39:14  “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.

Ezk 39:15  The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.

Ezk 39:16  The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.” ’

There is no biblical reason these activities could not occur at the end of the Millennium and before eternity.

Revelation chapter 20 tells us a great deal about the Millennium, especially how it ends. For one thing, Satan will be (and I quote) “Released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea… And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (20:7-9).

Gog and Magog? The most literal, grammatical, historical approach to this repetition is that it describes the same event but from different perspectives. There are some apparent differences in details, but none that cannot be explained.

Ezk 39:17  “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood.

Ezk 39:18  You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan.

Ezk 39:19  You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you.

Ezk 39:20  You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel talked to animals!

Ezk 39:21  “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.

Ezk 39:22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward.

Ezk 39:23  The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

Ezk 39:24  According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’

God chose Israel to bless all nations, but His blessing depended on their being set apart to communicate His holiness. When they turned to immorality and idolatry, He scattered them in judgment. Yet through this, Gentiles would see His justice and love – and be drawn to His holiness.

Ezk 39:25  “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name –

Ezk 39:26  after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt^[1] safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.

Ezk 39:27  When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations,

Ezk 39:28  then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.

Ezk 39:29  And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.”

Verses 25-29 read like the modern history of Israel. They were dispersed into the nations, un-dispersed, and are in their land in unbelief.

Suggesting that Ezekiel and John (in the Revelation) are talking about the same event is not fringe or false. G.H. Pember, Arno Gaebelein, Clarence Larkin, and Craig Blaising either support it, or they acknowledge it as possible.

To end this morning, I ran across a quote that reminds us these chapters were to encourage the 6^th century Jews, who had lost everything.

“Christians do not simply have a hope for the future, they have a hope that comes from the future.”

Sticks & Bones, He’ll Bring Us Home, God’s Word Can Never Harm Us (Ezekiel 36-37)

Uninhabitable is too tame a label for some sites.

The reactor explosion in 1968 at Chernobyl rendered the area uninhabitable for humans for at least one thousand years – if ever.

In the sixth century BC, Israel’s homeland was made uninhabitable.

It wasn’t nuclear. It was worse. For their insubordination, immorality, and idolatry, the LORD exiled His people to Babylon for 70yrs. He made the Promised Land uninhabitable for them.

In their grief, Ezekiel delivered prophecies as words of comfort from the LORD.

Ezk 36:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD!

Go Tell it To the Mountains works as a title here. Ezekiel was not addressing the people; He was addressing the Promised Land. Israel is the single nation that has been given & guaranteed land. Not to be unpatriotic, but This Land is Your Land… Not true biblically. If you research it, you will find Woody Guthrie meant it as a criticism of land ownership.

Ezk 36:2  Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ ” ’

Ezk 36:3  therefore prophesy, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because they made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by the people” –

Ezk 36:4  therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around –

Ezk 36:5  therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country.” ’

Ezk 36:6  “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations.”

“The LORD made an [unconditional] covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates…’ ” That’s over 300,000sq miles. How much does Israel occupy? 8,500sq miles.

Beginning with their exile, Gentile nations have mocked the land and opposed Israel’s claim to it.

Ezk 36:7  Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “I have raised My hand in an oath that surely the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame.

Ezk 36:8  But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.

Ezk 36:9  For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

Ezk 36:10  I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.

Ezk 36:11  I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 36:12  Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children.”

The Jews did return to their land after the 70yrs. It should be obvious that these verses are talking about a far greater, global restoration later on.

Ezk 36:13  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because they say to you, ‘You devour men and bereave your nation of children,’

Ezk 36:14  therefore you shall devour men no more, nor bereave your nation anymore,” says the Lord GOD.

Ezk 36:15  Nor will I let you hear the taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore,” says the Lord GOD.”

You’ve heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say, “Never again.” That is what the LORD said to the land. The Jews would return and “never again” be exiled.

Ezk 36:16  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

Ezk 36:17  “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.

Ezk 36:18  Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it.

Ezk 36:19  So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.

Ezk 36:20  When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name – when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.’

In 70AD the Romans razed the Temple & Jerusalem. For the next almost 1900 years the Jews were dispersed, distressed, despised.

Ezk 36:21  But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.

Ezk 36:22  “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.

Ezk 36:23  And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.

Ezk 36:24  For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.

God would first restore Israel physically by regathering her from all nations to her own land. Here in brief is how it happened:

• In 1896, Theodor Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), arguing that Jews needed a sovereign homeland due to rising antisemitism in Europe. It was God stirring his heart. The Zionist Movement to establish the state was born.
• In the late 19th century, Jews began returning to their ancestral home. Again only explainable as a stirring from God.
• In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, supporting a Jewish homeland.
• After WWII and the Holocaust, global support grew. David Ben-Gurion led the effort to establish Israel, declaring independence May 14,1948.
• Immediately the surrounding Arab nations attacked. With an untrained army of 19,000, no tanks, two outdated planes, and few weapons, Israel won the war and secured its statehood.

Numerous documented reports and testimonies describe miraculous events on Israel’s side during the Arab-Israeli War. These stories come from soldiers, rabbis, historians, and enemies.

Ezk 36:25  Then [in the future] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

Ezk 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezk 36:27  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Ezk 36:28  Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Temple rituals sometimes involved the sprinkling of blood. One day there would be a once-and-forever inward sprinkling, at which time they would receive the in-dwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the unconditional promise of the New Covenant made to the Jewish people. When Israel rejected Jesus’ offer of the Kingdom, it opened the door for the blessings of the New Covenant to be extended to the Church. When Peter preached to Cornelius, a Gentile and head of a Gentile household, he witnessed them receiving the Holy Spirit, just as the Jewish believers had. Gentile believers partake in the blessings of the New Covenant during the Church Age.

