Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Hidden behind the door of many homes is the reality of hardship.  Secret things happen that few want the world to know.  Yet, from some people (presently and historically) we are given the inside story, whether they want it told or not.

A devastated home isn’t always apparent on first impression, is it? Susanna Wesley was married to a preacher.  They had 10 children of which, two grew up to bring millions of souls to Christ. That would be John and Charles Wesley.  It’s a powerful story if you stop there, isn’t it?

But, behind the door of her home, hopeless conditions were the norm.  She married a man who couldn’t manage money.  They disagreed on everything from money to politics.  They had 19 children.  All except ten died in infancy.  Sam (her husband) left her to raise the children alone for long periods of time.  This was sometimes over something as simple as an argument.

One of their children was crippled.  Another couldn’t talk until he was nearly six years old.  Susanna herself was desperately sick most of her life.  There was no money for food or anything thing else.  Debt plagued them.

Sam was once thrown into debtor’s prison because their debt was so high, which doubled their problems.  Twice the homes they lived in were burned to the ground, losing everything they owned.  It was assumed that their church members did it because they were so mad at what Sam preached in the pulpit!  Someone slit their cow’s udders so they wouldn’t have milk, killed their dog, and burned their flax field!

When Susanna was young, she promised the Lord that for every hour she spent in entertainment, she would give to Him in prayer and in the Word.  Taking care of the house and raising so many kids made this commitment nearly impossible to fulfill. She had no time for entertainment or long hours in prayer!  She worked the gardens, milked the cow, schooled the children and managed the entire house herself.  So, she decided to instead give the Lord two hours a day in prayer!

She struggled to find a secret place to get away with Him.  So she advised her children that when they saw her with her apron over her head, that meant she was in prayer and couldn’t be disturbed.  She was devoted to her walk with Christ, praying for her children and knowledge in the Word no matter how hard life was.

One of her daughters got pregnant out of wedlock and the man never married her.  She was devastated, but remained steadfast in prayer for her daughter.

In the end, she knew that one day her hard life would be over and she alone would stand before the throne of God and give an account of how she lived her life.

We can be the best mom, wife, friend, person in the world and still have untold hardships.  We need to take Susanna’s example, flip our apron over our head and pray in the middle of it all. 

Back to the beginning of my story…

Her son’s John and Charles were powerhouses for the glory of the Lord.  John Wesley preached to nearly a million people in his day.  At the age of 70 he delivered the gospel message of salvation to 32,000 people- without the use of a microphone!  He brought revival everywhere he traveled!  His brother Charles wrote over 9000 hymns, many of which we still sing today.

Hidden behind the door of my home, I want our children to find a mom who prays diligently- no matter how busy or how.  (Written by Sharon Glasgow)

Susanna found her sacred space.

Where is your sacred space where you meet with God? 

Our relationship with God is the most important relationship we will ever have. 

Ezekiel 45, The Message

Sacred Space for God

^1-4 “When you divide up the inheritance of the land, you must set aside part of the land as sacred space for God: approximately seven miles long by six miles wide, all of it holy ground. Within this rectangle, reserve a seven-hundred-fifty-foot square for the Sanctuary with a seventy-five-foot buffer zone surrounding it. Mark off within the sacred reserve a section seven miles long by three miles wide. The Sanctuary with its Holy of Holies will be placed there. This is where the priests will live, those who lead worship in the Sanctuary and serve God there. Their houses will be there along with The Holy Place.

⁵ “To the north of the sacred reserve, an area roughly seven miles long and two and a quarter miles wide will be set aside as land for the villages of the Levites who administer the affairs of worship in the Sanctuary.

⁶ “To the south of the sacred reserve, measure off a section seven miles long and about a mile and a half wide for the city itself, an area held in common by the whole family of Israel.

^7-8 “The prince gets the land abutting the seven-mile east and west borders of the central sacred square, extending eastward toward the Jordan and westward toward the Mediterranean. This is the prince’s possession in Israel. My princes will no longer bully my people, running roughshod over them. They’ll respect the land as it has been allotted to the tribes.

^9-12 “This is the Message of God, the Master: ‘I’ve put up with you long enough, princes of Israel! Quit bullying and taking advantage of my people. Do what’s just and right for a change. Use honest scales—honest weights and honest measures. Every pound must have sixteen ounces. Every gallon must measure four quarts. The ounce is the basic measure for both. And your coins must be honest—no wooden nickels!

Everyone in the Land Must Contribute

^13-15 “‘These are the prescribed offerings you are to supply: one-sixtieth part of your wheat, one-sixtieth part of your barley, one-hundredth part of your oil, one sheep out of every two hundred from the lush pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings for making the atonement sacrifices for the people. Decree of God, the Master.

^16-17 “‘Everyone in the land must contribute to these special offerings that the prince in Israel will administer. It’s the prince’s job to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the Holy Festivals, the New Moons, and the Sabbaths—all the commanded feasts among the people of Israel. Sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings for making atonement for the people of Israel are his responsibility.

^18-20 “‘This is the Message from God, the Master: On the first day of the first month, take an unblemished bull calf and purify the Sanctuary. The priest is to take blood from the sin offerings and rub it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gate entrance to the inside courtyard. Repeat this ritual on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins without knowing it. In this way you make atonement for the Temple.

²¹ “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, you will observe the Passover, a feast of seven days. During the feast you will eat bread made without yeast.

^22-23 “‘On Passover, the prince supplies a bull as a sin offering for himself and all the people of the country. Each day for each of the seven days of the feast, he will supply seven bulls and seven rams unblemished as a burnt offering to God, and also each day a male goat.

²⁴ “‘He will supply about five and a half gallons of grain offering and a gallon of oil for each bull and each ram.

²⁵ “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and on each of the seven days of the feast, he is to supply the same materials for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It’s complicated!  Whew!  This is my first thought as we read all the rules for worship while observing in gratitude what God has done for His people.  Their relationship with God did seem complicated.  Bulls, rams, goats and lambs, without blemish, not to be worshiped as idols, but slaughtered to atone (cover) the sins of the people—even those sins they didn’t know they were doing! 

Down through the ages, the priests and religious teachers became political and powerful and made it even more complicated.  They bullied their own people—God’s people.  The “sacred space” became more and more unholy because of the behaviors of God’s appointed priests and those who worked for them.  They made up their own rules as addendums to God’s rules in order to gain more power over the people while politically maneuvering the government  who oppressed them so they could use government officials to their advantage as well as stay under the radar of trouble.  “It’s complicated” was an understatement describing the muddied relationship God’s people had with Him just before God sent His Son to put an end to the ritual act of atonement for the greater act of redemption.

Atonement means to cover sins but does not remove sins.  Redemption is paying the price to remove the debt we owe for our sins.  Redemption is complete and final.  That’s why scripture says “we were bought at a price” for our sins.  (1 Corinthians 6:20)  This act of “buying us back” from the punishment we deserve, removed all our sin.  When we repent of our sins to Jesus our Redeemer, we are justified and forgiven as if our sins never happened.  “O, What A Savior!” indeed, we sing in grateful praise!

IT’S NOT COMPLICATED!  Really believe that what Jesus did to redeem us really happened and we are saved by his gift of grace.  Jesus forgives us—even when we don’t know what we are doing.  Jesus forgives our humbled, repentant, “I’m sorry for my sins and I want you, Jesus to be Lord of my life”.  Jesus not only redeems us, He gives us a new life—a life that leads to more life—life eternal with Him!  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”  (Ephesians 1:7-8)

Create a sacred space to meet with God each day.  It’s important to God and for us.  Our relationship with God through Jesus, His Son, is not complicated.  God wants us to love Him back like He loves us.  The more we realize the love God has for us the deeper our love for Him and others grows.  The gospel of John says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”  “God is love.”  God proves His love as He provides, heals, forgives, saves, protects, delivers us from evil and guides us on a new path.  The path won’t be easy but it is the pathway to glory—the sacred place—with God, the God we all crave from the depths of our souls.  God supplies our needs and fills hearts, minds and souls with His love, mercy, and grace.

