King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, August 30, 2021
Chapters: Ezekiel 13-15
Message: The Foundation
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, this passage came to mind, [Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.]
Jesus reminded me this morning that He is my foundation, and while many things I attempt will crumble and fall, it was because they were never meant to be. Our temporary falls are only used for one purpose, drawing us nearer to Christ. The things that really matter and are true will put us through some enormous tests, but when Christ leads us through them, just like when He was tempted by the devil, the Word of God in us will always pick us back up, [John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.]
And yes, the longer you walk with Christ and each time you fall, the Word of God does dwell in you more and more. In fact, this reminds me of the Christian King James Bible pledge, [I pledge allegiance to the King James Bible, God’s Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I will hide its Word in my heart that I might not sin against thee.]
I just spent over an hour talking to God, I promised myself that I would not touch my phone or the computer until I was done talking to Him, and we had a very good and a long talk just God and me. We talked about my job, and the fact that I need to stay put where I am as I just endured the greatest tests I have taken to keep a job, which by the way, God was with me every step of the way! I have to say that this pandemic has the best thing that could happen to me spiritually as it has deepened my relationship with Jesus. This truly has been a roller coaster ride for sure, but one thing is for sure, there are so many people leaving Jesus for the world or even worse, false religion because they do not have that relationship that I have with my Saviour. And as we discussed recently, God has had it with false religion, which He calls false prophets still today. Now, as we continue reading through Ezekiel, God addresses these foolish prophets, who have no foundation to stand upon, but their own, and are leading people who actually want God in their lives astray.
[Ezekiel 13:3,6–9 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. 9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.]
[and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.] God will not be mocked! He will go after all the false prophets, and all those who started these false religions are burning in hell right now or about to be unless they repent. God goes on to describe the false prophets doctrine as walls built with untempered mortar.
[Ezekiel 13:11-15 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;]
[Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter,] [Untempered; Not tempered; not duly mixed for use; not durable or strong.] There is only one foundation that we are able to stand upon that should the walls come tumbling down, we stand strong, and that is Jesus Christ, [1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.]
I guess God is having me address the Scripture in this entire chapter, and I wonder why it takes me three hours to write these. Well, at least, I know with me is that He wants me to tell His Word exactly as He explains it and if I in any way distort that, I will be held accountable as well. Yes, there are women false prophets as well, and God also addresses them too, [Ezekiel 13:17-19 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, 18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? 19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?]
[to slay the souls that should not die,] This is why salvation can only be given to us by the grace of God through our faith in Christ, we would mess it up if it was left to our devices. It does not matter how many command there are, and even of we could obey every one of the six hundred and thirteen that were given to the Jews, way too many people make up their own rules about salvation, and all they are doing is sending people to hell with them, [Matthew 23:3-4,13 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.]
Man, woman, child, all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save them from eternal death and hell are saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. We do not follow the commands based on the Law of Moses because it is required for our salvation, we do so because of our faith. If we honestly and truly want God in our lives then we will not diminish, water down, or pick and choose what parts of it we want to believe, we must believe all of it, we must live by all of it. We cannot have God and the world, period, or there will be consequences. Those who choose to ignore God’s Word, yet want Him in their lives and continue to live in sin have idols in their heart, and if they want the blessings of God, they need to remove them. God continues to address this, pointing out further that we will all be accountable, Jew or stranger (Gentile)
[Ezekiel 14:3,6-7,9-10 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 6 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. 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 9 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. 10 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;]
[as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;] This is not just addressed to the Jews, but Gentiles as well, all who make the choice to accept God in their lives and want Him in it must come to Him through His Son, or there is no escape from judgment. And in case you were wondering what happened to those who were here before Christ, God answers that in the next passage.
[Ezekiel 14:13-16 Son of man, when the land sinneth 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: 14 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. 15 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: 16 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.]
[they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters;] This means that we are responsible for our own soul, we must all come to Christ on our own. We can pray that God opens their hearts, and saves them, but we cannot save them ourselves, they must come to Christ in their own faith, [John 20:27-31 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.]
Was Noah, Daniel, and Job sinless? No. We all come short of the glory of God, [Romans 3:23]. What they all had in common was that they followed God with all their heart, by faith, and that was their righteous. Job did not have a Bible, yet He feared God. Noah did not have a Bible either, yet He heard God speak and obeyed Him. Their faith was counted for their righteousness. God wants nothing to do with people that not only tell the lies, but believe them too, they have brought people to confusion, and sent multitudes to hell with them because of their lies. It is the devil that leads people away from the truth as they feed upon the lusts of their flesh, he is the true stumblingblock, and we must realize that any alteration from the Word of God creates a stumblingblock for those who need the truth.
[Ezekiel 15:2-4,6-7 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? 4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.]
[which I have given to the fire for fuel,] Jesus Himself said, [Matthew 7:18-20 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.] No one will escape the fire, but those who are one with Christ. Tempered together in this mess of a body that we call flesh, lies within something that every saved, born again Christian has, and that is Christ Himself. [1 Corinthians 12:23-25 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Ezekiel 14:11 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.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, There is no doubt that there are many false prophets out there, and You warned us that even we can be deceived by them. Lord, let us not get caught up with anyone who teaches a doctrine other than Yours. Lead us and guide us, give us the wisdom we need to know Your truths and how to handle those that try to deceive us. Give us Your power to be a witness, Your strength to stand up to the truth, and let us be bold and willing vessels to teach it to those who so desperately need it. I ask this in Your name, Jesus, amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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