One Man act may you show-up with a Dead Spirit

 

 

What would the world look like without:

Deception, Lies, Hate, and Evil?

 

Can you even grasp such a place? You would not sign a contract that a lawyer had drafted to ensure that both sides honor the agreement.  You would not have to lock your doors or have an alarm system.  There would be no reason for worrying about pedophiles or someone harming your child.  There would be no one teaching your child that God made a mistake when He made them a boy or a girl. There would be no prison, nor crooked politicians.

 

It would be a place where love and truth would be all you knew, a world I would like to live in.  Maybe this will come as a shock, but that was God’s design: that the world He made for the first man and woman was to live in a world void of all the things we deal with in our present age.  A world void of evil, of putting self before others, of hate, anger, and all the other things listed above.

 

I enjoy pies, and when I see a pie on the counter, I use logic to understand it did not get there without a pie maker.  So, I’ve used the same logic to a vast universe that I live in must also have a designer, and He must be God.  

 

If God is the creator, and out of the vast universe, He chose a planet,​  He called Earth, to make it where it would support an environment with life.  He begins the account in a book called Genesis.  He introduces us to Himself. 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

The first five verses tell about the first day of Creation. Now I'm sure you want to learn about day two, well, get a Bible and read about days 2,3,4,5.

 

But I do want to share the 6 day with you, “And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Can you allow your imagination to go there, a world where you have dominion over the other life forms?  That would be a paradise, and God called it Eden.  If you're still with me and are reading chapter 2:7, you are going to experience God creating man.  Verse 7, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”  I know this is redundant, but if a pie needs a pie maker, a man needs a creator.

Now, this might be a shock to many in 2025, but God made man to work.  Let's explore that, in Genesis 2:15-17, we not only see that truth, but the one thing man was not to do; ^“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Note: Not a physical death, but a spiritual death.  And every person since Adam has the same problem.  We all showed up with a dead Spirit.

 

What happened to this perfect world? You and I sure did not experience such a place.  Man would not have broken the one thing God, his Creator, told him not to do, would he?  Well, that's where it gets interesting.  Picking up the account in Genesis 2:20-23, ^“The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper fit for him.  So, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

 

Now pay attention to verse 24-25,  ^“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”  That was before that old serpent deceived Eve and got her to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The first act was to hide from God and make a garment to hide their nakedness.  And then lie and blame Eve and the serpent. The book of Revelation, chapter 12:9, exposes that old serpent: “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”  Now that old devil and his angels were also once in heaven, and the devil was the most of the most, and he was also a creation, and full of self and pride, wanted to be like God.  He has been messing with you and me and everyone since his fall, and yet a day is coming when he will be bound up for a thousand years, and Jesus will be on the earth as Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.  You find that in Revelation 20:2, “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,”

Now, a God who could speak a universe into being, make man out of dust, and breathe life into his earth suit, must know that Adam and Eve are going to mess up this perfect world, so why did He create man?  I could show you many verses that explain why, but Scripture tells us that God is Love, not that He knows how to love, but that He is Love.  And neither you nor I would have made a man when we knew that a day would come when He would ask His Son, His only Son, to step out of being worship, and take on the form of a baby, born of a virgin, and be rejected by God’s chosen people, Israel, and die for people that despised Him.  John 3:16-20,  ^“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

 

I have a sign on our back porch that reminds me that God loves sinners and messes like me.  “Smile, you Rascal, God knows all about you, and He loves you anyway”.  And He knows all about you, too.

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Outer Court

 

Ezekiel 40:17-23

 

February 7, 2024

 

The Outer Court

Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement.  And the pavement ran along the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates. This was the lower pavement.  Then he measured the distance from the inner front of the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits on the east side and on the north side.

What detail, it is believed the timeline for chapter 40 is 573 BC, and King Solomon began the building of the temple in 966 BC and completed it in 959 BC. The Second Temple, which was built in 538 BC, was the one that Herod built.  

The North Gate

As for the gate that faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth.  Its side rooms, three on either side, and its jambs and its vestibule were of the same size as those of the first gate. Its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth twenty-five cubits.  And its windows, its vestibule, and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faced toward the east. And by seven steps, people would go up to it and find its vestibule before them.  And opposite the gate on the north, as on the east, was a gate to the inner court. And he measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

Our Father is such a detailed God; He let Ezekiel see this and tell the people long before they were allowed to return to Jerusalem.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The East Gate to the Outer Court

 

 

Ezekiel 40:5-16

 

February 6, 2024

 

The East Gate to the Outer Court

And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So, he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.  Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.   And the side rooms, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size.  Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side.  Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other.  He measured also the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.  From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.  And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.

