Presents
Pamphlet 1201 Ezek
kc 6-1
Presents
Pamphlet 1201 Ezek
kc 6-1
"Seriousness of Being a Watchman" Our Father has made a special and personal visit to the priest and the prophet, EZEK-I-EL, by arriving and appearing in an awesome vehicle, a Chariot of Fire, which Ezekiel described in detail.
However, ONLY the final, end time generations would be able to understand what it was he wrote about.
Think of this! No other generation until the 20th century had ever seen tons of highly polished spectrum metal fly up into the sky with people inside, much less fly into outerspace and land on the moon. But the Baby Boomer generation has seen it, the generation of the fig tree which was planted on May, 15, 1948, which is also the generation of the "increased knowledge" prophesied in Daniel 12.
In any event, His arrival in Israel One certainly got Ezekiel's attention, didn't it? Come to think of it, our just writing of His arrival in His vehicle has gotten quite a bit of attention!
We begin chapter 3 where the Lord God, speaking from His throne, surrounded by the "rainbow", the shekinah glory, has told Ezekiel that He is sending him to the House of Israel, His rebellious children. And where are they today? Yes, Europe and North America, for the most part.
And now He has laid out before Ezekiel a "roll of a book", or a scroll, written within and without, meaning it is a complete book.
Before you can be "sent forth" by Him to teach the Word of God, you must first eat the complete Word, the entire "Loaf of Bread". You can't teach His words if all you have eaten are a few crumbs here and there. Ezekiel is told to "eat that thou findest" and verse 10 documents that it was ALL of His words.Ezekiel 3:1
Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.You see, the Word of God is spiritual food and must be eaten daily.
Our daily bread, the bread of life, is the Word of God.
We are to eat it ALL.
It is what God's servants do!
Jeremiah ate His words.
Ezekiel ate them.Jeremiah 15:16
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.The Apostle John ate them.Ezekiel 2:9
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;Ezekiel 3:3
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.Learning and knowing the truth of God's Word is exciting and beautiful and the taste of truth is as sweet as honey! But when you have digested that knowledge and meditated upon it, and can see the stark reality of what is happening in this world and understand why, it can be pretty "gut wrenching", and thus is one form of bitterness.Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.But there is another bitterness when you have eaten "truth".
And that is, be prepared to suffer the bitterness of persecution as Christ would tell us:
Let's return to Ezekiel and see if He obeys the Lord's command to eat the scroll.John 17:14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them...Well, it looks like Ezekiel didn't have much choice, did he? Remember the hand of the Lord was upon Him, and so He "caused" him to eat the roll.Ezekiel 3:2
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.Even common sense dictates that one shouldn't teach with his mouth full. Wait until after you've eaten.[3] And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.So, when (1) your belly is full of His Words and (2) they have been digested and absorbed into the blood stream and carried to your forehead wherein lies your brain, then you are a prepared servant of the Lord God, and ready for ACTION!
Now there's a novel idea for the preachers and pastors to pick up on: "Speak His Words!" Then if the people don't like what is said, they can take it up with Him, whose words were spoken.[4] And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.That means none of this, "Well I believe this way", or "Our church teaches this".Who cares? If you are one of God's servants and have eaten from His table, then you speak, "Thus saith the Lord God!"
Now think about this, for it is of paramount importance!Ezekiel 3:5
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;You must KNOW who the House of Israel IS in order to be sent there,MUST YOU NOT?
If He tells you to go to the House of Israel and you take off for the Holy Lands, you are in BIG TROUBLE. For the House of Israel is NOT THERE, except for a remnant of the House of Judah, who was only 1/12 of the House of Israel.
It is so amazing to listen to the preachers and evangelists who haven't eaten both the "within and without" portions of the scroll, i.e. the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is evident that they do not know the difference between an Hebrew, an Israelite, and a Judahite. They are at a loss to explain where the Superpower of all Superpowers, the United States of America, is spoken of in prophecy, so they hide behind spiritualizing everything away into the church.
But that causes a HUGE problem, because some latter day Ezekiels better get to the House of Israel and teach the Word of God and SEAL it in the foreheads of the 144,000, a cool 12,000 from each of the Tribes of the House of Israel (Rev. 7), not 12,000 from each church denomination.
