Ezekiel and the Desecration of the Temple, Part 2

That's one thing you know you're in the Church of God when people are up talking and they want to talk. And I think that's very good. We were joking last week when you were trying to get people to sit down. It's like, you should say, please take your hymnals, we're going to get ready to start. It's like that at the feast a lot. What I'd like to do is I want to skip ahead to chapter 8 in Ezekiel. And I might do a little less jumping around, and I want to go through this.

Because this is chapters 8 through 11 describe one very powerful vision and prophecy that God gave to Ezekiel.

So let's... And one thing I will mention earlier, I mentioned that God gave him a command where he had to do sort of like a plain war. He had to get a block or a tile, like a brick, and draw a diagram of the city. And then lay siege, sort of build siege. And I was like, if they had plastic green soldiers, that's what he would have had. And then God told him, lay on one side for 390 days, then lay on the other side for 40 days.

Representing the siege of Israel. And there's a lot of different guessing about what those 300 days mean. One of the things I want to point out is when this vision starts, it's, we believe, during the 40 days that he was laying on his side for the siege of Judah. Or maybe at the transition, 390 days ended, now it's time to stop laying on your left side and lay on your right side. Right? I'm losing track of which side, but... So, there's a transition here, and if it's during the 40 days for Judah, it makes sense he's going to focus on the sins of Judah.

So that's why I wanted to mention this going in, because it came to pass in the sixth year of the sixth month on the fifth day, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah, which is interesting, because people say, did he have to lay on his side continually for 430 days? Well, apparently not. Maybe it was what we would call during business hours. Get up in the morning with your lunch pail, go lay on your side, but when the day is done, you can go home, because here he's in his house with the elders.

And then the hand of the eternal fell upon me. So it's as powerful. God's taking charge, so to speak. And the elders are there, apparently, to hear God's word. Ezekiel, remember, was a priest, and then God had started using him as a prophet. And I looked, and there was the appearance, like the appearance of fire. There was a likeness, like the appearance of fire, the appearance of his waist downward fire, and from his waist upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by the lock of the hair.

I like to pull a little bit of his hair, and obviously this is a vision, because then he lifted me up between earth and heaven, brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem. So this is a vision. We don't believe Ezekiel was literally transported, but he's seeing this vision as though he were. And who was this that carried him off? Some people speculate that it was an angel, but more likely, I think once again, it's the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. This is the Word, the one who would later become Jesus Christ, who's dealing with him directly. And he lifted me up, brought me to the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

So basically, coming to Jerusalem, to the temple, and there's this image of jealousy, or provokes jealousy. Now, what could that be? We wonder. Now, you could make a case that it could be any idol. And Ezekiel, not Ezekiel, Exodus 40, verses 34-38, God addresses that. He's a jealous God, and he doesn't want any other gods. But there's some other thoughts. And actually, if you look ahead to verse 14, he mentions there were women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was, we'll discuss it a bit more later, but this false god, who is this supposedly...

well, could it... Well, maybe I'll move ahead so I don't get the names wrong. The son of... You know, the husband and son of Ishtar, in Greece it was called Adonis. But to be honest, we believe it goes back to Semiramis and Nimrod. And Tammuz was his son. And what happened is they took the first letter of his name, the T, for Tammuz, and made it a symbol. And we often think this image that provokes to jealousy was the letter T, which we see in a lot of places of worship that we think would promote God to jealousy.

This might well have been the image, symbol of a cross, right there that they brought out in the front of the temple. And God wasn't pleased with that. And behold, here going back to 8 verse 4, the glory of God, the God of Israel, was there like the vision that I saw on the plane. So all that stuff we spent time on a little bit ago, he's seeing that again. And he said to me, Son of man, lift your eyes now towards the north.

So I lifted my eyes towards the north. And there, north of the gate was this image of jealousy in the entrance. So again, you know, this image that we find so offensive. Furthermore, he said, Son of man, do you see what they're doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel commits here to make me go far away from my sanctuary?

Now turn again and you'll see greater abominations. But I want to stop here and mention God saying, they're doing these abominations that's going to make me go away from my sanctuary. He's going to leave the temple. I think that's a lot of the point of this whole prophecy. We're going to see references to the glory of God. And the glory of God was in the temple. Matter of fact, I was going to turn to this later, but I think it might be worth turning to it now. It's in... Now I can't find it. This is what's bad when you have your notes and you scribble all over them.