It’s not complicated.  Come to Jesus for real life!

Throw that apron over your head, if you must, but get alone with God in a sacred space to grow in grace.  You won’t regret it! 

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, keeps me singing as I go…”

Lord,

I believe.  You have proved your power to change lives and situations over and over to me.  I have seen your glory at work in my life and in the lives of those I love and cherish.  You are God.  You are Life.  You are my Redeemer.  You are Hope.  You are the One I trust with all my life.  I love our simple relationship that is forever.  We’re not complicated.  Thank you!

In Jesus Name, all for Your Glory, Amen

As God’s servant and minister, I am a learner.  I want to learn and grow while serving Him so I can be more and more what God wants.  In my past, after formal education, I attended National Youth Worker Conventions and National Pastors Convention because it was guided by mentors of the faith.  Through the years, I attended many seminars, workshops, listening to powerful passionate messages about how hard the work is, how we as gospel tellers should take care of ourselves, how to expand our ministry outreach with all kinds of ideas for improvement.  But I must admit, I don’t recall  much being said about keeping it holy.

As we journey through what the prophets said in a time when God’s people turned from him and went their own way, worshiped idols and turned his sanctuary into nightclub of obscene behaviors, I’m beginning to understand the importance of commanding the new and improved, revised sanctuary rules, for the returning exiles.  The needed a national priest convention of sorts to relearn that their main work is keeping it holy.

God tells Ezekiel to tell His priests, “You haven’t taken care of my holy things.”  To further prove what God wants, He fires them!  God reassigns the work to those he can trust.  So, keeping it holy, must be imperative to growing in knowledge of who God is, what HE wants as so that there are no misunderstandings of what and who is holy. 

God is Holy.  God is the Most Holy.  It is God who makes us holy.  He sets us apart from the sin filled world and draws us to a place of holiness.   We are to make sure that the place of His Presence is a holy place by following what He says makes it holy.  Humble repentance of our sins in Jesus Name who paid the price for our sins is the beginning of keeping it holy.  Because of Jesus, that place where God’s Holy Presence comes to dwell is not a manmade structure but is now our hearts, minds and souls.  Our bodies are His Temple.  Are we keeping it holy?

Ezekiel 44, The Message

Sanctuary Rules

44 Then the man brought me back to the outside gate complex of the Sanctuary that faces east. But it was shut.

^2-3 God spoke to me: “This gate is shut and it’s to stay shut. No one is to go through it because God, the God of Israel, has gone through it. It stays shut. Only the prince, because he’s the prince, may sit there to eat in the presence of God. He is to enter the gate complex through the porch and leave by the same way.”

⁴ The man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked, and—oh!—the bright Glory of God filling the Temple of God! I fell on my face in worship.

⁵ God said to me, “Son of man, get a grip on yourself. Use your eyes, use your ears, pay careful attention to everything I tell you about the ordinances of this Temple of God, the way all the laws work, instructions regarding it and all the entrances and exits of the Sanctuary.

^6-9 “Tell this bunch of rebels, this family Israel, ‘Message of God, the Master: No more of these vile obscenities, Israel, dragging irreverent and unrepentant outsiders, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, into my Sanctuary, feeding them the sacrificial offerings as if it were the food for a neighborhood picnic. With all your vile obscenities, you’ve broken trust with me, the solemn covenant I made with you. You haven’t taken care of my holy things. You’ve hired out the work to foreigners who care nothing for this place, my Sanctuary. No irreverent and unrepentant aliens, uncircumcised in heart or flesh, not even the ones who live among Israelites, are to enter my Sanctuary.’

^10-14 “The Levites who walked off and left me, along with everyone else—all Israel—who took up with all the no-god idols, will pay for everything they did wrong. From now on they’ll do only the menial work in the Sanctuary: guard the gates and help out with the Temple chores—and also kill the sacrificial animals for the people and serve them. Because they acted as priests to the no-god idols and made my people Israel stumble and fall, I’ve taken an oath to punish them. Decree of God, the Master. Yes, they’ll pay for what they’ve done. They’re fired from the priesthood. No longer will they come into my presence and take care of my holy things. No more access to The Holy Place! They’ll have to live with what they’ve done, carry the shame of their vile and obscene lives. From now on, their job is to sweep up and run errands. That’s it.

^15-16 “But the Levitical priests who descend from Zadok, who faithfully took care of my Sanctuary when everyone else went off and left me, are going to come into my presence and serve me. They are going to carry out the priestly work of offering the solemn sacrifices of worship. Decree of God, the Master. They’re the only ones permitted to enter my Sanctuary. They’re the only ones to approach my table and serve me, accompanying me in my work.

^17-19 “When they enter the gate complex of the inside courtyard, they are to dress in linen. No woolens are to be worn while serving at the gate complex of the inside courtyard or inside the Temple itself. They’re to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen underclothes—nothing that makes them sweat. When they go out into the outside courtyard where the people gather, they must first change out of the clothes they have been serving in, leaving them in the sacred rooms where they change to their everyday clothes, so that they don’t trivialize their holy work by the way they dress.

²⁰ “They are to neither shave their heads nor let their hair become unkempt, but must keep their hair trimmed and neat.

²¹ “No priest is to drink on the job—no wine while in the inside courtyard.

²² “Priests are not to marry widows or divorcees, but only Israelite virgins or widows of priests.

²³ “Their job is to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, to show them how to discern between unclean and clean.

²⁴ “When there’s a difference of opinion, the priests will arbitrate. They’ll decide on the basis of my judgments, laws, and statutes. They are in charge of making sure the appointed feasts are honored and my Sabbaths kept holy in the ways I’ve commanded.

^25-27 “A priest must not contaminate himself by going near a corpse. But when the dead person is his father or mother, son or daughter, brother or unmarried sister, he can approach the dead. But after he has been purified, he must wait another seven days. Then, when he returns to the inside courtyard of the Sanctuary to do his priestly work in the Sanctuary, he must first offer a sin offering for himself. Decree of God, the Master.

^28-30 “As to priests owning land, I am their inheritance. Don’t give any land in Israel to them. I am their ‘land,’ their inheritance. They’ll take their meals from the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel offered to God in worship is theirs. The best of everything grown, plus all special gifts, comes to the priests. All that is given in worship to God goes to them. Serve them first. Serve from your best and your home will be blessed.

³¹ “Priests are not to eat any meat from bird or animal unfit for ordinary human consumption, such as carcasses found dead on the road or in the field.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—WHO DO WE RESPOND?

According to God’s Word, keeping our lives holy means:

• Give of our BEST to our God who gave His best for us.  No eating road kill.  No leftovers of our time but all our time and thought to God. 
• Trust God.  He has our best interests at heart.
• Do what God says.  God sees what lies ahead and has a plan for our good.
• Get rid of what is in between God and us.  No idols.  Worship God alone.
• Believe that Jesus came to save us from all sin and resulting death.  Repent of sin in His Holy Name and live forever with God!  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”  (See Romans 3:22-24)  But Jesus makes us holy again to God!

• Allow God to daily transform our thinking so that our behaviors will be pleasing and holy unto Him.  (See Romans 12)
• Ask for wisdom.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
• Walk with God for He is Holy.  Micah, prophet of God, shouts; “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
• Our blessed assurance is this—God is faithful.  His mercies are new each day.  His unchanging, relentless, transforming, unconditional love is forever.  There is nothing that we have done, are doing now that cannot be forgiven.  Run to God in Jesus Name right now! 