If you do not know where the House of Israel is today, then you need the book "The Abrahamic Covenant", by E. Raymond Capt, or the one by G. R. Hawtin. You can get a copy fron Artisan Publishers - www.artisanpublishers.com or Phone 1-918-682-8341or
*You do not know who the so-called lost 10 tribes of the House of Israel are and where they dwell today go to Pamphlet #1064 or Pamphlet #1020 under Table of Contents "Wisdom" on the this American Wisdom Series site.
Also read #6026
Also read TheStoneKingdom
Next, look who Ezekiel is sent to! Not foreigners, though they would probably listen.This verse was placed absolutely perfectly and was meant for our generation, for you see, the majority of the House of Israel speaks English! It lets you know that the problem is NOT a language barrier, the people just don't want to know. They would rather be "soothsayered" by smooth talking preachers who promise them all sorts of lies, like an easy trip out of here when things get rough.[6] Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.Look out across America this very day and see if the "House of Israel" is obeying the Lord God. They are truly lost in more ways than one. They don't even know who they are!Ezekiel 3:7
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted."I have made you strong" is what the name EZEK-I-EL means, i.e. "Whom God strengthens". If you have eaten the Word of God and digested it, then you have been made STRONG against those who just think they are, and you are now protected by a full, head-to-toe, highly polished suit of Gospel Armor (Eph. 6), which is impenetrable by the fire darts of Satan and his weak-minded followers.[8] Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.Note: If you have eaten the scroll and been "strengthened by Him", then you are an Ezekiel, so pay close attention to the messages he is told to take to the House of Israel in this book. A word to the wise is in order here.
So that you don't think that God is saying He has made Ezekiel into a close-minded hardhead, look up the word "adamant" in your Strong's Concordance. It means a "Diamond", the jewel of all gems in beauty, in value, and in hardness, as compared to all other "stones".[9] As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.You have heard the expression he/she is a "Diamond in the rough". Well, the Ezekiels of this generation, those who He has strengthened through His Word, i.e. God's Elect, are "Diamonds in the Wilderness." He has made them so! How precious indeed! (Note: It requires tremendous pressure to make a diamond, don't you know?)
God wants you to receive ALL His words in your forehead, and understand them. You'd never guess that when you watch the Sunday morning parade of crumb tossers. I ask you, "Where's the beef?"Ezekiel 3:10
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.So are you a Diamond Christian? Have you been Ezekielized? Are you qualified to be sent forth and teach? Then the directive is to GO to them of the captivity, YOUR PEOPLE! And speak to THEM, and tell them, "Thus saith the Lord GOD!" Whether they listen or not is not your problem! Your job is to speak HIS WORDS! Got it?[11] And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.Ezekiel gets lifted up and takes a little "whirlwind" ride. But instead of hearing, "Please fasten your safety belts", he hears, "Blessed be the Glory of the LORD from His place", which is currently from His throne in this magnificent Chariot of Fire.[12] Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.They definitely make sounds when taking off.Ezekiel 3:13
I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.Ezekiel is saddened about the impending calamities to come, of which he is about to become the unwelcomed bearer of the bad news. But make no mistake about it, the LORD is in charge.[14] So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.Ezekiel will end up in Tel-abib and will be officially made a "watchman" by the Lord.Now that is a position of great responsibility! You see, if you are one of God's elect, then there is a little bit more to serving the Lord than helping out with chicken barbeques and being an usher every fourth Sunday. Ezekiel is a type of God's elect in this final generation. That means get ready for action, for if the hand of the Lord is upon you, it is an awesome experience. Nevertheless, praise Him and enjoy the ride! Now, in the words of the apostle Paul, who fell into the hands of the Lord when the Lord knocked him off his high horse.
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.When we last left Ezekiel, he had eaten and digested the entire Word of God, written within and without, and so 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.
"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).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.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,In chapter 33 we will read the exact same words from the Lord to EZEK-I-EL, "whom God strengthens". Has He strengthened you?[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.Here are the two awesome responsibilities of a watchman to the House of Israel.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.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:
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!!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.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, as the false-christ, is coming again, soon, at the sound of the 6th Trump. It is written! Thus saith the Lord!