Well, it's in 1 Chronicles. I'm going to go just find it. Or actually, I think it's actually 2 Chronicles. I'm looking for when the glory of God fills the temple. So if anybody has that in mind and wants to shout it out. There we go. It's a...

No, that's not it.

No, I'm looking at when the temple is first dedicated by Solomon. Verse 7 of which chapter? Oh, is it all the way to chapter 7? I was going the wrong direction. 2 Chronicles, chapter 7. You've got it in chapter... Yeah. There we go. Yeah. Okay, this is when the temple is built. Yeah, chapter 5 verse 13. It came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one to make a sound to be heard, praising and thanking the eternal when they lifted up their voice, the trumpets, the cymbals, instruments of music. At the end of this verse it says, The house of the eternal was filled with a cloud, so that the priest couldn't continue ministering because of the cloud for the glory of the eternal filled the house of God. Here, basically, and what happened at the same time is God sent fire from heaven to ignite the offering, paralleling what God did when Moses set up the tabernacle in the wilderness. And the same exact thing happened. He lit the altar in the presence of God, what's called the Shekinah glory. God's presence came in, and the glory was so great that the priest couldn't even... they had to run out. It was, you know, it's sort of like... think of Chernobyl and radiation that you got to get out or it'll kill you, only this isn't radiation, it's God's glory and power. And that had been present in the temple to some degree or another ever since the temple was built. But now we're going to see, God says, these abominations are going to make me go away from my temple. So let's come back to Ezekiel chapter 8. So he's going to show them the abominations to make... you know, God can be very methodical, say, okay, this is what's going to happen, let me show you. Brought me to the door of the court, and I looked, there's a hole in the wall. So he said, dig into the wall. I dug in and I found a door. He said, go in and see the wicked abominations that they're doing. I went and I saw every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed on the walls. So apparently drawings or paintings of unclean animals in the temple, which isn't something God would want. And remember, a lot of religions worship animals and different creatures. And in verse 11, it says, there stood there before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaz and Aya, the son of Shaphan. Each had a sensor in his hand and a thick cloud of the incense went up. Shaphan had been King Josiah, Secretary of State. And remember, Josiah was the last good king who brought all these reforms. Now Shaphan's son, Jeaz and Aya, is doing the opposite. Instead of reform and cleansing the temple, he's leading in this false worship. In verse 12, son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark? Every man in the room of his idols? But they say, oh, the Lord doesn't see us. Or the Eternal has forsaken the land. So they're hiding these things in the dark and they think God doesn't know. And he said, turn again and you'll see greater abominations that they're doing.

So he brought me to the door of the north gate of the Eternal's house, and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. Again, Tammuz at that time was considered the husband son of Ishtar. Basically her son that she married, which is not a good thing. And the myth about him is that supposedly each year during the heat of summer, he would die and go to the underworld for six months and then reborn in the depths of winter, which coincides with the winter solstice and Christmas celebration. These are tied together. And we believe the origin of this goes back to Semiramis, who was the wife of Nimrod. And it's not like we've got a detailed firsthand account, but the legends and what historical records we have say Nimrod was this great hunter before the Lord, who's mentioned briefly in Genesis. But he founded this false religious system, and his queen Semiramis, they exercised great power. The legends say that Shem, the son of Noah, killed Nimrod to stop this. Semiramis didn't want to lose her power, so when she had a baby, she claimed it was Nimrod being reborn. And then later she married him. So it was this terrible incestuous relationship, but setting up a counterfeit. And Satan could use that for the mother-son. And so you see all these, you know, what they call Madonna scenes portrayed in statuary that, you know, common in the Catholic Church. The mother with the baby, and they say, oh, it's Mary and Jesus. But that imagery went back thousands of years before Christ came. And that seems to be what's being described here. These women are weeping for Tammuz. And actually, some people think this might also represent the period that's in the Catholic Church of Lent. 40 days of supposedly lamenting for Christ that'll be followed by, of course, this great celebration.