Keeping it real is keeping it holy!

Lord,

Thank you for your words of wisdom, concern, and teaching of what keeping it holy looked like then and what it means to us now.  Help me today to keep it holy as I walk and talk with you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

… We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

… And together we sing

… Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

… We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

… And together we sing
And everyone sing

… Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

… Yeah, it’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown

… Together we sing
And everyone sing

… Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

(By Chris Tomlin and Louie Gigilo)

May this song play in the background as we read what Ezekiel saw and experienced—God’s glory filling the Temple!

Ezekiel 43, The Message

The Meaning of the Temple

43 ^1-3 The man brought me to the east gate. Oh! The bright Glory of the God of Israel rivered out of the east sounding like the roar of floodwaters, and the earth itself glowed with the bright Glory. It looked just like what I had seen when he came to destroy the city, exactly like what I had seen earlier at the Kebar River. And again I fell, face to the ground.

^4-5 The bright Glory of God poured into the Temple through the east gate. The Spirit put me on my feet and led me to the inside courtyard and—oh! the bright Glory of God filled the Temple!

^6-9 I heard someone speaking to me from inside the Temple while the man stood beside me. He said, “Son of man, this is the place for my throne, the place I’ll plant my feet. This is the place where I’ll live with the Israelites forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again drag my holy name through the mud with their whoring and the no-god idols their kings set up at all the wayside shrines. When they set up their worship shrines right alongside mine with only a thin wall between them, they dragged my holy name through the mud with their obscene and vile worship. Is it any wonder that I destroyed them in anger? So let them get rid of their whoring ways and the stinking no-god idols introduced by their kings and I’ll move in and live with them forever.

^10-11 “Son of man, tell the people of Israel all about the Temple so they’ll be dismayed by their wayward lives. Get them to go over the layout. That will bring them up short. Show them the whole plan of the Temple, its ins and outs, the proportions, the regulations, and the laws. Draw a picture so they can see the design and meaning and live by its design and intent.

¹² “This is the law of the Temple: As it radiates from the top of the mountain, everything around it becomes holy ground. Yes, this is law, the meaning, of the Temple.

* * *

^13-14 “These are the dimensions of the altar, using the long (twenty-one-inch) ruler. The gutter at its base is twenty-one inches deep and twenty-one inches wide, with a four-inch lip around its edge.

^14-15 “The height of the altar is three and a half feet from the base to the first ledge and twenty inches wide. From the first ledge to the second ledge it is seven feet high and twenty-one inches wide. The altar hearth is another seven feet high. Four horns stick upward from the hearth twenty-one inches high.

^16-17 “The top of the altar, the hearth, is square, twenty-one by twenty-one feet. The upper ledge is also square, twenty-four and a half feet on each side, with a ten-and-a-half-inch lip and a twenty-one-inch-wide gutter all the way around.

“The steps of the altar ascend from the east.”

¹⁸ Then the man said to me, “Son of man, God, the Master, says: ‘These are the ordinances for conduct at the altar when it is built, for sacrificing burnt offerings and sprinkling blood on it.

^19-21 “‘For a sin offering, give a bull to the priests, the Levitical priests who are from the family of Zadok who come into my presence to serve me. Take some of its blood and smear it on the four horns of the altar that project from the four corners of the top ledge and all around the lip. That’s to purify the altar and make it fit for the sacrifice. Then take the bull for the sin offerings and burn it in the place set aside for this in the courtyard outside the Sanctuary.

^22-24 “‘On the second day, offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering. Purify the altar the same as you purified it for the bull. Then, when you have purified it, offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. Present them before God. Sprinkle salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to God.

^25-26 “‘For seven days, prepare a goat for a sin offering daily, and also a bull and a ram from the flock, animals without blemish. For seven days the priests are to get the altar ready for its work, purifying it. This is how you dedicate it.

²⁷ “‘After these seven days of dedication, from the eighth day on, the priests will present your burnt offerings and your peace offerings. And I’ll accept you with pleasure, with delight! Decree of God, the Master.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Holy Ground

Ezekiel had seen the glory depart from the temple, but now he saw the glory return! His guide took him back to the eastern gate in the outer court, and when the prophet looked out, he saw the glory approaching from the east. Along with the sight of the glory came the sound of the Lord’s voice “like the roar of rushing waters” (See also John’s similar experience in God’s Revelation when Jesus spoke to him in a vision of what is to come!  Revelation 1:15-20).

The whole land of Israel was enlightened by the radiance of God’s glory, and Ezekiel fell to the ground as he did when he saw the glory throne at the beginning of His ministry. Then the temple was filled with God’s glory, and the Spirit transported Ezekiel back into the inner court.

The meaning of the Temple is clearly stated.  God cannot and will not be where sin is.  The Temple cannot and will not be a place where idol worship is practiced.  The Temple is Holy because God is Holy.  The presence of God’s glory and God’s throne would so sanctify the temple that the people would approach the sanctuary with awe and not treat it like any other building, nor would they repeat their heinous sin of defiling the temple with their idols. God spoke to the prophet and told him to tell the Jewish people what he saw and heard so they would be ashamed of their past sins and turn from them.

The Sacrifice—pure and “without blemish”

Before Jesus, the best of the flock or herd was used as a way to God.  The people sacrificed what they had or purchased themselves and gave it the priests.  The priests, from the line of Levi, designated by God, took the animal and cut it open.  The blood “covered” the sins but did not remove sins forever.

Jesus came to BE the once and for all, perfect, without sin, sacrifice for all mankind.  He willingly laid down his life for us.  Jesus did not “cover” our sins but removed our sin forever.  We bring the sacrifice of praise to the One who loved us so much He gave His life for us! 

God requires His people to be holy.

Therefore, as believers, we should be completely devoted to him and separated from sin.  The only Way to be holy is to believe in Jesus, His Son and believe that what He did was really real! We no longer bring and kill animals to merely cover sin.  We come to Jesus and humbly repent of our sins. 

Jesus came to earth, taught us about who God really is and what God means to live a holy life with Him.  Then Jesus completed his mission by taking the punishment we deserve for our sins, removing our sins forever!  Jesus finished it once and for all who believe and call on His Name!  Done.  No more animal sacrifices.  No more priests as middlemen who decide if our sacrifice is good enough. Only Jesus.

Holy, holy, holy

More than once the seraphim appear in Scripture and endlessly trilogize the same word. “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:2–3).

Max Lucado shares, “No verse describes God as “wise, wise, wise” or “strong, strong, strong.” Only as “holy, holy, holy.” God’s holiness commands headline attention. The first and final songs of the Bible magnify the holiness of God. Having crossed the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites sang, “Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Ex 15:11). In Revelation those who had been victorious over the beast sang, “Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy” (Rev 15:4).” 

God alone is worthy of our complete honor and praise.  God is Holy.  Only God can make us holy in His Presence through the forgiveness of our sins—all that is not holy.

… And together we sing

… Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord, God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

Lord,

Only You. There is no one like you, Lord.  You and You alone are Holy.  Nothing compares with You.  Holy, Holy, Holy is your Name!  Forgive us then transform our thinking as we give ourselves back to you in loving obedience with a desire to be set apart by you as holy.  Come, Lord Jesus.  We cannot be holy on our own.  We need you every hour of every day.

In Jesus Name, Amen

As we read of the vision for the Temple in great detail with exact measurements, I can almost hear the voice of Joanna Gaines, the Designer, as she sits down with clients with pictures of what could be and will be for their new home.  The Temple is way more than a “Fixer Upper”!  God wants so much more and will give His best to supply our need to worship WHO is real and the true object of honor and praise.  We are the fixer-uppers who need to renew our minds!