Ezk 36:29  I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.

Ezk 36:30  And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

Ezk 36:31  Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.

Ezk 36:32  Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

Ezk 36:33  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.

Ezk 36:34  The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.

Ezk 36:35  So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’

Ezk 36:36  Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.”

Israel is remarkably fruitful; it’s land an agricultural miracle. But it is not yet comparable to the Garden of Eden.“ Nations which are left” are those who survive the Great Tribulation.

Ezk 36:37  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock.

Ezk 36:38  Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”

What we are reading is more than 2500yrs old. Let that sink in.

Chapter 37 assures that God will restore and reunite His people, using two illustrations:

1. Ezekiel witnesses a valley of dry bones in a vision. The bones come to life, symbolizing God’s promise to revive and restore His nation.
2. God instructs Ezekiel to unite two sticks, one representing Judah and the other Ephraim, which was the name for the ten northern tribes. It symbolizes the reunification of divided Israel under a single king.

These are not my interpretations. God tells us explicitly what these are symbolic for. Let’s take a look at ‘Dem Bones.

Ezk 37:1  The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

Ezk 37:2  Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.

Ezk 37:3  And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”

We sometimes flippantly say, “the Lord knows.” He does, but that’s no guarantee He’s going to tell us what we want to know. The idea that the Lord knows has more to do with complete surrender no matter our circumstances. He knows; we don’t need to.

Ezk 37:4  Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

Your toe bone connected to your foot bone

   Your foot bone connected to your heel bone

Now I hear the Word of the LORD

Ezk 37:5  Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

Ezk 37:6  I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.” ’ ”

Ezk 37:7  So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.

Ezk 37:8  Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

Ezk 37:9  Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”

Ezk 37:10  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

The “bones” represent the nation as a whole. It is restored in two phases:

1. First, national Israel will be brought back to physical life as bone came to bone and sinews and flesh comes upon them and skin covers them.
2. Second, national Israel will be brought back to spiritual life as “the breath,” meaning the Spirit, gives them eternal life.

Jews who were dispersed all over the Earth have miraculously been regathered to their Promised Land. They do not have the Spirit. They have been re-gathered in unbelief, just as predicted here.

Ezekiel 37:11  Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’

Ezk 37:12  Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Ezk 37:13  Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.

Ezk 37:14  I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’ ”

Even Christians considered Israel a ‘dead’ nation. Bringing them “up from [their] graves” is the LORD giving them life as a nation again.

Ezk 37:15  Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 37:16  “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’

Ezk 37:17  Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

Ezk 37:18  “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’ –

Ezk 37:19  say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’

Ezk 37:20  And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

Ezk 37:21  “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;

Ezk 37:22  and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

Centuries prior, national Israel had split into two separate nations:

• Ten tribes in the north were called Israel, or sometimes Ephraim.
• The two southern tribes, where Jerusalem was located, were called Judah.

Ezk 37:23  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

Ezk 37:24  “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.

Ezk 37:25  Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

King David will rule Israel as a prince, under Jesus Christ, the King of Kings over all nations.

Ezk 37:26  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

Ezk 37:27  My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Ezk 37:28  The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

When the Babylonians breached the walls of Jerusalem, they murdered, tortured, raped and looted. The Temple was destroyed. Jerusalem was in ruins. Every family felt loss. Those who survived were either already in Babylon or dispersed. And don’t forget the northern Kingdom of Israel had been decimated by the Assyrians about 150 years before this.There was no human reason to think that they would continue as a nation.

“Throughout the Bible, God’s greatest encouragement for my present is His promise of my future.”

Psalm 3:3 reveals the Lord as “the lifter of my head.” What are some of the reasons our heads can hang down? Shame or Guilt… Sadness or Grief…Defeat or Failure… Embarrassment or Humiliation… Exhaustion or Depression.

You have heard Bible teachers use the expression. “God had to hit me over the head with a 2 x 4 to get my attention.” Well, maybe. But who He really is, what He really wants to do, is gently lift your head so that you can look into His wonderful face.

Sheepwrecked (Ezekiel 34-35)

Most of you could quote the opening nine words of Psalm 23.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

David goes on from that to skillfully & beautifully exalt the Great Shepherd and His sacrificial care of His flock.

What happens when the human leaders appointed to under-shepherd God’s  flock are selfish, immoral men?

They recite the little-known “dark” Psalm 23.

The Lord’s sheep are mere property;

I don’t care what they want.

I make them lie down in barren pastures;

I lead them beside muddied waters.

I command their fear

and drive them on paths of self-righteousness.

I force them through the valley of death

with no regard for their lives.

My rod and my staff – they bruise and break them.

I prepare a feast for myself

disregarding their hunger.

I anoint my head with oil;

meanwhile their cup runs dry.

Surely corruption and cruelty shall follow them

all the days of their lives,

And they shall dwell in desolation forever.

We are going to be among some of these shepherds, enough to make us a little bit sick to our stomachs. Like we Italians say, we skeeve them.

Ezk 34:1  And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 34:2  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Ezk 34:3  You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.

Ezekiel was God’s prophet to exiled Jews in Babylon. He warned of Jerusalem’s fall and the Temple’s destruction. None believed him until a messenger arrived shouting,“The City has fallen.”

