Israel Gathered in Security

 Ezekiel 28:25-26

 

January 5, 2024

 

Israel Gathered in Security

“Thus says the Lord God: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob.  And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

 

God used Cyrus as a tool to do this; He has also done this other times, and in 1948 God restored Israel as a nation.  But it took many years before we had a President who moved our Embassy to Jerusalem.  On December 6, 2017, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stated that the American embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Today we once more see Israel in a war with evil people who want to destroy the Jewish people.  We see foolish college students wanting the nation destroyed, and we see the foolishness of the country that has allowed the migration from the Middle Eastern nations to poison their thinking against Israel.

This we do know that God has spoken and a time is soon coming when Israel's Messiah will return and set up His kingdom in Jerusalem.  And all of Israel's enemies will live in peace with them.  

Let us end this paper with a promise God made to Abram before God Changed his name to Abraham.  "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.  (Genesis 12:2-3)  And our God is a promise, Keeper.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Lament over the King of Tyre-January 3, 2924

 

Ezekiel 28:11-19

January 3, 2024

A Lament over the King of Tyre

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: 'You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub.  I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire, you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.  In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.  By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.  All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Pride, the Scriptures have a lot to say on that subject.  Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

This is much greater than a lament of the King of Tyre; it is the source of how pride always puts self before God.  We believe that the king of Tyre or the devil would consider our accomplishments, our beauty, and our clever minds to be a product of ourselves.

Yes, this is about the King of Tyre, but he was not an anointed guardian cherub.  The King of Tyre was not a signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.  But Lucifer was, and like the King of Tyre, they allowed pride to be their downfall.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, are we exempt from pride?  If you believe that you are, it is time to conduct a serious evaluation of your life.  You and I live in a world full of pride, fear, and self.  It is so easy to become prideful that you do not have the problems others have, and it is always because you do not do such foolish things as they do.  Did you get that? You are smarter and more resourceful; you, yes, you and I can take credit for our accomplishment.  Is that prideful, unless you give the glory to God for the Wisdom that He has bestowed on each of us to bless others, and help them, looking to our Lord, who is the source of all wisdom, Truth, and understanding? 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Lament over the King of Tyre

 

 

 

Ezekiel 28:11-19

A Lament over the King of Tyre

 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection,  full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond,  beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.  On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub.

I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.  You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so, I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.  By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries;​ so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you, you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

As a student of the Word and a follower of Christ, I am sure that this is a dual prophecy, in that the king of Tyre was not in the garden of Eden, nor was any man blameless after the fall.  So, I looked at “Got Questions” and I believe they did a very actuate reporting: “However, some of the descriptions in Ezekiel 28:11–19 go beyond any mere human king. In no sense could an earthly king claim to be “in Eden” or to be “the anointed cherub who covers” or to be “on the holy mountain of God.” Therefore, most Bible interpreters believe that Ezekiel 28:11-19 is a dual prophecy, comparing the pride of the king of Tyre to the pride of Satan. Some propose that the king of Tyre was actually possessed by Satan, making the link between the two even more powerful and applicable.

Before his fall, Satan was indeed a beautiful creature (Ezekiel 28:12–13). He was perhaps the most beautiful and powerful of all the angels. The phrase “guardian cherub” possibly indicates that Satan was the angel who “guarded” God’s presence. Pride led to Satan’s fall. Rather than give God the glory for creating him so beautifully, Satan took pride in himself, thinking that he himself was responsible for his exalted status. Satan’s rebellion resulted in God casting Satan from His presence and will eventually result in God condemning Satan to the lake of fire for all eternity (Revelation 20:10).

Like Satan, the human king of Tyre was prideful. Rather than recognize God’s sovereignty, the king of Tyre attributed Tyre’s riches to his own wisdom and strength. Not satisfied with his extravagant position, the king of Tyre sought more and more, resulting in Tyre taking advantage of other nations, expanding its own wealth at the expense of others. But just as Satan’s pride led to his fall and will eventually lead to his eternal destruction, so will the city of Tyre lose its wealth, power, and status. Ezekiel’s prophecy of Tyre’s total destruction was fulfilled partially by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17–21) and ultimately by Alexander the Great.

 

From our Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

 

Ezekiel 28:1-10

 

January 2, 2023

  

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:  “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god- you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you;  by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth-therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor.
They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.  Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you?  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

 

As we begin this paper, I am reminded of a quote from Buell H. Kazee in his book “Faith is the Victory.”  “God creates man in His image, and man creates God in his image.  It depends on who is doing the creating as to what kind of being we have in either case.  Man left to himself will always have a god; and that god will always be like himself.”

 

The prince of Tyre had done the creating and believed he was a god; his wealth and ability to acquire great wealth had made him proud.  He believed he was untouchable, but God showed him that He was not a god but a man.