 

I took this from “Got Question.”

The use of weights and measurements was common in ancient times, just like it is today. The problem is that the words used for various measurements were usually specific to that culture. Today, most people don’t know what a “shekel” is or what the difference is between a “furlong” and a “fathom.” Some Bible translations have replaced the archaic words with modern equivalents or approximations. Other translations simply transliterate the Greek and Hebrew words for the measurements.

Below are several terms and their approximated equivalents in both metric and imperial measurements. Since some ancient terms varied by area, we have differentiated Greek and Hebrew measurements.

A REED WAS 10 FEET, and the distance between the thumb and outstretched finger to the elbow is a cubit, sometimes referred to as a “natural cubit” of about 1.5 feet. This standard seems to have been used in the Roman system of measures as well as in different Greek systems.

 

Some scholars suggest that the longer dimension was the original cubit, making it 20.24 inches for the ordinary cubit, and 21.88 inches for the sacred one, or a standard cubit from the elbow to the end of the middle finger (20′′) and a lower forearm cubit from the elbow to the base of the hand (12′′).

 

At 20” a cubit = to reed would be 6 cubits or 10 feet.  After looking at all these scholars' opinions, I went to “Got Question,”  and it seemed to agree with the Scriptures; Ezekiel’s Cubit (found in Ezekiel 40:5):
Reed (6 of Ezekiel’s cubits)
   3.1 m
   10 ft, 2.4 in.
Cubit (7 handbreadths)
   0.5 m
   20.4 in.

 

The point is not what a reed or cubit is, but that God is into giving prescriptive details on how His temple was to be built.  The people of Ezekiel's time had a clear understanding of both a cubit and a reed, as you do on a foot or yard, if you live in the USA, and elsewhere it is the metric system, or sometimes referred to as an imperial system.

 

From The Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Vision of the New Temple

 

 

Ezekiel 40:1-16

 

November 20, 2024

 

Vision of the New Temple

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.  In visions of God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south.  When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway.  And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here so that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

Ezekiel was born into the priestly line (Ezekiel 1:3), but he served God as a prophet. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. (Taken from Got Question)

The East Gate to the Outer Court

And behold, there was a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, each being a cubit and a handbreadth in length. So, he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed.  Then he went into the gateway facing east, going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.  And the side rooms, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed.  Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed.  Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end.  And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size.  Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.  There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side.  Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other.  He also measured the vestibule, sixty cubits. And around the vestibule of the gateway was the court.  From the front of the gate at the entrance to the front of the inner vestibule of the gate was fifty cubits.  And the gateway had windows all around, narrowing inwards toward the side rooms and toward their jambs, and likewise the vestibule had windows all around inside, and on the jambs were palm trees.

I believe it is helpful to understand that a reed was used in measuring in feet, about 10 feet.  A Cubit was about 1.5 feet, so you do the math, it you want to find the answer to how big this new Temple was going to be.

 

But the real question is, has this Temple already happened, and I would agree with the majority that it is still in the future.  So once again, I looked at Got Question to see how they handle the subject.

 

Most who expect a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s temple expect it to be erected in the millennial kingdom, a 1,000-year reign of Christ upon the earth. During the millennium, glorified saints from the present age will live in contact with natural human beings who will still need to make a decision for Christ in order to be saved, and many will choose not to trust Him. The sacrificial system described in Ezekiel cannot be for the forgiveness of sins, for Christ has accomplished that once and for all (Hebrews 10:1–4, 11–14). In this interpretive approach, the sacrifices are seen as memorials of Christ’s death or as rites for the ceremonial cleansing of the temple, but not as a means to forgive sins.

In the figurative view of Ezekiel’s temple, the prophet’s vision simply reiterates that God will once again dwell with His people in a perfect relationship. This relationship is described in the language that the people of the day (and especially for Ezekiel as a priest) would have understood—a Jewish temple of magnificent proportions, with regular, perfect sacrifices, with the Messiah presiding, and with the glory of God visibly evident. In later visions to other prophets, God revealed more about how He would accomplish this with the Messiah Himself replacing the temple, the sacrifices, and the land. The presence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would be more immediately evident than ever before. The fulfillment of Ezekiel’s temple could thus be realized in the church age to some degree and, in the age to come, to perfection.

Regardless of which approach is taken, the vision of Ezekiel’s temple says that God has not forsaken His people and that His relationship with them will be restored and elevated to a new, never-before-conceived glory and intimacy. Present circumstances should never cause one to doubt the promises of God.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

A sacrificial feast for the birds and beasts

 

 

Ezekiel 39:17-24

 

February 5, 2024

 

A sacrificial feast for the birds and beasts

 

“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan.  And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you.  And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.

