Presents
Pamphlet #8024 Ezekiel chapter 24
We need to know to prepare our minds for the spiritual battles in these last days
We need to know to prepare our minds for the spiritual battles in these last days
There are some common beliefs among all Christians and one of those beliefs is that Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth, i.e. that there will be a second advent and He will, however, from there Biblical illiteracy coupled with the "traditions of men" cause great division among believers as to how, when and where His return takes place. Yet the answers to these questions have been given so many times throughout the Bible that we are without excuse in knowing what is about to transpire as the final grains of sand run out of the hour glass of this flesh age.
Far too many Christians have been taught to believe that Jesus Christ will secretly return at "any moment" and "take up" his church in what is commonly called the Rapture. But we have been told time and time again by the prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the New Testament, and by Jesus Christ Himself that the king of Babylon (Satan), the son of perdition, the abomination of desolation, i.e. the false-christ, is coming first! He will appear at the 6th Trump and all the people on this earth whether saint and sinner or rich man or poor man will face his sword before the 7th Trump sounds and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord.
We have also been told throughout the scriptures that the king of Babylon, the spurious messiah, i.e. Satan, is coming to that great city of Jerusalem, the city of blood, the mother of harlots, to sit in the most holy place, i.e. that location called Mount Zion that our Father chose in Ezekiel 16 as His favorite spot in all the universe. Those who are Biblically illiterate and deceived by the traditions of men will spiritually fall by the spiritual sword of the king of Babylon (confusion), while those who have the seal of God in their foreheads will not be spiritually harmed and will take a strong stand against the fiery darts of this spurious messiah.
You see, it is our Father who SENDS the king of Babylon (Satan) and his army of fallen angels upon the earth.Why? As both His instrument of chastisement to the sinner and the deceived and His fire of purification to His own. We have already learned in the Book of Ezekiel that when fire comes upon stubble and straw they are consumed away, but when it comes upon gold, the gold is purified as the slag rises and is skimmed off.
So once again as part of being told "time after time" we will read in this 24th chapter of Ezekiel about the "fire" that is sent to purify the souls of men. Each time we are told, whether it be "straight on" or in a "parable" such as the one we are about to read, we gain further insight as to the feelings and desires of our Father.
Also remember, that if there is any one verse that a Christian needs to know in order to understand "fire" as it used in the scriptures it is Hebrews 12:29.
That "fire" consumes those who despise Him and warms the hearts of those who love Him.Hebrews 12:29
For our God is a consuming fire.
Let's begin Ezekiel chapter 24.
Ezekiel 24:1
Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
So Ezekiel was told to write down the date and to write down that the king of Babylon was coming against Jerusalem that very day! The people therefore knew what was going on in Jerusalem that day. Remember, Ezekiel was 300 miles away from Jerusalem dwelling among the captives by the river Chebar. They didn't have TV or radio communications in those days but they were not left without same day news coverage, because with God all things are possible. He simply used His prophet and watchman, Ezekiel, to show them what was happening.[2] Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.
So, write that date down... that is... that it is recorded that the king of Babylon came on that same day.
Now that the people know what is happening, and we know what is going to happen in the near future (i.e. that the king of Babylon (Satan) is coming), Ezekiel is told to tell the rebellious house of Israel, in a parable form, the "why" and "purpose" of what is happening.
Tell the people to go fill a big old iron cooking cauldron with water and set it up. This pot is the same pot (cauldron) we read about in chapter 11 and it represents the fortified city of Jerusalem. Remember that the scoffers had ignored the warnings of the prophet and said that the king of Babylon isn't coming and they are well protected by the strong fortified walls of the city, which they liken to an iron pot which protects anyone inside.[3] And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:
Here's a quick review of what those scoffers said:
So they think they are protected in that strong, fortified iron pot, from the fire of God's wrath, huh? No problem, they can all just stay put and God will light His fire under that sucker! What in the world makes people think that an iron pot can shield them from God's wrath and withstand His fire? Come on, an iron pot won't even stop Superman's x-ray vision.Ezekiel 11:2
Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:[3] Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
The instruction here is to fill it with the choicest mutton, i.e. sheep which represent God's people, all of them. This includes the common people as well as the leaders and the most distinguished of the people, the "choice bones".Ezekiel 24:4
Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.
Put them all in the pot and burn wood* under it and bring it to a rolling boil until the flesh is cooked off the bones.[5] Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.
* The Hebrew for "the bones" as it is used here means "specific bones", which simply means wood.
Woe to the bloody city of Jerusalem, the bloodiest city of all time where even the precious blood of our Lord and Savior was shed by the sleazy slimy murderers who dwell therein. She is like a pot pitted with poisonous rust and lewdness and wickedness, a pot full of "scum bags".Ezekiel 24:6
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall up on it.
