EZEKIEL 7:1 - 9:11
"THE END HAS COME": Disaster is here. (7:5-6) Doomsday is here (7:7, 10). Gold and silver will not buy your way out. The "Day of the Lord" refers to when God Sovereignly intervenes in history. God is shown as "coming" in judgment, on the clouds, out of heaven, melting the mountains, setting fire to the earth. In Isa 64:1-3 Isaiah prayed for God to come down and destroy creation. What he meant was for God to manifest Himself. The "judgment-comings" of God in the OT were His interventions in human events with His wrath. What accompanies "that Day"? Idols (counterfeits and substitutes) will be dealt with and those things that we depended on will "burn up" in judgment. And "They shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth." (7:9) Everything is so overwhelming that the people are paralyzed from action.
PICKED UP BY THE HAIR: It is still five years before Jerusalem is destroyed, and the Holy Spirit translated (by the hair) Ezekiel "home" to see what was going on. In contrast to "the glory of the Lord" Ezekiel sees "the image of jealousy" in the Temple. It greatly provoked our jealous God. Idolatry and orgies inside the Temple drove God out of His own sanctuary! There were dirty pictures on the walls of the Holy Place and an antichristian deity enthroned in the Holy of Holies! Some priests were actually worshipping the sun in secret. Their attitude was despising of the House of the Lord. And these were the leaders! They "ministered" under the influence of evil spirits! Keep in mind that in order to internalize this Scripture, that our soul is the Holy Place, our spirit is the Holy of Holies. We ARE the Temple, and the Sanctuary of God Almighty. Are we hiding secrets? Do we allow wild thoughts to come in and stay? Or have we asked God to so fill us that the thought of sin is abhorrent? Are we sensitive to the approach of evil?
"GOD HAS LEFT THE BUILDING": Here we have the slaughter of the idolaters. The ones with the marks on their foreheads were preserved. The righteous intercessors, "who sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done", were "sealed". THE MAN IN WHITE LINEN: is Jesus in the midst of the Candlestick with six additional branches (the human Church). Jesus marked the remnant while the other six carried out the executions. In this massacre of the idolaters, the "glory of the Lord" has moved out to the threshold, on its way out. But it lingers - - - waiting for a change of heart in the people. There is still a remnant and the "the Lord knows those that are His" (2 Tim 2:19). God's judgment on the rest was because of: (9:9) "iniquity, perverseness, ... bloodshed."
RESPONSE: God said, "Begin at My Sanctuary". Orgies in the Temple: What would idolatry in the church look like? Counterfeit worship? Substituting knowledge for experience? Misplaced values? Leadership with secrets? Do we "sigh and cry" over abominations, or do we look the other way?
We are the Temple and God no longer dwells in a building "made with hands". So contemplate "orgies in the Temple" from that standpoint: Indulging in a secret thought-life. Living to gratify SELF. Pride and arrogance. Bigotry, hatred, unforgiveness, hardness of heart. In Ezekiel we saw judgment "begin in the House of the Lord" (1 Pet 4:17).
HEBREWS 5:1-14
THIRD WARNING: Fortunately for us, God "has compassion on the ignorant". There are TWO Greek words for "ignorant". This one is "agneo" which just means "I don't know." The other word is "idiotes" which means "I don't want to know." The warning is actually over in chapter 6, but the discussion begins here: Some people "miss it" because they just don't realize what they are forfeiting every time they give in to their flesh. You see, it says here that "eternal salvation" is for those who "obey Him". They have been tamed to submission - not weak, not doormats, not passive, but obedient to God. In fact, that obedience is some of the most dangerous, courageous, outlandish things you will ever do! It caused Jesus to "suffer". When we don't obey God, we become CALLOUSED. Soon, we grow "dull of hearing" - we lose our edge and become sluggish. We don't enjoy pleasing God like we used to.