The remainder of Ezekiel’s prophesying looks to the End Times. Before we press on, here is a glossary of End Times terminology:

• Resurrection and Rapture of the Church
  The dead in Christ are raised, and living believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air (before the Great Tribulation begins).
• Seven-Year Great Tribulation
  A time of unprecedented judgment on the entire Earth, divided into two 3½-year periods. God’s wrath is poured out, Israel is saved, and the world is prepared for Christ’s return.
• Second Coming of Jesus Christ
  Christ returns bodily and visibly with His saints to defeat His enemies, deliver Israel, and establish His kingdom on Earth.
• One Thousand-Year Kingdom on Earth (The Millennium)
  Jesus reigns from Jerusalem in perfect justice and peace. Satan is bound, Israel is restored, and the nations worship the Lord.
• Eternity
  After the final judgment, God creates a new heaven and new earth. Believers dwell forever with Him, and all sin, death, and sorrow are gone.

Ezk 34:4  You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

In what these shepherds did do, and in what they didn’t do, we can see what God wanted them to do.

The Lord wants you to be a healthy, well-fed, well-loved, and protected sheep – safe in His care and fruitful in His service. Pastor Chuck Smith used to encourage Calvary Chapel pastors to see to it the sheep under their care were “the best-fed, most-loved flock.” He also often said, “Healthy sheep beget other sheep.” When you’re spiritually nourished and well cared for, you’ll not only grow stronger in your own walk, but you’ll be able to encourage other believers – and naturally share the love of Jesus with those who don’t yet know Him.

Ezk 34:5  So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.

Ezk 34:6  They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

They were exiled, but not scattered. This is a prophecy we have seen fulfilled. When Rome destroyed the Temple around 70AD, Jews were scattered all over the Earth. It is called the diaspora. It continued until May 14, 1948, when Israel became a nation in a day.

Ezk 34:7  “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

Ezk 34:8  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.

Ezk 34:9  Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.

Ezk 34:10  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey

Ezk 34:11  “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.

Ezk 34:12  I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

• The scattered Jews return on “that dark and cloudy day.”
• The LORD “will hold [the shepherds] responsible” for how they treated His flock.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus returns after the “dark and cloudy” Day of the Lord to judge unbelievers for how they treated the Jews.

Ezk 34:13  I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live.

Ezk 34:14  Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.

Ezk 34:15  I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.

Sure, since 1948 Jews have been & are returning. But notice that the Lord says “I Myself” will be with Israel, on Earth.” Is He? No. This is a prophecy.

Ezk 34:16  I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes – feed them justice!

One-third of Jews will survive the Great Tribulation. So will a multitude of saved Gentiles. They will go on into the Millennium in their mortal bodies.

Ezk 34:17  “And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.

This is precisely what Jesus will do at the end of the Great Tribulation.

Ezk 34:18  Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

Ezk 34:19  Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled?

Ezk 34:20  “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.

Ezk 34:21  For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.

Ezk 34:22  So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.

Ezk 34:23  And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.

There will be a judgment after the Second Coming, separating “scrawny” sheep (believers) from “fat” goats (unbelievers). The sheep enter the Millennial Kingdom as its first mortal inhabitants. The goats “will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Ezk 34:24  And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken!

The Old Testament saints, including David, will be raised at the Second Coming.

For those whose theology leads them to believe we are in the kingdom now, where is David?

Ezk 34:25  “I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.

Ezekiel’s animals remind me of Isaiah’s vision of the Millennium, where wolves live with lambs, lions rest with calves, and even snakes cause no harm. A world at peace under God’s reign.

It will, however, be an enforced peace. The generations of children born to the original inhabitants will cause a lot of trouble, and finally rebel in the end against Jesus.

Ezk 34:26  I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.

Ezk 34:27  The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 34:28  They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them.

Ezk 34:29  “And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations.

Ezk 34:30  In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.

Ezk 34:31  You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

Some of this is recognizable today, e.g., Israel’s thriving agriculture. That’s merely stage-setting. It whets our spiritual appetite for prophecy.

You are going to encounter leaders in small & large groups who are somewhat like these men. Like Thanos, they are inevitable.

The Lord beautifully shows Himself as your Good Shepherd:

• Are you weak? Jesus strengthens you.
• Are you sick? Jesus heals you.
• Are you injured? Jesus binds you up.
• Are you straying? Jesus brings you back.
• Are you lost? Jesus seeks you.

The words “feed,” “fed,” or “feeding” occur about 18 times in this chapter. Obviously feeding is central to the health of the sheep.

God’s Word is our spiritual food. We say it is all you need… And that is true so long as you are saved and have the permanent in-dwelling of God the Holy Spirit.

I’ve been working on a quote about this. So far, this is what I got: “Apart from God the Holy Spirit’s in-dwelling, the Word of God may be grasped intellectually but not spiritually. Only the Spirit enables us to see its true meaning, respond in faith, and live in obedience. Without Him, Scripture may inform the mind but it cannot transform the heart.”

One more thing. No matter how you are being shepherded on earth, Jesus is always your Shepherd. Psalm 23 says the Lord is my Shepherd not that He will be after my trial is over or after I get out of my circumstance. Psalm 23 speaks of our enemies and our death.

Chapter thirty-five might seem out-of-place, but I think we will see why it isn’t.

Ezk 35:1  Again a message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 35:2  “Son of man, turn and face Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people.

Mount Seir is Edom, the country of the descendants of Jacob’s twin, Esau. God judged them for their hatred of Israel and for taking their land after its fall.

Ezk 35:3  Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: “I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely.

Ezk 35:4  I will demolish your cities and make you desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

This prophecy can be put in the ‘Fulfilled’ column.

Ezk 35:5  “Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins.

Ezk 35:6  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!

Ezk 35:7  I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return.

Ezk 35:8  I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.

Ezk 35:9  I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 35:10  “For you said, ‘The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!’

Ezk 35:11  Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you.

Ezk 35:12  Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, ‘They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!’

Ezk 35:13  In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!

Ezk 35:14  “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.

Ezk 35:15  You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel’s territory. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the LORD.