We read and hear “the man” (of God’s vision) explain every nook and cranny, massive hallways, alcoves, rooms on the side along with the Holy of holies with great care.  Can you see it, Ezekiel?  Come and see! This will be a holy, significant place where God comes to man and dwells with all who believe in Him.

Ezekiel 43, The Message

^1-9 The man led me north into the outside courtyard and brought me to the rooms that are in front of the open space and the house facing north. The length of the house on the north was one hundred seventy-five feet, and its width eighty-seven and a half feet. Across the thirty-five feet that separated the inside courtyard from the paved walkway at the edge of the outside courtyard, the rooms rose level by level for three stories. In front of the rooms on the inside was a hallway seventeen and a half feet wide and one hundred seventy-five feet long. Its entrances were from the north. The upper rooms themselves were narrower, their galleries being wider than on the first and second floors of the building. The rooms on the third floor had no pillars like the pillars in the outside courtyard and were smaller than the rooms on the first and second floors. There was an outside wall parallel to the rooms and the outside courtyard. It fronted the rooms for eighty-seven and a half feet. The row of rooms facing the outside courtyard was eighty-seven and a half feet long. The row on the side nearest the Sanctuary was one hundred seventy-five feet long. The first-floor rooms had their entrance from the east, coming in from the outside courtyard.

^10-12 On the south side along the length of the courtyard’s outside wall and fronting on the Temple courtyard were rooms with a walkway in front of them. These were just like the rooms on the north—same exits and dimensions—with the main entrance from the east leading to the hallway and the doors to the rooms the same as those on the north side. The design on the south was a mirror image of that on the north.

^13-14 Then he said to me, “The north and south rooms adjacent to the open area are holy rooms where the priests who come before God eat the holy offerings. There they place the holy offerings—grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. These are set-apart rooms, holy space. After the priests have entered the Sanctuary, they must not return to the outside courtyard and mingle among the people until they change the sacred garments in which they minister and put on their regular clothes.”

^15-16 After he had finished measuring what was inside the Temple area, he took me out the east gate and measured it from the outside. Using his measuring stick, he measured the east side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

¹⁷ He measured the north side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

¹⁸ He measured the south side: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

¹⁹ Last of all he went to the west side and measured it: eight hundred seventy-five feet.

²⁰ He measured the wall on all four sides. Each wall was eight hundred seventy-five feet. The walls separated the holy from the ordinary.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God sets apart the holy from the ordinary.  God sees what we do not and cannot imagine until he puts a vision before us.  God see what lies ahead.  God selects the holy and sets them apart to do His work among His people.  Trust God.  He knows what He is doing.  He is God.  We are not.  Worship God alone.

Is there anything keeping you from entering God’s presence in worship? Make a list of any distractions you encounter. Confess any sins that distract you from your fellowship with him.  Then worship God free of those distractions turning your eyes from Him.

God reveals his perfect kingdom. The details of his vision gave the Jews hope for a restored worship and show us the importance of true God-centered worship.

Lord,

Is our worship of you truly God-centered? Are we distracted by budgets, promotions and programs?  Have we become so organized that we are missing the reason we come to worship corporately?  Has it become more about pleasing us and meeting our needs and less than pure and holy worship of You alone?  Are we calling on you to bless our mess? I repent of making it about me.  I worship you.  I worship you. 

Forgive us for we know not what we are doing… 

In Jesus Name, I worship you, for Your glory, Amen

God gave Ezekiel, a priest, the measurements of Solomon’s temple. The temple had been destroyed at the beginning of the captivity.  God reveals his perfect kingdom. The details of his vision gave the Jews hope for a restored worship and show us the importance and beauty of true God-centered worship. 

But, don’t get caught up in the place.  It’s not about the measured physical details of the room but rather WHO we worship in the space provided for this purpose that makes it beautiful.  Yes, it is beautiful when God’s people come to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  It is beautiful when we leave His place of worship to tell the world Who He is—Savior and Lord!  How beautiful to God when we trust and obey with hearts of love and praise!

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” Isaiah 52:7 NIV

It’s the Holy Spirit who awakens in us an understanding of God’s beauty and splendor and power. It’s the Holy Spirit who stirs us to celebrate and rejoice and give thanks. It’s the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to see and savor all that God is for us in Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit who, I hope and pray, orchestrates our services and leads us in corporate praise of God.  I’m recalling Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well…

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”  John 4:23-26, NIV

Ezekiel 41, The Message

^1-2 He brought me into the Temple itself and measured the doorposts on each side. Each was ten and a half feet thick. The entrance was seventeen and a half feet wide. The walls on each side were eight and three-quarters feet thick.

He also measured the Temple Sanctuary: seventy feet by thirty-five feet.

^3-4 He went further in and measured the doorposts at the entrance: Each was three and a half feet thick. The entrance itself was ten and a half feet wide, and the entrance walls were twelve and a quarter feet thick. He measured the inside Sanctuary, thirty-five feet square, set at the end of the main Sanctuary. He told me, “This is The Holy of Holies.”

^5-7 He measured the wall of the Temple. It was ten and a half feet thick. The side rooms around the Temple were seven feet wide. There were three floors of these side rooms, thirty rooms on each of the three floors. There were supporting beams around the Temple wall to hold up the side rooms, but they were freestanding, not attached to the wall itself. The side rooms around the Temple became wider from first floor to second floor to third floor. A staircase went from the bottom floor, through the middle, and then to the top floor.

^8-11 I observed that the Temple had a ten-and-a-half-foot-thick raised base around it, which provided a foundation for the side rooms. The outside walls of the side rooms were eight and three-quarters feet thick. The open area between the side rooms of the Temple and the priests’ rooms was a thirty-five-foot-wide strip all around the Temple. There were two entrances to the side rooms from the open area, one placed on the north side, the other on the south. There were eight and three-quarters feet of open space all around.

¹² The house that faced the Temple courtyard to the west was one hundred twenty-two and a half feet wide, with eight-and-three-quarters-foot-thick walls. The length of the wall and building was one hundred fifty-seven and a half feet.

^13-14 He measured the Temple: one hundred seventy-five feet long. The Temple courtyard and the house, including its walls, measured a hundred seventy-five feet. The breadth of the front of the Temple and the open area to the east was a hundred seventy-five feet.

^15-18 He measured the length of the house facing the courtyard at the back of the Temple, including the shelters on each side: one hundred seventy-five feet. The main Sanctuary, the inner Sanctuary, and the vestibule facing the courtyard were paneled with wood, and had window frames and door frames in all three sections. From floor to windows the walls were paneled. Above the outside entrance to the inner Sanctuary and on the walls at regular intervals all around the inner Sanctuary and the main Sanctuary, angel-cherubim and palm trees were carved in alternating sequence.

^18-20 Each angel-cherub had two faces: a human face toward the palm tree on the right and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the left. They were carved around the entire Temple. The cherubim–palm tree motif was carved from floor to door height on the wall of the main Sanctuary.

^21-22 The main Sanctuary had a rectangular doorframe. In front of the Holy Place was something that looked like an altar of wood, five and a quarter feet high and three and a half feet square. Its corners, base, and sides were of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table that stands before God.”

^23-26 Both the main Sanctuary and the Holy Place had double doors. Each door had two leaves: two hinged leaves for each door, one set swinging inward and the other set outward. The doors of the main Sanctuary were carved with angel-cherubim and palm trees. There was a canopy of wood in front of the vestibule outside. There were narrow windows alternating with carved palm trees on both sides of the porch.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“The Holy of Holies” – Where God Presence comes to dwell.  The Most Holy Place, or Holy of Holies, was a part of the temple no one could enter. Jewish worshipers could enter the outer court, but only the priests could enter the Holy Place. And no one, except the high priest on one day a year, entered the Most Holy Place. No one. Why? Because the shekinah glory—the glory of God—was present there. No one but the high priest entered the Most Holy Place. No one. To do so meant death. A heavy curtain was the barrier between God and man.  The curtain signified this far and no farther. 