“And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.  The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward.  And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.  I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions and hid my face from them.

 

God is telling Ezekiel to call the birds and beasts of the fields to come and have a feast.  When the nations come against Israel, God will send Michael the Archangel, and the prince of Israel to fight and kill the nations that come against Israel.

 

What is going to require us as a people to believe what is written and act on it?  We have seen the report of the six-day war, where many nations thought they would destroy Israel, and it was clear that God fought for Israel, and once more He is going to do so.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Gog will fall on the mountains od Israel

 

Ezekiel 39:1-13

 

February 4, 2024

 

“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.  And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.  Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.  You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.  You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.  Behold, it is coming, and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs, and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

“On that day, I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-Gog.  For seven months, the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.  All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God.  They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will make their search.  And when these travel through the land, and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Hamonah is also the name of the city.) Thus, shall they cleanse the land?

 

A day is coming when God is going to get the nations from the north to attack Israel, and it will be God who fights for Israel, and this mass army will be killed by God.  When Jesus comes, we know that the old serpent will be bound for a thousand years, and then we will have the final battle, and Jesus and His bride will rule, and there will be no more evil, for the source of evil will be cast into hell.

We do not know who Gog is, but it is believed that it is a person.  It looks as if Russia or that area will be the one to gather the other nations to attack Israel.  It's not going to go well for them.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Prophecy Against Gog

 

 

Ezekiel 38: 1-23

 

February 3, 2024

 

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.  And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.  Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-Togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.  After many days, you will be mustered. In the latter years, you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.  You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

“Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.  Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus, says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?  You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.  You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days, I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

“Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?  But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger.  For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.  I will summon a sword against Gog^] on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man's sword will be against his brother.  With pestilence and bloodshed, I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire, and sulfur.  So, I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

 

As I stated earlier, the book of Ezekiel is about two areas of prophecy that will happen in the days of Ezekiel, and those that are in the future, chapters 38-39, are yet to happen.  So, I went to a reliable source to see their thoughts on these two chapters.  The following is from (Got Questions).

 

“Gog and Magog appear in Ezekiel 38-39 and in Revelation 20:7-8. While these two passages use the same names, a close study of Scripture clearly demonstrates they do not refer to the same people and events. The events are separated by at least 1,000 years. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, Gog will be the leader of a great army that attacks the land of Israel, which is “peaceful and unsuspecting” at the time (Ezekiel 38:11). Gog is described as “of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2–3). When will Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog occur? 

 

Gog is a person. Whoever Gog is, he is from the land of Magog and is the leader of Tubal and Meshek (some translations add “Rosh” to the list) and a confederacy of other nations: Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth Togarmah (Ezekiel 38:5–6). And, whoever he is, he will have plans to “attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people,” viz., Israel (verses 11, 14, and 18). But, regardless of Gog’s plans, the Lord God is against him and will defeat him soundly (Ezekiel 38:4, 19–23; 39:3–5).

Magog is a land “in the far north,” from Israel’s point of view (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2). Most Bible commentators interpret “Magog” as Russia, and, indeed, Russia is straight north of Israel, all the way up to the Arctic Circle. According to this view, “Rosh” is a reference to Russia, “Meshek” is either Moscow or the people north of the Black Sea (the area of southern Russia and Ukraine), and “Tubal,” which is always listed with Meshek in Scripture, is identified as a city in Siberia or an area in central Turkey.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Path to the Father

 

 

 

 

The Path to the Father
 
 
Wendell, to restore the heart of a man, if I were giving the introduction, this is how I would begin.  If your dad was flawed or the best of dads, he was not God, your creator, who longs to have an intimate relationship with you. He longs for you to know Him as your Father.  Two quotes come to mind; one by a man who lived in the sixteenth century, whose name was Blaise Pascal
"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."
 
The other is very much like it, and I do not doubt that Blaise took his thoughts from Psalm 46:10
 
“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”

Update: I am writing on the book of Lamentations, Chapter 3, beginning at verse 25-28a, “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.   It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.   It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  Let him sit alone in silence,”  
 
Your identity has everything to do with your search for a relationship with the Father.  If your identity is in anything but Jesus, you will not find His Father.  Being a Baptist is of little worth; having wealth is not the answer, or being a leader in your career, or in your Church, will not help you find the joy of knowing the Father; it begins with a first step, knowing that Jesus Christ is living in you.  The next step is spending time in a quiet room, getting to know God, and I’m excited about your journey.

 

I am only on page 61, but it has some good help, and the key is the heart of the man.  His desires and priorities are not something you can teach, and they pass; it will have to be what they long for.

 
Love the guys and pray that they awake, to desire to have a Father.
 