If you know a little geography, you know Petra is located in Mount Seir. A city hewn in the rocks, it is almost completely hidden. It is entered through the narrow Siq gorge, making it easily defensible.

Now this chapter feels very much in place. One commentary reads, “Evangelical dispensationalists [that’s us!] believe that 3½ years into the Great Tribulation the Jewish remnant will flee to Petra (or the region around it) for several interrelated reasons, drawn from biblical prophecy, geography, and historical symbolism.”

Petra is going to be the ‘bug-out’ location that Judean Jews flee to when the antichrist defiles the Temple smack in the middle of the Great Tribulation. He assaults them there, and they cry out to Jesus as Savior.

He saves them. He’ll save you…When you believe.

We’ve Got The Watch (Ezekiel 33)

“End of Watch” is a solemn phrase used in law enforcement and the military to mark a service member’s death or retirement.

The radio dialogue for a law enforcement line-of-duty death follows (more or less) this order:

• Dispatch alerts all personnel to clear the air and to stand-by for priority traffic.
• Dispatch then makes several attempts at contact. There is empty air on the radio.
• Dispatch announces Final Call, then declares “End of Watch,” followed by the appropriate information regarding the officer.

Lastly all hear, “Thank you for your service. We have the watch.”

In our verses, Ezekiel has an experience we could call an “End of Watch-man.”

By the rivers of Babylon, the exiled Jews Were anxious for news from Jerusalem. They had already received news from God, however. For 7yrs Ezekiel had been providing news to them in advance via prophecy. The Temple & the City were going to fall.

The captive Jews rejected his message, convinced God must protect His Temple.

Ezekiel’s first watch ended with a blunt message from Jerusalem: “The City has fallen.”

When covering lengthy Old Testament passages, it is helpful to use a clear, conversational version of the Bible. Today, we’ll use the New Living Translation.

Ezk 33:1  Once again a message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 33:2  “Son of man, give your people this message: ‘When I bring an army against a country, the people of that land choose one of their own to be a watchman.

Ezk 33:3  When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people.

Ezk 33:4  Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die.

Ezk 33:5  They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives.

Ezk 33:6  But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’

It is a simple illustration from everyday life in a walled city.

Usually “the people of that land choose one of their own to be a Watchman.” People didn’t choose Ezekiel. God chose him. After reading both Jeremiah & Ezekiel, you’d agree that anyone they chose would lie about what was going to happen. People tend to choose what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

Ezekiel also didn’t choose himself. Believers often push forward, overestimating their abilities. That’s likely why Scripture features so many reluctant servants. Eagerness isn’t wrong, but it’s not a fruit of the Spirit.

Let God do your choosing.

This exhortation to Ezekiel about his responsibilities & the consequences of disobedience is really for the benefit of the Jews. Because Ezekiel was a righteous person, he would faithfully conduct his watching & warning. The onus would be on them.

Notice this parallelism: “[The Watchman] is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the Watchman responsible for their deaths.” Being killed or being taken captive were the two possibilities. This is not about eternal life. Not even a little.

Ezk 33:7  “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.

God commissioned Ezekiel to a second watch.

What greater honor than being given more to do? Every Christian longs to serve more. Talk to Jesus about what that looks like in your life.

Ezk 33:8  If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

Ezk 33:9  But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.

“Saved yourself” from death. Again, not eternal life.

In Deuteronomy twenty-eight, God promised His chosen nation blessings if they obeyed Him, but “curses” (His word, not mine) if they disobeyed. One example was rain & rainfall:

• In Deuteronomy 28:12 the blessing for obedience was, “The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season…”
• In Deuteronomy 28:24 the curse for disobedience was, “The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.”

Rain means rain; condensed moisture of atmosphere falling in drops. It isn’t a metaphor for spiritual blessings & curses from Heaven.

If you’re still not convinced this is not about eternal life, ask yourself this question: “Does God condemn you for my disobedience?” Of course not.

Ezk 33:10  “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’

Ezk 33:11  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?

The people claimed their sins were too heavy, but not from conviction. They blamed God for the burden. Ever met someone like that? They act hopeless, when all they need is to repent. God doesn’t want to crush you. He wants to carry your burden(s).

After listening to a believer share their burdens, we could ask them to choose: “Crush? or Carry?”

Do you believe that God wishes sinners to turn to Him? Your immediate answer to that says a lot about what you believe about God’s character.

Second Peter 3:9 is similar in presenting God’s wishes: “The Lord is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Reformed pastor J. Montgomery Boice commented, “Second Peter 3:9 is not talking about the salvation of all men and women, but only of the elect… God has delayed [Christ’s return]… because He wants to bring to repentance all whom He has determined in advance will be gathered in.”

We argue that “all” means whosoever will believe.

Ezk 33:12  “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.

The Jews in Jerusalem ‘worshipped’ the LORD alongside idols. They thought this would insulate them from punishment. It would not. Can’t serve two masters.

Ezk 33:13  When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins.

The CEV translates this, “These people will certainly be put to death because of their sins.” They would suffer Capital Punishment.

California’s legal framework is comprised of:

1. Tens of thousands of statutes across 29 codes.
2. Approximately 396,000 regulatory restrictions.
3. Numerous local ordinances.

If you get a speeding ticket, you cannot argue that you kept hundreds of thousands of other laws, expecting the Judge to overlook the one law you broke.

Ezk 33:14  And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right.

Ezk 33:15  For instance, they might give back a debtor’s security, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die.

Ezk 33:16  None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live.

These verses picture life in Israel as it was meant to be – sin confronted, repented from, followed by obedience, and the sure promise of blessing and life in the land.

Ezk 33:17  “Your people are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right,’ but it is they who are not doing what’s right.

Ezk 33:18  For again I say, when righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and turn to evil, they will die.