What did fifteen hundred years of a curtain-draped Most Holy Place communicate? Simple. God is holy. Separate from us and unapproachable.  God is holy, and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us.  God cannot come and be in the same room with sin.  Isn’t this our problem? We know God is good. We know we are not, and we feel far from God. The ancient words of Job are ours, “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together” (Job 9:32–33).

Max Lucado eloquently declares; “Oh, but there is! Jesus hasn’t left us with an unapproachable God. Yes, God is holy. Yes, we are sinful. But, yes, yes, yes, Jesus is our Mediator. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1Timothy 2:5). Is not a mediator one who “goes between”? Wasn’t Jesus the curtain between us and God? And wasn’t his flesh torn?”

“What appeared to be the cruelty of man was actually the sovereignty of God. Matthew tells us: “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split” (Matthew 27:50–51).  It’s as if the hands of heaven had been gripping the veil, waiting for this moment. Keep in mind the size of the curtain—60 feet tall and 30 feet wide. One instant it was whole; the next it was ripped in two from top to bottom. No delay. No hesitation.” (Lucado)

What did the torn curtain mean? For the Jews it meant no more barrier between them and the Most Holy Place. No more priests to go between them and God. No more animal sacrifices to atone for their sins. And for us? What did the torn curtain signify for us?  We are welcome to enter into God’s presence—any day, any time. God has removed the barrier that separates us from him. The barrier of sin? Down. He has removed the curtain. –All because of God’s love for us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)  –All because of Jesus! 

Don’t put the curtain back up. Though there is no curtain in a temple, there is a curtain in the heart. We are not perfect.  We make mistakes.  And often, we allow those mistakes to keep us from God. Our guilty conscience becomes a curtain that separates us from God.  As a result, we hide behind a self-made curtain from our Lord.  You might wonder if you could ever feel close to God again. The message of the torn flesh is you can. God welcomes you. God is not avoiding you. God is not resisting you. The curtain is down, the door is open, and God invites you in.  Don’t trust your conscience. Trust the cross. God welcomes us with open arms.  There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a family member come home.

Jesus’ work on the cross to pay for our sins as well as His teaching about who God is portrays more beauty than we can think, dream, or imagine!  “How Beautiful”, sung by Twila Paris comes to my mind…

How beautiful the hands that served
The wine and the bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ

How beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ

And as he lay down his life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as he died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her groom with his light in her eyes
How beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons of the Earth
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful
Is the body of Christ

Songwriters: Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson / Ann Dustin Wilson; Sung by Twila Paris, 1990

What is beautiful to God is our loving obedience to Him who loved us first and loves us most and best above all.

Lord,

All I have is a humbled thank you this morning.  I am overwhelmed by your love and beauty.

In Jesus Name, for Your Glory, Amen

Our grandparents who worked with building and repairing their own homes had a phrase, “measure twice, cut once.”  In building with wood, one should double-check one’s measurements for accuracy before cutting a piece of wood; otherwise it may be necessary to cut again, wasting time and materials. This phrase is also used figuratively in new projects in business. Plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action for efficiency of time and personnel.

Ezekiel is taken in a vision back to Israel for a lesson in measurement.  It is recorded in history to be on April 28, 573 B.C.—the first day of Passover.  God gave Ezekiel the vision as recorded in chapters 40-48. The Jews had been captives in Babylon for twenty-five years, and Passover would only remind them of their deliverance from Egypt. Passover was also the beginning of Israel’s religious year (See Exodus 12:2), and the Lord chose that significant day to tell His servant about the glory that Israel would share when Messiah established His kingdom.

Ezekiel 40, The Message

Measuring the Temple Complex

^1-3 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month—it was the fourteenth year after the city fell—God touched me and brought me here. He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick.

⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I’m going to show you. That’s why you’ve been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see.”

* * *

⁵ First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man’s hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet.

* * *

^6-7 He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep.

^8-9 He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard.

¹⁰ Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical.

¹¹ He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep.

¹² In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square.

¹³ He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other.

¹⁴ He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard.

¹⁵ The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet.

¹⁶ The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees.

* * *

^17-19 The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet.

* * *

^19-23 Then he took me to the north side. Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet.

^24-27 Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides. Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet.

* * *

^28-31 He led me into the inside courtyard through the south gate complex. He measured it and found it the same as the outside ones. Its alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule were the same. The gate complex and porch, windowed all around, measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The vestibule of each of the gate complexes leading to the inside courtyard was forty-three and three-quarters by eight and three-quarters feet. Each vestibule faced the outside courtyard. Palm trees were carved on its doorposts. Eight steps led up to it.

^32-34 He then took me to the inside courtyard on the east and measured the gate complex. It was identical to the others—alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule all the same. The gate complex and vestibule had windows all around. It measured eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on the doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.

^35-37 He brought me to the gate complex to the north and measured it: same measurements. The alcoves, connecting walls, and vestibule with its windows: eighty-seven and a half by forty-three and three-quarters feet. Its porch faced the outside courtyard. There were palm trees on its doorposts on both sides. And it had eight steps.

* * *

^38-43 There was a room with a door at the vestibule of the gate complex where the burnt offerings were cleaned. Two tables were placed within the vestibule, one on either side, on which the animals for burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were slaughtered. Two tables were also placed against both outside walls of the vestibule—four tables inside and four tables outside, eight tables in all for slaughtering the sacrificial animals. The four tables used for the burnt offerings were thirty-one and a half inches square and twenty-one inches high. The tools for slaughtering the sacrificial animals and other sacrifices were kept there. Meat hooks, three inches long, were fastened to the walls. The tables were for the sacrificial animals.

* * *

^44-46 Right where the inside gate complex opened onto the inside courtyard there were two rooms, one at the north gate facing south and the one at the south gate facing north. The man told me, “The room facing south is for the priests who are in charge of the Temple. And the room facing north is for the priests who are in charge of the altar. These priests are the sons of Zadok, the only sons of Levi permitted to come near to God to serve him.”

⁴⁷ He measured the inside courtyard: a hundred seventy-five feet square. The altar was in front of the Temple.

* * *

^48-49 He led me to the porch of the Temple and measured the gateposts of the porch: eight and three-quarters feet high on both sides. The entrance to the gate complex was twenty-one feet wide and its connecting walls were four and a half feet thick. The vestibule itself was thirty-five feet wide and twenty-one feet deep. Ten steps led up to the porch. Columns flanked the gateposts.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

FACTOIDS (From Warren Wiersbe Study Bible)

• Ezekiel saw a new land and a glorious new temple. Just as Moses had received the tabernacle plans while on a mountain, so Ezekiel received the plans for the temple while on a mountain.

• Ezekiel held a cord and a rod, both of which were used for taking measurements, the cord for long distances and the rod for shorter measurements. The rod was probably a little over ten feet long. To measure property is symbolic of claiming it for one’s self. This was also a sign that the temple and the city would one day be restored. 

John, the writer of Revelation, also had a vision that included measuring. God commanded the apostle John to measure the temple in Jerusalem before it was trampled down by the Gentiles (Revelation 11). This was evidence that no matter what happened, Jerusalem and the temple belonged to God and would one day be restored and sanctified.

Jesus, the Messiah to come, will change everything while fulfilling God’s commandments.  The outer courtyard covered nearly 400,000 square feet, but it would not have a Court of the Gentiles with the all-important separating wall, nor would it have a separate Court of the Women. Our Lord’s desire would be fulfilled that His house be a house of prayer for men and women of all nations (See also Isiah 56:7; Jerimiah 7:11; and Mark 11:17). The size of the outer court and the accessibility of so many rooms suggest that the area would be a place for fellowship, where people could meet and enjoy sacrificial meals together. 