And we'll see that momentarily. So I lost my track. Okay. Verse 15, have you seen this, O Son of Man? Turn again. You'll see greater abominations than these. So he brought me into the inner court of the eternal's house, and there at the door of the temple of the eternal, between the porch and the altar were about 25 men with their backs to the temple of the eternal and their faces towards the east. They were worshiping the sun towards the east.

So this is open sun worship. And with their back turned on the temple, you say symbolically turning their back on God's way and following this worship. And there's where that fit together. If the weeping for Tammuz represents Lent, then this could be representing an Easter sunrise service. Now, some people will say, well, you're imputing things in that aren't necessarily there. And that could be the case. Whether it's Lent in Easter, or just some pagan worship, it's obviously not worshiping God the way he said to worship him in his temple. So it is evil pagan idolatry.

And he said, so let's move on to verse 17. He said, have you seen this, O Son of Man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here? They filled the land with violence, and they've returned to provoke me to anger. Indeed, they put the branch to their nose.

That's an idiom. We're not sure if it means just like they turn up their nose at me, or some people say it's actually holding something pleasant smelling to cover up the foul odors of some of their sacrifices. So we're not sure which it is, but another thing that wasn't pleasing to God. Therefore, I will act in fury. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I won't hear. Then he called out in my hearing with a loud voice.

So he's not talking to Ezekiel, but Ezekiel hears him saying, let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. Suddenly, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a battle axe in his hand. Now, we believe these were angels, angelic creatures, and apparently they were ones who said those who have watch over the city that they had some responsibility, the God had stationed them, to watch over Judah and or Jerusalem. But among them was a man clothed in linen with a writer's inkorn at his side.

And of course, back before ballpoint pins, you had to dip in ink. So he had a supply of ink there, and he's given a special job. But we'll mention this in verse 3, the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the carob where it had been to the threshold of the temple. So remember, this is referring to the carob's Ezekiel, saw something like the first vision where he sees this throne and God's glory, and it goes up to the threshold of the temple. We'll come back to that again. He called to the man clothed the linen who had the writer's inkorn and said, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done in it.

Okay, a mark on the forehead reminds us of a couple of things. If I can find this way, I say it the way I wanted to. Yeah, it also reminds us in Revelation 7, verse 3, God had the servants of God had a seal in their foreheads. Okay, also Revelation 14, verse 1, 144,000 are said to have the Father's name written in their foreheads.

So we could say, are there actual marks on the forehead, or is it symbolic of the mark being in your in your the forefront of your thoughts and in your mind? Because we believe the true mark of who are God's people is having God's Holy Spirit. Matter of fact, I've got a reference to Romans 8 and verse 9. You know, without Christ's Spirit, you're not one of His. With the Spirit, you certainly are. So, you know, some people worry about a mark of the beast or something like that, and I certainly don't want to mark on the beast on my forehead or on my hand, but the most important thing is spiritually.

If you have God's Spirit in you, He'll lead you to know, you know, you don't worry about marks so much. He'll let you know if there's something you need to not have, obviously, but living God's way is the most important mark. But anyway, so they mark the people, and then He tells the others, go after through the city and kill.

Don't let your eyes spare nor have any pity, utterly slate, old and young, men, maidens, children, and women, but don't come near anyone on whom is the mark. And begin where? Begin at my sanctuary. Okay, beginning basically at the temple with those who should know better. They are more accountable, and that's an important thing for us, because, you know, we there's no physical temple today, but there is a spiritual temple. Ephesians chapter 2 references the fact that the church is a spiritual temple, and we as individual Christians are, or, you know, Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 says, you're, you know, don't you know your body is a temple with the Spirit of God is in you?

But here's the important thing. They were at the physical temple, and he said, this is where the start for accountability comes. Don't think that physical building is going to save you. And that's where, well, I'm going to flip over to Jeremiah chapter 7, because I think it's a powerful message during Jeremiah's time, and actually these two might have overlapped.

You know, it might have been very near the same time that God sent Jeremiah to the temple. And matter of fact, in Jeremiah 7 verse 2, stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word. And he goes on to give this powerful prophecy.

And verse 4, he says, don't trust these lying words that say the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these basically saying we've got the temple so nothing bad can happen to us. Down in verse 14 of Jeremiah 7, it says, therefore I'll do to this, I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave you and your fathers as I have done to Shiloh. Earlier in the chapter, he says, go to Shiloh, which is where the tabernacle had been set up before they built a physical building and it was wiped out and gone because of their sins.