Ezk 33:19  But if wicked people turn from their wickedness and do what is just and right, they will live.

• Obey Him, and they would enjoy an abundant life in the Promised Land.
• Disobey him, and they’d be dying a slow death.”

Ezk 33:20  O people of Israel, you are saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right.’ But I judge each of you according to your deeds.”

Jeremiah was God’s prophet in Jerusalem He warned that the Jews felt invincible because of the Temple. But its sacrificial system showed God would not overlook sin.

Ezk 33:21  On January 8, during the twelfth year of our captivity, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has fallen!”

Much that outwardly marked Israel as God’s chosen – His presence, the Temple, the city, and the land – was now gone.

Ezk 33:22  The previous evening the LORD had taken hold of me and given me back my voice. So I was able to speak when this man arrived the next morning.

I forgot Ezekiel was voluntarily mute for most of 7 years. It forced him to act-out the prophecies he received. That may seem like a hindrance, but if you ask me, signs are often a better communicator than words.

Ezk 33:23  Then this message came to me from the LORD:

Ezk 33:24  “Son of man, the scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he gained possession of the entire land. We are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’

Ezk 33:25  So tell these people, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent. Do you really think the land should be yours?

Ezk 33:26  Murderers! Idolaters! Adulterers! Should the land belong to you?’

They appeal to Abraham. The LORD listened, then responded, “I know Abraham. I walked with Abraham. Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My covenant. Judah – you’re no Abraham.”

Ezk 33:27  “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die by the sword. And I will send wild animals to eat those living in the open fields. Those hiding in the forts and caves will die of disease.

Ezk 33:28  I will completely destroy the land and demolish her pride. Her arrogant power will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate that no one will even travel through them.

Ezk 33:29  When I have completely destroyed the land because of their detestable sins, then they will know that I am the LORD.’

God warned the survivors would die by sword, beasts, and plague, and the desolate land would testify to their sin.

This pivotal chapter marks the start of “The Time of the Gentiles,” when the Jews no longer have full control of Jerusalem.

• It began with the captivity.
• It continues today.
• It ends when the prophesied King, the Son of David, returns and has sole control of Jerusalem.

Ezk 33:30  “Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear the prophet tell us what the LORD is saying!’

Ezk 33:31  So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.

Ezk 33:32  You are very entertaining to them like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!

Ezk 33:33  But when all these terrible things happen to them – as they certainly will – then they will know a prophet has been among them.”

The cry, “The City has fallen!” would have struck Ezekiel like a blow to the heart. Yes, he had seen it coming. He had carried that burden for seven long years. But as a believer, and as God’s prophet, he must have still hoped for repentance. To know Jerusalem was lost, and that the name of the LORD would be dragged through the mud by Gentiles – it would have pierced him deeply.

I’ll risk saying it. Ezekiel may have felt like a failed Watchman. Given the chapter’s tone and human nature, I know I would have.

This is a wonderfully tender way of God saying to Ezekiel, “Well done My good and faithful servant.”

Are we Watchmen? Sure, but not the same way.

The church, and by that I mean Church Age believers, are described as a household of faith, consisting of living stones, put together as a holy habitation, being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. As a household of believers, each of us is Watchman to the other:

• We are Watchmen by heeding the many “one another” verses in the Bible. (Look them up).
• We are Watchmen when we discover and exercise the gifts that God has given us that are anointed by God the Holy Spirit.

(Don’t stress about discovering your gift or gifts. It shouldn’t be a burden, but a blessing. Just start hanging around Christians, especially the church when it meets, and get to know people. Pretty soon you’ll be ministering to them in ways that the Lord puts on your heart).

• We are Watchmen when we are watching for the Lord to return.

I discovered this compilation of ten of the New Testament’s encouragements for our Watch:

“As believers, we are called to live in eager anticipation of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return. Our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we await our Savior, who will transform our humble bodies to be like His glorious one. We are to wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us not be like those who sleep, but let us be alert and sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Let us be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. May we fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and as we eagerly await His return, let us purify ourselves, just as He is pure.”

Crocodile Done Doomed (Ezekiel 29-32)

I’ll say a word & you say the first word that comes to mind: Egypt.

For my generation it would be King Tut. Not the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit that first arrived in the US late 1976.

No, I’m talking about Steve Martin’s song & skit, King Tut, that first debuted on SNL in 1978.

Born in Arizona, lived in Babylonia,

(Got a condo made of stone-a)

King Tut

With the exception of Israel, Egypt is mentioned in the Bible more than any other country.

One of the first illustrations of the Christian life you are likely to encounter as a new believer is that Egypt typifies the world system in opposition to God. It makes sense because you feel as though you’ve been set free from your own Egypt.

When we say Christians go “back to Egypt,” we don’t mean on a flight to Cairo. We mean returning to the old life, drawn back to the flesh after being set free from sin to serve the Lord by the Spirit.

On occasion, Egypt was a place of refuge, as when Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled there from King Herod.

In the 6th century, Jews hoped an alliance withEgypt would protect them from Babylon. Ezekiel shattered that hope with a series of seven prophecies, each beginning, “The word of the Lord came unto me…”

Judah should have been turning upward to God for help, not southward to Egypt.

There are a lot of different ways to teach God’s Word. We’re trying something different this morning.

Most of you use a daily devotion. Typically there is a verse, a brief summary for context, the author’s commentary, and often a short prayer.

We’re going to adopt that structure & write our own devotional from these seven prophecies.

The 1^st Prophecy – “Killer Croc”

(Ezekiel 29:1-16)

In verses one through sixteen, Pharaoh boasts he created the Nile River. God condemns Pharaoh’s arrogance portraying him as a sea monster (crocodile). Egypt will endure 40 years of desolation and exile. A restoration is promised, but Egypt would never again be a dominating empire.