Paul wrote to clarify exactly what Jesus did for all of us in Ephesians 2:12-18;

“You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.  For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.  He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”

We respond by measuring our lives (the temple of God) against the life of our Lord who came to save us, leaving his glory behind, he humbled himself and taught us how to live in humbled praise of God, the Father.

Lord,

Because of what you did, no one is left out of receiving your love, mercy and gift of grace.  You pardoned all sins for all who come to you, repent and believe, ready to follow you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

When all their sins of obscene living and rebellious ways are punished through exile and captivity by their enemies, God’s people will return home.  The memory of their sins will fade to be remembered no more.  After the cleanup of the battle with Gog, life will be lived for God, directed and protected by God.  His people will know He is the only God and can now look at God face to face.  Holy, holy, holy is His name alone.  Yes, He is God, the One and Only God, to worship in humbled praise.  And when it is over, His people will realize the battle was with an enemy who despises God and fought to capture and torture those who worship God. 

“Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they are doing.”  –Jesus, on the cross paying for our sins.  What a profound prayer that reveals the compassion of God!  Are we ready to see Him face to face?  Who is our battle really with and are we winning?

Ezekiel 39, The Message

Call the Wild Animals!

^1-5 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Say, ‘A Message of God, the Master: I’m against you, Gog, head of Meshech and Tubal. I’m going to turn you around and drag you out, drag you out of the far north and down on the mountains of Israel. Then I’ll knock your bow out of your left hand and your arrows from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you’ll be slaughtered, you and all your troops and the people with you. I’ll serve you up as a meal to carrion birds and scavenging animals. You’ll be killed in the open field. I’ve given my word. Decree of God, the Master.’

⁶ “I’ll set fire to Magog and the far-off islands, where people are so seemingly secure. And they’ll realize that I am God.

⁷ “I’ll reveal my holy name among my people Israel. Never again will I let my holy name be dragged in the mud. Then the nations will realize that I, God, am The Holy in Israel.

⁸ “It’s coming! Yes, it will happen! This is the day I’ve been telling you about.

^9-10 “People will come out of the cities of Israel and make a huge bonfire of the weapons of war, piling on shields large and small, bows and arrows, clubs and spears, a fire they’ll keep going for seven years. They won’t need to go into the woods to get fuel for the fire. There’ll be plenty of weapons to keep it going. They’ll strip those who stripped them. They’ll rob those who robbed them. Decree of God, the Master.

¹¹ “At that time I’ll set aside a burial ground for Gog in Israel at Traveler’s Rest, just east of the sea. It will obstruct the route of travelers, blocking their way, the mass grave of Gog and his mob of an army. They’ll call the place Gog’s Mob.

^12-16 “Israel will bury the corpses in order to clean up the land. It will take them seven months. All the people will turn out to help with the burials. It will be a big day for the people when it’s all done and I’m given my due. Men will be hired full-time for the cleanup burial operation and will go through the country looking for defiling, decomposing corpses. At the end of seven months, there’ll be an all-out final search. Anyone who sees a bone will mark the place with a stick so the buriers can get it and bury it in the mass burial site, Gog’s Mob. (A town nearby is called Mobville, or Hamonah.) That’s how they’ll clean up the land.

^17-20 “Son of man, God, the Master, says: Call the birds! Call the wild animals! Call out, ‘Gather and come, gather around my sacrificial meal that I’m preparing for you on the mountains of Israel. You’ll eat meat and drink blood. You’ll eat off the bodies of great heroes and drink the blood of famous princes as if they were so many rams and lambs, goats and bulls, the choicest grain-fed animals of Bashan. At the sacrificial meal I’m fixing for you, you’ll eat fat till you’re stuffed and drink blood till you’re drunk. At the table I set for you, you’ll stuff yourselves with horses and riders, heroes and fighters of every kind.’ Decree of God, the Master.

^21-24 “I’ll put my glory on display among the nations and they’ll all see the judgment I execute, see me at work handing out judgment. From that day on, Israel will realize that I am their God. And the nations will get the message that it was because of their sins that Israel went into exile. They were disloyal to me and I turned away from them. I turned them over to their enemies and they were all killed. I treated them as their polluted and sin-sated lives deserved. I turned away from them, refused to look at them.

^25-29 “But now I will return Jacob back from exile, I’ll be compassionate with all the people of Israel, and I’ll be zealous for my holy name. Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid. Once I’ve brought them back from foreign parts, gathered them in from enemy territories, I’ll use them to demonstrate my holiness with all the nations watching. Then they’ll realize for sure that I am their God, for even though I sent them off into exile, I will gather them back to their own land, leaving not one soul behind. After I’ve poured my Spirit on Israel, filled them with my life, I’ll no longer turn away. I’ll look them full in the face. Decree of God, the Master.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God gives four reasons in His Word for bringing Gog and his armies to Israel and then defeating them so dramatically.

• First, this victory will reveal the greatness of the Lord as He displays His power before the nations. The Lord intervened and used weapons that no general on earth could use—rain, hailstones, and burning sulfur from heaven!
• Second, this victory will also reveal God’s holiness as He judges the sins of the leader from Magog and deals with its enmity against the Jews.
• Third, the victory will make Jehovah known to the Gentile nations, and the world will see that the God of Israel is the only true and living God.
• Perhaps the most important reason is given in 39:7, that Israel will recognize the holiness of God and be convicted of her own sins. During their time of exile in the other nations, the Jews had profaned the name of the Lord (36:19–23). Here God gathers them back into their own land, but they are still not a converted people; otherwise they would confess God’s holiness and greatness. Their time of renewal is still coming.

The dead provide a feast for God’s creation of wild life…Call all the animals!  Then the bones will be buried.  This Call to Feast is used often in scripture as well as in the “last days”.  God’s invitation to a feast is a frequent biblical image for the judgment of God and His victory over His enemies. 

“A day will come when this rebellious nation will be cleansed and forgiven, and the Lord will pour out His Spirit on His people. That will happen when they see the Messiah, repent of their sins, and trust Him for their salvation.” –Warren Wiersbe, Bible Study Bible

The victory over Gog will display the glory and power of God to Israel and to all the Gentile nations that surround them. 

Are we ready?  Believe and be saved forever.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face.  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace…”

Lord,

Our daily skirmishes are won one prayer at time declaring your power and glory at work within us.  May we always be in step with you until we see you face to face.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

We need help to understand our next chapters of prophecy!  So, we are turning to Warren Wiersbe’s Study Bible for help.  He states, “Many Bible scholars consider this section of Ezekiel to rank among the most difficult prophetic passages in Scripture, and they don’t all agree in their interpretations. Some have identified this invasion with the Battle of Armageddon, described in Revelation 16:13–16 and 19:11–21, but these two events differ greatly. Others see Ezekiel 38–39 as a description of an imagined, idealized battle, assuring the Jews in exile of God’s power to protect His people. While the assurance is certainly there, this approach doesn’t explain the many details recorded in these two chapters. We will approach these chapters assuming that they are describing actual events.”

It is not about necessarily agreeing on what is described here, it is more about who God is, how great He is and that God was, is and always will be God.  God wins.  God always wins.  So, if you want to be on the winning team—Go with God!  Come and stay close to God!  Trust and obey God, especially when this world tells us to “go your own way”, “do your own thing”, along with “do what makes you happy”.  Follow Truth.  Truth will come out on top every time. 