 

That brings up a thought in my small mind, the danger of putting trust in the blessing of God.  If you have been given a great mind to solve problems, or if you were blessed with the skill to make wealth, have you become proud, believing it was your skills and not the blessing of God?  There is great danger in doing so; you may need to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Tyre, was blessd and they believe it was their Doing?

 

Ezekiel 27:26-36

 

January 1, 2024

 

“Your rowers have brought you out into the high seas.  The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas.   Your riches, your wares, your merchandise, your mariners and your pilots, your caulkers, your dealers in merchandise, and all your men of war who are in you, with all your crew that is in your midst, sink into the heart of the seas on the day of your fall.   At the sound of the cry of your pilots, the countryside shakes, and down from their ships come all who handle the oar.  The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the land and shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly.  They cast dust on their head and wallow in ashes; they make themselves bald for you and put sackcloth on their waist, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.   In their wailing, they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: ‘Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea?  When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise, you enriched the kings of the earth.  Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you.  All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and the hair of their kings, bristles with horror; their faces are convulsed.  The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.’”

 

Judgment is a time of fear, and awaking, and Tyre and all who put their trust in them are in a state of shock.  This question came into my thoughts: who are you putting your trust in, or what has your trust?  The kings bristled with horror; yes, they were in a state of shock.  How could such a thing happen to a great nation like Tyre? Such devastation is the destruction of a nation and its people.

 

It is quite simple, they did much like the USA, they were so blessed by God that they formed God in their image.  They did much like the government of the USA, telling God where He was not welcome, in the affairs of government, in our schools, and even in our businesses.  We became a nation of self-will over God’s will, and we are heading for the judgment of a holy God, who will show His wrath, unless we awake to our evil ways, and turn back and repent as the people of Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil^. By God’s man Jonah.  You recall Jonah did not want God to spare the people of Nineveh; they were an evil people, and Jonah knew that if they knew that God was going to bring judgment on them, they would repent, and he tried not to share with them.

 

That is not my heart. I am praying that we, the Church, awaken to how the world and its patterns of evil have encompassed us, the Church, and once more return to be the people that the Apostle Peter tells us we are.  1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

If you have been called out of darkness into light, why have you returned to the darkness? Could it be your deeds or evil?  It is time to repent, it is time to be the Church, and to love your neighbor as yourself.  It is time to fear only God and be a seeker of Truth; Jesus is the Truth.  He is very clear on that. Do you recall Him saying, in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to return to the God of your fathers.

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice

THOUGHS

  

 

THOUGHS

 

The best time to listen to a politician is when he/she is on a street corner in the rain, late at night, exhausted. Then they do not lie.

 

The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.

 

If you’re not able to communicate effectively with yourself, how are you supposed to communicate with a stranger outside?

 

Love must be learned, and learned again and again: There is no end to it.  Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked. 

 

Second Thoughts

 

It is never too late to be wise.

 

Work thinks, Laziness muses. 

 

Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.

 

Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.

 

Laws have no force till they are broken and enforced.

 

Ignorance is bold, and knowledge reserved.

 

No man’s credit is as good as his money.

 

When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.

 

To a brave man, come good and bad, they are like his right and left hands.  He uses both.

 

There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.

 

Everything has been thought of before, but the difficulty is to think of it again.

 

I don’t care how much a man talks, if he only says it in a few words.

 

Men build many walls and not enough bridges.

 

Women, when they make a sheep of a man, always tell him he is a lion.

 

If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues.

 

Of all the home remedies, a good wife is the best.

 

Strive for the best and do the possible.

Every nation what to do Business Tyre

                                                        Ezekiel 27:12-25

 

December 31, 2023

 

“Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your wares.  Javan, Tubal, and Meshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. From Beth-togarmah, they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules for your wares.  The men of Dedan^[a] traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony.  Syria did business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and ruby. Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, meal, honey, oil, and Balm.  Damascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and wool of Sahar and casks of wine^[ from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were bartered for your merchandise. Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.  Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favored dealers in lambs, rams, and goats; in these, they did business with you. The traders of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; they exchanged for your wares the best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones, and gold.  Haran, Canneh, Eden, traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.  In your market, these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure.  The ships of Tarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden in the heart of the seas.

If you wanted to trade for the best goods and materials, you went to Tyre.  All of these nations depended on Tyre to trade for all kinds of goods.  But all they were doing was making Tyre rich and becoming dependent on it.  Both David and Solomon had a good relationship with the King of Tyre.  

 

God blessed Tyre to be a blessing to His chosen people, as He has the USA, and yes, they both grew in power and wealth, and became proud, arrogant, and evil, believing they were the source of their success.

 

God brought His wrath on them, and they are no longer a nation that the other nations look to.  Will the USA follow that same path?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice