Ezekiel
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Ezekiel Chapter 13
This is what concerns me even today, that we speak not from our own hearts but we speak the word of God. If God gives words of encouragement, we speak that. If God gives words of warning, we speak that. We must speak His words not words that we want to speak. Somehow I believe that if God really wants us to speak, He will let us know for sure that it is His word. It will not contradict the word already given to us that we call the bible. However, we have to be careful to use a literal translation and not a modern version that is a thought for thought translation instead of a word for word. Here is an example of whether or not something is from the Lord: We know there are those in the audience that believe a certain doctrine so we make our message so as not to offend those sitting in the pews. We can go the other way also. Suppose someone did something that was told to us. We know that what they did was wrong and they do need correction. Instead of going to them privately, we use the bully pulpit method to preach to the one person. Now if God directed it specifically that is one thing but if it is something that is from our own heart, it is quite another. I remember one man used to get mad at his neighbor for some reason or another and that is what he would talk about. The neighbor didn't hear his reproof so what good did it do. If God lays a certain message on our hearts and someone comes into the congregation that the message might offend and we water it down so as to be less offensive after we know for sure God gave us the original message with no water added, then we are preaching from our own heart and not God's word. God now is warning the false prophets who follow their own spirits and have seen nothing.
This means that they did not warn people to repent when they sinned. They just let it go causing a large gap between Israel and God. Repentance from sin brings us back into fellowship with God. Sin separates us from God. The prophets did not warn but rather desired to make people feel good about themselves similar to what is going on today. It's a dangerous thing whether we speak comfort or correction to not say it is the word of the Lord, if it is just our opinion. When we speak for God we better make sure we received it from God and not just our own imagination. When foxes made holes in the hedges the enemy can slip through a lot easier. Good sound doctrine and preaching from the word brings righteous living and bridges the gaps that separate us from God. This has not changed with the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the bridge that brings sinful man back to a holy God. His shed blood cleanses us from the sin that was causing the separation. He then gives us the Holy Spirit making it easier for us to continue in holiness but when we stop preaching truth and just preach good ear tickling messages or motivational speeches, people tend to get comfortable and allow the old sin to creep back in. This causes the separation to return. On the other hand, we can get so negative and never give messages of comfort and healing that people feel, "What is the use." I can never please God. That is why seeking the Lord for a message is vital. He knows whether a group of people need comfort or correction. We in the flesh do not know. It may take praying and sometimes fasting but we need to get the mind of the Lord before speaking and make sure our motives are not selfish, seeking a bigger offering or vengeful, getting even with someone for some offense. I remember David Wilkerson was known to pray for hours even days before delivering a message.
If we know a certain group of people are living loosely, ignoring the word of God, committing adultery, into image worship, taking divorce lightly etc., then I doubt God will give a "Your okay, you are in God's favor," type of message. For many years we had all negative messages then when it changed we went too far the other way with God loves you messages and failed to warn against sin. Yes, God loves us which is why we must warn against sin. That sin will destroy both soul and body. It is killing us and will kill a nation. How do I know? Read history or look what is happening today. There are things going on that even 50 years ago would shock people. Gender transition surgery on children for example would never be heard of in the United States just a few years ago. That destroys those little bodies for life. Such evil is happening as I write.
Someone who really hears from God is not going to be a popular well liked preacher. He is going to be made fun of, hated, called names and ridiculed. How do I know? Read the bible. No true prophet of God is going to be living in two or three mansions, drive the latest car, fly jet planes and be rich and popular. He may have those things when Christ comes back and sets up His kingdom but not in this present world we live in. Right now, if we are rich and popular, something is wrong because we cannot please the world, be popular with the masses and please God too. The two do not mix. A real prophet is hated, scorned and mocked. He will earn respect and God will take care of him but the respect and care will come from those we least expect it to come from like the widow who helped feed Elijah. The world of that day. the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel and those in power, hated him.