And God is saying, look, the temple is not a protection for you.

Living God's way is. So don't think being at the temple is some magical thing. And what I would say for us, you know, being in God's church, if you're not living his way of life and exercising the Holy Spirit is the same way. Matter of fact, I've got a reference to 2nd or 1st Peter 4 and verse 17, which I am going to turn and read that lest I misquote it, which I've been known to do.

1st Peter 4, 17 says, the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. But this isn't referring to a physical temple. It means the church of God.

And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who don't obey the gospel of God?

So we want to see this example in Ezekiel as a lesson for us that, hey, God reaches the point where he's had enough and you don't get spared because of an affiliation. You get spared because God's mark, his seal, is in your forehead, meaning his Holy Spirit is in you and you're exercising, living his way of life. I just realized I feel like I'm preaching and yelling at you guys, which I don't mean. I'm not implying that you guys got to straighten up because you don't have that. I'm saying we want to understand that that's what this is about, and it should be a motivating force in our lives, though. So let's get back to Ezekiel.

Yeah, so we see this, you know, go, he gives the command, go and slay all them.

And in verse 7, he says, he said to them, defile the temple, fill the courts with the slain, go out, and they went out. So it was that while they were killing them, I was left alone, and I fell on my face and cried out and said, oh, Lord God, Ezekiel is very emotionally moved by this. Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel and pouring out your fury on Jerusalem? So that remnant of Israel, Ezekiel might have been referring to the fact that, hey, the 10 northern tribes are already taken captive, and a lot of the leaders of Judah have been taken captive. Are you going to kill all the rest? What does God answer? He says, the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed. He's basically saying, they brought this on themselves. They've earned this punishment. It's not going to be withheld anymore. As for me, also, my eye will neither spare nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.

And about this time, the man clothed with linen who had the incorn to decide reported back, said, I've done as you've commanded me. And part of me says, boy, that didn't take long, which is kind of sad. Maybe there weren't that many people that were sighing and crying over the sins of Israel for him to go and put a mark on. I don't know. I mean, when you're an angel, you can do a lot of things really fast. So maybe it doesn't mean that, but that's one way to consider it. Now, we continue. This is part of the same vision. I looked in there in the firmament that was above the head of the carobim. There appeared something like a sapphire stone. So he's seen these carobim with this platform, you know, what seems to be God's throne. And there's the likeness of the throne. He spoke to the man, clothed with linen, and said, go in among the wheels under the carobim, fill your hand with the coals of fire among the carobim, scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. Now the carobim were standing there on the south side of the temple when the man went in and the cloud filled the inner court. And then the glory of the eternal went up from the carobim, paused over the threshold of the temple. The house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. So this does seem to remind us again of God's glory being there in the temple. But, you know, so this is the Shekinah glory. God's presence is there.

You know, and we saw that in chapter 8, verse 4. His presence was there. Matter of fact, I didn't emphasize it there, but back in 8, verse 4, says, Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision I saw on the plains. In chapter 9, in verse 3, the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the carobim where it had been to the threshold of the temple. Now we see it, you know, standing over the threshold. It's in the temple, but I want to look ahead and tie these all together because in chapter 10, verse 19, the carobim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. So there's this rumbling sound. We suppose it doesn't describe the sound, but they lift up. They went out, the wheels stood beside them, the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. So we see the glory of God is moving. It had gone to the throne. It had been in the house. Now it's moving with them. If we go across the page here to chapter 11 and verse 23. Chapter 11 verse 23 says, the glory of the eternal went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. It's like God was, you know, withdrawing His glory. You get the feeling there's going to be this great slaughter in the temple, and He doesn't want His presence there for that. So He's withdrawing, and I believe He's making a change. His glory had been there. It had been in the tabernacle. Then He put it in the temple for all that time, but now God is going to make a change in how He's working on the earth. He'd established the nation of Israel. You know, a special people that He'd called out and made His, and His dealing with mankind was shaped around that. And I'm getting ahead of myself, but well.