Don't expect to be Mr. or Ms. Popularity![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.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?[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.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). Satan 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, while appearing as Jesus Christ, cause them to stumble!
God takes full responsibility for sending Satan. Appearing as Jesus, he IS the stumblingblock God lays before the people!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.
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!2 Thes. 2:11
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: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!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.With that background, let's re-read Ezekiel 3:20.
All the good deeds that they have done, will do them no good, nor be remembered.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.Here they are trying to cash them in:
They did do wonderful works! It's just that they worshiped the false-christ, Satan, as Jesus and promoted his "Churchianity" because they were too lazy to study God's Word to learn and promote real "Christianity".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?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.[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.Are you a watchman? It is an awesome responsibility, but remember, it is 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.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.So here are the words of the Apostle Paul:
"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:1 Cor. 16:13
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.What an honor and a privilege it is to be a servant of the Living God in these last days![14] Let all your things be done with charity.Ezekiel has been chosen by the Lord God, Adonai Yahveh, to be a watchman for the House of Israel, and the LORD has given him explicit instructions regarding his responsibility to learn His Word and give warning to the people directly from Him!
Next, the LORD instructs Ezekiel to go forth into the valley between the mountains, and He will talk with him there. See if that's how you read this next verse.
If a student of God's Word does not study a little deeper than merely reading from a single translation or two, he or she could entirely miss what is being said. This verse serves as an example of that because believe it or not the word "plain" actually means "valley" or a "split" between mountains, and not a plain like we think of where you drive all day and barely see even a rise. Here's the definition from Strong's Concordance:Ezekiel 3:22
And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.So the LORD wants His appointed watchman to position himself on the flat plain which lies between the "mountains", and when He is THERE, the LORD will speak to him. So Ezekiel gets up and goes forth as he is instructed.plain = biq`ah, bik-aw', Hebrew 1237; from Hebrew 1234 (baqa`); properly a split, i.e. a wide level valley between mountains :- plain, valley.It must be an awesome sight to behold the Shekinah Glory of the LORD. Anyway, you can see that when the LORD makes an appointment with someone, He shows up on time (of course He can get there faster). And by the way, have you noticed how Ezekiel keeps "falling on his face" and God keeps lifting him up and setting him on his feet again?Ezekiel 3:23
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.So Ezekiel goes out to flat valley between the two mountains and meets the LORD, who says to him, "Go shut yourself within your house, Ezekiel". I wonder if some of us would have asked, "What for Lord?"[24] Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.Ezekiel 3:25
But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:The Holy Spirit is quite adept at using figures of speech and idioms to convey the meaning or heighten the effect in bringing forth His literal truth. When you are tied up, imprisoned physically or figuratively, you cannot go out among the people, and when your tongue is "stuck to the roof of your mouth", it simply means you can't talk (or you took too big a scoop of peanut butter) .[26] And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.There is a time and a place for everything and our Father controls the time table of His plan, according to His will and purpose, not ours. If you are one of His elect, then you know according to Eph.1:4 that you have been chosen before the foundation of this earth age and have a predetermined job to do. Let it therefore be no mystery that God will hold you back until He is ready to use you.
So here we see God "shutting up" Ezekiel for a time, until He is ready (see next verse), and we already saw when that ready time will be. It is the time of the end when the Word of God is unsealed (Dan. 12) and the mouth of Ezekiel is opened and His words are spoken to the rebellious House of Israel.
There is a time coming soon when God's "Ezekiels" will be taken and delivered up. It is at that time that God will open their mouths and they shall speak His Words. Here is Jesus declaring this as a "sign of His coming", i.e. an event just before His return:[27] But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.The word "published" here means "proclaimed", and so the proclamation of His Word, the warning by His watchman, shall go forth into all the nations of the world.Mark 13:10
And the gospel must first be published among all nations.Now think! Never before in the history of mankind has it been possible to reach all peoples on earth, but today we can do it live, via satellite TV, radio, and the World Wide Web. What a time to live!! Imagine trying to explain all this to the disciples of yesteryear.
And here is that opening of their mouths by the Holy Spirit:
When God is ready, He will open your mouth and you will speak "Thus saith the Lord God!", for it will be the Holy Spirit that speaks through you, as in the example set forth on Pentecost Day in Acts chapter 2.Mark 13:11
But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
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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