Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, "Thus saith the Lord God -- "Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;" that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from Me through their idols." (Ezekiel 14:1-5)
You see, in this current dispensation of grace, we are instructed to love our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and from His abundant love -- to love one another. We see this first commandment under the old covenant and Jesus repeating the same, when He summarized the 10 commandments to the rich man in Mark 12:29-31.
Sadly, we in this generation have gone our own way, adoring/marvelling at the art and stone carvings within church buildings, and doing so without any understanding or wisdom regarding the Lord's gospel message. And this is the point being made here. Those stone carvings that you pray to cannot answer (or even hear) one's prayer. Those man-made images that hang on walls can never effectively mirror the original in God's creation -- wherein He created a world full of sustenance and meat for His people. The stained glass carvings -- far too often -- are void of any scriptural content, being constructed from the imaginations of men. And the rituals -- the double crossing of oneself, for example, amount to nothing more than gestures without any substance, in much the same way as the historic symbolism of voodoo dolls.
Nevertheless, the Lord God commanded us to be good stewards, adopting His wisdom and knowledge in everything that we ask or do. And this is where we are failing, because we believe that our ways are much more edifying than the Lord's ways. It is for this reason that all of creation is groaning, because we have ignored our Lord God and Saviour in our day to day. We have ignored His handiwork displayed for one and all to see, and more recently, as a collective are denying the existence of a Creator. This is why the Lord's instruction through Ezekiel is critical, because the prophecies that were dictated so many years ago are being fulfilled with increasing frequency. But I digress.
Continuing in Ezekiel 14:
"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, "Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourns in Israel, which separates himself from Me, and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to enquire of him concerning Me; "I the Lord will answer him by Myself: and I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 14:6-8)
"And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; that the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be My people, and I may be their God," saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 14:9-11)
As you can see, the Lord continues to know those who are this -- "that they may be My people, and I may be their God" -- saith the Lord God. As an aside, one should know that from the beginning of time, there has always been a people who would not waver when it came to the Lord. For these know in whom they trust, and that He indeed is the Rock -- the Rock of ages cleft for me. And this is His promise to those who believe in Him by faith, that even in persecution and despair, we have a Comforter -- the Holy Ghost -- the Spirit of the Father and Son as one dwelling within.
His Name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins. And as we see here, that even in the worst of times, He shall deliver the souls of those who believe because of their right-standing that comes from His Righteousness -- wherein God willingly became our Saviour on the cross. He bridged the gap when His Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-14; I Timothy 3:16)
Continuing again in Ezekiel 14:
"The Word of the Lord came again to me, saying, "Son of man, when the land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness," saith the Lord God."
And "if I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: though these three men were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, "Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: though these three men were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves."
Are you beginning to understand from herein, how much the Lord God Almighty loves those who put their trust in Him? We should be marvelling at His goodness and grace, His mercy that whilst He takes care of the sparrows, He is watching our every step, to the point that regardless of what is happening around us, the Lord God will deliver us. But He doesn't stop there.
"Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness." For thus saith the Lord God; "How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?"
"Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it," saith the Lord God.
We who believe in the Lord Jesus by faith are the remnant -- the vehicle wherein the Lord God is able to obtain His family -- both sons and daughters. Thus, we can know with blessed assurance that He will deliver our souls in times of trouble, and comfort us in times of tribulation. This is why we lean on Him, letting Him establish our steps in our day to day.
Again, in this current dispensation of grace, His Name is JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21-23) Trust in His goodness and grace this day.
Jesus -- Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, the King of kings and Lord of lords. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. And He has a purpose and mandate just for you, wherein like Noah, Daniel and Job, the Lord will deliver us from the evil doings of this world.
Stand in the offering plate.
You see, in this current dispensation of grace, we are instructed to love our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and from His abundant love -- to love one another. We see this first commandment under the old covenant and Jesus repeating the same, when He summarized the 10 commandments to the rich man in Mark 12:29-31.
Sadly, we in this generation have gone our own way, adoring/marvelling at the art and stone carvings within church buildings, and doing so without any understanding or wisdom regarding the Lord's gospel message. And this is the point being made here. Those stone carvings that you pray to cannot answer (or even hear) one's prayer. Those man-made images that hang on walls can never effectively mirror the original in God's creation -- wherein He created a world full of sustenance and meat for His people. The stained glass carvings -- far too often -- are void of any scriptural content, being constructed from the imaginations of men. And the rituals -- the double crossing of oneself, for example, amount to nothing more than gestures without any substance, in much the same way as the historic symbolism of voodoo dolls.
Nevertheless, the Lord God commanded us to be good stewards, adopting His wisdom and knowledge in everything that we ask or do. And this is where we are failing, because we believe that our ways are much more edifying than the Lord's ways. It is for this reason that all of creation is groaning, because we have ignored our Lord God and Saviour in our day to day. We have ignored His handiwork displayed for one and all to see, and more recently, as a collective are denying the existence of a Creator. This is why the Lord's instruction through Ezekiel is critical, because the prophecies that were dictated so many years ago are being fulfilled with increasing frequency. But I digress.
Continuing in Ezekiel 14:
"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, "Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourns in Israel, which separates himself from Me, and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to enquire of him concerning Me; "I the Lord will answer him by Myself: and I will set My face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 14:6-8)
"And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; that the house of Israel may go no more astray from Me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be My people, and I may be their God," saith the Lord God." (Ezekiel 14:9-11)
As you can see, the Lord continues to know those who are this -- "that they may be My people, and I may be their God" -- saith the Lord God. As an aside, one should know that from the beginning of time, there has always been a people who would not waver when it came to the Lord. For these know in whom they trust, and that He indeed is the Rock -- the Rock of ages cleft for me. And this is His promise to those who believe in Him by faith, that even in persecution and despair, we have a Comforter -- the Holy Ghost -- the Spirit of the Father and Son as one dwelling within.
His Name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins. And as we see here, that even in the worst of times, He shall deliver the souls of those who believe because of their right-standing that comes from His Righteousness -- wherein God willingly became our Saviour on the cross. He bridged the gap when His Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-14; I Timothy 3:16)
Continuing again in Ezekiel 14:
"The Word of the Lord came again to me, saying, "Son of man, when the land sins against Me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out Mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness," saith the Lord God."
And "if I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts: though these three men were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, "Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it: though these three men were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves."
Are you beginning to understand from herein, how much the Lord God Almighty loves those who put their trust in Him? We should be marvelling at His goodness and grace, His mercy that whilst He takes care of the sparrows, He is watching our every step, to the point that regardless of what is happening around us, the Lord God will deliver us. But He doesn't stop there.
"Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast: though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live," saith the Lord God, "they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness." For thus saith the Lord God; "How much more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?"
"Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it," saith the Lord God.
We who believe in the Lord Jesus by faith are the remnant -- the vehicle wherein the Lord God is able to obtain His family -- both sons and daughters. Thus, we can know with blessed assurance that He will deliver our souls in times of trouble, and comfort us in times of tribulation. This is why we lean on Him, letting Him establish our steps in our day to day.
Again, in this current dispensation of grace, His Name is JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21-23) Trust in His goodness and grace this day.
Jesus -- Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, the King of kings and Lord of lords. One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. And He has a purpose and mandate just for you, wherein like Noah, Daniel and Job, the Lord will deliver us from the evil doings of this world.
Stand in the offering plate.
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