Actually the word "scum" used in this verse translates to our English word "verdigris" which is the poisonous greenish scum that forms on copper and brass, so it is scum of the worst kind, even toxic scum. We could call it "the mother of all scums".
Her wickedness, her blood, is openly exposed for all to see, for she is simply without shame. Did you know that the law in Leviticus states that when an animal is killed and bled that the blood is to be covered over? There are numerous reasons for this, one of which is to hide the blood so that the rest of the herd doesn't see/smell it and "go nuts".[7] For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
Here's the instruction:
But you see, the murderous scum bags in that bloody city don't even hide the blood, nor cover their shame. Don't forget that Christ's blood was shed on the rock of the skull, i.e. Golgotha. Those responsible for that murder of all murders are not the least bit ashamed.Leviticus 17:13
And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
Not only is the blood from that city visible to the whole world, and whether one has eyes to see it or not, one thing is for sure! It is visible and in plain sight to our Father and those who are guilty are going to pay. Read the words from the lips of Messiah Himself as He addresses those "scum bags", the kenites, in Jerusalem:Ezekiel 24:8
That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.
You can't hide sin from God.Matthew 23:35
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
You know the old song, "It's going to be a hot time in the old town tonight!"Ezekiel 24:9
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
When God supplies the kindling "fire" there "ain't nothin" in the pot that won't be burned, including the bones.[10] Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.
This reminds me of the modern self-cleaning oven. After everything is cooked and taken out the oven it is superheated to burn off all the debris built up along the walls. That's what God does to this pot. He heats it so hot the lecherous, poisonous scum breaks off the walls.[11] Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.
"Scum de dum dum!"Ezekiel 24:12
She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.
Well, God has about had enough of purging the scum. So, the king of Babylon is going to come and God is going to use him to pour out His fury and everyone will get what is coming to him or her. It is written. The decision has been made. It shall happen exactly as it is written. The decision will not be reversed.[13] In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
Remember we learned that in the last days everyone is on his/her own and will be judged according to their individual doings? Although the world will not escape the coming of the king of Babylon, an individual can repent and begin to study His Word and put on the Gospel Armor of Eph. 6 and stand unharmed in the "fire", as did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.Ezekiel 24:14
I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Here is some good advice from Jesus Christ:
Be a champion! Go for the Gold!Rev. 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Throughout
the history of the Old Testament and even into the New, our Father has
used extremely graphic and often dramatic examples to enable His servants
to understand and VISUALIZE what the conditions would be like and exactly
what we need to know to prepare our minds
for the spiritual battles
in these last days that will soon turn into
full scale spiritual warfare
when the king of Babylon (Satan) of the Book of Revelation arrives with his troops
(the fallen angels).
So for instance, He allowed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be tossed into a burning fiery furnace and emerge not only unharmed from the fiery darting flames but they didn't even have any smell of that "smoke" from the pit on their clothing (read gospel armour). By this graphic example we know that the spiritual "fire" which will be put to the "pot" that we read about will not harm us at all, but it will consume those "guards" of the king of Babylon.1 Cor. 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Then there was Daniel who was delivered up and thrown into the "den of lions", and he also came forth unharmed, for "God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths" (Daniel 6:22). This lets us know that we have that divine protection from being harmed by the "spiritual teeth" of those lions in Rev. 9:8. If they try to harm those with the seal of God in their foreheads, our Father will send His angel and shut their mouths.
And
on and on it goes, the examples are plentiful from the flood of Noah throughout
the written history of God's people. You see, the majority of prophecy
(and history is prophecy because history repeats itself) was
written concerning the last days and was intended for this final generation
of the fig tree, when one half of all the sons of God who ever dwelt in
the flesh would be alive (7 1/2 billion of us) to face the supernatural king
of Babylon, the false-christ, who is Satan himself, along with the same
one world "beast" system that he had in the "world that then was".
The following is not a translation or paraphrase of what God said, but kind of a "reading between the lines", i.e. an underlying understanding by Ezekiel, who had eaten the scroll and understood God's Word, concerning what God said to him.Ezekiel 24:15
Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,[16] Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
"Ezekiel, guess what my good and faithful servant? I'm going to take your lovely wife away from you and bring her home here with me. I'm doing this for a very important reason, to give a "sign" to my people. And, as part of that sign I don't want you to cry nor to mourn for her."When a loved one died, it was customary to shave one's head and rent one's clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. Remember what Job did when his family was killed? Job 1:20 "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped." It was also customary, as it is today, for folks to prepare meals and to bring food and goodies to the mourner.[17] Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
But God doesn't want Ezekiel to participate in any of those traditional mourning customs or services. On the contrary, He wants him to dress up, comb his hair and put his hat on his head (Come on! You know they didn't have ties back then.). He also doesn't want him to stick his lower lip out in the "poor me baby" fashion that solicits pity from others. (When you stick your lower lip out in that fashion, it covers your upper lip. Try it! Now stop that and get back to studying!)
