EZEKIEL 39:1 - 40:28
GOG AND MAGOG
(continued): I believe Ezek 38-39
are here to answer the question of our future with God, if we have already
"blown it". How do we
recover from being in the enemy's hands?
Our "land" must be cleansed
from sin and death. We must be purged from all enemy influence. The fowls will eat the flesh of the mighty
and the princes (Rev 19:17-21).
"FORGET YOUR SHAME": Unfaithfulness
requires repentance - "turning toward
God". And when we do that, He
turns toward us! He does not hide His
face from us. No one can ever make us
afraid again, for He has redeemed us from the clutches of our enemies. Of course, we must instruct our hearts to
believe that because our hearts are wicked and deceitful, remember (Jer
17:9).
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MEASURING THE
TEMPLE: (Chap 40-2): Apparently this vision is important to
God, because there are several chapters about it. The emphasis here is the PERMANENCE of God's
glory. There are people who actually believe that these are the plans to erect
a literal Temple in Palestine in the future.
But that is blatantly
antichristian, because Jesus IS the Temple (Rev 21:22), and He Himself declared that He would never occupy a Temple "made with hands" again! Besides, Jesus was the last sacrifice and anything else
would be an abomination. Down
through the ages, the early Church Fathers believed that this was all symbolic,
as a natural interpretation is impossible. The measurements are actually much larger than
Jerusalem itself, and this Temple has the "river
of life" flowing from it. However,
many believe that Herod used these details when he remodelled Zerubbabel's temple - - - but no stream.
The measuring Man is the Lord and His measurements are precise,
and as revealed in heaven. John and
Ezekiel both knew they were looking at the "New
Jerusalem" inhabited by God and His elect.
Every detail is foreordained by God.
Everything and everyone has a purpose that will please God and bring joy
to Him and us. The place of prayer is
holy. The places of pain and suffering
are holy. The length and breadth of each
soul is holy. The altars of sacrifice
and sanctification are holy. The tables
of fellowship are holy. We keep our
focus on the Lord, rest in our abiding-relationship to Him (do we don't
"sweat" in the Holy Place).
RESPONSE: 1 Cor 6:19 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own?" And in 1 Peter 2:5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ. And we must add Eph 2:19-22, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In
whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord: In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
According to Ezekiel, this Temple is even grander than
Solomon's Temple! It is much more
detailed, much bigger, much more precious. And everything we say and do must originate
from that RIVER. Our actions are eternal
and should be redemptive. Everything about us
is glorious and holy. That
means that there are no mundane jobs, no "dirty" jobs, no
insignificant jobs. They become "holy"
because we are God's elect doing what is put in front of us with joy. Every one of us is a priest unto God. Everything we touch is holy. Our prayers are holy.
Our sacrifice (of ourselves) is holy.
Our suffering (because of sacrificing our reputation, our rights and our
dignity - Phil 2) is holy. Our fellowship with God and with one another
is holy. Our purpose is holy. We serve and eat holy food. Our home is holy ground. Our families
are holy. As we keep our connection to God, and are
aware of His Presence and His Life-energy in us, all of life becomes joyful service
to God.
JAMES 2:18 - 3:18 
RE-ORIENTING MY LIFE
AROUND GOD: No one said it would be
easy, or even "natural". We
are so obsessed with ourselves and what we want or what we feel, that to center
our lives around God and to serve others is almost foreign. But
that is what it means to be a Christian!
If there is no outward evidence that anything happened inside of us,
guess what? Something is wrong! Our so-called "faith" is worthless
("dead"). Real settled faith always causes some kind of response in us. This is why it is so important to do
what James says about settling the struggle inside of us, in our minds. 
"Wisdom from above": "first pure": it is blameless, no ulterior motives or
hidden meanings. "peaceable": the implication here is that righteousness
is the result IF our seeds are sown in peace.
Things won't flourish unless there is peace. Note: it doesn't say anything about
"peace-KEEPERS", but about "peace-MAKERS". There is a huge difference. It takes a war to MAKE peace. It takes a weenie to KEEP peace (because
someone always gets oppressed in that situation). "gentle
and easy to be intreated":
gentle and reasonable; not stubborn.
"full of mercy": ready to either overlook or to forgive; and
if we were all full of mercy there might never be any problems! "without
partiality": never swayed by the fear of man nor swayed by self-interest. "without
hypocrisy": not using flattery, not hidden motives, but seeking the glory
of God.
RESPONSE: Sometimes I think that if I cut out my
tongue, I wouldn't sin anymore! When I
get into trouble, it is almost always because of something I said. Of course, an attitude preceded it. And my thoughts preceded the attitude. I don't seem to have as much trouble if I
begin with praise and thanksgiving to God - even for little, everyday things. Especially for the little things. "Thank
you, Lord, that my washer and dryer are on the main floor, because I do at
least four loads a day!" "Thank
you, Lord, that I am never lonely because You are with me." "Thank you Lord, that you don't hold my
sin against me." "Oh Lord,
give me wisdom for today....manifest Yourself in me. Let there be more of you and less of
me." "Help me to know when
wisdom would confront in order to MAKE peace.
But mostly , let me know when to keep quiet and cover. You are truly enough. I am content with just You."PSALM 118:1-18: (another Psalm in the "Deuteronomy Psalms"):
That makes this a Psalm connected with entering into God's Rest (Hebrews 3 and 4 equate "the Land" with "God's Rest" - a place of settled faith, living as tho God were present and visible.) When we don't know what to say - as we center our lives around God - using praise and thanksgiving as a means of connected with God and of turning our attention away from ourselves - these "Deuteronomy Psalms" (107-150) tell us what to think, what to believe, and what to say.
This section of Psalm 118 tells us that when God is for us,
nothing else can be against us and succeed.
God brings all His resources to the table when defending His purpose and
His plans. Because "the Lord is my strength and song", I can get through
anything. V.8 is the exact middle verse
in the Bible: "It is better to trust
in the Lord than to put confidence in man." To
trust or not to trust is a non-issue with Christians - as we actually belong to
God. As we listen to the Holy Spirit, He
tells us what to do, when to do it, and we trust in Him. We just go about loving and healing,
ministering forgiveness to all we meet.
PROVERBS 28:2
A sinful nation will have unstable leadership with a big
"turnover". When there is a "man of understanding" in leadership,
he brings stability and order.
RESPONSE: God is interested in politics! He sees everything and has a grand plan. We become a reflection of our leaders, so
pastors must be "chosen" wisely.
I use the word "chosen" lightly because we don't really
"chose" who our pastor is. The
Bible tells us "the sheep know his
voice" (Jn 10:3) and it extends
even to our pastor. We go where our
shepherd is - the once whose voice we "hear".
Political leaders need our prayers. Power corrupts even Christians, and so our
leaders need a lot of prayer.
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