THE GOAL AND THE PRIZE - REST: Salvation is the Remedy, not the Goal! God's Presence is our goal, and it is there we find "Rest", which is the prize. You've probably heard of the "Law of First Usage". It states that the meaning of words in the Bible get their understanding from the first time it gets used. The word henceforth is interpretated from that first setting. This word "rest" is first used in Genesis 5:29, and it is Noah's name. "Noah" actually means "Rest". His father named him that because Noah was consolation for all their hard work. Then in Genesis 8:21, when Noah emerged from the Ark, the first thing he did was to build an altar and make a burnt offering to the Lord. "And the Lord smelled a sweet savor..." The words "sweet savor" in the original language (Heb) is "the odor of rest" or "a restful smell". What is "the odor of rest"? It is the smell of self-sacrifice. The burnt offering that Noah made represented himself. When Noah "entered in to rest", he acknowledged God as being sufficient and gave it all while he built the ark in faith and obedience (Heb 11:7). When we are consumed in self-sacrifice, it gives off an "odor of rest" to God, that the Bible calls "a sweet savour".
"HABITS": V. 14 Says we become skilled at living righteously by "use" - which is the word for "habits". Rom 12:21 says we overcome evil habits (selfishness, self-centeredness, etc.) with "good" - or better habits. When we are pressured, we rely on "muscle memory" - a habit we developed when there was NO pressure. So, make it a righteous habit to force your mind to think about Jesus, about God's goodness and God's greatness. About God's faithfulness. Do it while you drive your car, while you fold the laundry, while you mow the lawn, while you make supper, etc. That way, when pressure comes to fire a retort, to lose your temper, to manipulate someone, to speak unadvisedly - or to grab a candy bar - whatever your vice is - you will DEFAULT to your new habit in God. Otherwise you will stay UNskilled, UNtried, UNproven, INexperienced. This passage says that this is spiritual babyhood! Jesus understands this - He had to "learn obedience through the things He suffered" also! Our habit must be self-sacrificial, and this requires that we force our hearts to enter His Rest.
"ETERNAL SALVATION": No - this doesn't mean that there is another salvation that isn't "eternal". What this means is that this particular salvation spoken of in Hebrews 5-6 comes from eternity and into our lives when we allow ourselves to mature through obedience. It is the salvation spoken of in Phil 2:12 that we "work out", the salvation of our SOULS (1 Pet 1:9), the redeeming of our practical lives, not just a spiritual salvation. But it only comes thru obedience. This "eternal salvation" puts us in direct communication with eternity - or heaven and its resources. Isa 57:1 5 says that God "inhabiteth eternity". That eternity is a "high and lofty place". It is the unseen, invisible realm (2Co 4:18), the LIFE (John 3:16; John 10:10) that is set on a foundation of unchangable absoluteness. It is a quality of life that we inherit when we "obey Him". This "eternal salvation" is for those "that obey Him". When we choose to opt out and submit to our own flesh, we forfeit all that, including the "Rest".
RESPONSE: I have always had the mistaken idea that my growth-rate is my business. I thought that I moved along at my own pace! I didn't know about the consequences of all my big screw-ups (which we'll read in chapter 6). So what if I stayed immature? Well, there are consequences, the chief one of which is not being able to please God because I was always overwhelmed by circumstances.
PSALM 105:1-15
IMPORTANT: Please refer back to the background information of Psalm 90-106: the "Numbers" Psalms - "Labouring" to enter in to God's Rest."
This Psalm was originally written to accompany the Ark on its return to Jerusalem, from being at Obed Edom's house. It is a celebration of the coming of God's Presence and rejoicing in His faithfulness and power. Keep in mind that this is an outward expression. V. 4 uses two different words for "seek". One means to habitually draw near to look, expecting Him to come near. The other word means to diligently pursue Him with the expectation of apprehending Him. This means we must NEVER give up "making contact" with God when we worship. We keep at it until we know He is near. V. 8 says He remembers His word - James 4:8 says when we draw near to God, He DOES draw near to us. Exo 17:6 says He "stood before" - right in front of - Moses. Psa 16:8 says I can "set the Lord always before me" - immediately in front of me. That is cause for rejoicing! Usher Him in with singing!
PROVERBS 26:28
A "flatterer" is someone who smiles while they put a knife in our backs.
RESPONSE: We should all resolve to be very careful about what we say. My mother used to say, "if you can't say something nice about someone, then don't say anything at all."
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