Does all this seem a little strange so far? Don't worry, it isn't. There is a great lesson for us to SEE and understand here and we shall.
It happened just exactly as God said it would. Things always do.Ezekiel 24:18
So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
Have you noticed in all the seemingly unusual things that our Father has told Ezekiel to do so far, that NEVER ONCE did 'Zeke come back and question the order or give an argument. As a watchman, "strengthened" in the Word, he had the faith and the trust in the Lord to do exactly as he was commanded and to know there was a divine plan being executed here below. Seeing Ezekiel put on that shield of faith and trust in Him should give us "strength" as well. (Of course when you see Almighty God land in a highly polished spectrum bronze circular flying vehicle, that just came from outer space, your tendency to give argument is severely curtailed.)
OK, here is Ezekiel, the well known servant and prophet of God whom you would think would be mourning for the loss of his wife, who is not only not mourning, he's all dressed up and going about his business. Since this is highly unusual the people want to know, "What is the meaning of this?" Something's up![19] And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
This message from the LORD is going to be to the true House of Israel. (Pamphlets live links to->> #1064 & #1020) The LORD wants us all to KNOW that HE is going to profane HIS sanctuary.[20] Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Let's read it and then learn how He's going to do it.
We have learned over and over again that our Father is totally in charge and that He IS (not maybe) going to SEND the king of Babylon to His beloved city of Jerusalem, right?Ezekiel 24:21
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
In other words that "abomination who makes desolate", Satan himself, the son of perdition, is going to come to Jerusalem and sit in the sanctuary, the temple of God, claiming that he is God.
Remember Paul told us that this will happen BEFORE Jesus Christ returns:
The subject is when we gather together with Jesus at His second coming.2 Thes. 2:1
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Don't be misled by what your church teaches or what someone may mislead you into thinking what 1 Thes. 4:13-18 says.[2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
This is the way it is going to happen:
Satan, the son of perdition, will appear FIRST and there shall be a great falling away from the truth. Why?[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Here is what he will do:
Satan, as the false messiah, will sit in the temple of God claiming that he is Jesus Christ. THAT is the profaning of the Sanctuary! Worse yet, the whole world with the exception of God's elect will BELIEVE HIM. That is why there will be a great falling away. Christians will be worshipping Satan instead of the true messiah. They will be the first "woman taken in the field" in Mat. 24, because they did not wait until the true Bridegroom came. (Not "left behind" as some would have you believe)[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
How should the people look upon this abomination (Satan) standing where he ought not in the holy sanctuary of God? The same way Ezekiel did with his wife. Although it may be disheartening, it is God's plan. He ordained it!
Notice that they are not to mourn and weep that their beloved sanctuary has been taken from them, but they are to "pine away" for THEIR OWN iniquities and mourn one toward another.Ezekiel 24:22
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.[23] And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
You see, we have just been given a DRAMATIC real life example of exactly what Jesus Christ said to the women who were weeping and wailing for Him as He walked up the hill toward Golgotha, the rock where His blood would lay exposed and uncovered by the shameless scum of that bloody city.
Here is the scene:
"Don't weep for Me", He said. "Pine away" for YOUR OWN iniquities and mourn one toward another and for your deceived children.Luke 23:27
And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.[28] But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
What are those "days that are coming"? They are the days of the Profaning of the Sanctuary that we just read about in Ezekiel. Those will be blessed indeed who are not the first ones taken in the field and seduced by the king of Babylon and impregnated with his big lie that he is Jesus. The blessed ones will have remained virgins and will have waited for true Bridegroom. Yes, those "Left Behind!" You, Want to be, also![29] For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
The others? Well, they will be so ashamed when the real Bridegroom shows up and they realize they have been "had" by the traditions of men and are now standing naked and exposed as "whores", as Aholah's and Aholibah's, (remember chapter 23) that they would rather die than face Him!
Yes, Ezekiel lost his wife that today so that we might SEE and understand that God's plan has been laid out and that the king of Babylon IS coming and the sanctuary of our God will be profaned.Luke 23:30
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
You don't have to believe it now, but understand that Ezekiel is a sign unto this final generation and when the sanctuary is profaned and the abomination who makes desolate comes, then "ye shall know that the "I AM" is the Lord GOD".Ezekiel 24:24
Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Jesus Christ, the true desire of their hearts and the joy of their glory will be taken away (by the son of perdition posing as Jesus) and there shall be a great falling away when the sanctuary is profaned.Ezekiel 24:25
Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
In that day, i.e. when the sanctuary is profaned, the Holy Spirit will open the mouths of His watchmen, and without forethought they will speak that which is given unto them by that Spirit, and they shall truly be a "Sign".[26] That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?[27] In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
It is written concerning those "days that are coming" very soon:
So it is written, so it shall be done!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.
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