But God was now preparing to stop working with Israel as a special people. And about this time, He gives Nebuchadnezzar this bizarre dream. And Daniel chapter 2, remember, He sees this image of this great statue made out of four metals, the head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly of brass, the legs of iron, portraying these four great empires of Gentile nations that are going to rule the known world. God's not working through Israel now. You could call it the time of the Gentiles, although that term has other meaning. But not that He loses track of Israel. And that's an important fact we want to go back and take hold of and note of later on. But now, it's turned over to Gentile kingdoms that are going to rule this known area. Israel is scattered. They're not a particular nation anymore. But God is going to start building a church. And then, the temple will become a spiritual temple, which we are. So, we see a change in God's dealing with mankind. And of course, it's all culminating eventually in Christ's return, which fits with that image that Nebuchadnezzar saw. What's the last thing that happens with that image? A stone cut out without hands comes and smashes the image on its feet. So, these Gentile empires rule up until the time of Christ's return. Not that God isn't working with some people, and He will even cause Judah to be restored so that Christ can come back to those people and have a temple to come to. But then, He'll allow the Romans to destroy that temple. And He'll instead build His church, which is the spiritual temple that's in existence all through that time. The gates of hell will never prevail against it. And eventually, of course, well, I want to get back to what He'll do to Israel and with Israel later. I lost track of where I ended here. I was in chapter 10.

Well, and actually, the next several verses describe, once again, these carobes. And that's one of the reasons I thought I'd spend time earlier when they first appear, so that we don't have to describe them all now. But He sees about the same thing, you know, in the wheel within a wheel, which I always... I take it to mean it's like a sphere or a gyroscope moving. And I'm looking for the place where He says, this is the same thing I saw. Well, I did want to point out in verse 14... No, that's not it. Oh, yeah, in verse 13, as for the wheels, they were called into my hearing wheel, which I guess, well, if they heard them called a wheel, maybe that's why He calls it that. But does somebody have a different translation that says something different in that verse? I know I've seen some others. I'm not sure. Whirling wheels. And yeah, I know some say it made the sound wheel, because the Hebrew here... And that's where I wanted to bring in that idea of maybe it's the wing says instead of saying, you know, some say they said wheel as they went. I imagine them going around and saying, wheel, wheel, wheel. No, they're probably not doing that, but they probably heard this sound. And it could be interpreted as whirring or roaring even, which fits more with what He saw. And again, maybe, you know, some people interpret that might have been some of the wings or just something else. So, but anyways, He sees this platform with the four living creatures. Yeah, Linda? Or, I mean, Helen? Oh, yeah, the Hebrew word for it. And I don't have, I didn't write that down.

Yeah, the sound, sort of like if a bumblebee comes by, you know.

Whirling wheels. Yeah, and I think that's better than the New King James or the original King James has. So, and again, I guess it's interesting you get absorbed in looking at that and almost overlook the more important message. You know, we could say, okay, what were these angels? What did they look like? And when it comes down to it, they were spirit beings that looked different.

And one thing they did not look like was chubby babies with little wings. That's not what a carob looks like. The Bible is very clear. And they also didn't look like beautiful women with storks wings. So, angels are a little different than that. But we don't want to lose track of the message that God's describing this great abomination that's happening there in his temple. And so, he's going to stop it. And he would remove his glory and do something different. Now, let's move on to chapter 11. And now, what I was looking for is the very end of chapter 10. The likeness of their faces was the same as the faces I'd seen by the river Kebar and their appearance and their person. So, he's saying, this is what I saw earlier. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord's house, which faces eastward. There at the door of the gate were 25 men, among whom I saw Jeaz and Aya, the son of Azur and Pelotai, the son of Benai, a princess of the people. By the way, this Jeaz and Aya is probably not the same one as we saw in chapter 8, verse 11, because that one was the son of Shaphan. But this guy's a bad guy, too, apparently. And he said, Son of Man, these are men who devise evil, or who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in the city. They say, well, the time's not near to build houses. This city's the cauldron, and we're the meat. Seems to be basically saying, we're safe inside. We're like in an iron kettle. Nothing's going to get in here and hurt us. Well, God said, basically, he's going to say, well, if you're the meat, you're going to be dead meat, in a sense. He doesn't say it in those words.