Like walls build in a way that they cannot withstand aging, bad weather and wear and tear, these prophets were telling people things that they wanted to hear and not warning them of their sin that would cause them to lose their land and nation. They were saying things like. We are God's chosen. He loves us. We are not so bad. God is going to bless, bless, bless and there is no judgment coming. We are blessed of God and He wants us to enjoy life and have plenty. We are going to have peace and not war. Even believers is Jesus are not promised the life of Riley. The bible says that the godly in Christ will suffer persecution. However, those that have turned from sin and live in holiness will not suffer any wrath or God. In the case of Israel in Ezekiel's day, they were suffering God's judgment because of sin. This was not persecution against a people because of their faith in God. It is quite different. All that happened to Israel in the days of captivity was solely because they sinned against God by turning to idols instead of the living God. Once they went into idolatry, the murder, immorality, perversion and evil went along with it. Even after they were sent prophets who continually warned them, they still would not repent. Many mock these kinds of prophets calling them prophets of doom. I realize that there are false prophets today that prophesy good things instead of God's word. There are also fake prophets of doom who prophecy warning but not to get people back to God, only to get people scared enough to follow them into some cult. That is different. A true prophet of doom will try to get people to repent of sin in order to get them into a right relationship with Jesus Christ which is the only path to God after Jesus died for sins and rose again from the dead. Faith in Christ is the only way to God now because the sacrifice for the sins of mankind has been paid by the death of Jesus Christ. He was innocent of any sin Himself and paid the penalty for sin. This is what all the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed to. All who believe in Jesus (Yeshua) to the point of renouncing their sin and giving their lives to God, are saved from the penalty of sin. We who are in Christ and have rejected sin, will not have to pay for our own sins unless we willingly return to sin without repenting. Usually a person so willing to return to sin after coming to Christ may not have been genuinely converted in the first place. Genuine conversions are a work of the Holy Spirit. We can't force this on anyone.
This is a good example of what false prophecy, false doctrine and sin does. It destroys the listener and endangers his soul.
There will one day be peace in Israel but not until the whole nations turns away from sin and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a latter day time of Jacob's trouble in which we call the tribulation in which Israel will face a final judgment of God and a call to repentance. When they recognize the savior that their ancestors rejected, then and only then will they have peace. Sin and God does not mix. Without the cleansing of sin by the blood of the lamb of God (Jesus Christ), we remain in sin and separate from a holy God.
Fortune telling, witchcraft, soothsaying, divination, astrology, etc. is an abomination in the sight of God. They do not speak for God. This prophecy is against women who give advice and counsel to those that seek out their divination. This does not mean that God does not use women as true prophets but these types of methods to get advice is not of God. God uses His Holy Spirit in individuals who allow Him to use them. The Holy Spirit brings people to repentance, to holiness, to purity and to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit does not prophecy for money, for show, to exalt the individual, to promote a program, a certain denomination, church or person. He is out to get people to God and do the will of God.
A true prophet will not make the righteous or those that have turned from sin and have chosen to live godly, sad because they have chosen God instead of living like the rest of the world. A true prophet also will not say peace to those who have allowed sin to separate them from a holy God. We have people today that call evil good and good evil. They call the ones that preach against sexual immorality and abortion, evil and those that preach a woman's right to choose and sex between consenting adults including pornography as a right, good. Those that warn about sin destroying a whole nation are considered right wing fundamentalist bible thumpers. Evil is called good and good is called evil. It has not changed since the days of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. The only difference is that we have had more help than those that lived before Jesus came. We have had the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. If we reject God's correction, we are more guilty than Israel or even Sodom and Gomorrah.
This is a comforting message actually knowing that God has everything under control and those that do evil in His name will not get by with it. The truth will be preached and the truth will prevail in the end. You can count on it. Sometimes it seems like the enemy is winning but this is only temporary. God and those that live for God and have received Jesus as Lord will win in the end.
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