(29:3) Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, Who has said, ‘My River is my own; I have made it for myself’

Man or monster is a thrilling horror theme. Whether it’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or the Wolfman, or Hulk, their stories explore the inner beast.

Pharaoh saw himself as a god who made the Nile. The Lord saw him as a man who had become a monster on account of his pride.

As long as we are in these corrupt bodies we will possess an insane desire to be like God.

That a man or an angel could be like God is THE lie that undermined the entire human race.^[1]

Satan is the father of lies. I never totally understood that until recently. THE lie, that man can be like God, is the original lie from which all other lies originate.

Satan is presented as the most beautiful of God’s created angels. After he fell due to pride, he became a grotesque monster, e.g., in the Book of the Revelation.

When a Christian yields to his flesh, to his propensity to sin, he goes from mimicking the beauty of Jesus Christ to being a monster.

You might even say that Christian is walking like an Egyptian.

I’ve heard lots of reasons from Christians why their marriage problems can only be resolved by divorce. “We should never have gotten married” is popular. I will grant that can be true. We’ve encouraged many couples not to marry, who have gone on to divorce.

It’s a lie to think you can divorce because you should never have gotten married. Now that you are married, you live in First Corinthians chapter 7, where Paul tells you to stay in the marriage unless there are biblical grounds for divorce.

Don’t unleash the beast.

The 2nd Prophecy – “Workman’s Comp”

(Ezekiel 29:17-21)

In verses seventeen through 21, we learn that God, by His providence, sent Babylon to besiege the coastal city of Tyre. It took 13 years to defeat them. When they did, they found no plunder. The Tyrians had sent their wealth away by ship. God reveals that Egypt will be Nebuchadnezzar’s reward for his difficult campaign against Tyre.

(29:19-20) Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,’ says the Lord GOD.”

The evacuation of over 338,000 Allied troops in 1940 was widely viewed as an act of Divine Providence. A break in bad weather, and Hitler’s unexpected halt order, resulted in the Miracle of Dunkirk.

Had it failed, Britain would have lost its army, leaving it defenseless. France would have fallen faster, Hitler’s control solidified, and history itself changed.

In our text, nothing could be clearer than the fact God was influencing Babylon to accomplish His will.

Does it not follow that He can and does continuously and compassionately work behind the scenes of your life, causing “all things [to] work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose?”

Jesus has begun a good work in you. He promised to complete it. A.W. Tozer put it this way: “The refining process is hard, but the end result is worth it. God is more interested in your character than your comfort, and He will finish the work He started.”

The 3^rd Prophecy – “Days & Confusion”

(30:1-19)

In chapter thirty, in verses one through nineteen, Ezekiel announces a coming “Day of the Lord” that brings judgment on Egypt and its allies. Egypt’s pride will be broken, its cities destroyed, and its people scattered.

(30:3) “For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.”

“The Day of the Lord” can refer to any historical judgment the LORD decrees. It can also mean the future climactic judgement that begins with the 7yr Great Tribulation and extends through the Millennial Kingdom.

Today, Israel does not have 100% sovereignty over Jerusalem. Thus the time of the Gentiles persist. It will end when the King returns to rule not just Jerusalem & Israel, but the kingdoms of the world.

Another term is “the fullness of the Gentiles.” This refers to the complete number of Gentiles who will be saved in the current Church Age in which we live.

Just when unbelievers are seeking answers about current events in the End Times, many churches are attacking the pre-tribulation rapture as heresy, and teaching that the Church will have to endure the seven year Great Tribulation.

Know what you believe about the resurrection and rapture of the church, the 7yr Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Second Coming, the Millennial Kingdom, the final White Throne judgment, and eternity.

The 4^th Prophecy – “He Should Have Armed Himself”

(Ezekiel 30:20-26)

In verses twenty through twenty-six, Egypt’s downfall and Israel’s eventual restoration showcase God’s sovereignty over the nations.

(30:24) “I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he will groan before him with the groaning of a mortally wounded man.”

God portrays Pharaoh as having already suffered one broken arm & about to lose the use of the other, symbolizing Egypt’s complete military impotence.

Talking about God being in charge of the nations doesn’t have that devotional impact on the heart that we are looking for. But if ever we needed to be settled in our hearts that God is in charge, it would be now, in these tumultuous times.

Be honest with yourself. Are you afraid, afraid of the future? These people were: Abram, Hagar, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Elijah, Hezekiah, Mary, Zacharias, Joseph, the Shepherds in the fields, and Paul. They are those to whom the the Lord said, “Fear not.” It’s always what He says to those who fear. If you will listen, you’ll hear Him.

“Fear not” is a command. It is accompanied by the power to obey. You can’t learn how; you simply believe.

The 5^th Prophecy – “Egypt is Fallen & She Won’t Get Up”

(Ezekiel 31:1-18)

In Ezekiel 31:1-18, Assyria is portrayed as a towering cedar brought down by pride, serving as a warning to Egypt.

(31:10-11) “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Because you have increased in height, and it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height, therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness.”

God felling the cedar tree reminds me of some of the Instagram videos I’m hooked on that capture amateur tree trimming disasters. Please do us all a favor and hire a professional. At the very least brush up on basic physics, like For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.

One of the first Christian songs I learned after I was born again was Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up higher and higher.

Humility is not our strong suit, not before we are saved, or after. All I can suggest is that we each measure our humility quotient by these words of the apostle Paul: Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

In your marriage, in your family, at work, or when you are in a trial – Have you humbled yourself to the point of death? Then there’s room for more humility!