Matter of fact, in verse 6, you've multiplied your slain in the city and filled the streets with the slain. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, your slain, whom you've laid in its midst, they're the meat, and the city the cauldron. For I'll bring you out of the midst of it. So, basically, there's going to be dead meat in the city, but I'm going to bring you guys out. You think you're safe in here? The walls will protect you? I'm going to bring you out. I'll bring you out of its midst and deliver you into the hand of strangers and execute judgments on you. You'll fall by the sword.

I will judge you at the border of Israel, which means I'm going to take you out. The city will not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you'll know that I am the eternal. Remember that theme that appears all over and over. For you've not walked in my statutes, nor executed my judgments. You've done according to the customs of the Gentiles, which are around you. Now, there's an interesting interjection here. It happened while I was prophesying. Pelotai, the son of Benaiiah, died. Apparently, this guy dropped dead right in front of Ezekiel. Now, I will mention, though, he's still in a vision, but God shows him, you know, God says, I'm going to kill these people. Boom! He drops dead. And Ezekiel is kind of shocked the way you would be if you were watching something, someone died right in front of you. He says, oh, Lord God, are you going to make a complete end of the remnant of Israel? And again, the word of the Eternal came to me saying, son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, all the house of Israel, in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem had said, get far away from the Eternal. This land has been given to us as a possession.

And they're not, you know, they're thinking the physical temple is going to take care of them.

You know, this is given to us for possession. Therefore, thus says the Lord God. Now, this God's looking ahead now. Okay, you know, I pronounce all this doom and gloom. They still don't get it. He says, thus says the Lord God, although I've cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I've scattered them among the countries, yet I will be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they've gone. And I brought one of my little friends here. I think I've mentioned this in the sermon before, but I've seen that phrase appear several times in the prophecies. The yet I. I've scattered them all. Yet I will be, you know, a sanctuary. And that's the yet I, or if you want to pronounce it, the Yeti. I've enjoyed using this in class. Like I said, there's no Yeti in the Bible, but if you look at it that way, the yet I, you know, different animals are different symbols. This one, I think, could be a symbol of God's enduring mercy for Israel. As bad as I'm going to punish them, I'm going to scatter them all. Yet I will intervene. I'm going to yet have mercy. So that's my, like I said, the Yeti or the Yet I.

And I love the way this is phrased. I will be a little sanctuary for them in the country.

God has separated them from the physical temple, but God would be their sanctuary wherever they were. Matter of fact, I noted a couple places. Psalm 9 and verse 9 has a phrasing that I like.

Because this is a promise I think applies to us. We're scattered. We're not in Jerusalem with a temple. Of course, we have the spiritual temple that can go wherever we are. Psalm 9 verse 9 says, The eternal also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble.

We've got that shelter wherever we are. And I tied that also one of my favorite scriptures that I've sort of I've come back to that I've noticed when I was young and felt like, oh, I don't have anything. What's going on? You know, what do I have besides I got this? Well, I wouldn't say now weird religion, but there's times as a teenager, you're thinking, what is this? But in Genesis 15 and verse 1, God comes to Abraham who had forsaken everything, you know, and God had given him great promises that hadn't shown up yet.

And I love the phrasing this in Genesis 15 verse 1, After these things, the word of the eternal came to Abraham in a vision saying, don't be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, you're exceedingly great reward. God said, I'm your reward. You don't have to worry about the other stuff, physical possessions, the large family and promise. God says, I'm your reward. You have me. And he also says, I'm your shield. God says here in Ezekiel, I'll be a little sanctuary. I'll be a place of safety. And actually, that word just rolled out of my mouth. But we've used that term before. And I think it could be appropriate. You know, there's promises of God protecting his people when and where they need it. And matter of fact, I thought I must be one of the places I skipped over to move ahead. But we know there's a promise in Revelation 12 of the woman being given wings of a great eagle and taken out and various other places in the prophecies of God saying, I'll provide sanctuary. I'll be there for those who, you know, are my people. But this is talking about not just the church, though, in a sense, after the time of the end, the day of the Lord and the great tribulation, God is yet going to have pity on the people of Israel. In verse 17 of Ezekiel 11, therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you've been scattered, and I'll give you the land of Israel. We often refer to this as the second Exodus. In the first Exodus, the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, went through the Promised Land and brought into the Promised Land, went through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. In the second Exodus, they're going to be brought from wherever they're scattered before the tribulation and during, and they're going to be brought back to the land of Israel. They'll go there and they'll take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then, I'll give them one heart. I'll put a new spirit within them. I'll take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. That's a good analogy, but I like the way it's written in Jeremiah 31, where he says, I'll write my... well, I'm going to turn there.

Jeremiah 31, beginning in verse 33... actually, he could start in verse 31, if I remember correctly.

These prophecies are... two prophecies are the same thing. Jeremiah 31, 31...

...the least of the greatest. I'll reference also in Joel chapter 2, is a passage of scripture that Peter cited in that sermon he gave on Pentecost when he said God would pour out His Holy Spirit.

That was partially fulfilled then on that Pentecost and with the church, but the fact that it says, I'll pour out my Spirit on all flesh, you know, and visions will happen and such. There's a greater fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 when the Spirit is made available to everyone, and that's going to happen after Christ returns. So, I like that when God describes all these abominations that the children of Israel were doing, and they were going to be killed, and they're going to be scattered, yet I will have mercy. I'm going to bring them back, and I'm going to put my Spirit in them. And of course, if we go further throughout the scripture, we'll see that there's going to be a resurrection, not just the people that are alive when Christ returns, but the dead, both small and great, will be brought up out of the graves and given a chance to know God's way.

And going back to Ezekiel, I wanted to finish that they may walk in verse 20, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them. They shall be my people, and I'll be their gods. As for those whose hearts follow the desire of their detestable things, meaning like the people there in Ezekiel's day, I'll recompense their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God.

And then we see the end. So the caribbean lifted up their wings and the wheels beside them, and the glory of the eternal was high above them. So remember, God's glory is leaving the temple, but He's given us a vision of what's going to happen eventually. This isn't the end and the dire destruction that's final, so He gives that hope in the end. He's yet going to call Israel back. He's going to pour out His Spirit. But for now, as it says in verse 23, the glory of the eternal went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain on the east side of the city. So God's glory is left and the destruction will come. And now it wraps up, the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Caledea to those in the captivity, and the vision that I'd seen went up from me. So now, Ezekiel's back where he started. You know, when I spoke to those in captivity, all the things that the eternal had shown me. So he's probably said, wow, you know, that was just a vision. I'm back here, but I got to share these things that he's told me. And remember, he's the watchman. He had a responsibility to share these things. And so, God gives us a vision, not just of destruction, but a vision of His kingdom. It's similar. We understand the prophecies of the great destruction that's going to come, but also of what comes afterwards. And we have this desire to share it. You know, as he said, I spoke the things, you know, all the things that the eternal had shown me as a group and as a church. We have this understanding of this great plan of God, and we want to speak and share it with others because God has shown it to us, and He's going to fulfill it. And we, I guess we have the great blessing to be a part of it. So it's very exciting in that way. I'm gonna stop and catch my breath. I'm at, actually, no, well, I thought I was going a little long. I wanted to finish at least by five till. Now I know what it is. That clocks faster than my watch. Yes, Lisa. Um, yeah, I think you're right, actually. I'm not, I don't know that we could say with absolute certainty, but most likely. Yeah, it does fit. The Mount of Olives is to the east of the city, and that fits with the way he went, the same way he'll come back, you know. Yes.

Oh, uh-huh.

Oh, yeah.

Huh. That's interesting. I didn't know that. And it goes to show some things, going cycles. Yeah, Reggie? Um-hmm.

Um-hmm.

Yeah, and I'm putting that together. You think how these fit together. That's one thing I think having to teach the different classes has helped me appreciate even more than I ever did how much, how unified the Bible is. You know, we talked about, you know, God used dozens of people, different lands over thousands of years, and yet it's one message, one voice, and it all interconnects so well. There's no way it couldn't have been written by God. And I think we'll probably understand, even as time goes by, this great unity of purpose and plan that he put there, and we're, we just grasp it. You know, we're like Paul said, seeing through a glass darkly. Later on, we're going to get to see it all and go, wow, that was even better than I thought.

But I'm thinking I better sit down because I want to make sure, I don't want to take away from Mr. Dean's time. So why don't we take a break and we'll be back at least by five after, if not sooner, and we'll let Mr. Dean pick up. I know he's going to be covering the book of Ruth, and I know you'll look forward to that. So thanks very much for your attention.