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: Sunday, September 10, 2023
Chapters: EZEKIEL 43-45
Study: The Temple of God
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Almighty living God, He may not be visible, but He is always present in the soul of those whom have received Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Now, some people live their lives as they please backed up with the justification that their salvation protects them from their sin. Well, while we can never lose our salvation, that does not mean that there are not consequences to the flesh of those who continuously live in sin. There are always consequences to sin, especially when you have the Holy Spirit living in side of you, [1 Corinthians 3:16-19 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.]
Those who have accepted the Lord, Jesus Christ as their Saviour ought to know how blessed they are, and start taking their salvation more seriously. As we continue in the reading of Ezekiel, after God had given Ezekiel the vision of this massive temple of God, he shows him another, vision of the glory of God returning to the temple.
[Ezekiel 43:1-5 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: 2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. 5 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.]
[and the earth shined with his glory.] Remember when Ezekiel watched the Glory of God slowly descend from the temple? When He returns, it will not be subtle, the whole world is going to see this incredible light ascend to the temple. Incidentally, the Glory of God is the Holy Spirit and currently He lives within every saved soul. God, sent Him here in Christ’s place while He went back up to heaven to prepare a new place for His saints to dwell, [John 14:26-27 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.]
[and I fell upon my face.] I think I would fall flat on my face too if I had this bright light coming toward me, I can only imagine what I will be like when I see Jesus walking toward me. Think about it though, Jesus, is the first one to expose us as the sinner that we are, then when we accept Him the Holy Spirit moves in exposes the sin before we even make one move. God, goes on to tell Ezekiel to tell Israel what he had saw, but only if they admitted their sin in defiling the temple and repented.
[Ezekiel 43:7,10-12 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. 10 Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. 12 This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.]
[And if they be ashamed of all that they have done,] When we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, He does more that just show us our sin, He teaches us to get through this life until our Father brings us home, [Romans 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.]
Now, God, goes on to show him the altar that the reinstated sacrifices will take place, then tells us what they were for and why they were burning them.
[Ezekiel 43:18-20,25-27 And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. 19 And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering. 20 And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. 25 Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. 26 Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 27 And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.]
[and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.] Our accepting Christ through our faith alone in Him is what purges us from the sin that defiled us before we are saved. That does not mean that we do not defile ourselves with sin after we are saved. This is where confession and repentance come in, Jesus, Himself said after He had washed the disciples feet said that it is necessary to wash our feet and I am pretty sure that He meant daily,
[John 13:8-10,14-17 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.]
There were three reasons for Jesus washing their feet, first; He was showing them that once they are saved there is no need to keep asking for salvation, but it is important to cleanse yourself from the filth of sin that you are exposed to. Second; it was to show them that not everyone who says they are saved are, of course, He was referring to Judas Iscariot at the time, but the same applies today. And third; He gave us an example on how we are to treat each other as Christians, [Luke 13:25-27 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 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.]
Our soul is saved by grace through our faith in Christ alone, and unless we have not believed in vain, nothing will change that, but we do need a cleansing once and a while and trust me, with the Holy Spirit living inside of you, He will let you know. When we get to see this new temple, what we will witness here is something extremely incredible, all three persons of the Godhead present at one time here on earth, God, the Father, presented as the KING, Jesus, presented as the Prince, and the Holy Spirit presented as the Glory of the LORD.
[Ezekiel 44:1-5 Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. 2 Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. 3 It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. 4 Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face. 5 And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.]
[the God of Israel, hath entered in by it,] Why was the gate to be shut when God, the Father was in the temple? The only person able to stand before God and live is Jesus because He never sinned. However, Jesus, is our intercessor to God, when we come to God with our prayers, Jesus, is the one who collects them and takes them to our Father. This is why we end each prayer with, “In the name of Jesus, Amen.”, [Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.]
We can come to God through our faith in Christ, then He will let us in that gate, and we will be able to eat bread with Him. In fact, He wants to let everyone in, and is knocking on the door of every heart as we speak, but until they let Him in all He sees them as is a stranger. God, goes on to address that both Jew and Gentile strangers that were not only allowed in the temple, they were working in it as well.
[Ezekiel 44:9-11,15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. 10 And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. 15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:]
[they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers] Say what? Those who betrayed Him will bear their iniquities and still be able to serve Him? This is proof that while a saved sinner who fell into sin can lose their testimony they do not lose their salvation. And once they repent, while they may not be reinstated into positions they once held, they will still be able to serve God in some capacity, [1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.]
Let me tell you, it is a good thing that salvation has never been about works because if one gets saved and that is all they ever do, their faith will still save them when they do stand before Christ. However, there is more to Christ than just a free ticket out of hell, with all that is going on in the world, we do ourselves a disservice should we remain living in sin as we would lose all communion with God until we repent. The priests or leaders of His Church are to set the example of Christ. God, goes on to describe how He expects the faithful priests to behave themselves in and out of their service.
[Ezekiel 44:19-23 And when they go forth into the utter court, even into the utter court to the people, they shall put off their garments wherein they ministered, and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments; and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads. 21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court. 22 Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before. 23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.]
[cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.] Today, the difference between the clean and unclean may not be in the food they eat, clothes they wear, or length of their hair (or beards), but it is in they way they present themselves. God’s acceptable rules for those who serve as pastors and deacons are really no different than it was for the priests, [Titus 1:7-9 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.]
Do you see why it is important for every saved, born again Christian to be living in a way that is acceptable to God? It has nothing to do with our own salvation and everything to do with being the examples that we need to be in order to lead lost souls to Christ. The world deals with enough evil, how do you think they would react if the Church is more corrupt than their world? Sometimes I am ashamed of the way that my fellow Christian act, but it is not me that they are going to deal with, it is Jesus. Now, during the kingdom age, God, will also restore Israel their inheritance, but it is going to be different. God, will set portions of land aside for divine service, then for the Levites and a special portion for the prince.
[Ezekiel 45:1,4,6-7 Moreover, when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer an oblation unto the LORD, an holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand reeds, and the breadth shall be ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. 4 The holy portion of the land shall be for the priests the ministers of the sanctuary, which shall come near to minister unto the LORD: and it shall be a place for their houses, and an holy place for the sanctuary. 6 And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand broad, and five and twenty thousand long, over against the oblation of the holy portion: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. 7 And a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side of the oblation of the holy portion, and of the possession of the city, before the oblation of the holy portion, and before the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward: and the length shall be over against one of the portions, from the west border unto the east border.]
[a portion shall be for the prince on the one side and on the other side] Notice that the prince will be right in the center of them all. Jesus, needs to be at the center of all that we do, [1 Corinthians 10:31-33 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: 33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.]
During this time sin offerings will also be offered according to God’s appointment, while sin will be suppressed, the tendency to sin will not be removed until the new heaven and earth are established. And it will actually be the Prince who prepares the sacrifices.
[Ezekiel 45:16-17,21-22 All the people of the land shall give this oblation for the prince in Israel. 17 And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. 21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.]
[ye shall have the passover,] Now, we all know that Jesus is the Passover lamb that replaced the need for a yearly sacrifice, and again, this is just ceremonial to remind them that death passed them up through His blood. This is similar to our observing Communion (the Lord’s Supper), we do this in remembrance that He is the Passover, [1 Corinthians 11:26-29 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.]
Today’s Prayer: God, We look to Your Son alone for our salvation, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved other than Your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power to live by faith and in the power of Christ, not by our circumstances. With the aid of Your Holy Spirit dwelling in and guiding us, we will be able to overcome every situation that comes our way and be the witness that not only gets to sit at your table, but lead others as well. I ask these thing in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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