BLOOD ON YOUR HEAD: When we see people headed for hell and say nothing to warn them, their blood is on our hands. If we warn them and they don't act on it, we are innocent of their blood. Makes sense. "Turn! (Repent!) Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die?" We must always have a REPENTANT HEART - one that clings to God as our Deliverer and Friend. A heart that is re-oriented around God, instead of around ourselves and our little lives. People actually accuse God of not being fair because He asks for consistency. But that is how covenant works: if we are married, then we are married all the time, not just when we want something.
THE CITY HAS FALLEN! A turning point in ministry. The message now changes from JUDGMENT to that of COMFORT. They love his messages now, but still won't do what he said! Their willful unbelief has blinded them to the significance of these events. And blindness hinders them from repentance and forsaking their abominations. But when the prophecy comes to pass, "Then shall they know that a prophet has been among them." Our responsibility is not to people, but to God - to obey Him and please Him.
WICKED SHEPHERDS (PASTORS): They have gotten FAT at the expense of their sheep. (Do I need to interpret that?) They are self-indulgent. Some are manipulative, pushy, forceful and controlling. Many neglect the care of the sheep, assigning that dirty task to underlings. The smell of sheep is not for themselves! They have "not healed that which was sick or bound up that which was broken." And so they allowed the flock to be scattered, wandering all over the "face of the earth" and have become prey to their enemies.
JESUS, THE TRUE SHEPHERD: He will seek and deliver all the lost sheep and gather them from all the places they have wandered. He will feed them in good pasture and bind up what was broken. But the FAT AND THE STRONG that were victimizing the others will be judged.
"O MY FLOCK": The people went into captivity because of greedy and cruel kings and priests (leadership) who had exploited the people and led them astray. Nothing has changed! Preachers who won't preach Truth are still doing it! Our True Shepherd will give "showers of blessing" (34:26) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"COVENANT OF PEACE": All bondage shall be broken. God will discern between sheep and goats (Mat 25:32). And "I am your God, saith the Lord God."
RESPONSE: IF Ezekiel is prophesying beyond the restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah, then this is talking about JESUS, the TRUE SHEPHERD - none other. God's "elect" are called "Israel" - in OT and NT - even tho in the NT "Israel" is not a political indicator any more. It simply refers to GOD'S ELECT. So don't get confused on that score. God will gather to Himself HIS ELECT from the four corners of the earth and will be "their God". Let's not be stubborn about repentance and lose it all! Judgment can be averted through repentance. "Turn! Turn! Why would you die?" Events that should lead to repentance and re-connection with God are significant. That's why they are there! Things don't "just happen" to us.
HEBREWS 13:1-25
THE LIFE OF FAITH (the secret of inner rest): We can either "drawing near" to God or "shrink back in fear", forfeiting His rest, but not forfeiting our salvation as such. Quite frankly, if the Christian life subsists of ONLY life after death, then it is irrelevant for the here-and-now! Keep in mind that this book was written to "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1) - Christian believers who have been at this for awhile and were not really getting anywhere. We understand that. Sometimes I am also tempted to think that people don't really change that much when they get saved. Hebrews was written for people like me - to encourage me to press on, that the effort is worth it. There is no such thing as "standing still" in our Christian walk; we are either pressing forward or sliding backward. Self-effort will get us nowhere either. "The just shall live by faith" (Heb 10:38) - and anyone who is "just" who does NOT live by faith, isn't going to have "REST". And so, we are to press into "rest" by faith in things unseen, inaudible, and impossible. This is why Hebrews 11 is so important: these people offer proof that invisible spiritual things are REAL. And if that isn't enuf, the book of Hebrews in general offers proof that this effort is worth it because everything of our spiritual realities (vs the shadows we have been living with) is "better" because it is all based on things that are "eternal" (Heb 5:9; 6:2; 9:12; 9:14; 9:15; 13:20).... and so we see contrasts between Law (self-effort which we are warned will fail us) and Grace (rest). "GRACE BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN.": This chapter does not just tie up loose ends. This is the final argument about the superiority of the life of faith as opposed to the life of self-effort. The life of faith, the secret of inner rest, can be summed up by this statement: "Grace be with you all." (v.25) "Grace" can be defined by v. 20-21 where we learn that God fully equips us to do His will, and is Himself producing in us what pleases Him. Is it any wonder that v. 9 tells us that we are to be "established by grace" - stabilized and made sure-footed. This powerful grace is based on the "everlasting covenant" which is a covenant of grace, which covenant was made before the foundations of the world, among the Godhead, in which every purpose of God is stated, and tho man is the object, he is not party to the agreement. He wasn't even there yet! (1 Pe 1:19-20; Rev 13:8; Titus 1:2; 2 TIm 1:9; Eph 1:11; Rom 4:21) When these verses say "make you perfect" the Gr is katartizo, which is translated in Matt 4:21 "mending their nets" When God makes us "perfect", He completely untangles us, repairs and completes us, restoring us to usefulness. ALL of the outward, concrete acts listed in this chapter are the outworking of a grateful heart that wants everyone to attain to this same GRACE, staying satisfied with Jesus.
RESPONSE: Law (self-effort) voids FAITH; it does not void sin (Rom 4:14). Grace, on the other hand, accomplishes the will of God in us, by us, for us. Grace gives us rest which is the goal in our race. Every circumstance is an opportunity for us to kill the flesh and cling to God, because we are stabilized by grace. We know that God is FOR us, working IN us. When I am being shaken, the only things that I lose are things that do NOT belong in me anyway. My reality is behind the veil where Jesus is. I can access it any time I desire. Jesus is always available to me; I don't need an appointment, or a special place or posture. There is no reason for failure, other than fear. But even then, He says, "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
PSALM 115:1-18
All glory belongs to God. Non-believers don't like this; they want credit for their efforts, so they concoct their own gods, who are just like them...dead. They essentially worship themselves - and depend on self-effort for everything. This is contrary to the Bible assertion that there is "none that doeth good, no, not one." (Rom 3:12) Psa 115:3 says that "Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases him. " (NIV) These man-made "gods", on the other hand, pretty much do nothing. Our God, Jehovah, "will make us and our children increase"....(v.14) Job 42:2 also says to God, "I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted." (NIV)
"The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lords: but the earth hath He given to the children of men." The earth never has and never will belong to the devil. The devil is a usurper of the systems that operate here, but not the earth itself! 1Co 10:26 declares the earth to belong to the Lord, along with everything in it. He has deeded it over to man for a temporary home, a place to show dominion, stewardship, and blessing.
"The dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord." This is because believers NEVER DIE!
PROVERBS 27:21-22
