The Bible says in Ezekiel 7:25-27, Destruction
cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.[26] Mischief
shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but
the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.[27]
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the
hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after
their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall
know that I am the LORD. The phrase given in verse 25 is one of the stories of the
human race in all of its history: they
shall seek peace, and there shall be none. In
the case of Israel it happened because of their sins. But it also happens
because that is the nature of the world in which we live. Jesus said that until
this age ends, there will be wars and rumors of wars. Rulers of countries that
are wise will understand this fact and be prepared to defend themselves and
their citizens. Citizens would be wise to turn from their sins and turn to
Jesus.
Peace between nations is symbolic of
peace between God and man. Many human beings are at enmity with God. They can
make their peace with God through the Prince of Peace: the Lord Jesus Christ. It
says in Romans 5:1, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ: Peace is one of the results of being justified by faith.
Once you stop fighting against God and His will, you give up and you surrender
to God, and you call on the name of Jesus for salvation: at that point God
justifies you because of your faith in Christ. You are no longer at war with
yourself, or with God, or with the world. You have true peace: lasting peace. Jesus
said to His disciples, My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. You will never find peace unless you
come to Christ.
Ezekiel 7:26 gives us some insight
into what is going on with some people who are involved in religion. It says, then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but
the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. You cannot
seek to know more about God from a church leader who himself is not really
serving God. In the Old Testament the revealed will of God was in the law. The
priest should have known the law and should have been able to teach it to
others, but he could not. People went to him in vain. The same thing is
happening today. Of course, that is true with all the false religions in the
world. Pity the people that go to those teachers to find the truth about God.
But sadly that is also the case in many churches. This is the age of grace, not
law. But how many pastors and teachers know the difference between law and
grace? How many of them know that Jesus is God? How many of them know the
difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament? How many of them
know that the Bible is without error and is the sole source of faith and
practice? There is so much that people need to know spiritually speaking. It
takes the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit to know. God told the Israelites
that He would take away that knowledge from the religious leaders. We need the
Lord. If you have any true spiritual wisdom, then you have it from God. You are
nothing. He can take it away if He so chooses.
In Ezekiel 7:27 God said, I will do
unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them. The worse
thing that can happen to any human being is to receive what you deserve. If you
received what you deserve, you would go to hell. You would die this instant and
wake up in hell. If you do not believe that, then you do not know the truth
about yourself and you do not know the truth about sin. Of course, how
fortunate we are that we do not receive what we deserve. Gods blessings are
all around us. Gods blessings are showered upon us daily. What is really
happening is that we are constantly receiving things that we do not deserve.
That certainly is true concerning salvation by faith in Christ. Justice gives
you what you deserve, but grace through Christ gives you what you do not
deserve. Grace is greater than your sin. Grace is so powerful that it can even
overcome the principle of reaping what you sow. Grace is amazing, and it is
only possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary when He
paid the penalty for all sin.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 8:1-3, And it came
to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month,
as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of
the Lord GOD fell there upon me.[2] Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as
the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire;
and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.[3] And he put forth the form of an
hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between
the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to
the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the
north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh
to jealousy. Ezekiel was given a free ride to heaven, picked up by the
head of his hair. The first thing that he saw was fire. I wonder if he
thought that maybe he was at the wrong place. No, there is fire in heaven as
well as in hell. God revealed Himself to Moses in the flaming bush. When
Ezekiel saw God Ezekiel saw fire from his
loins downward. When John saw God, John saw Jesus
with eyes were as a flame of fire and feet feet like
unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.
The fire represents the judgment of God: the fires of judgment. God judges the
nations: He judged Israel. God will judge the unbelievers: that will be a
terrifying judgment. And God judges the believers. He judges us in order to
make us more pure and to make us more useful for His service.
In verse 3 Ezekiel was taken to the
temple in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel saw the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. God is jealous. His name is jealous.
What causes jealousy: unfaithfulness. Someone said
they would love you. And then they went and loved someone else. What is one
result of such a thing that you can be assured of: jealousy. What does God want
more than anything else from human beings: love. That
is why Jesus quoted from the book of Deuteronomy and said that the greatest
commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. Many have
rejected His love. He loved them all, but many did not return His love. For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. Many have
said that they loved Him, but then turned and loved someone or something else.
Many started to love Him, but then their love grew weak. Jesus said to the
church at Ephesus, Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy first love. What will Gods ultimate reaction be to all of this failure on
the part of human beings to love Him? Just go to the vision of God that Ezekiel
had and you will know the answer to this: jealousy and judgment. That is
definitely how God will respond. Run to the arms of Jesus while you have time.
The Jealous One is coming with judgment.
God took Ezekiel to the temple in
Jerusalem to show Ezekiel why God was angry in His jealousy. The Bible says in
Ezekiel 8:4-10, And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according
to the vision that I saw in the plain.[5] Then said he unto me, Son of
man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes
the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this
image of jealousy in the entry.[6] He said
furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they
do? even the great abominations that the house of
Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from
my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater
abominations.[7] And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I
looked, behold a hole in the wall.[8] Then said he unto me, Son of man,
dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the
wall, behold a door.[9] And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the
wicked abominations that they do here.[10] So I went in and saw; and
behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols
of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall
round about. God said, I should go
far off from my sanctuary. The temple was
supposed to represent the presence of the Lord. The temple should have been
filled with the glory of the Lord. But it was not any longer. Why was the glory
departed? Sin. Abominable sins were being committed by
the people and by the priests. They were still religious, but they were living
in sin. They were committing sins and not repenting of them. Verse 10 shows what
God really thought about the sins. It says, So
I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable
beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed
upon the wall round about.
Concerning the lives of the people and
of the priests the Bible says in Ezekiel 8:11-12, And there
stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in
the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick
cloud of incense went up.[12] Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast
thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in
the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
These verses show the terrible contrast between what the people were doing
openly compared to what they were doing secretly. In verse 11 when it speaks of
the men with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense
went up, this represents prayers that are being prayed at the wall at the
temple. Prayers are still prayed at the wall at the temple area. But here is
the problem: the prayers were what they did in public. But they did other
things in secret. In their private and personal lives, they did things as if
they thought God could not see them. Of course, God sees and knows all things.
John saw Jesus and John said in Revelation 1:14 that Jesus eyes were as a flame of fire.
He sees, He knows, and He judges with the burning of an all-consuming fire.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 8:13-18, Then said he
unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do
in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.[13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and
thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.[14] Then he brought me
to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and,
behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.[15] Then said he unto me,
Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see
greater abominations than these.[16] And he brought me into the inner
court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD,
between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their
backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they
worshipped the sun toward the east.[17] Then he said unto me, Hast thou
seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they
commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land
with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the
branch to their nose.[18] Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye
shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears
with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. Ezekiel 8:14 mentions
women weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was a false god. In other words women in Israel
had turned away from the one true God, Jehovah, and had started worshipping a
false god, even to the point of being so very emotionally involved. God saw what
was going on. He is a jealous God, and the very first of the Ten Commandments
says, Thou shalt have no other gods before
me. And then in verse 16 it says that
twenty-five men with their backs toward the
temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the
sun. People no longer cared about the one
true God. People turned away from what their fore-fathers taught them, and they
turned to false teachings that they heard from false religions from other
nations. The consequences to falling away from God were not good for the nation
of Israel, and it will not go well for anyone who does that. God said in verse
18, Therefore will I also deal in fury:
mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. There is one escape from such a destiny: turn to Jesus
with all your heart and trust in Him. He will receive you and forgive you.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2016 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved