Ezekiel
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Ezekiel Chapter 12
This is the majority of the world today. They have eyes to see but they do not see. They have ears to hear but they do not hear. We've had a few preachers warning against the sin of abortion. We've had proof that babies still in the womb even at the very beginning are live human beings that can feel pain. Yet the selfishness and cry for women's rights override the silent screams of the little children in the womb whose blood cries out from the ground like the voice of Abel the very first murdered human being. We've had even a fewer number of preachers warn constantly against sexual immorality and lifestyles that can shorten lives and bring disease but now they are considered hate mongers and bigots instead of ones who are concerned for the lives and the souls of people who break the bounds that God sets up to protect us, not harm us. Rebellion against God's rule and authority is rampant and is getting worse. Warnings fall on deaf ears while sexually transmitted disease continues to kill, steal and destroy the body and souls of those who ignore the cries of warning. In fact there are new diseases popping up all the time. God loves us and makes commandments for our good but we throw Him out of our public society and many nations are continually in deep moral decline. Some are warning that this nation will not last much longer. Divorce, couples living together without marriage, rape, drugs, alcoholism, murders and lack of respect for law and order are getting worse. No fear of God is in the land. To mention the name of Jesus is considered unconstitutional. Now we have people who say there are other ways to God besides Jesus when God's word declares there is none other name under heaven whereby anyone can be saved.
When they see Ezekiel move his stuff, it will be a sign that they too will be moving their stuff and having to flee. The 70 years of captivity shall come to pass. They had a chance to repent and turn back to God but instead of listening they attack the messengers just like they do today. Attacking the messengers of God's word, will not stop God's word from coming to pass. The only thing that will stop God's judgment is to repent and believe in the Son of God; Jesus who became a substitute and sacrifice for all the sins we have ever committed. In order for His death and resurrection to count on our behalf is to repent of sin and receive Him into our lives.
This is a prophecy concerning Zedekiah, king of Judah. Because of his rebellion when he did not surrender but rebelled against Babylon even though he was warned that the captivity of Babylon was going to occur and it was the will of God. He resisted this. He was made blind by his enemies and did not see the land to which he was taken. This is why Ezekiel covered his own head that he couldn't see the ground symbolizing what was to happen to Zedekiah. This was all the result of rebellion against the word of God. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft. When we rebel against the known word of God, we sin and harm our own well-being. I'm grieved continually by the rebellion and attitude of those in my own country today because I can see the destruction ahead. Only a national repentance and turning to God can stop or delay it. I'm not talking about all rebellion. We must rebel against evil dictators and rulers who are leading us away from God and away from the truth. We must rebel against evil and even evil leaders in the church. However, we must do this with caution and lots of prayer so that we do not rebel against authority that is from God. Babylon was an evil nation but God used them to come against Israel because of their sin. When Zedekiah rebelled he was actually rebelling against God because prophets had previously come to him telling him of the coming judgment. He refused to believe them and ended up losing not only the throne of Judah and his freedom, but his eyesight as well. We must submit to law and order. The bible says not to speak evil against the ruler of the people. However, if an evil dictator orders a mass execution of a certain group of people or religion like the Jews in the days of Hitler for instance, we are not to submit to that kind of authority. We are under a higher authority than Adolph Hitler and that is the authority of God. I believe someone who really seeks to know God and learn the will of God will be able to discern the difference between the sin of rebellion against God or obeying God for standing up against evil, whether it is evil religious leaders or evil government officials. This is why God supplied us with a copy of His written word contained in what we call the bible. I prefer the KJV version which is a word for word translation instead of a thought for thought translation. I don't care for paraphrases. I like to have one the closest to the original meaning as possible. Thought for thought translations make it easier to get manmade opinions of the word instead of "the word." The word will let us know what God calls rebellion and when God allows us to stand up for right and wrong. The law of the land in many states within the United States as of October 2024, allow for legalized abortion or termination of unwanted pregnancies up until the 9th month and a couple of states legalized allowing them to be born alive and then letting them die without caring for them. Because of a brave man who exposed what was happening to those babies, we know that late term abortions are used for transplants. By law we can't prevent any women from getting an abortion. We can however preach, teach, warn and try to get them to decide not to get one. If they pass a law forbidding us to try to tell them they are wrong at least on our own property or in church, we must do whatever God lays on our heart even if the law forbids it. If the United States would pass a law against preaching the gospel or teaching the bible, we would have to obey the higher law of God which says to go into all the world and preach the gospel.
