The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #1182 Ezek kc 6

"Now there is reason why nothing happened for those seven days."

In the first two and one half chapters of Ezekiel we learned
that God came to earth in a flying saucer,
handed Ezekiel a scroll and told him to eat it.

Ezekiel did as God said and after he had eaten
and digested the entire Word of God,
written within and without,
he is now "filled" with the Spirit of the Living God,
and has become as a precious diamond to our Father.

The Lord has told him to go to his own people,
not a people who speak some strange foreign language,
but to the very House of Israel,
and speak "Thus saith the Lord" to them.

So Ezekiel will now be taken to his predestined location
among the captives at Telabib,
to be made a watchman by the strong hand of the Lord which is upon him.

Ezekiel 3:15  Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
"Tel" in Hebrew means elevation or mound and "abib" means young corn,
even corn that isn't yet ripened.

And even though Ezekiel was taken there,
by that "river great", Chebar,
he did nothing but sit there "totally silent" for seven days.

Seven in Biblical numerics denotes spiritual perfection
or completeness (see appendix 10 in the Companion Bible).

Now there is reason why nothing happened for those seven days, and that is to reveal to us that there is a time gap to be understood here, even to the "fullness of times", the time of the end. You see, it would be the generation that could understand about the vehicles written of in chapter one that would be the generation of the captivity to whom "Ezekiel" would be sent. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear then you understand that he's being sent even now, and his "vision" is being seen in these last days (Acts 2:17).

[16]  And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[17]  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
In chapter 33 we will read the exact same words from the Lord to EZEK-I-EL,
"whom God strengthens".

Has He strengthened you?

Ezekiel 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
Here are the two awesome responsibilities of a watchman to the House of Israel.
You must:

        (1) Hear the word from His mouth, i.e. from His Word, not from men.

(2) Give the people warning from His word.
And just so you know that the two words
"awesome responsibilities"
weren't used to merely add color,
the next four verses, 18-21,
outline how serious being a watchman truly is.

Here is the Lord speaking:

Ezekiel 3:18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
If you do not give the warning, from the Word of God,
that they will "Surely Die" if they heed not His Word,
you will pay the price for their soul!!

Notice in verse 18 that the warning is exactly the same warning
the Lord gave to Adam and Eve, in the beginning!

Stay away from Satan, the serpent, that "tree" of the knowledge of good and evil,
or "Thou shalt surely die!" (Gen 2:17)

Well guess what?

Satan, the son of perdition,
the anti-christ, is coming again, soon,
at the sound of the 6th Trump.

It is written!

Thus saith the Lord!

[19]  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Don't expect to be Mr. or Ms. Popularity!
[20] Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die:because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
This verse is not talking about a good person turning to fleshly vices and sins.
The subject is righteous people, good people,
who commit iniquity by stumbling at the stumblingblock
that God lays before them!

If they do, "They shalt surely die!"
What is this stumblingblock that God lays before them?

You see, there are many, many Christians who love the Lord,
but they do not really KNOW Him,
because they do not know His Word!
(The Living Word and the Written Word are one.)

They are not even aware that there are two Jesus Christs,
the real One (of Christianity) and the Instead-of-Jesus (of Churchianity).
"Ante-Christos" in Greek, means "instead of Christ",
for he is an imposter who appears as the real Messiah.

The Apostle Paul WARNED the people in 2 Thes. 2,
that Satan is coming BEFORE we gather back to Christ.

And there will be a great falling away,
a great apostasy when he comes,
for those who did not "love the truth", i.e. study His Word,
will believe that he is God, whom he will claim to be.

He will deceive the whole world,
except for God's elect and those who heed the warning from the "Ezekiels",
i.e. those who teach Ezekiel and the "Entire Scroll" which he ate.

God therefore will send Satan (Rev. 12:7-9) and he will,
as Jesus Christ, cause them to stumble!

2 Thes. 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

[9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

[10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

God takes full responsibility for sending Satan.
Appearing as Jesus, he IS the stumblingblock God lays before the people!
2 Thes. 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Peter also WARNS us,
that in these last days the stumbling block is the stone that the builders rejected,
even Jesus Christ.

Many claim to love Him, to be His virgin bride,
but they don't put any oil in their lamps,
and won't be able to see their way to the real wedding.

They will be "taken" in the night!

1 Peter 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
If you "stumble at the Word, i.e.
you don't know it because you don't study it,
you are disobedient!
Thus saith the Lord!

With that background, let's re-read Ezekiel 3:20.

Ezekiel 3:20  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die:because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
All the good deeds that they have done,
will do them no good, nor be remembered.
Here they are trying to cash them in:
Matthew 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
They did do wonderful works!

It's just that they worshiped antichrist, Satan,
as Jesus and promoted his "Christianity"
because they were too lazy to study God's Word.

[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Our Father wants His children WARNED about this,
and it is the responsibility of the watchmen, God's elect to do it.

However, we are not responsible for their decision
to heed the warning or their decision to ignore it.

Ezekiel 3:21  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
Are you a watchman?
It is an awesome responsibility,
but remember, it is was Ezekiel's own people to whom he was sent,
just as it is our own people to whom we are sent.

And we must be wise and loving in dealing with them,
lest we ourselves become a stumblingblock by being real jerks.

So I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul:

1 Cor. 16:13  Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
"Quit you like men" means "Act like men", i.e. be mature.

And whatever you do,
remember these words from the Word of God through Paul:

[14] Let all your things be done with charity.
What an honor and a privilege it is to be a servant
of the Living God in these last days!
 

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.



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