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: Saturday, August 28, 2021
Chapters: Ezekiel 5-8
Message: The Remnant
Hello My Friend,
The day has finally come, after two months of background checks, inspections, taxes, down payments, and fees paid, and a thousand signatures, my mother and I are finally moving into our new home. It was no easy feat, praise and thank God, that He is with us because every single obstacle that led up to our purchasing our house, the date we actually got it, and even the exact location of the property, has His hand upon it. When you think about the work, money, and time it takes to purchase a home, can you imagine just how hard it would be if we had to purchase our home in His Kingdom? Oh, and when you stop to think about Jesus, who actually did purchase our home for us in the Kingdom of God, and the price He paid for it, we really ought to be doing whatever we can to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. So many people are trying to work their way into His Kingdom, they will find out the hard way that their works did nothing to further them into His Kingdom.
[Matthew 20:10-16 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.]
[Remnant; Residue; that which is left after the separation, removal or destruction of a part; That which remains after a part is done, performed, told or passed; Remaining; yet left.] Although many will be given the opportunity, and quite often, to accept the purchase that Christ has made for them, many will reject Him. Therefore, only a residue, or those remaining believers, will get into the Kingdom of God. Remember, our “works” are as filthy rags compared to the work of Christ did when He hung on the cross. It does not matter if we committed one sin or one billion, the same wage is paid to all, death. And let me tell you, God is a little tired of all these “Christians” saying that they are one of the remnant when they do not even know who He is. Now, as we continue the reading of Ezekiel, God stresses His anger toward Israel for the abominable things they were doing in His name of all things. When God sent judgment upon Judah I am sure there were some that were Godly, but they too were carried away captive, actually saved from seeing how desolate and vile Jerusalem had become. To show Israel just how angry He is, God gives Ezekiel another strange command.
[Ezekiel 5:1-5,11 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. 3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.]
[for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.] Okay, Jerusalem, the very heart of God, the Temple that David had instructed Solomon to have built for God, was more corrupt than the world with their idol and idolatress living, all the while saying they were one of God’s people. Jerusalem was to be the light to lead the world to the only living God and their Creator, instead, as Jesus puts it, a den of thieves, [Luke 19:46], and for that reason, a judgment will come like we have never seen before, and He will start with the Church, [1 Peter 4:17-19 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.]
[Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city,] If you study this long enough, you will see that it has a similar sound to John’s revelation that Jesus will send His angels to destroy the earth, and everything will be destroyed into three parts. Yes, God’s judgment is not only on the people, it is upon the entire earth. No one ends up in hell because God wants them there, He does not want one soul to perish, but the fact is they do, and the majority of those who die and end up in hell are there because they trusted in their religion, and did not take the Bible seriously. Ignoring this fact does not change it, and every church will be judged for sending people to hell. Now, God tells Ezekiel to turn his face toward the mountains and prophecy against them.
[Ezekiel 6:2-5,8,10 Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. 10 And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.]
[Yet will I leave a remnant,] Yes, out of the multitudes of people God has brought into this world only a remnant will be saved, and that includes both Jews and Gentiles. There is only One Living God, the “Almighty”, “Jehovah”, “I Am”, “LORD of lords”, whichever name you prefer, He is only one true and living God. He is alive, and in the form of three persons, God the Father, Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He always has been, and always will be, [1 John 5:6-8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.]
Yes, God is angry, and right now, it is not the people that have no idea who He is, but at the very people who know Him. Why was God angry at the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys? Because they defiled them with all their abominations. And that includes the people who created and worshiped them. God continues to tell of the judgment of Israel.
[Ezekiel 7:5-8,11-13,26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. 6 An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. 7 The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. 11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them. 12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 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.]
[shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself] You know, as merciful and forgiving as God is, He is just as disgusted over the unsaved putting Him in the middle of their mess. They make up religions to justify their sin, change His Word to accommodate it, and somehow convince the unknown to follow them, and yet claim to be Christians. Well, God has had it with their denial of His Word, and leading so many dead souls to hell with their lies, and He will call each and every one of them out. As God continues, He literally takes Ezekiel on this journey to see the state of Jerusalem.
[Ezekiel 8:1,3-6 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. 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. 4 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.]
[and took me by a lock of mine head;] This image reminds me of the Charles Dickens Novel, A Christmas Carol, the three spirits take Ebeneezer Scrooge on this journey of his past, present, and future. Unlike the fiction novel in which Ebeneezer saw the error of his ways and changed his life, there are really quite a few people who will not. Oh, they start out believing in Christ, understand what their past was like and what led up to their wretched state, admit they are sinners, and actually receive Him gladly, that is until affliction comes. God goes on to show Ezekiel what the elders were doing.
[Ezekiel 8:7-12 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. 11 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.]
[hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark,] These are not the false religions, these are the very churches who have mixed the Gospel with these horrible works. These churches are not oblivious to the Word of God, they know it is true, yet each and every one of them have replaced it with their own “versions”. Not only that, they teach their unbiblical doctrine. What does that tell you? It tells me that they have something to hide, only they are not hiding anything from God, He knows exactly what they are doing, and they will pay dearly for leading so many people to hell, [Luke 13:26-30 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.]
Oh, how much it must grieve God to see all these things taking place still today. Have you seen this? It should grieve every faithful, saved, born again Christian at the sight of what these churches are doing to people who do not know any better. Now, I really try to shorten this chapter, but God has led it in my heart to show all the abominations that He was seeing, including how they turned their backs to the Temple.
[Ezekiel 8:14-18 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.]
[and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.] False Christians somehow think that their sin will not be found out by God, and that they are saved simply because they follow some false religion. Let me tell you, God knows all and sees all. Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, saved or unsaved, we will all stand before Jesus in judgment, and there will be many trying to call out to Him, but will be denied, because, He never knew them when they were alive in the flesh, [Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 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? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Ezekiel 5:11 Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.]
Today’s Prayer: God, In a world that is falling quickly through sin, it is clear that You are angry at the Church, and it is time for them to repent. Now more than ever, we need to be out there preaching the true Gospel, not sugarcoating sin or denying the fact that they are the ones leading so many people astray with their false doctrine. We who are saved and living in obedience to Your commands need Your protection more than ever, and to be out there preaching the Gospel. Lord, put Your hedge of protection around us, keep us safe from all the destruction that is taking place, give us Your courage to be a witness to Your saving grace, and give us the strength to stand up to Your truths, and not be afraid to speak them. We are Your Remnant, we are Your true Church, we are Your voice, let us be the example we need to be to bring others into it before Your Son returns. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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