Ezekiel 38, The Message

God Against Gog

^1-6 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, confront Gog from the country of Magog, head of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him. Say, ‘God, the Master, says: Be warned, Gog. I am against you, head of Meshech and Tubal. I’m going to turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and drag you off with your whole army, your horses and riders in full armor—all those shields and bucklers and swords—fighting men armed to the teeth! Persia and Cush and Put will be in the ranks, also well-armed, as will Gomer and its army and Beth-togarmah out of the north with its army. Many nations will be with you!

^7-9 “‘Get ready to fight, you and the whole company that’s been called out. Take charge and wait for orders. After a long time, you’ll be given your orders. In the distant future you’ll arrive at a country that has recovered from a devastating war. People from many nations will be gathered there on the mountains of Israel, for a long time now a wasteland. These people have been brought back from many countries and now live safe and secure. You’ll rise like a thunderstorm and roll in like clouds and cover the land, you and the massed troops with you.

^10-12 “‘Message of God, the Master: At that time you’ll start thinking things over and cook up an evil plot. You’ll say, “I’m going to invade a country without defenses, attack an unsuspecting, carefree people going about their business—no gates to their cities, no locks on their doors. And I’m going to plunder the place, march right in and clean them out, this rebuilt country risen from the ashes, these returned exiles and their booming economy centered down at the navel of the earth.”

¹³ “‘Sheba and Dedan and Tarshish, traders all out to make a fast buck, will say, “So! You’ve opened a new market for plunder! You’ve brought in your troops to get rich quick!”’

^14-16 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy! Tell Gog, ‘A Message from God, the Master: When my people Israel are established securely, will you make your move? Will you come down out of the far north, you and that mob of armies, charging out on your horses like a tidal wave across the land, and invade my people Israel, covering the country like a cloud? When the time’s ripe, I’ll unleash you against my land in such a way that the nations will recognize me, realize that through you, Gog, in full view of the nations, I am putting my holiness on display.

^17-22 “‘A Message of God, the Master: Years ago when I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, wasn’t it you I was talking about? Year after year they prophesied that I would bring you against them. And when the day comes, Gog, you will attack that land of Israel. Decree of God, the Master. My raging anger will erupt. Fueled by blazing jealousy, I tell you that then there will be an earthquake that rocks the land of Israel. Fish and birds and wild animals—even ants and beetles!—and every human being will tremble and shake before me. Mountains will disintegrate, terraces will crumble. I’ll order all-out war against you, Gog—Decree of God, the Master—Gog killing Gog on all the mountains of Israel. I’ll deluge Gog with judgment: disease and massacre, torrential rain and hail, volcanic lava pouring down on you and your mobs of troops and people.

²³ “‘I’ll show you how great I am, how holy I am. I’ll make myself known all over the world. Then you’ll realize that I am God.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Did you know…

• The leader of this army is named Gog, ruler of “Magog,” which means “the land of Gog.” This land was located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
• Prince Gog’s allies will be Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and the house of Togarmah (located near the Black Sea).

The prophet encouraged his listeners and readers by telling them the end of the story even before he began: God would defeat this vast coalition army and rescue His people Israel in their land. This invasion wouldn’t occur until “the distant future” (v. 8), when Israel would be enjoying peace and security.

Gog against God.  Whatever Prince Gog’s thinking, clearly the Lord would bring out this army. Prince Gog would think he had worked out the whole scheme to win it all and take over—but clearly God was, is and always will be in charge.  God in no way would violate their own freedom to think and decide, but He would overrule Gog’s decisions for His own purposes, just as He had done with Babylon (Ezekiel 21:18–24).

Daily skirmishes go on even though the battle has already be won by Jesus.  Evil still thinks he can win so he still works his schemes of evil against us in all kinds of ways in his limited power.  No matter is happening right now in our lives, God knows.  No matter what will happen, God knows.  God has a greater plan for saving us from all that is happening around us and in us that is evil.  Evil’s plan is death.  God’s plan of action was, is and always will be Jesus who confronted all that is evil and stopped him in his plan to take us away from God, bringing life abundant and forever.  Evil presented us with sin of self, beginning with Adam and Eve.  God gave us Jesus who paid for our sins and provided the Way back to Him. 

God is love.  Evil is hate.  God is Truth.  Evil is full of lies.  Jesus is Life.  Evil is death.  Who do you want to follow into the battle for your very soul?  Choose life.  Jesus is the Way to Truth of Eternal Life.  Believe and be saved forever!

Lord,

Even though the details and imagery are difficult what remains is easy to understand—Trust you no matter what!  I do and I will.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen. I believe.

Through the eyes of men, it seems there’s so much we have lost
As we look down the road where all the prodigals have walked
One by one, the enemy has whispered lies
And led them off as slaves

But we know that You are God, Yours is the victory
We know there is more to come
That we may not yet see
So with the faith You’ve given us
We’ll step into the valley unafraid, yeah

As we call out to dry bones, come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts, come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones, come alive

God of endless mercy, God of unrelenting love
Rescue every daughter, bring us back the wayward son
And by Your spirit, breathe upon them, show the world that You alone can save
You alone can save

As we call out to dry bones, come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts, come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones, come alive

So, breathe, oh, breath of God
Now breathe, oh, breath of God
Breathe, oh, breath of God, now breathe

Breathe, oh, breath of God
Now breathe, oh, breath of God
Breathe, oh, breath of God, now breathe

As we call out to dry bones, come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts, come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes, let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones, come alive

We call out to dry bones, come alive
Oh, come alive!

Come Alive! (Dry Bones)  Sung by Lauren Daigle, Songwriters: Benj Pasek / Justin Paul

Allow this song to play in the background as we read…

Ezekiel 37, The Message

Breath of Life

37 ^1-2 God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.

³ He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Master God, only you know that.”

⁴ He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”

^5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”

^7-8 I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.

⁹ He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”

¹⁰ So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

¹¹ Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’

^12-14 “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it. God’s Decree.’”

* * *

^15-17 God’s Message came to me: “You, son of man: Take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, with his Israelite companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph—Ephraim’s stick, together with all his Israelite companions.’ Then tie the two sticks together so that you’re holding one stick.

^18-19 “When your people ask you, ‘Are you going to tell us what you’re doing?’ tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, Watch me! I’ll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim’s hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I’ll make them into one stick. I’m holding one stick.’

^20-24 “Then take the sticks you’ve inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says, Watch me! I’m taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they’ve been exiled. I’ll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home. I’ll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king—one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms. Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I’ll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I’ll clean them up. They’ll be my people! I’ll be their God! My servant David will be king over them. They’ll all be under one shepherd.

^24-27 “‘They’ll follow my laws and keep my statutes. They’ll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever. I’ll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I’ll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever. I’ll live right there with them. I’ll be their God! They’ll be my people!

²⁸ “‘The nations will realize that I, God, make Israel holy when my holy place of worship is established at the center of their lives forever.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Whew, there is so much to take in, friends!  Our journey through Ezekiel has taught us that God wants our full attention.   God wants to give new life to dead men and women walking around doing whatever the culture wants them to do which leads to less than His best.  God is a jealous God because of His love for us.  His jealousy is not in what we have, it is in knowing what we could have if we would turn our attention from our self made idols of distraction to a committed relationship with Him.  We cannot serve idols and God.  We must love and worship God alone.  God wants us to love Him back.  Let us give God what He wants and deserves—all our love and our highest praise!  Amen?!

We also learn what God hates.  Division, idol worship, vile obscene living in rebellion against all that is not God.  He knows that will only end in abusive lives that will end in death.  God wants us to live!

Today we learn that God can make dry bones in the desert come alive!  Wait, what?!  Yes!  If God can breathe new life with the breathe of His Spirit into dry bones, laying in the desert wilderness; He can and certainly will breathe new life into us—even if we feel so low and humbled that we can’t possibly face God because of our sins.  We are right where He wants us to be—humbled—it’s where God does His best work in us! 