Ken Shuman sent this quote: It is great; I'm convinced that anger is the fruit, but fear is the root. To produce better fruit in our lives, we need to tend to the roots. Next time you get angry, stop and ask yourself what you are being threatened by."

More updates from today's sermon, in Matthew 20, a mother's request, and more than likely, her sons put her up to it.  They want to be the top dogs; many a man wants that in all areas of life.  But a man seeking a path to the Father wants what our Lord tells him in verses 25-28a, Jesus said You want to be a leader, become a servant.

Some great points Rusty Rice made: “Becoming a servant that a leader, not the guy that believes he should be first. “ He went on to say, “If you make yourself the center of your  world, it is going  to be a small world.”  And my last recall was this: “In God’s kingdom, the man who knows the Father is not at the top of the pyramid; he is at the bottom holding up the others, so that many have a relationship with the Father.”  It's great when a Rice can know such truth.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

 

Ezekiel 37:15-28

 

February 2, 2024

 

I Will Be Their God; They Shall Be My People

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’  And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.  And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’  say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah^, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand.  When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.  And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

 

It might be helpful to begin with a reminder, it found in John’s gospel chapter 1:1-3,” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

 

With that established, why did God use Ezekiel, and not just put a big screen in the heavens so that all could see His plan for Israel and Judah?  The answer might be found in Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  

 

God often used word pictures, such as the two sticks joined together, to tell His people about His plan. We find word pictures all through the Bible, Psalms, Isaiah, and John, all of which Jesus used in His sermon on the Mount.  Some that were used to depict God, Jehovah is depicted as a King, a Lawmaker, a Judge, and a Warrior​—someone you should respect. He is also portrayed as a Shepherd, a Counselor, a Teacher, a Father, a Healer, and a Savior​—someone you can love. (Taken from the internet).

 

When the why, did He do that comes into my very small mind, these verses come to mind: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

 

February 1, 2024

 

The Valley of Dry Bones

 

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.  And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? ” And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So, I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.  And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.  Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus, says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”  So, I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’  Therefore, prophesy, and say to them, Thus, says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.  And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

 

A valley of dry bones, turned into a mighty army by God. Question: Do you know of a dictator who can do that?  We, the Church, are a mighty army, a chosen people, a holy nation. Our Lord can take dry bones and make a mighty army, and we fear China and Russia; what is wrong with us?

 

It may be hard for you and me to grasp that taking a valley of dry bones scattered all over a valley and God telling Ezekiel to prophesy over them, and yet that is what happens when one obeys God.  Unlike you and me, Ezekiel learned to obey and do as God directed him. What if we, the Church, learned to do so? 

 

What if the Church followed orders? What if we loved others as ourselves, not choosing the ones we would love and the ones we chose not to love?  What if, as we go, we share our hope in Christ Jesus and how He has changed our lives?  What if you honor God above all others, and study the Scriptures looking for directions on living life on planet earth?

 

What if you and I obey God the first time we hear the Spirit speak to us, for anything less than that is not obedience?

 

Then, and only then, would the Church be that mighty army marching to war, living in the power of a God who can make an Army out of dry bones.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

​

Note: As a member of the Body of Christ, His Church, I had to ask myself these painful questions.  How did you do?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

                                                           Ezekiel 36:22-38

 

January 31, 2024

 

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus, says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.  And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.  I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.  I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.  It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

“Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt.  And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by.  And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’  Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

“Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.  Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

 

It has never been about you; it has always been about God.  We live in a culture that teaches it is all about us, in sells we were taught the (WIIFM,) "What's in it For Me", and it is the way many inside the church and outside the church run their lives.  But our Creator God has never put that into your heart, for it has been clear from the beginning it is all about Him. 

 

As one reads these verses, it becomes clear that the Church, each of us who enters by the faith we were given by God, and His grace that has been poured out on us, that we have been given a new heart, a new spirit, and that the Spirit of God now indwells us.

 

What is the Church? It is not a building, nor is it a religion, nor a denomination; it is individuals who were getting their needs met outside of Christ and were drawn by God’s Spirit to a place of agreement that they needed Jesus.  And have entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 12:12-14,24b-27 gives us clarity on what takes place after one has entered into Christ.   ^“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 

 But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individual members of it.

Is the Church still the Church when it does not abide by what the Scripture states?  Let me address that with Scripture about the Church, both in Revelation and 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  We are witnesses to that in our time on Planet Earth.  And Revelation tells us that we will see falling away, of the seven churches, two were like many in our time, they were: “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

You may be in one of these types of churches. Ask the Lord if you are to stay and be a light to a very dark place or to leave, and find a body that follows the teaching of the Scriptures.

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice