...AND NOW, SON OF MAN Warnings and Assurances of Ezekiel copyright Doug Blair, Waterloo, ON 2015
Wheel A Rollin' Three blocks from our house the church sign read: "What is the Secret of Being Content?" Don't ask me why but the first thing that popped into my head was an image of a gyroscope. You remember the little child's metal spinning top? It had a symmetrical disk mounted half-way up a spinning rod which was attached by pivots to a metal ring. The ring had affixed to it a head post and foot post. Pull a wind-up string and the unit would spin and maintain a straight-up position. My Dad explained that there was a balance of centripetal and centrifugal forces causing the toy to stand. You could put it on a table, on a tight string, on a drinking glass rim. But when the speed of spinning diminished the unit would start to wobble and eventually fall over. The prophet Ezekiel described a phenomenon which came to him in a vision. Within four wheels there were strange living creatures each having four faces one on each of four sides. Each of these wheels appeared to be in another wheel, much like the gyroscope: Ezekiel 1: 19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. The four faces of each creature were lion, ox, man and eagle. These have been accepted as symbols of the four Gospels: Jesus the King (lion); Jesus the Servant (ox); Jesus the Son of Man (man); Jesus the Son of God (eagle). Then my thoughts went to Paul's admonition repeated in the letter to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." This same Paul, imprisoned for his testimony of Christ, gave an
astounding affirmation in chapter four: 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. So keep on spinning in the mystery of real life, in the Gospel which is the glory of God and which will never topple. That the Creator of all marvels of the universe, absolutely holy, has made a way to have perpetual fellowship with minuscule men and women because of the valiant service and sacrifice of Jesus, His beloved Son, the king-servant, man-God. And the sound one hears in the spinning goes something like this: "God is able. God loves me. He gave His Son for me. The blood of Calvary washes away all sin. Jesus understands my journey. He undertakes for my blessing. We will be together. I will not be desolate or cast down. Hallelujah!"
The Noise of the Wings
I have just about had it, I tellya! I go to their services and I watch plastic faces fall into line. I see them sit under pablum from the pulpit for far too long. I see the clock govern any sovereign move of God. I see pillar personalities who covetously guard their territory of service. Stubborn people doing what they have always done. Proving once again Newton's Law of Inertia. Xenophobes who doubt whether a stranger to their gatherings might have anything of anointing or brokenness to contribute. Full-fledged families dwindle. Old seasoned heads of Pentecost are shaking without any idea of alternatives. Talk of revival is just noise.
New houses, new jobs, new connections, new exotic destinations get first billing. Summer hiatus in faith's swordplay apparently a sad and cowardly reality. But listen to this voice... 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; 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. 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. 8 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. It is the noise of the wings that I cannot shake. Most penetrating at the time of appearance of the four glorious creatures. When the Glory of God hushed my mouth, buckled my knees, as it did to faithful friends then with me. I cannot shake it, or settle for sweet stuff meeting with general approval. I must speak of it; yearn for it. God answers prayer.
Worthlessness The Church has to get an idea of her own worthlessness. Help in this study will come from a full reading of Ezekiel 16. She was found conceived in sin and lying in her own bloods. She was fully cleaned up and adorned magnificantly by her Lover. She became quite impressed with herself and began to dally with the idols and strange passions of her godless neighbours. She courted their affections with payments from her inheritance. She was pitifully backslidden, and a spiritual harlot, although she accepted no hire from her sordid
liaisons. Hear the Lord's comment in verse 14 and 15: 14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD. 15But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. But toward the end of the chapter it becomes apparent that the Lover intends to honour His covenant still. Thanksgiving and humble rededication are our only jobs in all of this. But to say the Church is worthless? Look to Calvary and measure the cost, if you can.
Seemingly Naive Jesus said an unsettling thing in the 16th chapter of Luke. He was telling the story of the dishonest steward whose chicanery had been discovered. Knowing that he was about to be dismissed, he went around to his master's customers and cut favourable deals, thereby ensuring their favour and support for himself for the future. Jesus concluded: 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. Said another way, the time taken to come to understand God is time not dedicated to engineering, stocks and bonds, manufacture, disease research or empire building. We as children of light and as members of the True Vine have been given other priorities and assignments. (That is not to say we should not fulfil some worthy task or vocation. But fruitfulness comes first.) Now consider the image presented in the 15th chapter of Ezekiel. Israel is compared to a vine (see also Isaiah 5 and Hosea 10), and as such, it had better be about the business of fruit-bearing: 2Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? 4Behold, 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?
5Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? 6Therefore 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. The fruits of righteousness are our major contribution to community. Deeds of mercy and comfort; attitudes of equity; words of hope. We are the conscience. We are the foil. Causing others to stop, check their paths, look upward. Light...fruit...salt. Matthew 5: 13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Not so naive after all.
Third and Fourth Generation, Bah Deuteronomy 5: 9Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, (graven images) nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. One could also look at Exodus 20:5,6 and Exodus 34:6,7 and Numbers 14:18. Now let us visit the ladies' fellowship luncheon at Glory Charismatic Tabernacle and tune in on a conversation: "I tell you Gladys, we've just got to pray for Marj. Her emotional state of late has been really sad. Morose. Prone to unexpected bouts of crying. Critical. Down on her kids for their lack of church enthusiasm. I think she needs deliverance. She told me once that her grandparents were big on the occult...you know, horoscopes, tea leaves, Ouija Boards. Might she have a generational curse? You remember that teaching on the "the iniquity of the fathers"..."
This kind of warped understanding is in many full Gospel communities. People are looking behind bushes for demons, studying old Grandad for his shortcomings, memorizing formulaic prayers and mantras to release the curse. Consider how the scripture in bold print above could be taken out of context to manufacture an industry of deliverance, false fears and unscriptural hopes. The hope, my friends, is in "repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). Such repentance is a matter of INDIVIDUAL responsibility coupled with the convicting, softening, preparing influence of the Holy Spirit. The hope is also in simply praying for one another that we might be healed. Read from Ezekiel 18: 14Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, 15That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife, 16Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, 17That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. 18As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. 19Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. 20The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
The Three Will Not Avert the Four
Divination Insolence
False hopes And folly These all the fashion My City gone astray If they had Countered The puff of Pillow prophets Could have averted The dooms I speak today. Famine and pestilence Rabid beasts And swords’ blood These swiftly coming To men who Thought me blind. Peace and permissiveness Their fruit Of vain imaginings Damning detritus Soon scattered To the wind. Had I heard Noah In prayer for All their failings Daniel or Job Approach my bar To plead They would have scarcely Come safely From the cauldron Bearing none other For whom
They intercede. Yet still a remnant I scatter to wild places They know I do see And hear The feasts of fools They tell a world Jehovah judges rightly. They seek a place Where only Their God rules. (Ezekiel 14)
Inkhorn (Ezekiel 9) It’s a hard challenge Dressed in fresh linen Given the quill of an inkhorn to write Notes of forgiveness Mark contrite foreheads Those who will mourn For God’s glory, and fight. Words have been given Fresh from His altar Holding the fear of God high as a sign Many so blunted And feted in excess Missing that crucial mark “Child thou art Mine.” Others will follow The inkhorn with vengeance Slaughter of deadened hearts turned from the Lord Long lost the life Of fresh wonder in childhood Nothing left now but the Shame and the sword. Writer, you shiver When seized with the vision
Perverts who feast on the swine and the mouse (Isaiah 66:17) Instrument dreadful Delivering the faithful Charging the fools Who will sport in God’s House. Matthew 16: 19 Note: This is why we weep! We know that our linen has stains. But we have visited near His Altar; we have seen of the Glory (beggars that we are). The inkhorn and quill appear in our hands. Who put that there?. The terrible sense of burden comes when we realize that so very few have “eyes to see”, or even care. They are all about appearances. Appearances will be damned! And then we weep and it is about holy awe and thanksgiving and compassion, things that are not ours, but our Master’s; and we are in Him.
Daubers Beware!
You’re hearing your spirits No inkling of mine Your comfortable pillows Your surfeit of wine
You utter a burden But it is a fraud Your people are careless And far from their God. The peace that you utter Is no peace at all. You flee from sound doctrine You’re ready to fall The walls that you’re trusting As Zion’s defense Are crumbling and white-washed With putrid pretense. And folk rush to hear you The touted “now” word But you are clear bankrupt Your message absurd. And I will soon visit And pull down your wall And leave you defenseless With no strength at all. The evil then follows And rolls ‘cross your land And you’ll miss my favour Once closely at hand. Oh had you just waited My counsel to hear You would have stood valiant With nothing to fear. Ezekiel 13
Mission to the Obstinate
30 Also,
thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. 31 And
they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 32 And,
lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. (Ezekiel 33) This chapter speaks of the very heavy burden of the watchman. There are ministries out there where diligent disciples of Christ preach, and suspect that the audience is like an infertile valley, throwing back the message in echo, and producing nothing. This too is a God-ordained ministry, although it has the appearance of failure. Let it never be said that God did not give them a chance to hear before the Judgment. We must not come too quickly to this conclusion. Hard soils can be broken up by extraordinary rains. The watchman can only deliver the messages he has been given. To strain to put out images or formats that are not his own, and not sincerely from his heart, will only lead to more disappointment. These comments run counter to today’s seminary and denominational training. Full of strategies and success formulae. It’s about the numbers and outreach and homiletics. Typically North American. But the dedicated Intercessor who travails for souls on his/her face in obscurity knows of what I speak. The results are mainly underground, awaiting unveiling at a time not yet determined. And all will be to the glory of God, and His consequent “well done”.