The 6^th Prophecy – “The Crocodile Who Thought He Was a Lion”

(Ezekiel 32:1-16)

Chapter thirty-two, verses one through sixteen, is a lamentation over Pharaoh and Egypt. It portrays Pharaoh as a sea monster brought down by God. Egypt’s land is laid waste, waters fouled, and people scattered. God declares He will darken the heavens and bring terror to the nations through Egypt’s fall, and the earth will mourn. The lament ends with a poetic funeral dirge for Egypt’s once-great glory.

(32:2-3) “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Tell him, ‘You may have called yourself a lion among nations, but you’re a monster at sea. You thrash about in your rivers, muddy the water with your feet, and relieve yourself in the rivers. This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I’m coming fishing for you! Right in the sight of many nations they’ll haul you up in my dragnet.”

You can almost hear the excitement in these verses by those who catch the monster. “We got us a tree shaka. Choot ‘em! Choot ‘em!” (With apologies to the Discovery Channel’s Swamp People).

We call lions the King of Beasts. They are regal. Pharaoh saw himself as a lion, but he was no more than a crocodile stirring up mud and filth.

In a Seinfeld episode, Elaine buys a dress that looks great in the store mirror but looks awful when she tries it on at home. She eventually figures out that the store uses a “skinny mirror,” a trick mirror designed to make customers look better than they really do in the clothing.

God’s Word is a mirror – not for our outward appearance, but reflecting the inner person being daily transformed into the image of Jesus.

Christians are notorious for using trick mirrors.

Are you like Fonzie, looking into the mirror, about to run the comb through your hair, but you stop yourself – thinking you look perfect?

Consider this: Since we won’t be perfect until eternity, every time we open God’s Word, He’s showing us something to change – by His grace – to become more like Him.

If you’re not coming forward for prayer today,  use the time to ‘comb your hair,’ if you get my meaning.

The 7^th Prophecy – “I See Dead Pharaoh’s”

(Ezekiel 32:17-32)

In verses seventeen through thirty-two, Pharaoh is escorted to the realm of the dead, joining other conquered nations that refused to repent and believe.

(32:18-19) Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt, And cast them down to the depths of the earth, Her and the daughters of the famous nations, With those who go down to the Pit: ‘Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.”

When we were taking trips to the Philippines in the 1980s, we did not walk up to a person, engage in conversation, and then ask them, “Have you been circumcised?” It just didn’t feel right!

We would ask if they had been born-again. 

Circumcision began in Genesis 17 as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, marking his descendants as His people. The prophets later used it to point to a deeper truth – the need for a circumcised heart, symbolizing belief and repentance.

Have you been circumcised, in your heart? If you have, then according to the promises in the New Covenant, you have been placed into the body of Jesus, and you have received the permanent in-dwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit.

He is not a force, but, rather, a Friend and Comforter. It is exactly like being with Jesus 24/7/360 (Using Dead Sea Scrolls calendar)!

After I became a Christian, after I was born again, I set Steve Martin aside in favor of Keith Green. His song, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt, was just the  ‘theology’ I needed.

To quote my mom & dad, “Quit eating that junk. It will ruin your appetite for dinner.”

If you are not enjoying your walk with the Lord, or something seems off – especially if you’ve lost a desire to read God’s word and be among God’s people – quit snacking in Egypt.

SupernaturalisticFallenAngelsAreAtrocious (Ezekiel 28)

You’ve likely heard of the Upside Down.

It is the dark parallel dimension affecting the real-world in the SyFy mega hit, Stranger Things.

In Ezekiel 28 God shows us the unseen realm and how it affects the nations of the earth.

The chapter divides like this:

1. The Prince of Tyre, historically Ethbaal III, is rebuked for claiming to be a god, or god (v1-10).
2. A supernatural menace, the King of Tyre, is at work in the unseen realm (v11-19).
3. God pronounces judgement on Sidon, a sister-city to Tyre (v20-24).
4. The future promise of Israel’s restoration, ultimately pointing to the certainty of the Millennial Kingdom (v25-26).

When confronted by Hulk during the Battle for New York Loki declared, “I am a god.” Hulk grabbed Loki around both ankles and proceeded to slam him into the floor from one side to the other. Afterward the Hulk uttered the iconic line, “Puny god.”

The Prince of Tyre was a puny god.

Ezk 28:1  The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

Ezk 28:2  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ [He was referencing the sea power of ancient Tyre. Maybe he thought he was Poseidon or Triton]. Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god.

• Pharaoh Rameses II referred to himself as “a god in human form.”
• Emperor Hirohito of Japan was considered a living god. He was made to renounce his deity.

Ezk 28:3  Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!

Ezk 28:4  With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;

Ezk 28:5  By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches).”

Torn from his home as a teen, almost certainly mutilated as a eunuch, and trained among Babylon’s Magi, Daniel lived under a king who once ordered their slaughter.

It was definitely a hostile work environment, but Daniel endured & excelled.

Ethbaal considered himself wiser than Daniel. For all his reputation, Daniel was a captive.

Daniel was the LORD’s captive.

Paul, chained by Rome but captive to Christ, turned his imprisonment into a pulpit, writing the Prison Epistles.^[1] We serve the Lord. He decides where, when, and how.

Ezk 28:6  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,

Ezk 28:7  Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.

Ezk 28:8  They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.”

Being God-like is the lie from Eden. The Serpent tempted humanity with divinity. It’s been his most effective strategy for going on 7000yrs.

You may not crave worship, but every unbeliever (obviously) lives as the god of their own life. Believers sin like our parents in the Garden when something or someone takes Jesus’ rightful place.

Ezk 28:9  “Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god’? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.

Is there a level that is below “puny god?”

Ezk 28:10  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

Circumcision was the physical sign of God’s covenant with believers. Ethbaal would die an unbeliever at the hands of other unbelievers – alienated from Israel’s God – the one, true God.