God was even going to punish all that try to help the king to escape the coming invasion of Babylon.
It sometimes takes drastic action for people to wake up. If we would only listen the first time we hear a message calling us to repentance we would avoid getting into trouble and destroying our families, cities and even the whole nation.
Few are left to share the message to others. God always has a remnant.
This actually happened twice. This prophecy had an immediate fulfillment in the days of Ezekiel and in 70 A.D. a few years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes when a prophecy's fulfillment is delayed, people assume its not going to happen and get a false sense of security. David Wilkerson and others have predicted a stock market crash, a depression and hard times for the United States. Every time it gets close but the stock market rebounds and we have more good years, people stop listening. Yet I believe the day is coming maybe closer than we think. I don't know what the prosperity preachers are going to tell their people. When God's judgment is delayed, it is because He is being merciful. We rest in His grace. But if any church continues in apostasy and does not warn its people to repent, we must remember as with Israel, judgment begins at the house of God. We are not going to get by with sin in the camp and still expect God's blessing. If God judged Israel, the church has had God's word for centuries, also the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no excuse for us not to know the word of God. All we have to do is seek and we will find. If we lose something, we may not find it again if we don't look for it. However, sometimes we may find it by accident if we happen to stumble across it later. Sometimes our merciful God will send someone or cause the Holy Spirit to prick our conscience drawing us back to Him. Happy are we if we yield to His calling. We have had the gift of salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the written word. We are without excuse if we go into rebellion against God's word. Where in the New Testament does it tell us we can be saved by repenting of sin and believing in Jesus then we can turn around, go back into the sin Jesus died to save us from and continue in that sin without repentance and still expect to inherit eternal life because we are under grace and not under the law? They use the words of Paul but Paul says just the opposite. Look at his words:
God's word is so beautiful and brings freedom, never bondage. Here is the real gospel of grace:
The gospel of grace if taught correctly will give us joy, peace, and many good things from the Lord. With men we suffer persecution but from God is His presence always dwelling within us.
The proverb referred to here is in verse 22: Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? They will no longer be saying that the days of judgment are prolonged but they are at hand. We talk of the coming of Jesus now like it far into the distant future. I remembered the old Church of God saints used to talk of His coming as being very near. We need to start talking like that again because it is closer now than when those old saints lived.
I can almost hear God saying that to us today. For this nation is getting as evil as Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed them. We know they committed sexual immorality and they might have had the sin of abortion but the bible doesn't speak of it. They did have legalized rape of men raping any visitors that came to them. The United States and many nations of the world are walking on dangerous ground. I don't go around picketing abortion clinics, I don't go around carrying a gun and threatening someone's life, I don't yell and scream at people who do these things and call them names but I do say with a heart that loves to see people find peace, joy and the love of God, that whatever the bible declares as sin, is still sin. If God says something is an abomination, it is still an abomination. If God says he hates divorce, He hates divorce. If God says not to make images to use in our worship then He means that we do not make them. I don't even want them for decoration. Jesus didn't die for our sins and pay the price for our salvation for us to ignore all His words and return to the same sins He saved us from, and we be able to say, we are covered by grace. It was His grace that called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. It was His mercy that saves us when we were lost, we could not save ourselves. We can't be saved without His grace. His grace and mercy is what sends out His Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and call us to repentance. When we listen to that call and believe in Jesus Christ, we can become "born again" by God's spirit. We are born again when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and draws us to the knowledge that Jesus came to save us from sin and give us eternal life. When we believe and receive this, we are actually being "born again" by the spirit of God. Why would the Holy Spirit convict of sin if we are knowingly and willingly allowed to return to it at some point after we believe and still expect to be saved. It doesn't make sense. If we sin, we must repent. It is that simple. It is His grace that brings us to repentance not allow us to remain in sin without any repentance. Just as Israel refused to listen, Many are refusing to listen. Christian organizations who just feed the hungry and build hospitals are okay and are excepted by the media but let one of them start preaching a message of repentance and that Jesus is the only way to be saved, that is another story. Repenting from sin accompanies true salvation but it is message we hear less and less. They will accept a compromising watered down message about Jesus as being a good guy and one way to salvation but it is getting a little unpopular to tell it like it is. Jesus is the only way to salvation along with repenting from sin.
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