Twenty-seven: 27
27 Thy
riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin. The expatriate prophet Ezekiel goes around the compass identifying the nations that have suspected Israel and applauded at her stumblings. He foretells their woeful fates. Perhaps the most bracing prophecy is against Tyre (Lebanon and Syria). A great merchant, traveling, shipping interest is about to fall like none other, never to rise again. I have this thing about major Bible themes cropping up in the strange coincidence of chapter and verse of the same number. Here it is Ezekiel 27: 27. It is as if the Holy Spirit is issuing a “verily, verily, I say unto you”. Consider also the following: John3: 3___John17: 17___Romans 8: 8___Romans 12: 12___Hebrews 8: 8___Hebrews 10: 10___Jeremiah 31: 31___Daniel 9: 9___Zechariah 9: 9___ Matthew 5: 5___Matthew 7: 7. I think that you get the picture. There are many more. It has been said by some Bible teachers that the 28th chapter speaks further to Tyre’s fall but also likens it to the fall of Lucifer the anointed cherub. The suggestion is “You were proud. You were desensitized by your comforts, material success and purchased beauty. Self-assured in a most ugly way. I will bring you down. Especially as you think ill of my precious Israel and Jerusalem (not pretty all the time, but still my chosen and the object of my covenant}” World leaders would be wise to heed this message as they address with tedium the issue of Middle Eastern peace, yet another time. Israel, settlement areas, Jerusalem, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Iraq. Here we go again. Around the compass. God is watching!
Known by Him Known by Him and claimed by Him. That is the path to victory, to overcoming. Not healed by Him; prospered by Him; promoted by Him; given acclaim by Him. Simply known...and we know Him. The original word suggests an intimacy, as in marriage. The chapter on the Good Shepherd (John 10) suggests that the sheep know His voice and will follow Him and none other. Have the under-shepherds caught this intense affinity? They are caregivers in every sense of the word and not just teachers or cheerleaders. They must have time to attend upon and not just to preach to their charges. Feel this intensity of care in Ezekiel chapter 34: 13And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. 16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. I found my attention drawn recently to the Passover Psalms (the Grand Hallel, Psalms 113-118). At a late point in the reading one encounters the verse " 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? " And that is all our confidence.
The Best Gift
At Easter we focus on the Cross quite obviously. That accomplished propitiation for sin. That demonstrated the measure of the compassion and perfect obedience of our Saviour. But that was in order to clear the way for the best gift. I can hear Jesus saying that if natural fathers want to give good gifts to their children, how much more would the Heavenly Father wish to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask. The prophet Ezekiel (c. 36) said that the Lord would take away the stony heart and give a heart of flesh and a new Spirit. The Psalmist said in the 51st "create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me". Create it. Jesus said in the Upper Room that the Spirit would lead His followers into all truth, would glorify Him and would remind them of all things that He had said and done. Now this is not a Pentecostal puff putting overmuch emphasis on the operation of the Spirit. This is Gospel, and He is the best gift until Glory, both for edification of the believer and operation of the corporate Body of Christ.
Re-Creation (Ezekiel 37)
The bones are off the tendons All strewn upon the field And Israel lies in shambles Their unbelief, this yield But I have heard the whisper Above these graves of men
'Oh Son of Man please tell me Can these bones live again? Can these bones clutch the sinew And flesh as once before And re-create my warriors To fight a different war? Can they again stand hardy Can breath infuse the cause Can they again be holy And faithful to my laws?' This Son of Man stands baffled But you God, have no peer And yours the precious Spirit To draw each warrior near So let the breeze indwell them With new life from the dead And let this Israel battle By Gospel love instead.
What is the Battle of Gog-Magog?
Ezekiel describes an unprecedented battle displaying the intervention of God for the miraculous rescue of Israel from a multi-national coalition from the north. The 38th and 39th chapters speak of a great shaking felt by all of creation and resulting in the destruction of five-sixths of the assaulting group led by Gog-Magog. The 37th chapter had already described the revivifying of the "valley of dry bones", Israel in its declension and dispersion. The prophet witnesses in a vision the return of the people, the placing of flesh upon bone and the infilling of restorative breath (the Spirit of God) for the creation of an army. I had always looked at the battle of the next two chapters as the conclusive battle of Armageddon
described in Revelation 16-19, the one so overwhelming that there would never again be its equal. But an interesting feature arrests the attention in Ezekiel 38. The enemies have noted a time of relative security, peace and prosperity in Israel and they become encouraged to bring the pre-emptive strike in almost total surprise. Certainly this will NOT be the scenario for Israel at the time described in the Revelation. Consider these verses: 11And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 13Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? 14Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Ezekiel 46: Going Out Differently
If ye go in by the North Ye shall go out by the South Not a word but thankful praise Shall be issued from thy mouth.
And the princes there shall serve They no longer shall oppress. And the priests all decked in linens Burn the lambs, their God to bless. All is in remembrance now For my Son ONCE paid the cost That atonement might be gained For the wayward and the lost. And one Prince of great renown Shall attain the Eastern Gate In the fullness of My time; Neither Premature nor late. And through Him All gets my smile Not a furled brow, nor a frown Friends, go forth from this great Temple Tell the nations, tell the town!
The River
It’s a river we search for Yes a stream lined with trees For the healing of nations In the Spirit’s fresh breeze. And the saints there are gathered All the broken made whole And the glorious creatures And apostles twelve-fold.
Not a suffering remembered Not a sigh damps the glow Of the Lamb’s throne eternal Only dreamed of below. And His servants are busy Want it no other way Casting crowns all before Him Who alone lights the Day. And this Day springs eternal Bitter nights all forgot Revelation a-plenty For what Mercy has wrought.