Have we forgotten?  God is the one who gave Adam, his first created human, his first breath!

Come alive!  Lean into the Hope!  Run to the Father who sent His Son to die for ALL our sins.  There is obviously nothing on earth that God can not forgive in us.  God is the God who raises dry bones and puts sinew and meat on those bones making them whole and holy once more!  God is the God who turns things around.  And He’ll do it again…so we (and the nations) will know He is God. 

Lord,

My breath is taken away as I read and sing about your power through your Holy Spirit bringing life from dry bones of dead living!  You are God.  We are not. So, I will put all my life in your hands because I desire what you want for me—LIFE and more life—life everlasting!  Thank you for saving my life and making me whole.  Thank you for bringing me alive!  May my life reflect your glory—so others will know that you are God!

In Jesus Name, for Your Glory, Amen!

God!  Let me introduce you to God!  He is real, whether we believe it or not God was, is and always will be God!  It is God who turns our lives around.  It is God who turns our mess into a message.  It is God who reaches down and pulls us out of the murky bog of obscene living.  It is God who knows our hearts, hears our thoughts, and loves us anyway.  It is God who is the faithful one who loves us as sinners and provides mercy and grace with guidance to find our way back to Him.  God wants us to know and realize that HE is God and God alone.

It is God alone who provides forgiveness while He scrubs us clean and makes us holy before Him once more.  It is God who loved us from the beginning of creation.  It is God who loved us first and will love us always.  It is God who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Do you know God?  Do you really believe that what God says and who He is, really real?

Ezekiel 36, The Message

Back to Your Own Land

^1-5 “And now, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to God’s Message. God, the Master, says, Because the enemy crowed over you, “Good! Those old hills are now ours!” now here is a prophecy in the name of God, the Master: Because nations came at you from all sides, ripping and plundering, hauling pieces of you off every which way, and you’ve become the butt of cheap gossip and jokes, therefore, Mountains of Israel, listen to the Message of God, the Master. My Message to mountains and hills, to ditches and valleys, to the heaps of rubble and the emptied towns that are looted for plunder and turned into jokes by all the surrounding nations: Therefore, says God, the Master, now I’m speaking in a fiery rage against the rest of the nations, but especially against Edom, who in an orgy of violence and shameless insolence robbed me of my land, grabbed it for themselves.’

^6-7 “Therefore prophesy over the land of Israel, preach to the mountains and hills, to every ditch and valley: ‘The Message of God, the Master: Look! Listen! I’m angry—and I care. I’m speaking to you because you’ve been humiliated among the nations. Therefore I, God, the Master, am telling you that I’ve solemnly sworn that the nations around you are next. It’s their turn to be humiliated.

^8-12 “‘But you, Mountains of Israel, will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I’m back again. I’m on your side. You’ll be plowed and planted as before! I’ll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I’ll make this place teem with life—human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days. I’ll treat you better than I ever have. And you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll put people over you—my own people Israel! They’ll take care of you and you’ll be their inheritance. Never again will you be a harsh and unforgiving land to them.

^13-15 “‘God, the Master, says: Because you have a reputation of being a land that eats people alive and makes women barren, I’m now telling you that you’ll never eat people alive again nor make women barren. Decree of God, the Master. And I’ll never again let the taunts of outsiders be heard over you nor permit nations to look down on you. You’ll no longer be a land that makes women barren. Decree of God, the Master.’”

^16-21 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they polluted it by the way they lived. I poured out my anger on them because of the polluted blood they poured out on the ground. And so I got thoroughly angry with them polluting the country with their wanton murders and dirty gods. I kicked them out, exiled them to other countries. I sentenced them according to how they had lived. Wherever they went, they gave me a bad name. People said, ‘These are God’s people, but they got kicked off his land.’ I suffered much pain over my holy reputation, which the people of Israel blackened in every country they entered.

^22-23 “Therefore, tell Israel, ‘Message of God, the Master: I’m not doing this for you, Israel. I’m doing it for me, to save my character, my holy name, which you’ve blackened in every country where you’ve gone. I’m going to put my great and holy name on display, the name that has been ruined in so many countries, the name that you blackened wherever you went. Then the nations will realize who I really am, that I am God, when I show my holiness through you so that they can see it with their own eyes.

^24-28 “‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

^29-30 “‘I’ll pull you out of that stinking pollution. I’ll give personal orders to the wheat fields, telling them to grow bumper crops. I’ll send no more famines. I’ll make sure your fruit trees and field crops flourish. Other nations won’t be able to hold you in contempt again because of famine.

³¹ “‘And then you’ll think back over your terrible lives—the evil, the shame—and be thoroughly disgusted with yourselves, realizing how badly you’ve lived—all those obscenities you’ve carried out.

³² “‘I’m not doing this for you. Get this through your thick heads! Shame on you. What a mess you made of things, Israel!

^33-36 “‘Message of God, the Master: On the day I scrub you clean from all your filthy living, I’ll also make your cities livable. The ruins will be rebuilt. The neglected land will be worked again, no longer overgrown with weeds and thistles, worthless in the eyes of passersby. People will exclaim, “Why, this weed patch has been turned into a Garden of Eden! And the ruined cities, smashed into oblivion, are now thriving!” The nations around you that are still in existence will realize that I, God, rebuild ruins and replant empty waste places. I, God, said so, and I’ll do it.

^37-38 “‘Message of God, the Master: Yet again I’m going to do what Israel asks. I’ll increase their population as with a flock of sheep. Like the milling flocks of sheep brought for sacrifices in Jerusalem during the appointed feasts, the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. And they’ll realize that I am God.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Know God.  Trust God.  God turns bad to good.  Love God.  Love Others like He relentlessly loves us.  Forgive and be forgiven.  Sound simple?  It is.  “But I don’t understand what the Bible tells me,” relate many who read it for the first time.  I used to think that—as a child who wanted her own way and was happy to live in ignorance because it was easier.  But God wanted me to grow beyond childlike thinking and behavior while growing my childlike faith in Him.  That changed everything over time. 

I learned that there is enough of what I do understand to be saved and to live in His ways.  God is a Giver.  God gave us Jesus who paid all the debt we owe for our sins.  God poured out His Holy Spirit to believers to guide us and provide wisdom—the skills for living in His ways.

We should be punished like the Israelites for all our sins.  Since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, God knew we would not be able handle all the punishment that we really deserve.  So, in His merciful kindness, He gave us Jesus.  Jesus was the God’s gift of grace.

We enter God’s family by trusting Jesus Christ, but we enjoy God’s family by believing His promises and obeying His will (2 Corinthians 6:18—7:1). Disobedient children have to be chastened (Hebrews 12), and God often had to chasten the people of Israel because of their rebellion and disobedience.  Living without Jesus, suffering the consequences of our sins, is our punishment until we repent and be forgiven forever. Our sins repented are remembered no more!  Through repentance to Jesus, the list of our sins are not recorded but blotted out—forever! 

So now the answers to these questions should be considered.  They can change your life forever—

Do you know God?  Do you really believe that what God says and who He is, really real?  Is Jesus your Savior and now the Lord of your life?

Lord,

• I pray that all who read this to really believe and begin to really know you personally. 
• I pray for all you don’t know you, to understand what knowing you can mean to their lives. 
• I pray that through repenting we learn humility and holiness that only you can provide.
• I pray peace in the storms, help in the struggles of life with provisions of all you know we need.  In your transformation of us there will be adjustments made to our thinking and behaving.  Do what you must because our love for you now commands your work in us.
• I pray protection for those who just now turned their lives over to you because our real and ever-present enemy will not like losing one of his team members. 

Thank you, Lord for teaching us through Your Word and by Your Holy Spirit today.  Right now.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen.  I believe.