One Year Bible, November 21

EZEKIEL 42:1 - 43:27                                                                                                           
IMPORTANCE OF EZEKIEL'S VISIONS:  We must keep in mind that whatever "doctrine" we make in the NT MUST be seen in the OT, either directly stated, or in parables, symbols, examples, etc.  So what became of Ezekiel's vision of the Temple measurements?  For one thing, Herod used the measurements when he remodeled Zerubbable's Temple.  Because of the River of Life in Ezekiel's Temple, we know Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment.  It was in this Temple that Jesus stood and preached, and the first Church was born!  Ezekiel's Temple also gives us revelation of God's "project" in us as individual dwelling-places of the Holy Spirit. 

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE (Chap 40-42):  It is INclusive of all kinds of people.  There is forgiveness and restoration in Jesus, the True Temple.  There is a pattern and order for everything God does, right down to the details.  GOD is the One orchestrating the Temple (our lives).  We (and Jesus, of course) are GLORIOUS in our inner man (where Jesus lives).  Jesus transforms us from the ALTAR and outward from there.  Change the inner man in order to change our behavior.  God does not take our "measure"; He took Christ's.  We know God through our COVENANT with Jesus.  The Ark, Mercy-seat, high priest, or tablets of the Law aren't mentioned because God's glory supersedes them all!  God's Temple (me) is to be separate, distinctive, and holy, a reflection of God.  There is a dividing-line between what is secular and what is holy, however, we take our "holy selves" out to the secular place to bring others into the revelation of God. 

THE PURPOSE OF THE TEMPLE (the conditions for God's Presence):  "Behold, the glory of the Lord filled the House."  God's throne was revealed to Ezekiel there.  This Temple is ETERNAL  (43:7) and is called a PATTERN  (43:10).  The altar must be CLEANSED and PURGED (43:20, 26).  The priests must be CONSECRATED.  (This word means to fence off and fill.)  This means that each of us can minister to the Lord, and should  set ourselves apart (be distinctive as a believer) and be filled with God's Presence and God's Spirit.  (Ezek 43:10,11) We are to follow and keep "the whole form".  Our blessings are conditional to our being in Christ, who fulfilled all of this shadow.  The coming of the GLORY OF GOD is in anticipation of Pentecost when again, the HOLY SPIRIT CAME INTO THE TEMPLE's "upper room". 

TABOO - FORBIDDEN:  The Scriptures expressly FORBID the re-institution of animal sacrifice and Temple worship (Hebrews).  This is IDOLATRY.  God destroyed all this HIMSELF!  (He said He did!)  He OBLITERATED the natural Temple (70 AD) because Jesus was the last sacrifice and Jesus is the True Temple.  He is the "one sacrifice for sins" (Heb 8, 9, 10).  There is no room in God's Universe for any other. 

RESPONSE:  I think that one reason we like to put all these prophesies so far into the future is so that we don't have to deal with them.  We don't have to internalize them and allow them to change us.  By making God's activity in the future, we keep it external and outside of our hearts.  However, good hermeneutics (interpreting Scripture) says that Scripture must interpret Scripture.  We are not to go outside to Webster's Dictionary or to someone's book to figure out what something means.  We get a Strong's Concordance (it uses the King James Bible) and learn how to use the original language dictionary and the other helps and references, comparing Scripture with Scripture.  This is what the NT writers did, quoting huge sections of OT writings.  For example, Revelation contains 84 references just from Ezekiel!  Heb 4:12 says that the Word of God is alive, powerful, able to achieve things that otherwise wouldn't be done in our hearts.  Scriptures sorts things out for us.  It shines light into the darkness of our souls.  It keeps us from being deceived. 

And so, we must deal with the fact that we are God's Temple - His dwelling-place.  God wants to be our PERSONAL GOD, and he wants us for "His people".  "Separate" does not mean   detached, withdrawn or isolated.  It means "distinctive".  "Holy" does not mean perfect, pious or pure.  It means "in the possession of God."  The glory of God fills the inner sanctum of my being. 