People play god. For example, some US school boards have initiated gender transitions without parental consent.^[2]

What’s a believer to do?

• Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
• Ephesians 6:13 – 14, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore…”

The equipment is great. Did you notice the strategy that was repeated three times: “Stand.”

In G.I. Jane,^[3] Demi Moore’s character endures strenuous Navy SEAL training. In one scene, she’s ordered to stand her post, unmoving, for hours through storms and exhaustion. She just stands.

In the movies, a scene like that represents our digging deep into our reserves & resolve. In our lives, we depend completely on the grace of God to enable us to obey Him.

A sudden, dramatic shift occurs in verses eleven through nineteen. We meet the King of Tyre. It quickly becomes clear that he is not human.

“Ezk 28:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 28:12  “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Ezk 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God…”

Some scholars say this is Adam in Eden, but the details soon rule him out.

Ezk 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

Ezk 28:14  “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

“Cherub” is a classification of heavenly beings, likely a type of angel. We conclude that this person is the devil, that Serpent of old, Satan.

My favorite part of this description is “timbrels and pipes.” He was his own band.

What is “the mountain of God?” Fragments of the book First Enoch were among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enoch isn’t to be considered Scripture, but early church fathers received it as a true history. Peter & Jude ‘assigned’ it as recommended reading.

Enoch reported that 200 rebellious angels descended on Mount Hermon. They are those who “in the days of Noah” mated with human women and produced a race of giants, the Nephilim.^[4]

Mount Hermon is adjacent to Caesarea-Philippi. The Hebrews, especially the sect known as the Essenes, referred to the geography there as… “The Gates of Hell.” This suddenly got a whole lot more interesting!

Jesus deliberately went to the place of the rebellion described by Enoch and threw down, saying the Gates of Hell would not prevail.^[5] A few days later He went up the mount and was transfigured. It was a sign of things to come – the glorified Lord Jesus ruling & reigning.

Ezk 28:15  You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

Ezk 28:16  “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

Charles Feinberg says the “fiery stones” reflect “the surroundings of divine glory,” suggesting the Cherub had free access to Heaven until God banished him.

Ezk 28:17  “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…

The cause of Satan’s fall is his pride^[6] caused by his beauty.^[7]

Ezk 28:17  … I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

Ezk 28:18  “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

Ezk 28:19  All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”

When did this happen?? The fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is always paired-up with Ezekiel 28. There we read, “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’”^[8]

• Isaiah wrote about this episode as future.
• Ezekiel wrote about this same episode as past.

God speaks of the future as if it has been fulfilled.

Let’s explore a little more Angelology. In Deuteronomy 32:8&9, when translated according to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint,^[9] reveals that at Babel^[10] God disinherited the nations. God established a new nation, Israel, through one man, Abraham. He would Himself govern that special, precious, apple-of-His-eye people to the end, and “all Israel will be saved.”^[11]

When God disinherited the nations at Babel He assigned them to “Sons of God.”^[12] These are angels. Besides the King of Tyre, we know the locale of two more such Sons of God in the Bible. Both are referenced by Daniel. They are the Prince of Persia,^[13] and the Prince of Greece.^[14]

In his final chapter, Daniel reveals that the archangel Michael is the special protector of Israel.

Does every nation have fallen angels who hinder and faithful ones who help? Can’t say for sure.

You cannot hope to make sense of history – past or future – without factoring in the unseen realm.

Minneapolis AND ??? St. Paul.

Some cities just seem to go together. Tyre AND… Sidon are like that in the Bible.

Ezk 28:20  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Ezk 28:21  “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her,

Ezk 28:22  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified in your midst; And they shall know that I am the LORD, When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.

Ezk 28:23  For I will send pestilence upon her, And blood in her streets; The wounded shall be judged in her midst By the sword against her on every side; Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 28:24  “And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”

Sidon is depicted here and elsewhere as having  contempt and hostility towards the Hebrews.

Ezk 28:25  ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.

Ezk 28:26  And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God.” ’ ”

This succinctly describes Israel in the Millennial Kingdom. It is a one-thousand year dispensation in which “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”^[15]

The Millennial Kingdom is not spiritual; it is material. It immediately follows the 7yr Great Tribulation and Second Coming of Jesus. It is the fulfillment of God’s unconditional covenant promises to Israel.

The Mind Flayer in the Upside Down wages war on the human mind.

Here in the real ‘real’ world, the battle is for our minds. Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Jesus called Satan “the father of lies.”^[16] In Second Thessalonians 2:11, Paul writes, “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.” The use of the definite article “the” suggests a specific, well-known falsehood. Many scholars identify this as the same lie Satan told Eve in Genesis 3:5: “You will be like God.” This deception, that humans can become divine or autonomous from God, is seen as the foundational falsehood that has permeated human history.

The lie affects us now. Marriage, for instance. Speaking in generalities, if there is no biblical basis for a divorce, then you are believing a lie rather than the truth in God’s Word. Blameshifting, citing unhappiness, concluding you no longer love someone. These all spring from the lie because we are dethroning God when we disobey Him.

Stand in the storms.

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References

↑1	Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians & Philemon
↑2	Spreckels Union School District in Monterey County, California, 2023
↑3	Too old a film? How ‘bout An Officer & a Gentleman?
↑4	Genesis 6:1-4
↑5	Matthew 16:13ff
↑6	First Timothy 3:6
↑7	Ezekiel 28:17
↑8	Isaiah 14:15-16
↑9	The Greek translation of the Bible
↑10	See Genesis 11
↑11	Romans 11:26
↑12	Deuteronomy 32:8-9
↑13	Daniel 10:13&20
↑14	Daniel 10:20
↑15	Revelation 11:15
↑16	John 8:44