JAMES 5:1-20                                                                                                                       

RE-ORIENTING MY LIFE AROUND GOD:  Faith concerns itself with the invisible, spiritual realm of eternity, not just my external, present circumstances.  The key word in James 5 is "patience".  In v.7,8,10 the word used refers to "going the distance", and in v. 11 another word is translated "endure" and "patience" - meaning "endurance".  Remember Heb 6:12 says it takes "faith AND patience" (going the distance) to inherit (stay in "rest").  On-again-off-again won't cut it - that's back to being unstable.  Once we decide to end the struggle and REST, we "establish our hearts" (5:8) - we become resolute.  I call it "growing up".  In this context, the coming of the Lord may refer to the eminent destruction of the Temple, when the Christians expected the persecution to let up.  The coming of the Lord TO US AND FOR US would be an intervention of some sort, whether it be by strengthening us or by weakening our enemies.  Either way, if we want to end the struggle in our minds, we must develop "patience" - for going thru life.  Prayer connects us to the invisible, eternal realms, and gets our attention off ourselves.  It makes us resolute.

RESPONSE:   If we still think that faith is something we use to get what we want or what we need, then we are going to be miserable.  Hebrews taught us that faith is for obtaining and living in "rest" - settled faith that believes our outcomes are in God's hands.  To depend on anything or anyone else for satisfaction of our wants and needs is called "adultery".  The "works" produced by that faith is "wisdom" - for the practicalities of life.  It is humbling and sometimes difficult to believe that we mature as Christians by believing and by repenting, not by trying harder.  Keep in mind that "repenting" does NOT means to be sorry for our sins.  Repentance means to turn our attention back to God - centering our lives around God.  We depend on Him for strength, for stamina, for righteousness, for joy, for wisdom, for purity, for identification, for deliverance, and for whatever else is necessary for our lives.  We orient our lives around God by what we say, by continually drawing close to Him and depending on Him, and by "going the distance" through prayer. 

PSALM 119:1-16:                                                                                                                     
The longest chapter in the Bible contains the secret to knowing how to live the Christian life of faith in God.  The one thing that stands out is how much the writer, King David, loves God's Word.  The fact that he calls it "law, precept, commandment, statute, truth, saying, testimony, way, judgment, word" in no way refers to legalism.  Anyone can tell what we really believe, by what we DO.  When we say we have faith, we are saying that we believe there is an invisible, spiritual realm that controls and takes preeminence over this visible, temporal realm.   That means we live as if God were present and visible!  And so, our heart's desire is to know God better and to understand how the spiritual realm works.  That means we love everything that God has spoken.  All these words for "law" do not refer to external restrictions or something God enforces on us.  They refer to instructions in our hearts by a loving daddy.

"WE" are the "blameless" ones (Eph 1:4) this is written for who are "seeking Him with the whole heart".  We want to know what pleases God, what gives Him expression in the earth.  We love the Word of God because it connects us to God. 

RESPONSE:  My aging mother lived with me her last few years on earth.  She was nearly totally blind, had a pacemaker, two hip implants and a walker, several fractured vertebrae, and many other internal health issues that made it difficult for her to eat.  She had been that way for nearly three years!  I never heard her complain or worry.  The one thing she loved above all else was talking about Jesus, and having someone read to her from her Bible.  The day before she went to be with Jesus, my husband and I were walking outside, taking a break for some fresh air.  As we walked up to the house, we could hear my 9-year-old granddaughter talking to Mom in the bedroom.  We sneaked up to the window to listen, and discovered that she was reading her Bible to Grandma!  She sat for hours and read to Grandma, even tho Grandma was unresponsive and almost gone.  I'm sure Mom heard every word because she was smiling.  Mom had a tough life, you can read about it in her obituary (Mattie Ginapp), but she had found peace, and joy, and deep satisfaction in Jesus and in His Word. She wore out several Bibles, and loved God's Word more than anything else.  In fact, she loved God's Word so much, that a memorial was set up in her name for Gideon Bibles International!   

PROVERBS 28:6-7                                                                                                                 
This is just a fancy way of saying that "honesty is the only (best) policy."  You are better off poor than to be deceitful.  Did you know that OT "riotous" means "gluttonous"?  What it is referring to is someone who lives in a way that wastes his money and ruins his health.  This is shameful, not just to yourself, but to family members and those who associate with you.